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A 'brummie' accent will hold you back in life.

The original thread title about a Brummie accent holding you back, was very true back in the 50's and beyond. I don't believe that our accent could be singled out for this distinction. I think that the attitude of many in the south that "anywhere north of Luton" was applied to all accents. My personal experience was that having an "accent" meant that you were "thick" and incapable of anything other than a profession on the "factory floor". Things have changed now, however, it still remains a personal issue for me.
Dave A
 
Radiorails said:
Some observations from preceding posts.
I can understand people from other countries equating a 'brummie accent' with South Africa; the South Africans with a Dutch ancestry do have some similar sounding words.
It is surprising how quickly some people pick up a new accent and as Sospiri says soon loose it when returning to their usual haunt.
Years ago Beryl Reid, some of the cast of 'Crossroads' and one or two others gave a quite understandable brummie accent.
I understand the comment by SP4, some of my American friends had great difficulty with the accent of Adrian Childs during the football World Cup. It was likened to someone talking with a mouthful of spaghetti. :D
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You're definitely on the right tracks here Radiorails. There is definitely something in that Dutch/South African - Brummie/Scouse trail. The Scousers acquiring that harsh Afrikaans 'kkhhh' wherever there's a 'k' at the end of the word..and the SpionKop of course : the Brummies I'd say the Dutch vowels. Something very original Saxon in Scouse and Brummie ? SPF4EVER
 
adap2it said:
The original thread title about a Brummie accent holding you back, was very true back in the 50's and beyond. I don't believe that our accent could be singled out for this distinction. I think that the attitude of many in the south that "anywhere north of Luton" was applied to all accents. My personal experience was that having an "accent" meant that you were "thick" and incapable of anything other than a profession on the "factory floor". Things have changed now, however, it still remains a personal issue for me.
Dave A
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Dave I empathise. When I first hit London as a young lad, I will NEVER forget the welcome I received going for a job first time at a warehouse just to pay the rent - I was told to 'go forth and multiply back to the north !' (in a more vernacular manner of course!) I eventually found work - the other guys I worked with being a Geordie and a Scouser : the foreman moaning first day 'that's all I need, another bloody northerner !' Employment was indeed difficult but my Birmingham education saved my bacon time and time again. I encountered lovely people down here as I progressed and would eventually joke with them saying 'we learned proper English back up in Brum, not this southern slop !' and they would roar with laughter when we would be discussing words and have wider 'etymological' discourses :) SPF4EVER
 
There were a few, and maybe there still are, who can with reasonable success tell which district within Birmingham that a person comes from.
 
selly park fields forever said:
Dave I empathise. When I first hit London as a young lad, I will NEVER forget the welcome I received going for a job first time at a warehouse just to pay the rent - I was told to 'go forth and multiply back to the north !' (in a more vernacular manner of course!) I eventually found work - the other guys I worked with being a Geordie and a Scouser : the foreman moaning first day 'that's all I need, another bloody northerner !' Employment was indeed difficult but my Birmingham education saved my bacon time and time again. I encountered lovely people down here as I progressed and would eventually joke with them saying 'we learned proper English back up in Brum, not this southern slop !' and they would roar with laughter when we would be discussing words and have wider 'etymological' discourses :) SPF4EVER
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After giving up trying to land a job in the art world, I, like you, had to settle for anything I could get and it happened to be my start on the road to becoming a toolmaker. The guys at work would be constantly taking the piss and playing jokes on me. One time they hoisted my bike up a telegraph pole and I refused to leave work until it was taken down. It was a turning point for me regarding social acceptance and I made many friends, but the point was still that I had to "prove"myself.
Dave A
 
Londoners would be outraged if anyone told them that THEIR accent is horrible in our ears.
I can't stand listening to Len ("That's a ten from Len !") Goodman and as for "The only way is Essix", no thanks !
 
devonjim said:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39404956
News item today. Sub titles because of photographers brummie accent?
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I wish this lad well with his photography, he's doing the town proud and it's fabulous to hear COGENT ENGLISH spoken with a Brummie accent. I can tell you now, down in the south he'd be mistaken for a Scouser no problem. Birmingham is a wonderful city to photograph. Well done. SPF4EVER
 
adap2it said:
After giving up trying to land a job in the art world, I, like you, had to settle for anything I could get and it happened to be my start on the road to becoming a toolmaker. The guys at work would be constantly taking the piss and playing jokes on me. One time they hoisted my bike up a telegraph pole and I refused to leave work until it was taken down. It was a turning point for me regarding social acceptance and I made many friends, but the point was still that I had to "prove"myself.
Dave A
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After that bum stint in the warehouse, I landed a job (thanks to my Brummie education!) in a plush office. My first two bosses were both from the Midlands, one from Derby and the other from Birmingham and they were both as hard as nails : they had to be because of their accents. The Brummie was outstanding (from Hall Green ?) When he opened his mouth he spoke with that biting Brummie accent that could strip paint at a hundred yards with the Brummie expletives to go with it (I remember 'yampy' being used vociferously and the other (non Brummie) members of staff thinking 'what language is that ??!!) I used to have to contain myself from breaking out in fits of laughter. I wrote work letters on his behalf and he said 'sun, yu'roit a bostin letteh !' When he retired the sun set in that office : time to move on. SPF4EVER.
 
In 1964 I joined the Royal Navy, whilst doing my training we had a short course on using two way radios. The young officer who was the course instructor said to me " If you want to get on in the navy, lose your accent " . I was not born with plums in my mouth so I still talk Brummie. No way will I give that up.
 
thats the right attitude bronson when it come to people accents and thats my attitude to people take me as you find me
or please your self my old son
I have to say bronson, is some people do try and put it on when out in public , me i do not care , i have met alot of high flyers
within our society they do not get heirs and grace with me
even the big noises of our society with titles and where people call them sir because of there title i would calll them by there christian names
many years ago i had the pleasure of a certain lady married to a certain person of high society whom is in goverments high ranks
spoke with a plum in her mouth and after a week or two visits to her house
she turned to me and said Alan , you got me into trouble with my mother , i said oh yes what was that mrs x
she said my mother came yesterday and told me off about my low tone speaking and certain words
and she said mother its Alan whom comes and its rubbed on to me she was not very happy about she said to me
i must say bronson it brought it back to me about the speaking with a plum in your mouth
and sellyfields you also brought a laugh to me in reading your both threads
i have travelled the breath of the country and ran clubs and bars all over and i have never lost my proud accent of brummie never will to the day i die Astonian;;;;
 
Astonian said:
thats the right attitude bronson when it come to people accents and thats my attitude to people take me as you find me
or please your self my old son
I have to say bronson, is some people do try and put it on when out in public , me i do not care , i have met alot of high flyers
within our society they do not get heirs and grace with me
even the big noises of our society with titles and where people call them sir because of there title i would calll them by there christian names
many years ago i had the pleasure of a certain lady married to a certain person of high society whom is in goverments high ranks
spoke with a plum in her mouth and after a week or two visits to her house
she turned to me and said Alan , you got me into trouble with my mother , i said oh yes what was that mrs x
she said my mother came yesterday and told me off about my low tone speaking and certain words
and she said mother its Alan whom comes and its rubbed on to me she was not very happy about she said to me
i must say bronson it brought it back to me about the speaking with a plum in your mouth
and sellyfields you also brought a laugh to me in reading your both threads
i have travelled the breath of the country and ran clubs and bars all over and i have never lost my proud accent of brummie never will to the day i die Astonian;;;;
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Bravo old chap!!!
Dave A
 
Returning to the original theme of this thread, I think that a strong Brummie accent does affect life opportunities. I like the posts in which folks are digging in their heels and remaining defiant but, if most are honest, the Brummie accent is viewed with disdain in many other parts of the country. You can count on one hand the number of television programmes that are truly Brum whereas there are countless numbers made in areas where the regional accent is ‘on trend.’ Newcastle and the north-east have benefited from this. Yorkshire has always featured highly. In more recent times, the Manchester area has formed the backdrop of many programmes whilst Essex is the current media’s choice. The story isn’t much different on the radio and I speak with some authority on this as Radio 4 is the soundtrack of my life. It is perhaps the treatment of Brum in the media that has had some influence in the wider world of business and the workplace. Even those in the media have adjusted their accents to ‘get on’ – and don’t quote Adrian Chiles as, growing up in Hagley, he has an affected accent. A number of the posts to this thread have suggested that they were told “to lose the accent” and, despite many refusing through pride or dogma, it does have an impact on those seeking to move into traditional middle-class occupations or those jobs in which speaking plays an important role. Anyway, as a yam-yam, what do I know? Well, us Black Country lot have arguably a chunkier glass ceiling than Brummies and I am convinced that my regional dialect has been a factor in job interviews. I have seen the discomfort amongst the interviewing panel as soon as I open my mouth. As proud as I am of where I am from, I have to be honest about its impediment to career advancement.
 
I'm proud of my Brummie accent but I've always encouraged my children to speak properly, not in a sloppy fashion, which I think is sometimes the problem with some people. Mom always corrected me when I was growing up. I can't undo my vowels and have no intention of trying. I have to admit that some people have remarked on my 'Midlands' accent - I just reply, 'Yes - great isn't it?' That usually confuses them.
I've just spent a week in Wales with my brother who relocated to London in 1971. His accent didn't hold him back in his career with BT (or the GPO as it was then or maybe the Post Office?) but he now arrives back 'home' with an Essex twang which we soon sort out for him - doesn't take long. My sister-in-law always complains, when he phones her, that he has 'got that dreadful accent back'. Go Bro!
 
Hi,

When I moved over here (Norfolk) just over a year ago, I brought my Brummie accent with me. Not my own you understand but in the
shape of my dear wife Sheila born 73 years ago in Yardley Wood!

So although I lived in Brum for 67 years, I spent the first 7 years of my life in Suffolk, and never really mastered it!

Kind regards
Dave
 
I moved to Birmingham from Ireland aged 11 in 1966. For a good while my accent was a mish mash of Brummie and West of Ireland. Some people thought I was a scouser...! I moved away from Brum in my twenties and having lived in various places since then I now have a fairly neutral English accent. Having retired to Ireland in 2017, I am now taken for an Englishman by those who don't know me. Funny things accents!
 
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I've not lived in Birmingham for about 30 odd years but as soon as I open my mouth to speak, people ask me from what part of Birmingham I come ! I have lived here in the North East for about 10 years and have become involved in a few local "am dram" productions including a couple sponsored by the local council to promote the refurbishment of the local theatre, The Darlington Hippodrome. After the last one there was a post production party and as part of the celebrations there was section whereby we all took it in turns to read from a script of a film and everyone else had to guess from which film the words came.
Together with a couple of others we read part of the script from "The The Life of Brian", a Monty Python film which included a fair amount of profane language, mainly from my character.
One of the comments I heard after our little performance was " Nobody knows how to say F*** Off like a Brummie".
Now I don't whether to be proud or ashamed of my accent.:(
 
jmadone said:
I've not lived in Birmingham for about 30 odd years but as soon as I open my mouth to speak, people ask me from what part of Birmingham I come ! I have lived here in the North East for about 10 years and have become involved in a few local "am dram" productions including a couple sponsored by the local council to promote the refurbishment of the local theatre, The Darlington Hippodrome. After the last one there was a post production party and as part of the celebrations there was section whereby we all took it in turns to read from a script of a film and everyone else had to guess from which film the words came.
Together with a couple of others we read part of the script from "The The Life of Brian", a Monty Python film which included a fair amount of profane language, mainly from my character.
One of the comments I heard after our little performance was " Nobody knows how to say F*** Off like a Brummie".
Now I don't whether to be proud or ashamed of my accent.:(
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Jmadone , Look on the bright side if your amdram company ever decide to put on a version of The Peaky Blinders you'll be in a prime position for the lead role of Thomas Shelby , so you may want to give thanks you've still got the lingo
 
Have you ever heard of the expression when its going to rain It looks black over our Bills mothers?
 
Apparantly it comes from our Bill, meanimg Shakespeare, Bills mother is Mary Arden and Stratford is southwest of Brum which is where most of the bad weather comes from!
Toodlepip
Im not sure whether this is Brummie or not,
 
Alberta said:
Another'know it all ' group has come up with a list of accents that either hold you back in your working life or make life good for you.
Having a brummie accent apparently means you will not be a success in your career.Crikey Dr.Chinn have you read this.?
Take heart, we were 2nd worst,poor scousers won.

I thought that this way of thinking had long gone along with newsreaders with a plum in their mouth.
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Alberta just noticed this thread, I can understand how the scousers won when you listen to Craig Phillips it's as though these scousers have their own radio interference inbuilt to their speech
 
It is curious how many accents there are in what is a small sized country. Even parts of some of the larger counties are slightly different.
Professor Henry Higgins 'enery 'iggins?) would enlighten us I guess.
 
Hi Alan i think i have to disagree on that subject and i think alot of people will also agree with me and others will tell you i ran pubs and clubs never failed me
 
Astonian said:
Hi Alan i think i have to disagree on that subject and i think alot of people will also agree with me and others will tell you i ran pubs and clubs never failed me
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I don't follow you Alan. My comment is a general one about the United Kingdom and how accents vary from one area to another, even over a relatively short distance. Southern Warwickshire is quite different to Northern Warwickshire and the Black Country has its own dialect and that is pretty close, geographically, to Birmingham. Staffordshire and adjacent counties to Birmingham differ in accent. I had not intended to include Devon in the topic but to make a point I will mention that Plymouth has a different dialect to nearby East Cornwall and West Devon.

The video is intended to be humorous.
 
i could drive a cab.or be a controller
i:laughing::laughing::laughing:s there something else you want me to do-ooh, yeah
(Yes, you can have another job 67)
You know I'm only here to please you
(Stand by all cars, stand by)
(Time for a pick-up at 83 Royal Gardens)
(First call for 83 Royal Gardens)
(Can somebody give me a time for the pick-up?)
(Stand by 67, we'll have an other job for you shortly)
(Calling all cars, calling all cars)
(Time for a pick-up at 83 Royal Gardens)
(First call to 83 Royal Gardens)
(Somebody give me a time)
(Can you do it car 23.
 
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mw0njm. said:
i could drive a cab.or be a controller
i:laughing::laughing::laughing:s there something else you want me to do-ooh, yeah
(Yes, you can have another job 67)
You know I'm only here to please you
(Stand by all cars, stand by)
(Time for a pick-up at 83 Royal Gardens)
(First call for 83 Royal Gardens)
(Can somebody give me a time for the pick-up?)
(Stand by 67, we'll have an other job for you shortly)
(Calling all cars, calling all cars)
(Time for a pick-up at 83 Royal Gardens)
(First call to 83 Royal Gardens)
(Somebody give me a time)
(Can you do it car 23
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Classic South Brum accent !
When my eldest was little, when that record came on the radio, he was convinced that the controller's voice was his Uncle Derek.
 
A brummie accent will hold you back in life. Who knows? Maybe it was just the limitation of my abilities. We shall have to have a re-run without an accent to see if I am more successful second time around! I wasn't aware of any particular prejudice during my working life. I stayed in Brum so we were in the majority, it was only when I spoke on a tape recorder that I particularly noticed. I did notice that folk around the World would recognise my voice on the telephone, so maybe with hindsight it was quite distinctive.
 
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