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Definition of “Brummie”, “Astonian” etc

hi

Yep my old mate always said a True Brummie was born South of the Bull Ring.
So the Theory on Digbeth rings true. Its hard to compare Brummie with Cockney

Mike Jenk
 
Jewel said:
I love this thread, it's bostin!

My mother was born in Erdington, her father born in Warley. My father was born in Smethwick.
I was born in Sutton Coldfeild & as a child lived in Aldridge, then Walsall, then Brownhills. I moved darn sarth when I was 19. And although im not sure I count as being a brummie, I have similar vocab.

I know what a cob is, & get into many fun debates with southern mates who call it a roll. It is a cob or course.

Tomato ketchup I call red sauce

I call my mother mom, or mam, & not mum. Mum is underarm deodorant, which brings amusement to my friends.

I know what an outdoor is.

My p.e. shoes were called pumps, not plimsoles, & I carried them in a pump bag.

I was the babee of the family, not the baby.

I moved south & was constantly corrected & told islands are roundabouts, which was confusing, as a roundabout was something I played on at the local park as a kid. I prefer the word islands.

I love a scon, especially with a strong cup of tea

I remember shopping in Rackhams

I love pikelets.
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Ha Ha jewel I love this we must have had a similar background and I relate to all you say. I was born in Handsworth grew up in Sutton. Dad was an Aston lad Mom came from West Brom..I do miss my Mom and Dad ..x
 
Hi

Yep If you take Football as a Matrix and work it out. The Blues ground well its South of the Bull Ring ie
Brummies. The Villa ground is in a Rival Borough Aston. Even when Aston came into what is Greater Birmingham
the intense rivalry exists today. I know Football fans now come from all over the place now.
Just a thought. Still struggling everyday with Mom. Hospital at Solihull Ward 18 all staff fantastic.
As the song goes keep right on to the End of the Road. Up the Brummies

Mike Jenks
 
Hi Wendy,

We have a few similarities it seems. :)
My mom lived in Handsworth & my older brother was born there, during the early 60s.
My mothers grandfather was the park superintendent at Warley, from 1906-1935, I have always been interested in the stories from that era, & can't believe I have never visited Warley, I plan to change that very soon.
I used to go shopping every now & then to Brum ( when I lived in the midlands), I loved the bull ring, & the markets too. I remember getting my fortune told by a gypsy on Birmingham market, for £1.00 when I was 14.
Ah! I'm remeniscing *smiles*
 
Ha Ha love that one 205mal, I must tell my husband he was from Ralph Road...
 
I was a little closer,Adderll Road. I spent some of my early years sitting in the passageway of the Tote waiting for a glass of pop and a packet of crisps.
 
Dwilly i have seen that on the news, this is for a welcoming pack for immigrants which they are thinking of introducing - laughable!
 
I have just seen the announcement about a Birmingham welcoming pack and the definition of a Brummy.I have to wonder whether they consulted any Brummies or did they employ a firm of consultants from outside the city..
 
Oh missed it hopefully it will be on again later. We don't see much of Carl these days his Sunday radio show was wonderful last week.
 
sistersue61 said:
I bet they didn't consult Brummies - are there any of them on these welcoming committees I wonder!!!
Sue
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lets set some boundaries here ( like sound of Bow Bells for Cockneys) so how about a) born within the area covered by the old no 11 bus route b) must be 2nd generation? The OLRA ( Old Ladywood Re-uinion Association) have a similar criterion relating to life, work and birth.
 
I still think my idea of a Brummy being born within the smell of Saltley gasworks holds a little credence.
 
I guess not being a "Brummie", having been born in Warwickshire, maybe I might be considered as impartial. The area within the Outer Circle 11 route is quite vast so I could not support that. A couple of recent posts have mentioned London and Bow Bells. If that similarity was accorded to Birmingham then I suggest St. Martins in the Bull Ring. It must be remembered, however, that the criteria for a Cockney is "within earshot" of Bow Bells and as such the same criteria should be applied to St, Martins.
 
Radiorails said:
I guess not being a "Brummie", having been born in Warwickshire, maybe I might be considered as impartial. The area within the Outer Circle 11 route is quite vast so I could not support that. A couple of recent posts have mentioned London and Bow Bells. If that similarity was accorded to Birmingham then I suggest St. Martins in the Bull Ring. It must be remembered, however, that the criteria for a Cockney is "within earshot" of Bow Bells and as such the same criteria should be applied to St, Martins.
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Not all Londoners are Cockneys but all Cockneys are Londoners.
All Brummies are from Birmingham!
 
Mike Brain said:
lets set some boundaries here ( like sound of Bow Bells for Cockneys) so how about a) born within the area covered by the old no 11 bus route b) must be 2nd generation? The OLRA ( Old Ladywood Re-uinion Association) have a similar criterion relating to life, work and birth.
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There a few people who might dispute that one Mike. What about the thousands south of Kings Heath ?
I was born in Leamington because the Luftwaffe were carrying out some alterations in Brum. If it wasn't for that I'd've been born in Winson St Winson Green. I'm still a Brummie though.
As they used to say when I was a kid, "Yer know 'es a Brummie when 'e opens 'is gob !".
 
Like most Londoner's I have known, then tend to take with a pinch of salt the rubbish talked about the word "True", from my understanding a cockney and bow bells refered to an "East Ender"!! and had nothing to do with London, where as a, child, boy, youth, I never heard anyone speak about "a true Brummie", anyone who was born in, and lived in, the postal district designated "BIRMINGHAM" was a Brummie???, when I went in the army I was called "Brummie". Enough for me anyway.
paul
 
paul stacey said:
Like most Londoner's I have known, then tend to take with a pinch of salt the rubbish talked about the word "True", from my understanding a cockney and bow bells refered to an "East Ender"!! and had nothing to do with London, where as a, child, boy, youth, I never heard anyone speak about "a true Brummie", anyone who was born in, and lived in, the postal district designated "BIRMINGHAM" was a Brummie???, when I went in the army I was called "Brummie". Enough for me anyway.
paul
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There are a lot of variations on where London is. At its smallest is the City also known as "the square mile" which is home to a lot of financial institutions and such. Nobody lives there. At its largest it's the whole of "Greater London" and most of the people from the outlying areas will not think of themselves as Londoners. They'll say they're from whatever town, city, or county but not London. For them it would be like a brummy saying they're from the West Midlands. This applies in varying degrees to a lot of the people who come from some of the different boroughs. You get people saying they're from Kensington or Chelsea rather than London the same as folks from Solihull won't say they're from Birmingham. Me, I'm from Croydon in Surrey. I've lived in Birmingham (Edgbaston or Balsall Heath) for nearly ten times as long but I'm from Croydon.

Cockney is officially anyone born within the sound of Bow Bells but the accent doesn't just disappear at the edges and some of the other things go on much further. Rhyming Slang is one of them. The local football team in Croydon is officially nicknamed "The Eagles" but, growing up, I only ever heard them referred to as "The Screamin' Alice".
 
paul stacey said:
Like most Londoner's I have known, then tend to take with a pinch of salt the rubbish talked about the word "True", from my understanding a cockney and bow bells refered to an "East Ender"!! and had nothing to do with London, where as a, child, boy, youth, I never heard anyone speak about "a true Brummie", anyone who was born in, and lived in, the postal district designated "BIRMINGHAM" was a Brummie???, when I went in the army I was called "Brummie". Enough for me anyway.
paul
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Same here Paul.
I must say though, I sometimes got called "Scouse", even "Paddy" a couple of times. I think the accent of the people I was knocking about with at the time used to rub off on me !
 
Born Handsworth, moved to Great Barr, now in Sutton :) Mum b Smethwick / Dad b West Brom (up the baggies)

Well Jewel ...... with Cobs, Mom, Outdoor and Pumps etc your an honourary true Brummie in my book.

Me and me Mom went Up Town (Brum) on Saterdies or Up West Brom instead.
We alwiz caught the Buz up the New Inns - (the terminus I think).
We ad to wait ages fer the buz to turn up and they all ad conductors on um.

Great memories.
 
Hello Baz!!! long time no speak, yep, I too was taken many times for a scouse, mainly on the phone, even now living in East Anglia many years people still ask if I hail from Liverpool.
paul
 
I will stand up and make my confession

I AM a Brummie.:pride:

It matters not where the boundaries might be seen to be.
I KNOW I am a TRUE Brummie and I am proud of it.
I was born in Handsworth and lived in Boulton Road (top end) until I was 15 when we moved upmarket to nearly Handsworth Wood
Except for a few years in Great Barr when I was first married we then moved back to Handsworth Wood and lived there until 1995 when we moved to South Birmingham where I am still living.
My Mom was from Small Heath. My Dad was from Hockley.
I don't know if I have an accent or not.

Elizabeths list made me smile.

My mother was never mum, always Mom.
When we ordered the flowers for her funeral they thought we were a little strange insisting on MOM instead of the more usual mUm.
I like my children to call me Mom.

I always call town ... erm, town.

I call ketchup tomato sauce rather than red sauce.

Although I don't recall from my younger days the Cathedral grounds being called 'pigeon park' my children call it that

I have never done the whole 11 route on the bus in one go but, like so many other Brummies, I have walked it on a sponsored walk.

The House of Fraser will ALWAYS be Rackhams.

I know what a gambol is - I just can't do them any more.
Forward or backward roll just doesn't sound the same.

I too had pumps and pump bags for school and so did my children.

Traffic 'roundabouts' are definitely islands - as are those little havens halfway across some busy roads where you can stand and wait for a gap in the traffic

And tiptops, oh yes! I wonder when and why they became freezepops???



There is another one I have just discovered .... I had chocolate concrete for pudding at school - apparently even in the London they don't have that ...............:rolleyes:
 
I used to like chocolate concrete and custard but preferred cold fatty ham and boiled potatoes, always plenty of seconds of the fatty ham :)
 
Went to Lickey with Nan but she said they had spoilt it by building on it. I wanted to see all the places she talked about like the Clock Fields which is now house. The Donkey Fields I don't know. Clent might stll be nice. Very long for you. Nan went to Helston though and the Lizard.
 
Hi

Yep I can still see all those people in the Queues waiting to go home from the Lickey
hill from the Tram Terminus. It was a large Circle the Trams did to turn around as far as
I can remember. I think the Tram Rails are still there. Around 1951/52.
The noise on them was deafening and the ride was uncomfortable. It was a jolt jolt
journey al the way.
When I was in Berlin in the 60's we always caught the Tram from the Kufurstendamm
to Spandau where we were working. They didn't seem a lot better.
Mom 96 was terrible today its a long hard Journey for her now.

mike jenks
 
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