Whitechapel - Manchester accent

Manchester accent

Ste Pickford — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:29:12 -0700

Hi,

Just stumbled across this comic / website through some random linking, and I'm very impressed. Lovely stuff.

However, I'm going to have a little moan at you about a pet hate of mine - changing the spelling of people with a Manchester accent in dialogue.

If you're going to use phonetic spelling, shouldn't it be the London accents you change? I think Mancunian pronunciation more closely matches the spelling of the words 'fuck' and 'fucking' than the London equivalent.

Mancs pronoucnce the 'u' letter as 'uh' in 'fucking', whereas Londoners tend to pronounce it 'a', so the word sounds like 'facking' to my northern ears.

Spelling it as 'oo' ('fooking') only matches the way a Mancunian speaks if you already speak in a distorted London accent. I'm sure to your international readers it will make it read like it rhymes with 'nuking' or 'rebuking', which ain't the Manchester accent at all!

Well, I've got that off my chest. Still, it's fooking good work. Look (luck?) forward to reading the rest.

Manchester accent

warrenellis — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:46:13 -0700

As I mentioned elsewhere, people should count themselves lucky that I indicated people from Manchester are capable of human speech at all.

Manchester accent

Ste Pickford — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:48:06 -0700

Heh. Not had a bad experience I hope!

Manchester accent

lasse_toft — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:02:04 -0700

something that i've been curious about, just as a football fan, did you write in the script that the Manchester girl was wearing a United shirt, or was it just Paul Duffield that made the connection? I'm just curious if you were on the fence about whether it should be a United or a City shirt? (Or perhaps a Stockport? :D)

Manchester accent

warrenellis — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:14:21 -0700

something that i've been curious about, just as a football fan, did you write in the script that the Manchester girl was wearing a United shirt, or was it just Paul Duffield that made the connection?

I don't even remember. Probably Paul.

In any case, making her a City fan would seem to me to just be unnecessary cruelty.

Manchester accent

Ste Pickford — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:15:45 -0700

Blimey. I'm feeling most unwelcome here now (

Manchester accent

Spiraltwist — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:17:49 -0700

I can tell Warren just woke up.

Manchester accent

Paul Duffield — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:21:46 -0700

The Manchester United shirt was in the script. Not sure what I would have dressed her in, but I thought it was a nice touch, since the majority of women I know wouldn't wear a football shirt anyway. Thought maybe it was given to her by a friend and she was just wearing it because she had nothing else, or because it meant something to her. Bear in mind that this is set in the future and it's a 2007 vintage shirt. I doubt anyone still plays football professionally.

As for the accent thing, I think you just had the misfortune to happened to pick a bad topic for your first post. It's good form to take a search through a forum before you post a new topic to make sure things haven't been discussed else where. You'll find the topic has already been brought up and talked about quite a bit here.

Please don't feel unwelcome, but make sure to use the search function, and maybe research your topic a bit instead of complaining about one generalisation by using another.
There's no such thing as one 'London' accent, and the accent of the main character has been discussed here with examples.

Manchester accent

offtandiscord — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:52:13 -0700

most manc's are city fans anyway aren't they?

first night i went to manchester i got punched in the face waiting for a bus. what a welcome that was!

Manchester accent

alwayscrashing — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:15:18 -0700

First time I went to Manchester I was told to 'fook off back down south', and that was by the ticket inspector at Manchester Picadilly railway station two minutes after my train had arrived.

It wen't down hill from there. Later on in a pub, because I had a record bag with me, a random person walked up to me, shoved me and said "What you got a fookin' handbag for? You a fookin puff or what?'.

I think Warren has the character of certain types from Manchester spot on. I'd bet nearly everyone who has been to Manchester with the wrong accent has had a bad experience. And yes, it does sound like 'fook' rather than 'fuck'.

The only thing in their favour is that they are not from Liverpool, and that really IS damning with feint praise.

Manchester accent

Ste Pickford — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:46:46 -0700

Please don't feel unwelcome, but make sure to use the search function, and maybe research your topic a bit instead of complaining about one generalisation by using another.
There's no such thing as one 'London' accent, and the accent of the main character has been discussed here with examples.

I was only joking about the unwelcome thing. Just with being a City fan I'd had a double insult in the space of a couple of minutes of joining...

Apologies - very rude of me to not find the other topic. I'm completely unfamiliar with these Wiki type forums, and didn't notice any search, or think I needed one as I'd checked the topic list first for a similar topic. I didn't realise you were all discussing things in the weekly episode threads - I just presumed they were 'heads up' notices.

I still maintain that 'fooking' doesn't sound anything like a manchester accent, unless you're already saying it in a london accent. (insert smiley here)

Manchester accent

warrenellis — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:04:20 -0700

Just with being a City fan I'd had a double insult in the space of a couple of minutes of joining...

Well, you must be used to that, being a City fan.

...

...okay, okay, I'll stop. Welcome to my hovel.

Manchester accent

synthsapien — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:22:37 -0700

Oi! alwayscrashing - my mum's a scouser. Having grown up in Southport (dead end seaside town for those who don't know) near Liverpool and lived down south for the last 9 years I'd have to say that people are much the same everywhere - there's always assholes.

Manchester accent

muse hick — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:29:15 -0700

i think it's cool that we can even talk about regional actions, given that the accent attributed to kk is estuary which is an accent that kind of spread like an amorphous mass. my accent got softened by moving around -- east anglia, london, the midlands and now the states.

Manchester accent

warrenellis — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:52:33 -0700

my accent got softened by moving around -- east anglia, london, the midlands and now the states.

I guess no-one asks you if you can drive a tractor anymore.

Manchester accent

alwayscrashing — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:54:28 -0700

@synthsapien

If people were the same everywhere in MY experience I wouldn't be singling out the two places where I can guarantee I am going to get grief from the locals.

People are assholes everywhere but in some places they make a deliberate point of being assholes if they think you are a southerner. Which I'm not anyway, I just sound like one. I'm from near Nottingham and my mother is from Newcastle.

Try sounding like a middle class southerner and go to Liverpool and Manchester and see what reaction you get. I can guarantee it's not the same as if you sound a bit local.

Edit: This is just context on things I said before, just so I don't look like I'm criticising without reasons. I'm not trying to cause an argument.

Manchester accent

LokiZero — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:31:02 -0700

This is fascinating. The most grief when I tell people I'm from Texas is, "you don't sound like you're from Texas!" I'm "blessed" with a generic American accent, whereas my brothers, especially the younger one, sound like stereotypical rednecks.

To be fair, they kind of are.

Manchester accent

phil.lunt — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:31:22 -0700

people should count themselves lucky that I indicated people from Manchester are capable of human speech at all

...coming from Bolton, myself, i'd have to agree... :)

Manchester accent

synthsapien — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:04:52 -0700

@alwayscrashing - can't argue with your experiences - just defending my mum ;)

My Northern accent has mellowed and mixed since moving, but I never had a problem when it was more Northern. Guess I'm just lucky.

Manchester accent

Fauxhammer — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:07:37 -0700

Boston, here.

I don't want to hear about anybody's accents.

Manchester accent

offtandiscord — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:00:51 -0700

heh, my fiancee has a half boston half midwest accent. i make fun of her whenever she saus coffee, quality queen and about a thousand other words.

weird thing about manchester, is whenever i went up there i would start thinking in a manchester accent, and start saying phrases i woldn't have otherwise said if i were down south. of course i still sounded like i was from the home counties, which is about the blandest british accent there is...

Manchester accent

phil.lunt — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:08:12 -0700

whenever i went up there i would start thinking in a manchester accent, and start saying phrases i woldn't have otherwise said if i were down south

it's easily done.... they wouldn't understand you otherwise!:) And i'm not just bitter coz MUFC beat Bolton earlier......

Manchester accent

SilentObjector — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:40:20 -0700

@Chris
I'm sorry, man. At least you can always make fun of us NOO YOAHKUHS, right? Just like we make fun of you bahstoneeyeans.

Always pahkin ya cahs in hahvahd yahd.

Manchester accent

warrenellis — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:40:34 -0700

And i'm not just bitter coz MUFC beat Bolton earlier......

(insert joke about my dead mum beating Bolton)

Manchester accent

Fauxhammer — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:24:20 -0700

@ SilentObjector

I can do that right from home; I live near Raleigh NC, now, and it seems as though all the Northeast emptied out down here.

Manchester accent

phil.lunt — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:30:27 -0700

(insert joke about my dead mum beating Bolton)

What with those, and jokes regarding my surname, I think i've heard 'em all! :D