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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009Candy's English is improving!
Pretty Liverpudlian Hannah Kiernan (Candy from Partyland) used to say, 'Keep them texts coming in', but now she says, 'Keep THOSE texts coming in'. Why she's even better spoken than Jacqui Smith, 'the British Cabinet Minister in charge of homeland security and the police' as Katie Couric described her on CBS News. In article <924b39e7-a255-47c6-adb3-88acd0a46295@x6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>, > Pretty Liverpudlian Hannah Kiernan (Candy from Partyland) used to say, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Minister in charge of homeland security and the police' as Katie > Couric described her on CBS News. Well now, part of Couric's job (or rather, that of her writers) is to make the news understandable to a vast American audience, and I suspect "Home Secretary" would be meaningless to most of her viewers. Here's the Wikipedia (insert OB slam here) entry: "The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is one of the Great Offices of State. The Home Secretary is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). The remit of the UK ministry includes policing, national security, immigration, and matters of citizenship." I think Couric's description may not have been comprehensive but it was far from inaccurate.  Signature"When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." ‹ Raymond Chandler >In article ><924b39e7-a255-47c6-adb3-88acd0a46295@x6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >I think Couric's description may not have been comprehensive but it was >far from inaccurate. It struck me when I heard it as a very reasonable way of indicating the general areas of responsibility of the Home Secretary. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) On Apr 21, 11:43 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > >In article > ><924b39e7-a255-47c6-adb3-88acd0a46...@x6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > -- ~ Very reasonable, indeed, and subsequently she referred to the Home Secretary as 'Smith' which was even better! :-D (Couric was reporting on the Smith porn scandal) Nick from England > In article > <924b39e7-a255-47c6-adb3-88acd0a46...@x6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." > ‹ Raymond Chandler ~ and if his gun is in his pocket he may looked pleased to... moving on, agreed and it's great that Candy's English is improving, wouldn't you agree? :-D Nick from England > In article > <924b39e7-a255-47c6-adb3-88acd0a46...@x6g2000vbg.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > -- ~ It was an easy way of explaining Jacqui Smith's role to folk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8y1nVeZZ6Q The reason Candy can speak better English than Jacqui Smith is that, unlike Smith, Candy tends *not* to drop her 'g's. Smith would say, 'Keep those texts comin' in', whereas her American counterpart, Hillary Clinton, would not drop her 'g'. One *can* have elocution lessons! :-D Nick from England > The reason Candy can speak better English than Jacqui Smith is that, > unlike Smith, Candy tends *not* to drop her 'g's. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > One *can* have elocution lessons! :-D There have long been rumours floating around Westminster of how various plummier members of the House of Commons have subjected themselves to voice training to shed their Eton, Harrow or Oxbridge-bought (at least in the minds of the voters) Received Prounciation and trade it in for a mockney-leaning Anglo-soup popu-lect. Evidently, sounding like Common Man wins you more votes than enraging those of us who care more about what is said than whether it sounds particularly posh or regional. The Daily Mail from November 2008 has an article describing how Conservative politician George Osborne had his voice tamed by an expensive London speech therapist. See <http://is.gd/C4d2> Thatcher famously had voice training to lower the pitch of her voice in order to sound more authoritative. But I do find the idea of spending enormous amounts of money purchasing an expensive education at an Eton or Harrow, followed by attending an elite university, then spending more money to unlearn the pronunciation one picks up at the elite institutions slightly baffling. It reminds me of the adverts you see in Paris with the slogan "Change your life! Speak Wall Street English!" As an English-English speaker, I find that strangely amusing. I have this vision of young Parisian yuppies wandering around talking about subprime mortgages and credit default swaps while learning the best way to plead with President Obama to pay their multi-million dollar bonus this year. SignatureTom Morris <http://tommorris.org/> > > The reason Candy can speak better English than Jacqui Smith is that, > > unlike Smith, Candy tends *not* to drop her 'g's. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > -- ~ Yes, the two Tonys, Blair and Benn, did that also but not to the extent that they dropped their 'g's - it makes the speaker (with a small 's'(!)) sound dopey, IMHO! :-D Nick from England >> The reason Candy can speak better English than Jacqui Smith is that, >> unlike Smith, Candy tends *not* to drop her 'g's. [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >money to unlearn the pronunciation one picks up at the elite >institutions slightly baffling. I hope these people learn much more at school and university than just a distinctive accent. It's a question of successful communication. If you need to get ideas and information across to someone you need to avoid doing anything that distracts attention from what you are saying or makes them take you less seriously than you wish them to. A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) > A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite > institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. Most of the people with that accent, experience teaches, are clueless fuckwits. To assume that a person with that accent is probably a clueless fuckwit is only playing the percentage shot. SignatureSAm. > In article <vg0d151i2mcp1ipjgj126lro8kkcqe5...@4ax.com>, > m...@peterduncanson.net says... [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > fuckwit is only playing the percentage shot. > -- ~ Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has that accent and is, of course, highly intelligent but used to like to play the buffoon. He tickled CBS's Katie Couric's fancy! :-D Nick >Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has that accent and is, of course, >highly intelligent but used to like to play the buffoon. Americans seem to adapt to politics better. They don't have to play the buffoon; it comes naturally. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > >Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has that accent and is, of course, > >highly intelligent but used to like to play the buffoon. > > > Americans seem to adapt to politics better. They don't have to play > the buffoon; it comes naturally. ~ LOL - they used to say of Boris Johnson, 'Most MPs try to appear intelligent but are fools - Boris plays the fool but is, in fact, highly intelligent'! Nick from England >A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite >institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. What would you think of a surgeon who greeted you with "How yer doin' me old cock sparrer; tek yer kecks off and let's have a butcher's at yer bum"? Or a privately-educated prime minister who deliberately cultivated a glottal stop in order to be seen as one of the common folk? SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England >>A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite >>institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. > >What would you think of a surgeon who greeted you with "How yer doin' >me old cock sparrer; tek yer kecks off and let's have a butcher's at >yer bum"? I'd think "WTF, I only came in with a sore throat." >>A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite >>institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. > >What would you think of a surgeon who greeted you with "How yer doin' >me old cock sparrer; tek yer kecks off and let's have a butcher's at >yer bum"? <smile> I mentioned accent not dialect. >Or a privately-educated prime minister who deliberately >cultivated a glottal stop in order to be seen as one of the common >folk? Who could you possibly be thinking of? SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.english.usage) >>>A problem with the "posh" accent that some people pick up at the elite >>>institutions is that it can sound supercilious and condescending. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >I mentioned accent not dialect. Just imagine Wallace Greenslade saying it. >>Or a privately-educated prime minister who deliberately >>cultivated a glottal stop in order to be seen as one of the common >>folk? > >Who could you possibly be thinking of? I've forgotten. SignatureRobin (BrE) Herts, England |
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