Linda Jones adds to our exploration of the things we love with a fond look at her native regional tongue.
My children are developing a Black Country accent. Asked what colour Daddy's shoes are, they say "brow-un." Some people, I know, will turn their nose up at this potentially disturbing news. The accent I mean, not the brown shoes. But I'm really very happy with it. Is there any more bostin’ phrase in a hit parade of regional dialects than: "Ow am ya cock?"
It’s a question that makes me glow inside. I remember my grandad uttering those very words while pressing a bar of Caramac into my eager hand circa 1976, and when he told me I was a ‘roight bobby dazzler’ I felt like a princess.
There’s a beautiful, sing-song quality to the Wolverhampton accent, also heard in other questions like ‘ aw-roight am-ya?’ that anyone south of Willenhall may fail to appreciate. Yet according to academics, these cheery greetings (‘ow am ya cock is roughly translated as ‘how you doing?’) are in danger of vanishing forever, along with ‘aer kid’, bostin' (brilliant), ‘wik’ meaning week and ‘tarra a bit’.
Noddy Holder says his accent held him back in the US (nothing to do with the music then Noddy?) and the latest Lonely Planet Guide sneers: "If you thought Brummies sounded funny just wait til you get to Wolverhampton."
The city’s mayor has called on Wulfrunians to treasure their distinctive dialect. And who can blame him? Are we really ready to lose such gems as ‘foggits un pays’ (faggots and peas), ‘any road up’ (anyway) and ‘at wum’ (at home)?
A study called Now Y’am Talking comes as no surprise. They really didn’t have to go ‘all round the Wrekin’ to discover this much maligned accent is being used less and less.Round these parts we call a bus a ‘buzz’, and say ‘yow’ for ‘you’ - but anyone daring to speak loud enough to be heard when not on home turf, is met with derision.
Both Black Country and Birmingham dialects have their own vocabulary. But it’s a cardinal sin to confuse someone from the Black Country as coming from ‘Brummagem’. You just end up looking a right taerter.
Linda Jones is a director of features and PR agency Passionate Media and blogs at You've Got Your Hands Full. She's still learning to talk proper, like.