We had a lovely family Christmas at home in Derbyshire this year. It was especially nice to be visited by our Devon relations including my two rascally nephews.
However, when I offered them a snack they were bemused!
I asked them if they’d like a cob. A what?
I mean a bap. A what?
Er… a roll? Oh yes…
Or it could have been a batch, a bread cake, a barm cake or scuffler.
So many different names for a bread roll!
Is it any wonder?
It really isn’t any wonder that there are so many regional variations in our language.
For a start we’ve been ‘visited’ by a wide variety of other tongues – such as Celts, Romans, Anglo Saxons with their Germanic influence, Christians with their Latin influence, the Normans with their 300 years of French influence (as any episode of Horrible Histories will tell you!)…
All followed by the influences of the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, technology and social media. We can hear the influence of more recent immigrants with words such as ‘innit’ – now common parlance (oops a French word!) with all young people.
Listen for yourself
One of my favourite websites is the British Library who has recorded everything worth knowing about our language, accents and pronunciation.
They have produced a map with audio, which you can click on to hear local people speaking in all parts of the UK.
It’s fascinating. Have fun and listen here.
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