Posted by Ian Wright on October 19, 2003 at 17:19:04 from 62.253.32.7 user Ian_Wright.
In Reply to: Why can't the English ...... learn to speak posted by John Wilson on October 19, 2003 at 01:00:50:
A working class type like me has little choice about the way he or she speaks, but the Walkers and Blacketts came from a class that saw things differently. It was not unusual for the 'middle classes' to speak RP in the home or among themselves and a perfect local accent when talking to local people. It was not an imitation of local speech, it WAS local speech.
A friend of mine, son of a pillar of English literature, switches without effort between RP and either deepest Norfolk or rural Devon without effort. In effect he is tri-lingual in three sorts of English. That skill was once seen as a valuable tool. A pity we don’t do it today.
You might like to re-read Kipling’s "Starkly and Co" for another example.
IanW