Phrases and accents that drive you mad !

[Essex_boy]

I live in England and work all over the country, now England is a strange place, its only small but has a very wide of peoples with diffrent oulooks and accents, varying often in rural parts, village to village.

The term Pegged it, in Essex means some one ran away, but the same term in Suffolk means some one died, so you can see theres plenty of space for confusion.

Now my main gripe, I dislike the Norfolk accent, in fact I hate.

They have a god awful phrase 'It craze me it do' which when translated means 'its driving me mad'.

I hate it but hear it frequently as im working Norfolk presently.

So what are your pet hates thens ?

[Marcia]

The substitution of "a" for "er" at the end of words like "betta", "matta", "cleva" etc heralds the destruction of English and the rise of textspk.

Those have been proppa New Yorkese since well before you (or I) were even a glimmer in our parents' eye, which is a different matter from txtspk like u or ur, which I think are betta not used in mixed crowds.

What really gets my goat is the fracturing of the "aw" sound, as in "cat's pah" rather than "cats paw" - awwwwww... as it should be. It is NOT a pah or it would be spelled that way.

Added:
Say to the dog, give me your paw: how is that

Tell the dahg, give me ur pah?

The dawg might not know the difference whether you ask him for his pawwww or his pah, but Easterners do.

[edited by: Marcia at 4:57 pm (utc) on May 10, 2008]

[creative craig]

I hate the way some American's use the word bunch to imply 'a lot of something'...

I have bunch of change
I had a bunch of fries
I don't have a whole bunch

Some one recently said to me that 'he didn't have a bunch of light to take the photo with'!

[Marcia]

I remember a song, must've been by an Aussie:

"Oy've gotta luverly buncha cocanuts" :)

Really, rather than annoying, truth be told I find it charming and endearing. That's one of the reasons one of my favorite memories is traveling through the South, down the east coast when I was a kid. I couldn't understand a word of what children said (they talked too fast), but if yiv ever et grits 'n eggs, ya gotta love those folks.

I have bunch of change

I do actually, and in a little coin purse, mind you. That thing must weigh over a pound.

[edited by: Marcia at 5:17 pm (utc) on May 10, 2008]

[Old_Honky]

I remember a song, must've been by an Aussie:

"Oy've gotta luverly buncha cocanuts" :)

I don't know who will be more offended - the cheeky cockney chappies who originated that song (imagine Dick Van Dyke singing it on a roof top dressed as a chimney sweep and it will make sense) or the Australians who are far more sophisticated with their music e.g. "Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport" and "Waltzin' Matilda"

This reminds me of another thing that drives me mad - the cockney accent and rhyming slang.

PS
I may be overestimating the cockneys the song "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" Was apparently orignally recorded by Danny Kaye.

Lyrics are as follows:

Down at an english fair one evening I was there
When I heard a showman shouting underneath the flair

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands my wife, the idol of me life
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball, roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts (they’re lovely)
There they are all standing in a row (one, two, three, four)
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head (and bigger)
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands my wife, the idol of me life
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch (all together now)
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch (harmony)
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball, roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch