Words that get on your nerves

How can skull shape determine accent? Unless they mean 'thick of head'. That might be appropriate

 

And duck....! You're a braver man than me, Gunga Din

 

Voice of Richard III recreated with Yorkshire accent

It seems that dentistry and the way he spelled his words in his own handwriting and so on, according to the article above.

I’m from god’s own country. We still call thee thee tha knows. I’m happy to recite the verse, written by a Lancastrian no doubt, Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head. I’m happy to be strong in the arm and quite content to be fairly weak upstairs.

 

I'd be surprised if enough "dentristry" existed in Richard 111's remains to be of any use in determining accent . Given the problems with people accessing dental care these days, that method certainly won't be available for future scientists when trying to decipher how we spoke
Lancashire/Yorkshire.......never the twain shall meet

 

I think they mean dentistry in the sense of the shape of the jaw, the position of the teeth. As the article says


“From there, I went into a deep dive of finding evidence of how he would speak through speech and language therapy, dentistry, forensic psychology and archaeology.”

“She went on to work with cranio-facial identification expert Prof Caroline Wilkinson and her team at Face Lab, as well as Prof David Chrystal, who is a specialist in pronunciation.”

I’ve read some wonderful books by David Crystal.

 

Surely you mean "... gerroff thi arse ..."

 

The version I know is "Yorkshire born, Yorkshire bred, thick in't arm, thick in't 'ead".

Edit - many (most) of us are neither but we need to keep up appearances, right?

 

I have real trouble understanding people from up north. It can be quite embarrassing. I once had someone on the phone asking for my settee. I said you mean sofa? No, settee. I said can you spell it? CITY. Oh ok nice accent I said.

Another time I asked a window cleaner about his equipment. He said he had an air frame. I said air frame, what's that? He said letter air. I eventually understood. (A frame for those down south).

 

I think I'm probably fortunate to have moved around a lot as a kid when my Dad was in the RAF. Not only did I experience accents in different areas, there were people from all over the country around us all day.
My wife did have problems when I first took her to Scotland to meet some family member. She kept looking at me for translations and the rotten buggers put on broader and broader accents.

 

I remember the first time I met a girl from County Durham. We were in the same office, both young and impoverished. The way she pronounced the letter “r” was at the back of her throat, rather like a strong French “r”. One day I asked if she would like to share my sandwich. Her reply was “Jest a cRRRest, hinny.” Beautiful.

 

My Mum was from Darlington and I never remembered her having any accent other than Canuck, save for a few words. Usually ones ending in an a. She'd been here about 8 years before I was born.

Some people mistake me for someone who's lived in the US. I have a terrible time with ar and or. Car, as in automobile, comes out, "Caw". I would fit right in as Bronx telephone operator.

 

Heard an article on the radio this morning re Richard 111 and the word "dentistry" wasn't mentioned in relation to guessing his accent. Interesting tho.
Some people ( myself included ) never lose the form of speech they had in childhood despite moving from their area of birth at a relatively early age.

 

I think it depends on how important it is for you to “fit in” and “get on in life”. I grew up surrounded by miners’ children and went to a local state school. Several of my classmates went to elocution classes (I didn’t) in order to be able to get a decent job and quick promotion or to avoid being mocked at university. I just muddled along and put up with taunts from “posh” people at university and so on. Even my father in law thought that his son had married beneath him. I used to take a delight, whenever I saw that man make a face at my pronunciation, in laying on the Yorkshire with a large trowel.

 

Well done @Tidemark ......... large trowels are always useful ..........and not just in the garden

 

My hubby was sent to have elocution classes to get rid of his Brummie accent. It worked. It was all "sizzling sausages sizzling in the pan" and "a movable mouth to speak with"! Occasionally he will make fun with "wez yow bin?" - oops that's Black Country. Don't get them mixed up.