Pedants' Paradise, Spelling and Grammar Notes and Queries Options

[Cyrilla]

However, I was told a wonderful story by the Sub Postmaster at our local Post Office, concerning a rather well-to-do lady who runs a small mail order business. Apparently she had sent a parcel to an address near to Croydon in Surrey, and had written the address down exactly as it had been pronounced by the caller. She was quite put out when the parcel was retuned undelivered, with a note saying that there was no such address as Fort Neath in the Croydon postal district. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

SB

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

(For those who don't know, Thornton Heath is a less-than-salubrious district of Croydon...try saying it in your best Sarf Lundn accent and you'll get the joke above...)

[BerkshireMum]

However, I was told a wonderful story by the Sub Postmaster at our local Post Office, concerning a rather well-to-do lady who runs a small mail order business. Apparently she had sent a parcel to an address near to Croydon in Surrey, and had written the address down exactly as it had been pronounced by the caller. She was quite put out when the parcel was retuned undelivered, with a note saying that there was no such address as Fort Neath in the Croydon postal district. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

SB

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

(For those who don't know, Thornton Heath is a less-than-salubrious district of Croydon...try saying it in your best Sarf Lundn accent and you'll get the joke above...)

Thanks, Cyrilla. I had no idea what the place might have been until I read your post. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tenor Viol]

I looked at a map and worked it out eventually :P

EDIT: anyone else having problems posting? Took three attempts to load this up and it mis-formatted it - I've had to delete all of the muliplely repeated quotes

[Swell Box]

I looked at a map and worked it out eventually (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

EDIT: anyone else having problems posting? Took three attempts to load this up and it mis-formatted it - I've had to delete all of the muliplely repeated quotes

I seem to be getting logged out for no reason over the past two days. I seem to remember somebody else reporting a simialr problem recently.

SB

[Deborah]

no such address as Fort Neath in the Croydon postal district. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

One of my friends worked for Royal Mail for a while, and the one that had him most foxed was a town Arajarba. Eventually the penny dropped: Harwich Harbour.

[fsharpminor]

My son was born in Mayday Hospital, almost at Fort Neath north of Croydon.

There is an old story of a fellow asking for a ticket for Holborn and ended up in Oban, but seems rather implausible !

[Swell Box]

My son was born in Mayday Hospital, almost at Fort Neath north of Croydon.

There is an old story of a fellow asking for a ticket for Holborn and ended up in Oban, but seems rather implausible !

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That sounds rather like the famous Two Ronnies sketch: 'was that four candles or fork handles sir?' (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

SB

[maggiemay]

Great story, SB! Reminds me of a dear (and rather well-spoken) friend of mine who went by bus to visit a colleague in the aforementioned hospital. Asking the driver about the fare, the reply was ' Furpay'.

Total mystery to my friend, who after three highly embarrassed attempts to clarify, realised that he was asking her for 30p.

[Swell Box]

Great story, SB! Reminds me of a dear (and rather well-spoken) friend of mine who went by bus to visit a colleague in the aforementioned hospital. Asking the driver about the fare, the reply was ' Furpay'.

Total mystery to my friend, who after three highly embarrassed attempts to clarify, realised that he was asking her for 30p.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

As somebody who was brought up in the west of Surrey (Guildford / Godalming area), it has always fascinated me how people from opposite ends of the same county have difficulty understanding one another. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

It also fascinates me that many people from the west of the county, and from areas such as Claygate and West Horsley like to describe themselves as 'effluent' (but spelt 'affluent'), while anyone from outside of Surrey would regard 'effluent' as something undesirable, and to be disposed of. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

SB

[Cyrilla]

no such address as Fort Neath in the Croydon postal district. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

One of my friends worked for Royal Mail for a while, and the one that had him most foxed was a town Arajarba. Eventually the penny dropped: Harwich Harbour.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Akcherly, we tend to say 'Fort Neaf' rather than the posh people who say, 'Fort Neath'...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[Tenor Viol]

no such address as Fort Neath in the Croydon postal district. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

One of my friends worked for Royal Mail for a while, and the one that had him most foxed was a town Arajarba. Eventually the penny dropped: Harwich Harbour.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Akcherly, we tend to say 'Fort Neaf' rather than the posh people who say, 'Fort Neath'...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

It is amazing how quickly accents can change (Bill Bryson wrote about this - he said that in the UK there can be bigger shifts of accent in 10 miles than in 1,000 miles in the USA).

Where I grew up, we were about 5 miles from Liverpool city centre, so local accent was "generic" Liverpudlian (i.e. not the really heavy one). Just another 5 miles and you hit St. Helens which has an accent all of its own. Another mile or two and it morphs into pure Lancashire. I know that when my dad worked in St. Helens it took him several months to adjust to the local accent..

I sometimes wonder what foreign visitors make of it all!

[Swell Box]

It is amazing how quickly accents can change (Bill Bryson wrote about this - he said that in the UK there can be bigger shifts of accent in 10 miles than in 1,000 miles in the USA).

Where I grew up, we were about 5 miles from Liverpool city centre, so local accent was "generic" Liverpudlian (i.e. not the really heavy one). Just another 5 miles and you hit St. Helens which has an accent all of its own. Another mile or two and it morphs into pure Lancashire. I know that when my dad worked in St. Helens it took him several months to adjust to the local accent..

I sometimes wonder what foreign visitors make of it all!

Newcastle (and Gateshead just across the river) are much the same. When I worked in Gateshead I could usually pick out which part of the 'toon' people came from, or had been brought up in. Strangely, the Scots, and particularly Glaswegians seem to have more problems understanding Geordies than southerners do.

My father-in-law comes from Wallsend (pronounced Waaaalsend locally), and I have no difficulty understanding him. But when he and his brother are in conversation after a pint or two I find it almost impossible to follow the conversation. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

From Newcastle you only have to drive about 40 miles south the Teesside to find a completely different way of speaking. Geordie is both colourful and musical to my ear, with many expressions covering well over an octave, whilst the people from Teesside seem to talk in a dry monotone, with just a slight lift at the end of phrases.


SB

[JamesK]

SB: it reminds me of the large debate of pronouncing anything with an A in it:
Newca®stle vs Newcastle
Fa®st vs Fast
A®men vs A-men
...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

[Swell Box]

SB: it reminds me of the large debate of pronouncing anything with an A in it:
Newca?stle vs Newcastle
Fa?st vs Fast
A?men vs A-men
...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

Yes; but it goes much further than that. As an example, many Geordies I know have difficulty pronouncing 'E's and 'A's differently, as both sound like 'ear'. If you ask them which letter it was they will say 'ear'. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

SB

[BerkshireMum]

SB: it reminds me of the large debate of pronouncing anything with an A in it:
Newca?stle vs Newcastle
Fa?st vs Fast
A?men vs A-men
...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

Yes; but it goes much further than that. As an example, many Geordies I know have difficulty pronouncing 'E's and 'A's differently, as both sound like 'ear'. If you ask them which letter it was they will say 'ear'. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

SB

They can't pronounce the name "Ian" as most of us would either - it sounds like Een. And "film" has an extra syllable - "fillum". I love the Geordie accent!