DAY 120 - In a manner of speaking

Early this morning, I dropped Phil off at Gatwick for his trip back to Toronto then on to Florida. I was already missing him about 5 seconds after he disappeared into the labyrinth of the security checkpoints. As if on cue, as I was walking down the hallway to get the terminal train back, Lady Jane of Alton Towers texted me to ensure her room was still available in the west wing for her stay in the Cotswold this coming weekend. Further blogs will ensue on that trip.

I picked up my bag from the hotel, walked back to the train station at the airport and was soon on a train leading to Reading. A lovely older lady hopped on the train at the last minute and sat in a seat across the aisle from me. She was all out of breath, worried she might have missed the train. I smiled at her, and we were soon having a lovely conversation about her family and why she had moved to Wales. However, given her accent, she was obviously from the south of England. Yes, my years visiting here have allowed me to hear the regional differences in accents in England and even parts of Scotland ... although I am no Professor Henry Higgins by any stretch of the imagination (the elocution coach from Pygmalion a.k.a. My Fair Lady if you don't know the reference).

While this video link is a wee bit o'er the top, ya know, it does give the North American a slightly exaggerated sense of the differences and makes my point ... or will, at the very least, make you smile.

Gerard Butler explains Scottish slang. Source: Vanity Fair

Various polls usually have "British" as the favourite global accent. But as you have by now discovered, there is no such thing as a soley British accent. British Airways surveyed 1,000 Americans to ask them which British accent they thought was sexiest. The number one: Glaswegian (from Glasgow, Scotland).  Think Gerard Butler.  Listen to him explain Scottish slang.

The Cockney accent is usually applied to those coming from London's working class East End. Think Eliza Doolittle in the aforementioned My Fair Lady ... "Come on Dover, move your blumin' arse!" But Americans love it ... probably because it is the one they most often try to imitate and therefore associate with Britain.

Ah, but which accent is the favourite of the Brits themselves? Irish. Think Colin Farrell.

In the UK, our Canadian accent is always determined to be American. Lady Jane, for example, hears "CHAIR - i- dee" when I say charity. Which reminds me, as she'll be visiting soon, it's time for me to practise my enunciation ..."The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain."