Catnip says:
Which words sound great in a Brummie accent? When I first moved to Brum ten years ago , the word that jumped out was pie, pronounced ‘poi’ by Brummies :-)
Another favourite of mine is microwave (moicrowaive).
What are your favourite words or indeed sentences which sound particularly good in the Brummie accent?
27 comments
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June 15, 2007 at 7:14 pm
ex-Brummie Paul
Two words immediately spring to mind although one is a little archaic:
- point : when asking for beer
- carbolic : the pronunciation of which would identify a Brummie in any crowd.
June 18, 2007 at 10:40 am
Brad
My dad says pieson for poison, ties for toys, tielut for toilet, and byes for boys.
And a bus is a buzz.
June 18, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Damon Lord
“All roight!” seems to be the universal West Midlands greeting….
June 20, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Emma
As a southerner working in Brum I have millions of these…”Cluck” for clock…as in “Noine O’Cluck” is nine o’clock…
June 20, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Swanny
Mayonaisse is a favorite of moine. Try asking for it abroad and see what they make on it.
June 20, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Swanny
I have a pal named Jason who met some Americans whilst on holiday. They asked what his name was and then told him “Gee, that’s a name I never heard before, Jaaaaaysun
June 20, 2007 at 5:25 pm
ex-Brummie Paul
it’s strange (or possibly not, depending upon where HIS Dad comes from) for Brad to identify the pronunciation of toilet as “tielut”. My family came from Aston and Great Barr so I always remember it as “toy-lit”.
July 16, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Rich Anderson
I like getting geordies to say ‘kit-kat chunkie’ or ‘kawazaki ninja’, but my Walsall/Birmingham hybrid accent gets a few odd looks too.
Can’t think of any exmples off the top of me head, but if I did i’d just avoid saying them for a bit.
Watchaam’ duin? (what are you doing) ay’it (isn’t it just.) and aar (yes, I agree with what you are saying) are ones i’m very guilty of. :)
July 17, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Richard
I lived in Brum for three years and there’s two words I can’t say any other way but Brummy. These are ‘ridiculous’ and ‘brilliant’. Real emphasis on the middle of the word. Love it.
July 17, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Steve McKay-Salt
Living in Scotland, I struggle understanding anybody, but there’s nothing quite so satisfying as lapsing into “the Mother Tongue” to really get some confused looks!!
One phrase I love (and have now gotten my Scottish wife to pronouce perfectly) is “GOO AN BUGGER OFF!!” Just doesn’t work in any other accent.
July 19, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Dan
Well, people who live in up north find our accent hard to understand.I was speaking to somebody from newcastle the other day.
She asked me how do we say “I” so i said it. .
She thought i said “Oi”
Then she told me to say “Oi” so i said it and she said it sounds like im sayin “I”
Its hard to explain unless you realise how different people say things.
Quite funny tho :)
July 19, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Brenda
I used to say, “Oooh Arrh” meaning “Oh yes” back in the 70s. An Australian came to visit and when I said that he said that I sounded like a donkey!
“Yow littul varmint” was quite a popular saying around Birmingham (see the books by the Brummie Kathleen Dayus for this)
I always say “a piece” (or “piecey” by some) for a slice of bread.
There is a very good book about the way Birmingham (Brummie) people speak by Dr Carl Chinn who is a leading Historian and has shows on West Midlands radio.
Its called Proper Brummie and is a dictionary of words and phrases.
When we went to live in Cornwall, in the 50s, my school head mistress wanted me to join an Elocution class somewhere as they couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand them either. I refused.
I am a Proper Brummie and proud of it!
July 20, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Martin
The traditional brummie greeting of “oi-right mayt?”
The word “factory” (“fakteroi”) accentuates a Brummie accent as well, all the better considering WE invented them… ;-)
July 21, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Nick
I am a Brummie and it always makes me laugh when I hear people talking and saying ” I ent got non” as in “I have not got any” even as a Brummie I still find that very amusing
KRO.
September 2, 2007 at 7:24 am
basher
i was in the uk for a few years for studies. believe me i preferred this accent. i didn’t like the cockney one. i still sometimes use this brummie accent with my students.
January 27, 2008 at 5:36 am
Stefan
Brummies sound like farmers.. But i love the accent :) even thought it doesnt beat a true manchester accent
September 26, 2008 at 11:30 am
Dave Ashton
After living in Oz. for the last 34 yrs .. I still say “awright mate ” when greeting a buddy !!!!!!!!!!
September 26, 2008 at 11:34 am
Dave Ashton
I read yesterday , that Ozzy Osborne was being ridiculed for his Brummie accent .. Well i meet lots of people here in Australia , from England . And even after leaving Brum 34 yrs ago , they can always guess where i am from . So we are famous eh !!!!!!!!!!!
March 3, 2009 at 7:09 pm
alex
lol being a brummie theres a difference between a brummie accent and dudley accent (dud-laaay) lol or (kipper tie) = cup of tea in dudley
most people i’ve met who’s noticed my accent asked why it isnt as bad as they heard, i told them they probably got mixed up with other people from areas outside birmingham, cant beat a good old weird accent though haha
as someone else put our accents arn’t that bad compared to others XD
June 3, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Vixsta33
My boss says ‘Tuff’ instead of tooth and I find it funny that Stratford Upon Avon are classed as being rather pooosh; and they say it too! No offence to Brummies mind! I always have got on well with Brummies, salt of the earth types! People from down south ask me if I’m a Brummie well, no I’m not-I’m about 18 miles away! But I don’t mind and I just say ‘Yeah I am’! I was in Georgia in the U.S a few years back and the girl on the checkout in the shop asked me in her strong Southern accent: ‘Ya’ll where you from?’ And I said ‘Birmingham’….before I could say, England, she interjected with a puzzled look: ‘Ayyyllabaaamaa???’ ‘No, bab, England’. I smiled.
July 12, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Talk Like A Brummie Day — This Fri - Birmingham: It's Not Shit
[...] you, harder for others, but there are pages of words and phrases to use n the TLAB dictionary and accent tips too. If you don’t speak to people much, feel free to “type like a Brummie” and [...]
July 12, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Careful past yer grannies, this friday is TLAB Day 09 « Talk Like A Brummie Day
[...] Accent [...]
July 16, 2009 at 11:49 pm
About Brum » Ow yam doing moite?
[...] up the inaugural TLABD, head on over to TalkLikeABrummieDay.co.uk. There’s a section on the accent and even a quick ‘n dirty dictionary to help you get started. If you’re struggling to [...]
October 12, 2009 at 5:00 pm
amanda.burke@live.co.uk
I loved the Brummie thing. I actually work in a Brummie office where only me and one other staff are Brummies. I am often ridiculed about my accent and this makes me sad. I cant help that wine sounds like wyne, tie sounds like toy and rice sounds like royce, its not my fault . I am a down to earth brummy done good. I love the word bostin because i dont think that any other word gives the accent on such a fabulous positive word. I love Birmingham its a bostin place to live en it!!
February 5, 2010 at 2:17 am
jp4eh
i say tuff insted of tooth and my missis finds it funny as shes frm near manchester,, and dnt u think yam yams sound like there driblling wen they talk ??
May 24, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Dan
Most brummies don’t talk like those in the black country except those in north west brum whose accent (Aston, Great Barr ect) is virtually black country/Walsall.
June 22, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I hate all the brummies in the whole world
To reiterate ; I hate all the brummies in the whole world