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Moving away but always a Brummie

B

Brumrocks

proper brummie kid
I moved to London when I was eighteen and, whilst never regretting that decision, I've always longed to hear a Brummie accent. I have heard very few over the years. And, I have really missed the Brummie sense of humour. If you asked me what that was I wouldn't be able to tell you, I just know I miss it. I know I'll always be a Brummie through and through wherever I live.
 
Brumrocks said:
I moved to London when I was eighteen and, whilst never regretting that decision, I've always longed to hear a Brummie accent. I have heard very few over the years. And, I have really missed the Brummie sense of humour. If you asked me what that was I wouldn't be able to tell you, I just know I miss it. I know I'll always be a Brummie through and through wherever I live.
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just give me ring then
 
I've lived in London for 23 years and agree with Brumrocks, you don't hear a West Midlands accent very often.

I was sitting outside with a coffee at a local city farm not long ago and happened to ask a guy, who I assumed was staff, a question about what some people were doing. After he'd told me he said ..are you from Birmingham...he could just catch it in my accent! We had a good chat - lovely guy, he is a sculptor who also does some work at the farm.

As I said to him, I will always be a Brummie first and foremost - proud to be one :) and he agreed totally.
 
I bought a new freezer off amazon. it come this morning,the driver knocked on my door,and said we have brought the fridge.i said thanks bring it in , and then he said " wow yo are a brummie wot yo doing here in the middle of nowwere mate" they had brought it from tipton.:grinning:
 
Mum (from Yorkshire) spoke with a Brummie accent, but sometimes lapsed into Yorkshire and continued to used words like ‘bairn’ (baby), ‘reet’ (right), t’ (to). She often dropped ‘h’s’ and merged ‘t’s with other words like t’erdington (to Erdington) !

I don’t know what my accent is anymore. Lived 23 years in Brum, 30 years in London, now in Kent so probably added a few Kentish tones and of course there’s a bit of Yorkshire in there too for good measure.

Sometimes when I chatted with Brummies who worked in the same London office as I did, we’d lapse into various levels of Brummagen. We also formed a Brummies club. Us exiles stuck together believe me. Surprisingly there were quite a few over the years. I think almost every conversation wouldn't be complete without reminiscing about the Bull Ring.

Viv.
 
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That’s very true. When my children were young, and if I was talking to a Brummie over the phone, they’d sometimes say “why are you speaking foreign?” !!

Viv.
 
when i speak to my family on the phone in brum. they sound wierd now me living in wales for years.... TAPE yourself speaking and play it back to yourself, you sound totaly different to what you think you sound:grinning:
 
I don`t think i`ve ever had a `brummy accent`. People here in Durham say i talk posh ! Yet my brother has the most awful brummy accent & when i speak to him on the phone i have to ask him to slow down & repeat what he just said. When he talks about politics he gets so excited he may as well be Chinese for all i can understand.
 
Viv speaking of Brummies in London has reminded me of a man I have known for a while who works in a bookshop here in London.

I knew he was from Birmingham but it wasn't until recently we got talking more and I found out his first job was at the old Birchfield library in Perry Barr in the early 60's which was a time I used the library frequently when I was at school so our paths must have crossed all those years ago!
He's been in London many years now and has pretty much lost his accent but when we were excitingly reminiscing, I noticed both our accents were getting stronger :laughing:
 
mw0njm. said:
and me speaking wenglish with a brummies accent
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A good while ago I worked for a company big enough to have several service engineers. I visited a customer with two engineers, one originally from Norfolk, and the other from Wales. Luckily they could both understand a Brummie accent, even though they found each others English 'difficult'. (I must admit I was winging it a bit with the Welsh accent).
Andrew.
 
When working in and around London for BT, I was asked if I could attend a job after 6pm. This I picked up at 5pm drove to the address climbed the telegraph pole, broke the line down it was ok to top of pole. I connected it back up and as there was a car outside I knocked the door a California gentleman let me in, he said I am over this is my brothers house. I said it looks like a lightning strike has caused a short on your main NTE. So it turned out. His brother came home walked in introducing himself, I said you’re Lines ok now just a socket change. He said Birmingham City fan I said yes. He turned to his brother and said everyone I meet in the stock market with that accent is a Blues fan. Do not get us mixed up with them Yammers. That’s Black Country and they can not talk properly.
 
My cousin who moved to Hampshire. Married and divorced twice in no time. Third wife another Brummie. Still together 45 years. Probably the only woman who understands him.
 
A Sparks said:
He's been in London many years now and has pretty much lost his accent but when we were excitingly reminiscing, I noticed both our accents were getting stronger
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That's interesting. We lived in Somerset for a good while before leaving the UK, and people (more so from from the southern counties), would often say that they could hear a bit of West Country in my accent, which they thought was vaguely 'midlands'. When I speak with Brummies, I notice how brumm they sound at first, then their accent becomes more 'normal' as conversation proceeds, as my ear tunes back to how it originally learnt to listen. I sometimes get "I didn't realise you were from Birmingham" as well, so my accent is probably reverting just as in your comment.

I have also noticed that when people try to imitate a Brummie accent for a sentence or two, particularly if I say I am from Birmingham and they feel a need to 'bond', it is more like Black Country that comes out.

Andrew.
 
Born in Handsworth and brought up in Duddeston and Washwood Heath, I left Birmingham a LONG time ago, and emigrated to Castle Bromwich, then Solihull! Since then, however, I've lived in Cyprus for the last 14 years or so, and we Brummies are few & far between here. I have a Brummie friend who I see occasionally who understands what a "scrage" is, and a another who's a Silhillian, but I'll forgive her for that......
 
Graham S said:
Born in Handsworth and brought up in Duddeston and Washwood Heath, I left Birmingham a LONG time ago, and emigrated to Castle Bromwich, then Solihull! Since then, however, I've lived in Cyprus for the last 14 years or so, and we Brummies are few & far between here. I have a Brummie friend who I see occasionally who understands what a "scrage" is, and a another who's a Silhillian, but I'll forgive her for that......
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I've lived away from Brum since the 1970s apart from a few years in Solihull. I now live in County Durham where brummie accents are rare indeed. Every now and then I will pass a comment about something on the telly or radio only to be told by my wife, also a born and bred brummie, " That sounded really Brummie ". As previous posters have stated the more excited I get, the Brummier I sound!
 
Brummie a long time ago said:
That's interesting. We lived in Somerset for a good while before leaving the UK, and people (more so from from the southern counties), would often say that they could hear a bit of West Country in my accent, which they thought was vaguely 'midlands'. When I speak with Brummies, I notice how brumm they sound at first, then their accent becomes more 'normal' as conversation proceeds, as my ear tunes back to how it originally learnt to listen. I sometimes get "I didn't realise you were from Birmingham" as well, so my accent is probably reverting just as in your comment.

I have also noticed that when people try to imitate a Brummie accent for a sentence or two, particularly if I say I am from Birmingham and they feel a need to 'bond', it is more like Black Country that comes out.

Andrew.
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A Yamma I know said what’s so good about Birmingham. I replied I have done some research since I moved into Halesowen. Between 1750 and 1899, 66% of the patents taken out in the world were perfected in Birmingham at this time you Yammas made nails. They tend to say Yam carnt do that. Yam goooin the match in the Black Country.
 
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