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Perhaps I should have said sustained rather than significant, that was a poor word choice on my part. There are always weather 'events', a day or two of heavy rain, storms etc, but the notion that it rains continually at any given point in the year is false. As Elle said, unpredictable. :)
Hello,
I have a question about London. For a one-shot i'm writing about Remus Lupin a year or so after the Potters' death, I would like him to live in a bed-sit in London, close to the Thames in a slummy part of town. I need it to be gloomy, perhaps a little industrial? Anyway, what I need is a name for such a place. I've only been to London twice, once in a b&b near Kensington and another time in a hotel in Tottenham Court Road, so I'm not really that familliar with its geography apart from the locations of a few shops and parks.
Thanks in advance,
Maia
I could suggest you tried Deptford, Bermondsey or Catford. I think Deptford would be your best bet if you were wanting near the Thames. Generally speaking property near the river is more expensive, but if you got it as maybe above a shop, i think that would probably be less. Alternatively, you could have it a bit away, maybe in a tower block, where you could see the river, and the price would be less.
I did a little research on right move for you, and these are the results, of flats in the areas i suggested:
This one is in deptford
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai..._n=1&tr_t=rent
Bermondsey:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai..._n=1&tr_t=rent
Catford:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetai..._n=1&tr_t=rent
Obviously, truly grotty houses aren't often found on websites, so i suggest you make one up, but these sort of give you the amount of room, and the amenities, you can get for your money.
Do all Irish have the thick Irish accent?
Is there any particular Irish way to say "hello"? Any particular words the Irish are famous for in general?
And what about Gaelic? What is the percentage of teens and/or adults that can read/speak Gaelic?
Ooh! I know about Irish! I have a friend who's Irish! *squee* :D
There are actually a lot of different accents in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Some are thicker than others. Generally, I think country people usually have thicker accents than city people, a rule which often goes everywhere. My friend's family is something like middle class, and they have relatively "normal"-sounding accents. They have the pronounced R's (I know there's a word for that, but I can't remember), the airy T's and the round O's, but apart from that it's not too pronounced, although it's very obviously Irish.
Horsesbella219, thanks so much for your help! I was wondering, these places you suggested, are they generally in the east end of London? I'm asking because I remember watching a British soap on TV when I was little called Eastenders, and they lived in the east side of London and were sort of poor and the women were beated by the husbands... Because if they are, would it be correct to speak of the East End and just say that he lives there? A little more general, in a way...
LOL, Eastenders is pretty stereo-tpical, but yeah, that's roughly the sort of accents and... er, people that live there. ;)
Well, a lot of people think that the Irish always say "Top 'O' teh morning to yer," and also "to be sure, to be sure" but that's a bit like assuming that all English people saunter about in suits and bowler hats, going "Jolly good day, eh wot? Why don't we play a smashing game of cricket followed by scones and Earl Grey tea?" or that all Australians act like Stever Irwin used to (RIP) and bounce around going, "G'day, mate! Me 'n the Shelia are off to chuck the boomarang about - bonza!"Quote:
Is there any particular Irish way to say "hello"? Any particular words the Irish are famous for in general?
My point is, it's very stereo-typical, and if you said that in Ireland they'd be sure you were making fun of them.
Generally, they call their mother's "Mam" and sometimes repeat themseleves a bit. If you look at Sheamus in the books, there is no dialect apart from reffering to his Mum as Mam, and his is pretty obviously Irish. ;)
~Evie
Yay! Questions that I can answer! I happen to live in Ireland, so I'm glad you're taking an interest in our little (but fabulous) island!
It really does depend on where you come from. I'll use the capital, Dublin city for an example. On the Northside of the city, they speak what most people asume is the universal Irish accent. They call their mothers Mam and never pronounce their Ts. (e.g. sorry wha?)Quote:
Do all Irish have the thick Irish accent?
However, on the Southside you will hear girls speak like characters from the OC and add 'like' after every word. These are only a few examples there are so many accents for such a small country! Myself, I do not really have an Irish accent at all it's a bit of a cross between American and English (with traces of Irish in there, of course!)
Hmmm. Most people just use hello but it is commonly followed by 'How are ya?' even if the person is not expecting an answer.Quote:
Is there any particular Irish way to say "hello"?
Well, we can say 'grand' when we mean something is great. Not really much else I can think of, apart from all that stereotypical stuff.Quote:
Any particular words the Irish are famous for in general?
Do you mean Irish? All Primary and Secondary schools teach Irish (although people can be exempt from it) and most take the Junior and Leaving Cert (exams over here) in it. I'm not sure of an exact percentage, but the majority can speak and read it. It is different in Northern Ireland, as it is owned by England and Irish is optional.Quote:
And what about Gaelic? What is the percentage of teens and/or adults that can read/speak Gaelic?
I'm going to have to disagree with you here. I would never, ever call my Mum "Mam" it just sounds wrong. A lot of people do use that but it is, overall, a small percentage of the population. I only know about two people who call their Mums that. Seamus is very Irish but also very stereotypical character. He represents Northside Dubliners and to some people can be seen as quite annoying and unrealistic (not to me though, I love Seamus!)Quote:
Generally, they call their mother's "Mam" and sometimes repeat themseleves a bit. If you look at Sheamus in the books, there is no dialect apart from reffering to his Mum as Mam, and his is pretty obviously Irish.
Anyway, I hope I helped!
Ellie:D
The large majority of the Irish population I've ever met/seen on television (Irish programmes) have said "mam", and they're all from round the Limerick area, so I think it's definitely very common, but up to the writer's interpretation.
Another common thing today (I couldn't tell you about Harry's time period, having been about six by the time he was sixteen) is to put "well" in front of things instead of very. I've seen Irish and English do this, and not everyone does, but it's popular with people who'd be round Harry's age. For example, if somene's well fit they're very good-looking, if something is well bad, it's, well, very bad. That's more just a UK thing than an Irish thing, though, so it's really just by what you want to use (because I really don't know how long the well thing has been used).
Like all countries and languages, it really depends where you come from!
I do have a few questions:
What general area would the character be from (county or city would be great!)?
And what kind of an upbringing would they have had? (More well-to-do people sound more British and don't have such a strong accent as someone like Seamus)
Irish people also pronounce their T's with a slight 's' sound at the end. It's a little hard to describe the sound. Perhaps you could watch Seamus or Mad Eye (Brendan Gleeson)
in the films and pick up traces of the accent.
Some more information would be great, as it would be easier to help you!:)
Cheers,
Ellie :D
"Mam" isn't just used in Ireland. I call my mum mam all the time, and I tend to associate it primarily with South Yorkshire ... because my dad's side of the family (who are VERY South Yorkshire) use "Mam" rather than mum!
My Grandad, who came from near Belfast, uses "Ma" and "Da" all the time. Although, whether or not this is an Irishism or a Grandadism I couldn't say for sure ... I was having this discussion with Sandy recently about the random Irish catchphrases I seem to have adopted of late (and passed onto her!), some of which from my Grandad, though I never know if they're real or not. *Should actually go to Ireland one day to find out*
So, there. Totally useless information for you.
As for well to-do people sounding more British ... hmm, they might have a more decipherable accent but I wouldn't say they'd sound more 'British'. From an English perspective, they still sound very much Irish. I know Irish folk who have lived most their lives in England and still sound Irish. Also, be cautious of using a phrase like "sounding more British" because of the huge diversity of accents in Britain. I mean, a lot of people associate the south, London area accent as 'British' -- which is a far cry from Geordie, Scouse, Broad Yorkshire etc.