Posted by Mike Dennis on October 18, 2003 at 07:41:44 from 195.92.67.74 user MTD.
In Reply to: Re: Blackett English posted by Peter Ceresole on October 18, 2003 at 02:29:22:
An interesting discussion - I think I come down on the side that the Blacketts were not from the area, as someone said Nancy would have the accent; probably worked hard to keep it! I'm interested in two points in Peter Cs thread - the phrase "An Englishman carries his caste mark in his mouth." is a good one that I have not heard before. But.. the remark "Small jokes about accents have always been part of the English social fabric -", not sure about jokes, often it verges on the racist. The BBC only have to use a regional accent to read the news and the hate mail floods in, and in the case of one female Scottish presenter (I forget her name) it went beyond hate mail and for awhile her life was a misery. The other complaint people have (about those on the radio, TV etc.) is that they claim not to 'understand' the accent.