Coming from Yorkshire, I sound very different from my husband and his family. I have a thick, broad accent. When I go back home to visit my family, I come back to Boston; my accent is so thick. Adam's family can't understand me. I had my hen party back in Leeds, and my SIL came. Poor love, she looked like a deer caught in headlights when my friends and I talked—talking ten to the dozen, laughing and joking. I saw my SIL's face; I was very concerned as I wanted her to have a great time. I asked her if she was ok. To my surprise, she started giggling, and she said she had no idea what we were saying. She couldn't understand a word. This was before we even had a cocktail! Often at work, I'll be speaking and helping a customer, and I'll get, " oh, you're not from around here, are you?" I'm so used to it now.
I don't feel like an outsider, and I like to see it as my superpower. I see the same look that my SIL had on Roman's face. I sometimes forget that I said local things to myself growing up. Ro doesn't have the foggiest About what I am saying. Whenever my dad calls, I always answer with " Ey up pops" Ro tries to imitate me. I often say " Alreet love" when I'm talking To friends. Ro finds it all hilarious and tries to say it as I do. Just for context, I know the spelling looks wrong, and it is, but I'm writing it as how a Yorkshire lass like me would speak.
I find myself saying things my dad and grandparents used to tell me and my sibbers ( my siblings), for example
" Ya mek a betta door than a winda."
" Blooming eck its leek Blackpool illuminations in ere."
" Close't door, ye lettin' the bough air out."
" Over't road"
" In ere"
" By eck"
" Nowt"
" Yur gunna go arse over tit, an i aint takin ya t'no hospital."
" Put ya keks on!"
" Ya can only blame Thyssen."
" Ro ya a reet guzzler"
" Tek mi as thi find mi."
" I'm off twerk."
" Gerraway wi yer"
" Nah then"
" Ow'd thi horses."
When I sometimes say these things, Adam looks at me like I've grown two heads and says, "that's not English. Your making things up again." I have not come back to that. Technically he is correct, and it is not proper English, not the Kings English. Its yorkshireish! I also have to remember little ears hear EVERYTHING. The ears pick up even the tiniest of whispers. One evening, Adam and I were getting a rare date night. Adam's dad was babysitting for us. Ro was in full spirits and running around. Before we left, the adults and Ro were chatting. Adam asked Ro, " what does daddy say?"
Ro replied, " My dude."
Adam then asked, " What does Granddad say?"
Ro replied, " Ello cheeky."
Then Adam asked, " What does mummy say?"
Ro replied, "A lot of stuff, daddy. She talks a lot."
We all laughed. I can't deny it. I do. But when you repeatedly do not listen, it gets a bit repetitive and tedious.
Adam then asked, " What does mummy say a lot of the time then?"
Ro replied, " Fe fuck sake, were ye born in't barn?"
I was mortified, but I couldn't stop laughing. Adam had to face the wall, to hide his face as he was crying with laughter. My FIL was hiding his face behind one of the sofa cushions but shaking with laughter.
Ro has sworn a few times; I don't draw attention to it as he will do it even more. I try not to swear around him, but I do it so often I don't even realise it. I'm what my Gran would call a potty mouth.
Leanne's son came for tea one night after school. When he got home, Leanne texted me and said he was speaking like me and imitating my accent. Her partner found it as hilarious as Leanne did. As Ro grew up and learned to talk, he picked up a few words from me in my accent, saying in that vocabulary. He does say " No " in a Yorkshire accent and " gerraway mummy." I find it adorable, and I'm chuffed that he has a bit of me and my hometown. When we return to Leeds for a visit, we are with my sibbers and nephew. They all say Ro speaks very posh; I have to explain it's because he doesn't have a Yorkshire accent, and any accent south of Sheffield sounds posh to us. What do they expect when we say things like " putt wood in - toil" instead of close the door please or " ow do?" instead of Hello? When I'm with my sibbers, we developed our little shorthand over the decades. " ya know owt or nowt?" We can't just ask each other usually. Typical to Adam and his standards. It's my regular.
I hope that Ro will pick up some of my linguistics. But not so much the potty mouth. That is not so good. But then again, as the age-old saying " What mum says goes!"
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HumorA very real portrayal of being a working mother and wife, the trials and tribulations, the hilarious day to day. If your easily offended this may not be for you, I write how I speak and say things. Just imagine a thick, broad Yorkshire accent. I swe...