There’s a British stereotype that Americans stereotype us as all speaking like we’re from Downton Abbey.
And that the entire country is a satellite of London.
I’m sure that the denizens of TNOCS would not subscribe to such fallacies.
For a small(ish) island, there’s a lot of regional identities, packed in along with our own clichés and preconceptions.
Let me take you on a whistle-stop tour of some of the more distinctive regional aspects:
Starting in London:
You may have heard of Cockneys.
This applies to the east end of London, for those born within the sound of Bow Bells, referring to the church: Saint Mary le Bow.
As per Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, Cockneys used to be happy go lucky, salt of the earth types always ready to indulge in a song and dance.
Time has taken its toll, though. And if the BBC soap Eastenders is to be believed, they now live in a perpetual doom spiral of misery.
Cockney is also refers to the dialect, most notably Cockney rhyming slang, such as these;
- Adam & Eve = Believe. As in “Would you Adam and Eve it?”
- Tea leaf = Thief
- China = Mate
* You may have spotted that China and mate do not rhyme. That’s all part of the evolution of language. It started as China Plate and over time became simply China.
Moving North:
My home since 1997 is Leeds.
Residents of which are called Loiners or Leodensians. Not that I’ve ever heard these terms used in conversation. Though the Kaiser Chiefs dropped “Leodensian” into “I Predict A Riot.”
Leeds is within the county of Yorkshire. On the subject of counties, I’ve heard many Americans give the name with county appended to it, i.e. ‘Yorkshire County.’
At Epcot they have the Yorkshire County Fish Shop.
The ‘County’ is superfluous. It would be the equivalent of adding State to the name. “California State Dreamin” is not nearly as catchy.
Yorkshire folk are stereotyped as flat cap wearing, penny pinching, stubborn and fiercely proud of their roots in ‘Gods Own Country’.
Not being native to the area I do not adhere to these qualities.
Yorkshire dialect is apparent in the unofficial county anthem, “On Ilkla Moor Baht’ at”
This translates as ‘On Ilkley Moor without a hat’. If you think that isn’t the most promising subject matter for a song, you’d be right. But it takes that premise and heads in a wholly unexpected direction. Basically, being on the moor without a hat will result in catching a cold. Which will result in your death.
Your body will be eaten by worms, which in turn will be eaten by ducks, which will be eaten by us. And it’ll serve you right.
So if that hasn’t put you off visiting Yorkshire, make sure you wear a hat.
- A traditional Yorkshire greeting is “Ey up”
- Nowt is “nothing”
- “Chuffin’ ‘eck / Flippin’ ‘eck” are expressions of surprise.
Up now to the North East of England: Where I grew up.
Newcastle Upon Tyne is the largest city in the region:
Residents of which are Geordies. To much of the rest of the country, anyone from the region is a Geordie with one homogenous accent. Whereas across the region there are a range of identities and differences in the accent that are obvious to locals – but not to outsiders.
Geordies like a drink and, possibly related, will talk to anyone and are renowned for being immune to the cold.
No worries there about wearing a hat. Conditions need to be Arctic to warrant considering putting a coat on.
Sport plays a strong part in defining identities. Newcastle United fans provide encouragement with the shout of “Howay the lads!”
- Haddaway = go away – but more commonly used as an exclamation of disbelief.
- When you really want to express disbelief (such as being presented with the preposition that Sunderland is superior to Newcastle) it is appropriate to respond with “Haddaway and shite”.
Speaking of which, 15 miles down the road is Sunderland. Call them Geordies and you will be met with a rebuttal of the assertion that the further north you go the friendlier the people get.
The correct term for a Sunderland native is Mackem.
It’s not entirely certain but the most prominent explanation is that it comes from the shipbuilding industry; “we mack’em and ye tack ’em” (we make them and you take them).
Whereas in Newcastle ‘make’ and ‘take’ are pronounced ‘meck’ and ‘teck.’ In cheering on their team Sundeland fans shout “Haway the lads!”. You may be forgiven for not noticing the difference to Newcastle.
Northumberland is where I grew up. Its remote, lacking in people but making up for it in castles, hills and majestic but largely empty beaches.
Its position north of Hadrian’s Wall confuses southerners who think that makes it Scotland. It gets more confusing at the border town of Berwick Upon Tweed.
Its just inside England, but they have Scottish accents and the town’s football team play in the Scottish leagues. It had changed hands between England and Scotland 13 times before being finally claimed as English in 1482.
On a school trip to Berwick in the 1980s we were told with great pride by a town official that Berwick was at war with Russia.
The story is that the declaration of the Crimean War in 1854 referred to ‘Great Britain, Ireland, Berwick Upon Tweed and the British Dominions Beyond The Sea’.
The 1856 peace treaty didn’t mention Berwick resulting in the continuation of hostilities on a technicality.
Not that anyone noticed, a small town thousands of miles away wasn’t much of a threat to Moscow. Turns out the story may have been invented some time in the early 20th century. You can’t trust anyone.
Moving west we’ve a brief stopover in Wigan, Lancashire.
Famous for Rugby League and as the centre of the Northern Soul movement.
It’s townspeople are known as Pie Eaters. When you learn that the World Pie Eating Championships are held there you may think you see the connection.
One school of thought is that they just really love pies – we’re talking meat pies, here.
The other is it derives from the 1926 General Strike when the miners of Wigan were forced back to work early and having to eat humble pie.
The two main cities in the North West have strong local identities with music and football playing a huge part in that.
Manchester is home to Mancunians. Or Mancs.
The city of Manchester is contiguous with the city of Salford. A distinction lost on anyone not from Salford. It’s basically all Manchester to the rest of us.
The view of Manchester from the outside is that its always raining.
Which may explain the perception that everyone wears a parka and a bucket hat.
As though fashion hasn’t moved on since the Stone Roses and Oasis were in their prime. Whereas Yorkshire folk have an insular pride in their innate superiority, Mancs display a swaggering extrovert take on theirs.
30 miles along the M62 motorway, Liverpool:
Which is inhabited by Scousers.
The term derives from a Norwegian stew; lobscouse. Which became a popular local dish as sailors brought it back to the city.
As a port and just across the sea from Ireland, there is a strong Irish influence.
The 20th century brought a long decline from it’s position as one of the great ports of the world. A sense of Liverpool being a separate entity to Britain was instilled with a perception of the city being neglected by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in the 80s.
This was added to with the Hillsborough stadium disaster of 1989 in which 97 Liverpool football club fans died.
The police, The Sun newspaper, and the authorities placed the blame on the fans themselves. Which a decades long campaign for justice found to be completely false.
If your main knowledge of Liverpool comes via The Beatles, you may be shocked to learn that the base stereotype is as slum dwelling unemployed criminals. More fuel to the sense of ‘us against them.’
Its no wonder the unofficial Scouse (or People’s) Republic of Liverpool has become a popular alternative to alignment with the rest of the country.
Both Manchester and Liverpool have their ‘plastics’. For Manchester this traditionally related to supporters of Manchester United. The stereotype was that locals supported Manchester City while the glamour of United drew in followers from around the country – referred to as Plastic Mancs.
Now that United are in perpetual crisis and City are the successful team, the moniker is as likely to apply to City fans.
Whereas in Liverpool, ‘Plastic Scousers’ or ‘Plazzies’ are people from the surrounding area who claim to be from Liverpool or put on the accent to identify with the city.
Some Scouse words:
- Bevvy = an alcoholic drink
- G’wed = Go ahead. An exhortation of encouragement in the same manner of the Geordie; ‘Howay’.
- Scally = generally a young male up to no good.
Onto the Midlands:
And Britain’s second city: Birmingham.
Fun fact that Birmingham likes to wheel out: it has more miles of canals than Venice. Conveniently overlooked fact; not all of these are as attractive as the Venetian ones. Birmingham is often the butt of jokes due to bad accents, architecture and lack of definable identity.
On the positive side, there’s Peaky Blinders.
It brands itself as the birthplace of heavy metal (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Robert Plant,)
Also: Cadbury’s chocolate (until the Americans took it over and everyone will tell you it’s not the same anymore) and it’s ethnic diversity reflected in its restaurants; particularly within the Balti triangle.
Birmingham is known as ‘Brum’ with citizens as ‘Brummies.’
Close to Birmingham is the Black Country:
Centred on the towns of Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The name comes from the smoke and soot of the ironworks and mines in the area. Proof that there’s always someone to punch down to is that the Birmingham accent is often regarded as one of the worst, but Brummies in turn look down on the Black Country accent, terming its speakers Yam Yams.
As ever, the rest of the country would struggle to tell the difference. Yam Yam comes from Black Country locals using “you am” instead of “you are” which in a rapid delivery sounds like “yam”.
Onwards to The West Country:
Comprising the counties in the bottom left corner of the map; Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.
Known for natural beauty, Arthurian legend, the Jurassic Coast, cider, scones, tourism. And outsiders buying up second properties and forcing locals out,
“Yokels” is a derogatory term for people from rural areas commonly applied to the region. In return the locals refer to tourists as “Grockles.”
- A prominent phrase in popular imagination is” “Ooh Arr.”
Which is a sign of agreement. Popularised by 70s novelty act The Wurzels and as ‘Pirate-Speak.’ Robert Newton played Long John Silver in the 1950 adaptation of Treasure Island, delivering an exaggerated version of his west country accent that was adopted as the definitive pirate speak.
Along the south coast to the east is Brighton.
Full of liberal hipsters.
- LBGTQ+ friendly.
- First place in the country to elect a Green Party MP.
Or from a right wing point of view; woke hell.
The south coast also plays host to the Portsmouth / Southampton rivalry.
Separated by 20 miles, Portsmouth is colloquially known as Pompey and hosts the main UK naval base. Whereas Southampton as a commercial port was more affluent.
Southampton disparages Pompey residents as Skates, an old derogatory slang term for sailors. One suggestion for the derivation of Skates is sailors using the fish to satisfy their sexual needs on long trips to sea. An explanation which may have been retrofitted for maximum derogatory impact.
Pompey returns the insult: Taking a more direct approach by referring to Southampton natives as Scum or Scummers. One take is that scum comes from Southampton Company Union Men, referring to a dockworkers union. Again, this appears to be a convenient latter day invention to validate the insult.
The Home Counties are those surrounding London.
Where the name came from appears lost in time.
Inhabited by dull people doing dull jobs that earn them lots of money for their dull hobbies. The heartland of the Conservative Party. They contain the Stockbroker Belt, centred on Surrey and favoured home for affluent city finance workers.
It may be a vastly unfair description, but speaks to a sense of ‘us against them.
Which is that London and the Home Counties benefit from greater resources, investment and infrastructure – to the detriment of everywhere else.
Just above London is Essex. The typical view is a place that is flashy, materialistic, vulgar, completely devoid of culture. You can blame them and Lincolnshire for Brexit.
Into Scotland.
- There’s the Lowlands, where most of the people are.
- And the Highlands, featuring rugged mountains and islands, whisky distilleries, castles and battlefields.
Within the Lowlands is the Central Belt.
At either end are Edinburgh; the capital, and Glasgow; the most populous city.
Edinburgh’s image is more refined; a tourist hot-spot.
Thanks to the old town with the castle perched on a rock above the city and the Royal Mile stretching down from it. Culture abounds with the Edinburgh Festival. On the other hand, have you seen Trainspotting?
Glasgow’s image is harder, more working class. The accent sounds more aggressive and there’s a reputation for violence.
On the other hand, have you seen Belle & Sebastian? Glasgow is arguably as much a cultural hot-spot as Edinburgh.
The official term for someone from Glasgow is Glaswegian but colloquially it’s Weegie. Weegies love to dismiss Edinburgh residents as posh and, the ultimate insult, as English.
Into Wales. Which has its own North / South divide:
- The North is mountainous and more rural.
- The south is more populous with a tradition of coal mining.
The geographical divide is accentuated by the hilly parts, which even now make for terrible transport links between north and south.
Southerners call northerners Gogs. While northerners respond with, “Hwntw.“
Do not adjust your set, that is the correct spelling.
- As to how you pronounce it, you’re on your own. It means ‘them over there’.
Wales offers many more impressive castles (apparently more castles per square mile than anywhere else in Europe), sheep, chapels and stunning scenery.
That’s it for my whistle stop tour.
There’s a lot more that I just don’t have room for… but I hope you’ve learnt something.
Even if it is just to wear a hat on Ilkley Moor.
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Is “scally” short for “scallywag?” Sounds Scouse enough.
I’ve been to several of these places and your descriptions are spot on, as far as I know. Nottingham is between Sheffield and Birmingham. Would you classify it as a cross between the two?
Is there an Oxford/Cambridge rivalry, or is that just in my outsider’s imagination?
Scally is a shortened version of scallywag. Not sure anyone here has used the term scallywag in the last 50 years, has a very archaic feel to it.
Once you get below Sheffield and out of Yorkshire its classed as the Midlands. Although Nottingham and Birmingham are both in the midlands, its more aligned to Sheffield. The accents aren’t that different for a start. Whereas the 50 miles between Nottingham and Birmingham makes for a completely different accent.
Birmingham is West Midlands and Nottingham East Midlands. Other than the word Midlands there isn’t really any connection between the two.
There is an Oxford / Cambridge rivalry but it’s entirely related to the universities. The universities do play a big part in shaping the cities and outside perception but I think for ordinary residents they’re an entirely separate irrelevant entity. I don’t think anyone not connected to the universities feels any particular enmity towards the other. They’re almost 100 miles apart which in British terms is a whole different region so there’s no local aspect to it.
Love this. Definitely learned quite a few things today.
Some thoughts-
– in terms of those of us from U.S. , most people I know don’t think of Downtown Abbey as the stereotypical accent. We’re more likely to go My Fair Lady exaggerated cockney. Speaking of which, even many Americans know that Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent is brutally bad. In lists of the worst accents in movies it routinely ends up at the top of the list. Even he knows it’s bad.
– not surprised at Liverpool reputation. I think most Beatles fans know they didn’t come from the upper crust.
Not sure if Americans largely view whole of UK as a satellite of London. It’s more that most aren’t familiar with other cities other than London. Not quite the same but still ignorant. We are bad at geography on the whole.
Great job, JJ
I have met one American when I was visiting the US who was unable to comprehend anything lay beyond London. He asked where I was from but obviously hadn’t heard of Leeds. Which is fair enough, there’s plenty of Brits that would struggle with US geography. In his case though he tried to correct me asking if I meant London and then which bit of London was Leeds in.
I can accept that he was very much an extreme example of the minority. Any other Americans I’ve met who have asked me where I’m from have been much more open, wanting to know more about it and the context of how it relates to the rest of the country.
Americans, in general, don’t travel much. 40% of us have never left the country. 11% haven’t left the state they were born in. That sort of make sense in a big state like Texas, which is bigger than some countries, but to be from North Carolina and never visited South Carolina is a big part of our problem. We know so little about our own country, let alone the world.
Even my current state of Tennessee has three stars on its flag to symbolize its three regions. West Tennessee isn’t like Middle Tennessee which isn’t like East Tennessee, but you only fully comprehend those differences when you go to those places.
That’s why Mohammed said, “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled.”
Yes, we’ve got all kinds.
I know many of the names of the cities, but had no idea where any of them were, although thanks to you and other more recent resources, I am starting to slowly put it together. Our street is surrounded by streets that are names of British cities or locations. When we moved here, I initially tried to pronounce the longer ones the way I thought people from the U.K. would, by eliminating entire syllables, like “Wer-sher” instead of Worstershire, which I know is stereotypical unto itself. No one else was doing it so I gave up.
Pronunciation is a whole other minefield. Places that have ‘cester’ in them; Leicester, Bicester, Worcester and Towcester tend to drop a syllable so they’re Lesster, Bister, Wooster and, best of all, Toaster.
Unless you’re Cirencester and they keep all the syllables in place.
Where I grew up are Alnwick, Ulgham and Cambois pronounced; Anick, Uffam and Cammus. My wife is from Derbyshire in the East Midlands and she was completely bewildered seeing the road signs then hearing how they’re pronounced.
Then there’s Scottish towns that take it the extreme so Kirkcudbright and Cockburnspath become Kuh-coo-bree and Co-path.