Regional accents- the last straw.

[MrGongGong]

In what way is it phoney?

Because (like some folks I went to school with who sound like the comedian John Bishop) it's an affectation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvQ3M3WaPA

[jean]

Never mind the folks you went to school with -what do you sound like? That's what I want to know.

Anyway, RR didn't go to your school, or to any school anywhere near Liverpool - I read that The family moved to London when Robert was a toddler, settling in the south London suburb of Malden.

[vinteuil]

Because ... it's an affectation.

... so, if you happen to be born into a family speaking RP, what should you do? Should I 'affect' a different accent so as to escape your criticism?

[MrGongGong]

... so, if you happen to be born into a family speaking RP, what should you do? Should I 'affect' a different accent so as to escape your criticism?

You should definitely go electrocution lessons with Alexi Sayle and stay indoors until you have eliminated all traces.

Different people sound different and it's great to hear a variety of voices on the radio.

[Mary Chambers]

... so, if you happen to be born into a family speaking RP, what should you do? Should I 'affect' a different accent so as to escape your criticism?

This is what I was wondering. People used to be apologetic about having regional accents. Is it necessary for them now to be apologetic about not having one? Believe it or not, there are people from all over Britain who have always spoken RP.

[MrGongGong]

This is what I was wondering. People used to be apologetic about having regional accents. Is it necessary for them now to be apologetic about not having one? Believe it or not, there are people from all over Britain who have always spoken RP.

RP is an accent.
The idea that it's somehow 'default English' is one that is thankfully in the past IMV

[jean]

RP is an accent.

I don't think anyone here has claimed that it isn't.

[Mary Chambers]

It is an accent, perhaps, but not a regional one.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Never mind the folks you went to school with -what do you sound like? That's what I want to know.

He speaks passable RP, with very little Scouse or Estuary.

[jean]

Interesting! When you say passable, I suppose you mean he passes...for what, exactly?

[jean]

It is an accent, perhaps, but not a regional one.

No, it's really a class one.

(I have arguments with OH who I say hasn't got a Liverpool accent because she was sent away to school; she claims, possibly truthfully, that she spoke like that before she went to school, because her parents did. But I've no means of checking.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No, it's really a class one.

(I have arguments with OH who I say hasn't got a Liverpool accent because she was sent away to school; she claims, possibly truthfully, that she spoke like that before she went to school, because her parents did. But I've no means of checking.)

I know very many people in Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and York who have not been away to school, who are unaffected RP speakers.

[Mary Chambers]

RP is an accent.
The idea that it's somehow 'default English' is one that is thankfully in the past IMV

It is 'default English' in dictionaries.

[MrGongGong]

It is 'default English' in dictionaries.

I've never heard one speak

[MrGongGong]

He speaks passable RP, with very little Scouse or Estuary.

Stalking is a criminal offence,I think?