So, 'the working class in Eltham' are the descendants of Eastenders bombed out during the Blitz. Do you have any Blitz stories?
What about the scum who rent properties, and collect the rent - they'll go to hell for sloth crimes, certainly, or prison when Jezza is king. All classes.
It depends but the original old money familes tend to look down on employment ... one simply doesn't enter trade, that's so middle class... with the exception of going into the forces which often a family tradition... (which explains the surfeit of chinless wonders in certain regiments) It used to be said that the first son inherits, the second joins the Navy, the third the Army, the fourth the church, and if there's a fifth he goes into the HEIC
There are jobs in the arts or with charities that are good too, right? As long as it's clear that the job is based on a passion for the work rather than anything as mundane as needing a paycheque...
True or being on the board of directors for a bank or company ... just so your family own said business
This seems like an appropriate place to ask about "Cockney." I've heard differing opinions on whether the term is an insult for someone from London's East End/working class Londoners. I'd like to know because I have a character who speaks with a "Cockney" accent (he was born and raised in Southwark, and lived in central London when he wasn't on missions with the SAS).
It's not insulting if that person actually is a cockney. But it's annoying when anyone who speaks with the slightest London accent is called one.
Okay, so now I'm confused. I thought a cockney (apparently it's not capitalized?) was someone from specific parts of London. Wouldn't that mean they have something of a London accent? What am I missing? My character talks like Michael Caine. I don't have an ear for the difference between English accents, for the most part, unless they're drastically different (i.e., Michael Caine and Daniel Craig).
Cockney means both a person native to a particular part of London, and also the accent and dialect specific to that region. Just because somebody lives in that region, doesn’t mean they are a cockney (they migh have moved there), but if they have the cockney accent then it’s fine to describe the accent that way.
Think of it like “Texan”. Somebody born and bred in Texas can be described as Texan. And somebody who speaks with the accent associated with Texas can be described as using a Texan accent (even if they weren’t born there). But somebody who comes from California and moved to Texas is neither Texan, nor speaks with a Texan accent. The same could apply to any regional accent, but like cockney in Britain, Texan is probably one of the most distinctive regional American accents to non-American English speakers.
That makes perfect sense. I did hear a guy once speak with a Texan drawl with a slight English accent. It was...odd. Just imagine Sean Bean impersonating a cowboy, then stick that voice in a tiny Asian man. Yeah.
I remember when I first visited America and heard an Indian person speak English, and I was surprised at how different their accent sounded to Indian people speaking English in England. I had just assumed that the Indian accented English I was hearing was because the person was Indian, and it really surprised me that it didn't sound the same in America. It seems obvious now, but at the time I was fascinated by it!
Cockney is more of a dialect than an accent. Does the character actually use Cockney phrases? If not, they probably just have an East End London accent.
If in doubt reach for Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney Anyway, your character can call anybody he likes a cockney?
He does use some cockney phrases, yes. I only need to briefly describe the accent to set it in my reader's mind, with the occasional "nudging reminder." I have a different character who is Scottish with a Glaswegian accent, tempered by several decades in the United States. Consequently, I have him (the Scot) say things like "aye" for "yes" and "ach!" when he's surprised, irritated, dismissive, etc. I intend to do the same with my English character, though he's a more recent immigrant to the U.S., so his colloquialisms are less tempered than the Scot's. I start with Wikipedia, sometimes, but prefer to branch out and talk to people who would definitely know. Some articles on Wikipedia are really helpful, and others are biased or incorrect, so I prefer to go to the source if I can. And as far as my POV character calling my English character a cockney, that won't work unless the English character actually sounds like a cockney.
Apropos of nothing in particular... I was watching an interesting video on youtube concerning the swift replacement of East End accent with what the video calls MLE (Multicultural London English). Fascinating from a linguistic standpoint as regards the swiftness of the change. It made me remember my college days at the University of Florida where I remember that the Miami crowd of kids had a distinct Miami accent. To say that it's a Spanish accent would be wrong, but it's an accent clearly informed by Caribbean Spanish phonetic tendencies and it was being used by kids who clearly had zero Spanish heritage. After watching this video I am left to wonder just how quick was that bleed-over from the Spanish population in Miami to the non-Spanish population.
Something common in more rural areas of the States is leaving out "to be". I used to work in a coffeeshop in Williamsport, PA in college and the local woman who was my boss would frequently say things like, "The register needs manned", "The coffee needs changing out" "The table needs wiped." Used to drive me crazy.
I spent a semester at the University of Pittsburg, living in a suburb called Sewickley. The dropping of the connector verb as you make mention was the norm there. I think it's an Ohio River Valley thing more than just a rural thing, though much of the Ohio River Valley is admittedly rural.
I live in Colorado Springs, a military town. Consequently we get a blend of a lot of colloquial styles and accents, though Colorado has what some call a "non-accent." People who drop "to be" here tend to be from New England-ish area, in my experience. I personally only drop it when I'm trying to be funny ("Whoever wrote this needs slapped. Oh wait, that was me.").
I might even expand this to a Midwestern thing. I first came across this when I lived in Omaha. Along with little gems like "Them are good."
The Irish do that too. And 'away' is just an accepted answer, meaning literally anywhere other than right here. So: "Where's paddy to?" "Ah, he's off away now."
English is such a weird language. There are so many variants on its use. Can you imagine the effort it would take to write an all-encompassing English dictionary/grammar book? Like, one that would take into account not only US/UK/AUS/CAN differences but also the dialects therein? You could spend a lifetime on it.
