Sigmar - Awwwl roit skip!

[Donut]

Gibraltar has been saved. All you need to do is learn the adenoidal Brummie accent.


June 24, 2002

Why Birmingham is ready to annexe Gibraltar]
By Graham Keeley

THE latest and strangest change in the political map of Europe could see Gibraltar becoming part of the West Midlands.
The geographical challenge has arisen because residents of the British territory are being granted the vote in Euro elections but their population of 27,000 is too small to qualify for an MEP. Instead, they will have to vote as part of a British Euro constituency.

Philip Bradbourn, a Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, is now lobbying for Gibraltar voters to join the giant constituency. Gibraltarians who hate any idea of becoming part of Spain are welcoming the idea of becoming part of the region which includes Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Walsall. Mr Bradbourn, who plans to approach the Government and the Boundary Commission, said: “I was in Gibraltar recently and I saw the pride with which they fly the Union Jack. It is that same pride with which I represent the West Midlands.

“We want the opportunity to welcome Gibraltar into the European Parliament as part of the West Midlands constituency.”

Three years ago the Gibraltarian Government took Britain to the European Court of Human Rights to win the right to vote in Europe. Britain was told to incorporate it into an existing constituency before the next Euro elections in 2004. Albert Poggio, the Gibraltar Government’s representative in Britain, welcomed the prospect of joining the West Midlands. He said: “I know Mr Bradbourn and I know he is a supporter of Gibraltar. We are part of the European Union under the Treaty of Rome as British territory but we are excluded from the customs tariff and the common agricultural policy.

“For many years we were not allowed to vote in Europe. Now the British Government has to include us in a European constituency. Jack Straw has told us this will be done when parliamentary time can be found.”

It was thought that Gibraltar might be aligned with a London constituency, but no official approaches have been made.

The Rock
Area: 21 square kilometres
Population: 27,000
Average temperature: 28C (85F)
Known as: One of the Pillars of Hercules
Language: Bilingual — English and Spanish
Wildlife: Barbary apes, dolphins

West Midlands
Area: 13,000 square kilometres
Population: 5.3 million — more than Ireland, Denmark or Finland
Average temperature: 12C (55F)
Known as: The Black Country, Shakespeare’s Country, Brum
Language: English and Brummie
Wildlife: At Dudley Zoo

[ 06-25-2002, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[Sigmar]

What can I say, what can I say? I can say this is frickin fantastic! God I can't believe it, it's like a miracle, I would have never dreamt in my wildest dreams that aid would come from the West Midlands.

Thankyou Donut you wonderful piece of pastry, thankyou for telling me about this. I can't believe I didn't hear about it until now, yep I'm British and proud of it. I better start working on my Brummie though [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

But similar deals have been suggested to us in the past, and they have never been followed through with, hopefully this will be differant.

[Donut]

This might help:

How to Speak Brummie

For such a small country, the United Kingdom has an incredible diversity of regional dialects, many specific to individual cities. Some of these are melodious and pleasing to the ear. Some are bizarre, some sound awkward and guttural, and some - to non-natives - seem completely incomprehensible (many English people have great difficulty understanding Glaswegian, for example - a very strong Scottish accent). Of all the dialects spoken in the British Isles, however, the one which seems to attract the most scorn is that spoken in and around the city of Birmingham.

Quite why this should be the case may at first seem unclear. The Birmingham accent - nicknamed 'Brummie' - is neither guttural nor difficult to understand. Unlike other UK dialects (Geordie1 or Glaswegian, for example) Brummie does not have a large collection of specifically local words which might alienate non-Birmingham people. And of course there is nothing specific in the character or behaviour of the average citizen of Birmingham to cause any offence. What seems to irritate the hell out of everyone is simply the sound of the thing.

The most important reason for this is probably intonation. A peculiarity of the Brummie accent is the use of a downward intonation at the end of most sentences. This means lowering the pitch of the voice and allowing the sound simply to fade away. This is in contrast to the nearby Scouse accent (or Liverpudlian) which tends towards an upward intonation. In other accents, both endings are used in equal measure, with upward intonation usually reserved for 'question' sentences. In Scouse the increase in pitch adds a vibrancy to the accent which gives it an extra appeal. In Brummie, the lowering suggests despondency and makes it less attractive to the listener. In both cases, the lack of variation quickly begins to grate.

In Brummie, this problem extends beyond the end of the sentence to the whole rhythm of the spoken word. In a melodic accent, such as Cardiff Welsh, there is considerable fluidity throughout. The Birmingham accent hits one note - usually a low one - and sticks to it no matter what. It is this lack of aural variation that is the principle cause of irritation for others. It is also the source of the stereotype of the unimaginative Brummie. The accent stays the same and never varies, and so subconsciously people assume the same must be true of the speaker.

In most other respects, Brummie is little different from other Midland's dialects (although folk from the Black Country may beg to differ). It contains most of the same vowel changes from Southern English, and has several familiar consonants.

[Zidane]

Hmmmmm

Dow yow naow sum brummies then ar kid?

Sometimes when I am abroad people mistake my accent for Liverpudlian, God Forbid. I think I sound OK but if I hear a tape of myself, yuk.

Lady Zidane

[Sigmar]

Originally posted by Zidane: Hmmmmm Dow yow naow sum brummies then ar kid? Sometimes when I am abroad people mistake my accent for Liverpudlian, God Forbid. I think I sound OK but if I hear a tape of myself, yuk. Lady Zidane

I know a couple but they live in London, and I feel for you. No one wants to be recognised as a scouser

[/)eathKiller]

yeah... ok... but where does English fit into all of this? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Or Americaneese for that matter