Accents

[Em_]

When I first moved to the North I saw somewhere advertising Barm Cakes I genuinely thought it was some sort of regional cake I hadn’t tried - it was a bloody roll!

I also remember being taken aback when a shop assistant referred to me as a “cock”.

I prefer absolutely everything about the North. Most of the accents, the sense of humour, community and slower paced living. Just an observation but people here are also more inclined to brag about a bargain rather than how expensive something is. Which I really love.

I thought everyone went on about a bargain, across the country? Didn't know it was a Northern thing. I love pointing out how much I've saved

I'm a Manc and I pronounce it Chimney. My Manc mother says Chimley and my even Mancer father says Chimney. So it could be a manc thing!


A barm being called a muffin or roll truly hurts my being

It could be. I'm going to ring my parents up, just to double check how they say it. I live in Cheshire now and they say chimney.
I've been in so many office arguments over Barm Vs Muffin, it's always the North Mancs that say muffin. I don't know why it offends me so much

 

[I’mThankyou_]

I can imagine!!.....but I don't get why I see the discrimination all the time.
I watch Naked Attraction and they're always put off by the northern accents.
I watch Escape to the Country and NO ONE ever wants to live up north....

What is going up there???? lololol

It depends where in the North you come from tbh. There's a lot of stereotypes attached to the likes of a scouse accent or a Mancunian or Geordie accent.

 

[Lizzie Mintdrop]

My boyfriends personal favourite is when I say chicken tikka masala

My dad is from Rock Ferry and my partner is from Norris Green, love both of their accents but sometimes when I'm in Liverpool, I'm not sure if some of the younger ones I can hear are scousers or if they're from Poland

 

[Notorious PIG]

I like some more than others but don’t mind any of them really. If I could choose, I’d have a modern RP accent. Mine is a bit less than halfway between SE London and modern RP. I don’t live in the UK and I get loads of compliments about my accent, which is really nice, but still baffling!

 

[HowlOwl]

I’m from Birmingham originally but I’ve never had a strong accent. When I moved up to the north-west, I thought everyone had a very strong northern accent but I’m so used to it now and have probably picked up a bit myself. Everyone sounds so Brummie when I go back home now. It’s knocked as an accent but it always sounds friendly, I think.

 

[Lizzie Mintdrop]

Maybe it's just me, although my Dad is from North Manchester and I'm sure he pronounces it the same as me, but he says weird things like calling a barm a muffin.

It is funny how people use different words for things, I call it a barm. Neither of my parents are from Manchester so I think that affects the words I use for things. My dad insisted on calling pizza 'pitza'

 

[sasuss]

I find this interesting because my niece is being raised bilingually. She was a bit slower to speak (which is apparently normal for bilingual children) and when she started to speak she wouldn't always talk in English, so I couldn't always understand her.

However, she's 3 now and only seems to speak English, even though she can understand everything her mum says (her mum's first language isn't English). I wondered if it was because she's cottoned onto the fact that everyone other than her mum only understands her when she speaks English.

Do you find your children speak both languages - or do they tend to favour English more?

They tend to favour English more, same with us siblings as children. My mother always spoke in her native tongue not that she couldn't speak English, she just preferred it. My father flipped between 3 languages his native tongue, my mother's and English. He was bought up in Manchester from the age of 12 and again he didn't really have an accent either.

 

[Baconbutties]

I have a proper broad Lancashire accent. When I go on holiday people always say oooh you sound just like Peter Kay. Wouldn't mind but I'm not even from Bowton

 

[Em_]

Warrington in between Manchester and Liverpool do not have a nice accent. I’m not fond of it at all. The women from the armpit areas can be quite harsh on the ears and on men it sounds a bit camp.

Wigan isn’t a nice accent. Too much emphasis on their O’s. They sound as thick as brummies.

I find the NW to have such drastic changes of accent in a small area.

Ove just been to IKEA Warrington this morning and the range of accents. The Warrington accent to me is a mix of Scouse and Manc. I love the Wigan accent, I always used to laugh when my mate from Wigan said Bus which sounded like Buz. We do have a lot of different accents in the North West.

 

[mcfeez]

I'm from NI and had to travel to England and Scotland a fair bit a few years ago for work; I always got told by my, mostly Scottish, coworkers that Northern Irish accents sound "overly aggressive" and then they followed it up with an Ian Paisley impression haha .

Accents in the UK are wild. There are less than 2 million people in Northern Ireland and we still have quite a range of accents.

 

[Eirawen]

Birmingham’s not in the north and the accent is generally accepted as the worst in the U.K.

I can't stand it or the Wolverhampton /Walsall accent they all sound thick. Can you imagine seeing a Dr with a Brummie accent? He would have to pay for elocution lessons. A lot of people from that area come and live in Wales and you can hear them braying all over the place.

 

[Em_]

I'm a Manc lol but my accent is pretty neutral, I put it down to the fact that we come from a bilingual household and are from one of the "posher" ends of Manchester. My 3 kids are Glaswegian however only my son has a slight Scottish accent again maybe because they're educated in the posher end of Glasgow - (it was a lot stronger when we lived in the more central part of Glasgow) add to the fact they spent a lot of their formative years in Manchester as well as the fact they learnt to speak from me. Again our own household is bilingual as English is not my husband's first language pretty sure that makes a difference..??

I'm not being a snob lol

I'm aanc, but I've had people on Manchester ask where I'm from, but I don't have a strong accent, plus I'm from South Manchester and we don't have the North/Salford accent. I also made an effort to pronounce the t sound in words. I live in Cheshire now and my daughter does say the odd manc word and has a slight twinge if Manc due to me, but that's better than the alternative.
I do think the Geordie accent is the best accent in the country.

 

[Albs]

I'm not sure if this is related, but how do you pronounce 'chimney'? I'm really interested to know how fellow Mancs pronounce it. I pronounce it 'chimley' and my husband who is from Cheshire makes fun of me and was shocked that I didn't know it was pronounced 'chimney'. He asked his work mates who are all Scousers and they pronounce it 'chimney', they said it was a cockney thing to pronounce it 'chimley'. I wondered if it was a Manc thing or if it's just me.

Im in east Manchester & most people i know will say chimley.

 

[sasuss]

I'm a Manc lol but my accent is pretty neutral, I put it down to the fact that we come from a bilingual household and are from one of the "posher" ends of Manchester. My 3 kids are Glaswegian however only my son has a slight Scottish accent again maybe because they're educated in the posher end of Glasgow - (it was a lot stronger when we lived in the more central part of Glasgow) add to the fact they spent a lot of their formative years in Manchester as well as the fact they learnt to speak from me. Again our own household is bilingual as English is not my husband's first language pretty sure that makes a difference..??

I'm not being a snob lol

 

[Mollyoscar_]

Hahahaha I'm from Warrington but I don't have the typical Warrington accent. We either sound like we are from Liverpool or Manchester depending on the side of Warrington that you live. My family sounds more Scouse than Manc but I have friends and they definitely sound Manc.

Im from warrington aswell and get told i sound like i have a manc accent, my parents are from manchester though so no doubt ill have picked up some of their accent.

 

[Apple In My Pie]

I’m Welsh. I don’t like the accent I have though as it’s not very strong.

 

[Beaversabout]

I really like the sound of the Minnesota accent in America. I like the film drop dead gorgeous too.

 

[Em_]

I'm not sure if this is related, but how do you pronounce 'chimney'? I'm really interested to know how fellow Mancs pronounce it. I pronounce it 'chimley' and my husband who is from Cheshire makes fun of me and was shocked that I didn't know it was pronounced 'chimney'. He asked his work mates who are all Scousers and they pronounce it 'chimney', they said it was a cockney thing to pronounce it 'chimley'. I wondered if it was a Manc thing or if it's just me.

 

[BattleAxing]

I like Scouse and certain non nasally Manc accents. I do adore an Irish accent. Not so much N Irish though.

I am not keen on Cockney, Geordie or Welsh.

 

[I’mThankyou_]

I thought everyone went on about a bargain, across the country? Didn't know it was a Northern thing. I love pointing out how much I've saved


It could be. I'm going to ring my parents up, just to double check how they say it. I live in Cheshire now and they say chimney.
I've been in so many office arguments over Barm Vs Muffin, it's always the North Mancs that say muffin. I don't know why it offends me so much

My partner is from North Manchester, I think I've conditioned him now to accept that it's always a barm never a roll. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's offended

Thinking back to the chimney situ, a lot of my mothers family say Chimley and a lot originate from Ashton/Stalybridge way & few from Wigan so I think it could be an inner regional thing as they also say Bewk/Cewk/Lewk as apposed to Book/Cook/Look.