Reply #14: You haven't been listening to Auntie lately. [View All]

Also nowadays it would be called the Queen's English. Also that standard accent has even gained a new name: BBC English.

Which reminds me: it's a shame the BBC had stopped its shortwave lessons of English. I got bored one afternoon in my youth and had the dubious pleasure of listening to "BBC English", and the people were going over in extreme detail the meaning of the phrase "cheesed off". I think it took them about ten minutes to go over the phrase, its history, synonyms, etc. This included slow repetition of the phrase - for those whose grasp of English was weak. The other half of the programme was going over the recent episode of Westway (now sadly cancelled) and what certain phrases meant - as they used language that was often used in London and that might not have been used elsewhere.

Besides, Auntie has been changing. You don't just hear the standard accent anymore: various British and international accents are heard. English is an international language and yes accents differ.

Personally, I just wish more people were tolerant of different accents! Most people I meet like my accent, but some people have a hard time. In my work I handle the second level of calls from members of the public in regards to their credit card bills - and a fair percentage of the calls is simply about the fact that the person didn't understand the other one - yet both spoke plain simple English.

Mark.