Mockney (mock cockney)

[Tony Glaser]

> > u.s. news and world report, jan 8 01, citing john simpson of the oed, says
> > mockney dates from 1989 and refers to 'educated middle-classers ditching
> > posh accents for a working-class dialect. pop culture stars speak mockney
> > "to acquire instant street cred, to appear blokey,"' (quoting simpson.'
> > examples given are dropping of initial h, substituting v for th (voiced)
> > medially, using guv'nor for boss and the missus for wife.


Interestingly enough a piece in this week's British Medical Journal
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7279/181/a  makes exactly the
same observations - and it is not just pop culture icons needing
street cred, but politicians and doctors too:

"As every television presenter knows, credibility in the new
millennium means having an accent. This varies with the target
audience. For the young, Essex is the linguistic place to be. The
middle aged prefer Ireland, Wales, or Barnsley. Traditional BBC
English is aimed at the over 70s.

The public is being conditioned to mistrust upper class speech, not
just in Britain, where it is mocked, but worldwide. The archetypal
villain in a Hollywood movie sounds like George Sanders. The baddie
in The Lion King was suavely voiced by Jeremy Irons. Bob the builder,
by contrast, is the laddish Neil Morrissey.

Our politicians understand this. The health secretary keeps his
speech just this side of Paul Gascoigne and even the prime minister
affects vaguely regional consonants. Imagine how well the Social
Democrats might have done if Lord Jenkins had remained a boyo from
the valleys and Lord Owen had retained his Devon burr.

Medicine has always been a way for clever people of humble origins to
better themselves, and one of the first things we did was to learn to
talk proper. Sadly, we have overdone it. Nowadays the popular
stereotype of the hospital consultant is someone who talks like a
1950s government information film.

We need to rethink our vocal image. This includes the Scots, I'm
afraid. People are wising up to the fact that Educated Scottish is
the equivalent of Oxford English. Edinburgh graduates are starting to
pretend they come from Glasgow. They sit up and take notice whenever
Sir Alex Ferguson gives a soundbite.

There are limits, of course. The Queen may have famously toned down
her cut glass accent over a lifetime of Christmas broadcasts but she
has not yet become an eastender. The medical profession, to regain
the top spot in public esteem, needs to relocate from Harley Street
but no further than the North Circular Road.

Our leaders should start practising their glottal stops before their
next meeting with those influential government advisers. And when
they talk to the media, the aim should be to sound fractionally more
downmarket than the interviewer. What about the rest of us, and our
patients? No worries, mate. According to all the evidence, patients
are far too busy reading our body language to care about our vowels."