UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - West Country

UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - West Country.
If you're going to the West Country (South West England) for holiday or business, you might want to know what to expect. This video will give you that information.
If there is an area of the UK that you would like to see covered, please use the comments and let me know.
The website business-english-success.com has interesting articles about learning English, especially Business English, for learners at all levels.
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Other videos in this series:
UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - Introduction:
• UK Accents, Dialects a...
UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - West Country:
• UK Accents, Dialects a...
UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - Birmingham and the Midlands:
• UK Accents, Dialects a...
UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - Norfolk:
• UK Accents, Dialects a...
UK Accents, Dialects and Mentalities - Scotland:
• UK Accents, Dialects a...
Credits:
Intro template from camtasia8freeintros.blogspot.de

[@BemusedOwl]

Ahaha I would love a cut of star wars with a West Country accent

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

That would be really cool, I agree :-)

[@cheeveka3]

I’ve heard some of older people from the West Country talk it so interesting how they remind me of relatives of mine who live in the country in the U.S. it is so amazing to see other accents outside the U.S. that reminds me of accents in the U.S.🤗

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Interesting! Where abouts in the US?

[@cheeveka3]

Well it’s in a rural region where Chicago is located. Actually the U.S. has many different accents. There is actually a video that talks about American accents that is on KZbin.

[@cheeveka3]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess There is video called West Country Yap there is two older men in the beginning that start talking they so remind me of my relatives I swear they sound so similar.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@cheeveka3 Thamks for the tip - I'll check it out.

[@TheHiddenStudios]

Being from Gloucestershire, I definitely consider it West Country- most locals I know speak with the accent you'd associate with it. It's officially part of the South West region of England, and at least in the way we speak, it's a lot more like those in Bristol and Somerset, than it is like those in, for example, Birmingham, ie the Midlands. It gives me a bit of an identity crisis when someone says I'm not from the West Country- I mean, I sound like I am, my friends sound like they are, people dress like they are, we can sound virtually identical to others in the West Country, most people assume that's where I'm from, so if I'm not from the West Country, then where the hell am I from haha Perhaps in the far north of the county people sound more like Midlanders, but I haven't experienced that personally. I can't speak with any sense of authority on Wiltshire though, and of course I'm going mainly on the accents here, but I think that's probably the defining part of the West Country for most people anyway. At the very least, I'd say the border lies at least partially within Gloucestershire, even if one doesn't accept the term applying to the whole county. But as you said, it's pretty loosely defined- I've even seen designations that have excluded Dorset, yet included Wiltshire. Glad you mentioned David Prowse and Robert Newton- funnily enough Blackbeard himself was actually from Bristol, so that accent may actually be quite accurate for him. One slight correction- Cornish isn't a branch of Gaelic, but of Brythonic. Irish and Scots Gaelic are from a separate branch, whereas Welsh and Cornish are Brythonic, though all four languages share a common celtic ancestor somewhere. One other cool little fact- did you know Hot Fuzz was largely inspired by Simon Pegg's upbringing in village near Gloucester (which happens to be the same one I'm from :D)? Obviously they exaggerated the stereotypes a bit in that film though haha. Anyway, sorry for the long comment, I really enjoyed the video, and like discussing this kind of topic.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Many thanks for your valuable insights - much appreciated. I also really like Hot Fuzz, even if the end if a little bit ott :-) - fun film indeed. Thanks also for the correction - always happy to learn something.

[@TheHiddenStudios]

I'd say that's probably a fair assessment, by the time you get to Worcester you're pretty firmly in the midlands. Gloucestershire's a pretty weird place anyway, with Worcester just to the north (Midlands), Somerset to the south (Wurzel land), Monmouthshire to the west (Wales) and Oxfordshire to the east, which is part of the South East region. So it's sort of on the fringes, but on the whole I'd say it has a lot more in common with the rest of the West Country than it does with the midlands, Wales, south east, etc.

[@christopherthewreckerthats2295]

You forgot Hampshire we speak West Country Iv got a strong Hampshire accent but unfortunately people from Portsmouth havant in ww2 people from London moved to Portsmouth in that's why they speak cockney East South accent come to portchester Fareham Southampton very strong West Country Hampshire accent

[@gjfkhvjzjsxbq]

@@christopherthewreckerthats2295 im from Portsmouth and sadly its only old people I've heard speak with a rhotic accent I have a kind of cockney accent and I hate it

[@adridaplague-boi]

absolutely no way people will exclude dorset from the west country but include wiltshire that's a load of poff. i can understand bournemouth, and maybe poole, not being included but rural dorset is as west country as it comes

[@rachelpenny5165]

In Cornwall a tourist is called an Emmet (ant), though I come from rural Devon. I still have a Devonshire accent. Kernow was the traditional name for Cornwall and not the Gaelic type. North Devon clotted cream is the best, but I eat scones the Cornish way. Proper scrumpy is wonderful and can be lethal. You can get the best ice creams from a Hockings ice cream van. Often seen in Bideford.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks for your comments - all interesting stuff. I know what you mean about scrumpy ...

[@stonedape2406]

On the isle of wight the tourists are called grockles, and the native islanders are called caulkheads. This is because when the island sinks from all the overners (mainlanders), the grockles will sink whilst the caulkheads will float to the top.

[@worldmusictheory]

hockings is absolutely amazing. everytime we go down and see my grandparents in westward ho! we go to the hockings van, proper nice

[@luebsmx8]

My favorite part of this videos was the bit on pasties. My mom used to make them and she folded them to the side. I’m from the US but her ancestors came from Cornwall. I guess pasty making is in the genes!

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks for you comments - good to see.The funny thing is, the question of "who makes the best pasties?" always has the the same answer - "My mum"

[@jacketrussell]

Dave Prowse (Darth Vader) also played the Green Cross Code man in the public service adverts in the 1970s.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

I didn't realise that - I dimly remember the advert but didn't make the connection. Thanks!

[@TreeHairedGingerAle]

Awwww, poor guy. I love James Earl Jones' voice, but they could at least have let Proust know what they were planning to do! They treated him far too coldly.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

I agree - their treatment of him doesn't look very good, does it?

[@paulcoleman3081]

I'm from Frome in Zummerzet and I've always found the people around where I come from to be fairly talkative rather than the monosyllabic version you give! They must o' seen you comin' young'un!

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

haha - you might be right :-)

[@paulcoleman3081]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess When they greeted you they also used to say "Alright moi babbie!" or "Alright moi babber!" Don't ask me why....

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@paulcoleman3081 In Plymouth they would say 'Roit me 'ansome/darling"

[@spanglelime]

I am giggling so hard at the West Country Darth. Oh my god... 😆

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks for your comment - made my day - proper job!

[@emmalouise7837]

I’m from Dorset and have ancestors from the 1400s that grew up here. I now live in Oxfordshire but I have always been told that I have an accent. I moved when I was 10 so I didn’t even realise the accent and now I miss it when I hear it.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Looks like you need to move back :-)

[@lg2513]

2:10 had me dying 😂😂 this is my typical convo daily 😂

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks - glad you liked it.

[@lisahopper6039]

There is two parts of West Country Cornwall Devon Somerset.then Bristol bath Gloucestershire Wiltshire Dorset as north West Country. We have homily in Devon Cornwall and Somerset and Wiltshire

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks for your comments - much appreciated.

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

Also the reason why we don't say much is quite simple. Why say 15 words when 3 will do?

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

true :-)

[@Timotimo101]

Enjoyed your presentation very much!

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Many thanks - much appreciated.

[@katcankan7129]

This vid is very good. Looking forward to more like this.👏

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Glad you liked it - there are definitely more on the way.

[@katcankan7129]

Business English Success- 👍

[@Marymooau]

I was born in Gloucester and lived in Yate which is north of Bristol. I’m West Country ;-)

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Proper job :-) In my defence, I did say that the border was not clearly defined. Thanks for your comment.

[@Marymooau]

Yes I know. It’s hard to determine who is West Country and who isn’t when you include Gloucestershire :-)

[@saidfarid6382]

Hi professor Thank you so much for your priceless advice and interesting guidance. I love your way of teaching and excellent explication. I really appreciate your job. I wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity. Your Student from Algeria.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Many thanks for your kind words.

[@martinshepherd626]

David Prowse was from Southmead in Bristol

[@stevehayward1854]

A scone should have a gert big dollop of jam on top of the cream, thats the proper way, the Devonshire way. The Cornish are always pinching Devonshire ideas then mangling them like Pasties, as we all know, it's a Devon invention. Im from Devon and the wife is from Cornwall so we do have these debates from time to time 😜

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

I must admit, I fall into the Devon camp on this but only because it's easier. If I'm honest though, I'd rather have any cream tea than no cream tea 🙂 Let me qualify that a bit - any cream tea with proper clotted cream - nothing out of a spray can!

[@buddyrojek9417]

My great great grandfather came from Porthallow Cornwall to sunshine Australia. I am interested to know if I notice anything

[@jamara3330]

If you have ever commuted in Bristol, you know life is not slower, it is just the buses! People do not communicate and are unfriendly. Not many people speak like this anymore. The pirate accent in Hollywood films is due to historical reasons. Blackbeard came from Bristol, it is not down to an actor using his artistic licence.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Hi Amanda, must confess, I've never been to Bristol. Are you a native of Brissle?

[@jamara3330]

You mean 'Brizzle' ;) No, Weston Super Mare

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

arghh - been away too long, thanks for the correction :-)

[@martinshepherd626]

No Bristolian says Brizzle. I'm Bristolian

[@louscr8249]

This country bought me here

[@Butterflylion1]

Old ones from the Isle of Wight sound the same

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Good to know - thanks. I was last there about 50 years ago, so don't remember too much about it.

[@gyldenbeag5798]

I'm always confused on whether Hampshire is west country or not, alot of older people speak distinctly west country & those from outside of cities and their suburbs do an all but we get more of a home counties reputation.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Tricky - my initial reaction would be to think not. Maybe they 'identify as west country' ;-)

[@starknight103]

Did you know that Hagrid from Harry Potter speaks with a West Country accent.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Do you mean in the books or films? Or does it not matter?

[@starknight103]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess the films

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@starknight103 haven't seen those in ages but I think you're right.

[@bookmouse2719]

Thank you for the pirate talk 🦜

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

You're welcome!

[@Steve-zc9ht]

Loved the video thanks for making this is heard some west country accents it sounds like a Canadian or mid Atlantic American accent or maybe Scottish I'm from Chicago and in the USA there is also alot of different accents normally states like Massachusetts Alabama mississippi Louisiana and Arkansas are non-rhotic mainly Boston Massachusetts has the most non-rhotic accent I the USA in Midwestern US or the great Lakes region words that might become with a TH becomes a D for example the becomes da or that becames dat or water the T is replaced with a D sound no one really knows where chicago or Midwestern accents come from there considered the standard American accent however chicago was built by the French mainly a French man from Hati

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Thanks for the info - much appreciated. I've noticed that a lot of US accents tend to used a 'D' sound for a letter 'T' (budder, for butter, etc).

[@Steve-zc9ht]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess yeah I don't know why we pronounce are Ts with a D sound I always wondered sometimes

[@steviec8370]

Interesting BUT Robert Newton... What a legend.. Single hand espy gave us the personification of the Pirate. Nobody else has come close

[@Jonathan99997]

really like this video haha

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Glad to hear it - thanks for letting me know. Proper Job!

[@emmapark8530]

there was a lot of smugglers is cornwall.so it was from that pirates rolled there r's

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Good point Emma - I probably should have also mentioned that being a wrecker was a valid career choice in Cornwall.

[@garethstockdale9897]

emma park I'm from west country

[@AuburnTigers111]

I thought it was because the actor for Long John Silver was from Bristol.

[@christopherthewreckerthats2295]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess good man mentioning wrecker. From a reincarnated wrecker from Hampshire

[@MissMedi]

emit is also another way of saying holiday maker down here lol :)

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Don't think I've heard that one before - any idea on its origin?

[@stonedape2406]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess it's emmet, which means ant in cornish

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@stonedape2406 good to know - thanks

[@Fractureise]

There is only one Cornwall has over us and that's the flag design at the moment. Our way (especially scones) is the right

[@muwuny]

Briton, not Gaelic. And they're areas where the Saxons didn't get to, not the Romans

[@Chi_Pub666]

mate you are cool! could u teach more about west country accent plz?

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Not sure how to do that effectively - interesting idea though ...

[@Chi_Pub666]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess maybe you can speak with that accent, cheers

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

I'm Devon boy and proud of it. My brother lives in London and when I visit him one of my favourite things to do is go to the tube and people watch. There is another train in two minutes, what is the point of ramming people out the way like a scene from World War Z. It's funny as fuck

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

People watching is a fun and fascinating way to pass time, I agree.

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess it's strange how they're all in a bloody great rush to go nowhere. Slow down, calm down, and take life one day at a time. You spend all your life stressing about every single thing in the world you'll not see your 50th birthday

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire Funny thing is that you get used to the faster pace once you live there for a few years. When I then went back down to Plymouth, it seemed very slow. But then you quickly adjust to that as well.

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess true enough, whenever I go up there I turn into a battering ram

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

@@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire getting some weird Mad Max images playing in my head now :-)

[@fuckdefed]

I see you avoided mentioning the pronunciation debate between ‘skon’ and ‘skoan’ for ‘scone’ ! (I say ‘skon’ personally FWIW).

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

I didn't realise there was a debate about this - posh people say 'skon' and the rest of us say 'skoan'.

[@jeneticallymodified1]

they drive their sportscars slowly because they know the odds are very high of them swinging around a sharp turn on a winding narrow road and meeting a tractor coming towards them pulling a trailer full of silage and being driven by a 14 year old boy. don't try the cider unless you're ok with it hitting you like a tonne of bricks. there's a reason it's got the quaint but descriptive product names it does.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

I totally get the part about teenage tractor drivers. But they also drive slowly on straight, open roads. Still love the cider though!

[@jeneticallymodified1]

@@BusinessEnglishSuccess that's just done to piss off everyone who doesn't have a nice car. easily fixed with well positioned windscreen wiper water squirter nozzles. or a tractor with a muckspreader on the back. watching them cross paths with one of those going the other way on a tight road is hilarious. even not spreading there's plenty of cast off.

[@allybally0021]

Im were worryin' moi sheep. Not no more.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Haha - you nailed it!

[@alloutofbubblegum9223]

CREAM FIRST

[@TheMarrification]

The arguments about food are actually nothing really to do with the food, it's just an outlet for cultural differences. It's more because Cornwall stayed Celtic, whereas Devon was anglicised in the dark ages.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

Good point. Thanks