Being British Act VI

[rita_skeeter]

Woah...I hadn't noticed how quickly that last thread was filling up!

Of course, I must inform you again that this is where to come to find out about all things cultural: customs, school, food, work, etc.

On all of the threads so far, I've posted a small paragraph about this next rule, but it seems that some people have been carefully averting their eyes of late... So may I remind you that we have quite a healthy number of users who hail from the UK and Ireland on these boards, and so far I've seen a lot of enthusiasm to help from many of them. Therefore, please could ONLY Brits answer things in here.

And finally, remember the time difference when posting questions - you may have a bit of a wait before someone replies to your post.

[Vindictus Viridian]

Well, it didn't come up in 'search forum' requests. The "geroff" used by the garden gnomes and Ron occasionally -- is it something one might say to one's mother? Particularly in the 1970s? I've now seen it translated as "Get off" but also as "(bug)ger off." Neither seems definitive, but knowing whether you would say it to Mum would help narrow down the possibilities.

[Pepper Imp]

*squees at answeing the first question in the new thread*

Well, I suppose that it really depends on the situation and the character of the person who is saying the "geroff" to his/her mother. If the mother if really hugging the child, or grooming him/her, then it would be acceptaple and I say it to my mother quite often!

Really, though, I don't see many kids saying "bugger off" to their mother.

-- Cammie

[h_vic]

I completely agree with Cammie - it's something that I've only come across as a mumbled contraction of "get off" and it could definitely be used by a child to its mother, particularly if the mum was attempting to wipe a dirty mark off the child's face or do something else equally as embarrassing in public.

Whilst I'm here though, I do actually have a question, despite being English, because this is more of a Being Irish question and I wasn't sure if here would be the best place for it but I wasn't sure where else I could ask it. I'm writing a story that that involves two Irish characters and I was wondering if anyone could give me any guidance on writing their accents. I haven't resolved where exactly in Ireland they are from so I can be flexible there, but I want it to be rural - they're from a small village. One character is a farmer's son who's lived there all his life and would have quite a broad accent, whereas the other has been at Hogwarts for the past seven years so her accent would have lessened and i'd only want the particularly key aspects of it left with her.

If anyone has any guidance at all on how to write a convincing Irish accent in terms of both modifications to words or any idiomatic phrases etc, I'd be really grateful for some help, or even if you could point me in the direction of a particularly well written Irish accent that I could use as guidance.

~Hannah

[Ginny Weasley Potter]

I know that I seem to be asking rather a lot about cricket (I had, in the last thread); but I am a freaky fan of that game and I love it to pieces! In fact, I'm watching the India v/s Pakistan 20-20 now! (Nooooooo! I don't want India to lose!)

So, how is a typical household in England during a cricket match? Is it like mine "A sixer; A SIXER, YOU IDIOT!" or is it calmer than that? England also won the ODI against India. Was there much excitement after that? What about the defeat from Australia today? Do people curse players? "Damn that (insert name)".

So, what is it like? I'd like to know... quite a part of a fic, you see.

Thank you!

[Magical Maeve]

Cricket is not as popular as football. However, it would not be unusual for the man of the house (or, rarer, the woman) to get very involved with a cricket match. I wouldn't say it was typical; more families would get involved with football, but it's not unlikely.

h_vic... I'm short on time right now, but I can help you with the Irish accent. You need to decide North or South and take it from there. If you have something written I'll look it over, if not, give me a day or two and I'll Pm you.

[CopLopARopA]

Yay! Irish questions! Eireann go brea! (will stop speaking native language and start speaking one she actually understands) If you have any questions at all about Irelan, I am willing to help! The Irish accent varies completely depending on where you are. You say they live in a small rural village, but it still really depends where. I suppose you don't want a dublin accent, which is were I am from, but I know people from evverywhich where, so I'll do what I can.

Cork accent - sinig song-ish. Peoples voices go up and down alot and they tend to add "like" or "boy" to the end of sentences.

It depends what educational status and what age and where they come from. It's actually really hard to tell what is different to an english accent when you are used to hearing it! If You have i-Tunes, search Mooney Goes Wild (Irish radio show about wildlife), and listen to the Irish accents there. I might edit later with more. If you need help with names, or phrases in Irish(Gaeilge) Just PM me, or post here or whatever else...

EDIT: Here Is the link to the national Irish radio station's website's archive for Derek Mooney for September. Click on the Sep. 14 link (today) and listen out for Eanna Ni Lamhna (Irish name pronounced "Ayna Nee Lowna"). She has a perfect Rural Irish accent. You may want to skip past the news, but the irish accents are there too. I hope this helps!

EDIT2: here is a Youtube link to Eanna Ni Lamhna talking, you don't have to listen to what they're saying, just listen to her accent. BTW, I don't lsten to this stuff much, mostly my parents. This also might give you some insight into Irish TV and Radio! WARNING This show is on after 9 O' clock. It contains mild swearing and some Irish words, that aren't swear words, you just probably won't be able to understand them.

EDIT3: Irish people often slur words together (not majorly, just very slightly, individual words aren't very distinguished). It is kind of hard write an Irish accent, the way Fleurs accent is written in the HP books, but you can add little Irishisms, such as saying "eejit" instead of idiot. This is because Irish people often speeek with a soft "d" os idiot got morphed into eejit

[Cedric'sGirl]

Originally Posted by Ginny Weasley Potter

So, how is a typical household in England during a cricket match? Is it like mine "A sixer; A SIXER, YOU IDIOT!" or is it calmer than that? England also won the ODI against India. Was there much excitement after that? What about the defeat from Australia today? Do people curse players? "Damn that (insert name)".

I think the stereotypical view of us Brits is that we're very reserved and calm when watching cricket, however there are exceptions (my family for one). I can only speak for my family here, but my dad is definitely as you described - he gets very excited about cricket and is always yelling at the television, often cursing players. There wasn't all that much excitement over the ODI and the only reason I even knew about it was because my dad is such a huge cricket fan; people get much more excited about football or rugby.

I guess what I'm saying is that it varies between families, so you could take it whichever way works best for your story.

[Nutz-chan]

Okay so I need plates/dishes etc. that brake when they are dropped. This is durring the late 70's in a middleclass flat in London. What do you think the plates/dishes would be made out of? I don't want china, that pretty expencive...but I can't think of anythign else that oule brake><

[SiriuslyMental]

Erm, china? Porcelain? I dunno. China plates to me are anything that's not plastic, wood, or tin.