Best way to Learn British English?

Knock it orf! The Queen speaks proper nah..know wot oi mean?

Do cousins really marry? I know her family are mega dysfunctional but didn't know they were inbreds. Oh aye...they must be...just remembered. All is clear now. Buck house has carpets everywhere doesn't it?

Yes, amongst other incestuous relationships throughout the bloodline, the the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are cousins. What's more, cousins through a German bloodline. If Prince Charles did what other people in Britain do and took his Father's (real) surname he would be Charles Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg; Prince Philip changed it to Mountbatten because German's weren't too popular in the 1940s. It seems amusing to me therefore, that someone who is only first generation British on one side of the family should lecture people (whose ancestors developed the language) about correct pronunciation.

Queen Elizabeth and prince Philip are both great-great-grandchildren of queen Victoria. So is king Juan Carlos of Spain, as far as I know (making them all third cousins)

<<If Prince Charles did what other people in Britain do and took his Father's (real) surname >>

There's no obligation whatsoever to do this. In Britain you can call yourself whatever you damn well please. If I want to call myself Minnie Mouse there's nothing to stop me.

<< should lecture people (whose ancestors developed the language) about correct pronunciation. >>

??????

Here in Scotland a lot of us have a wee bit of a chuckle when the Royal Family come up here...which they do regularly, of course. All the males wear kilts most of the time...and that combined with their plummy English voices cause the amusement. Not many of Scotland's "landed gentry"...the aristocratic types.....have any trace of Scottishness in their accents...they all seem to sound as if they come from Surrey or Sussex or wherever.

Maybe it isn't really fraudulent for the Royal family to wear kilts and do the Highland fling...they do have strong links with Scotland....the Palace of Holyrood House in this city is one of Lizzie's official residences and, of course, Balmoral, in Aberdeenshire, where they spend the summer. The Queen's sister, the late Princess Margaret, was born at Glamis* Castle, up there in gorgeous Angus. The only one to be actually born in Scotland ....AFAIK. The late Queen Mother had a castle at Mey, right on the northernmost coast of Scotland, facing the Orkneys, just to the west of Thurso.

*pronounced ['Gla:ms] to rhyme with arms.

It's true....you can change your name to anything you like in the UK...by something called a deed poll. I'm thinking of changing mine to Roman Abramovich.

Hallo Mates!

Travis - not the entire America, just what I have seen in NY, but I have heard accents from all regions and I like British all together than US accents. It does not have to be RP either, I like all the 55+ or so I have seen so far at this point and will like the rest too, Some Irish English is very hard for me to understand though.

"Gimme a pint their laddy, me bollocks got a little burnt from the ballad dancing in the square this morning so aye reckon you gonna gimme the best dere is, right mate!"

Ariel the Mermaid - You got it! I will Rock and RollsRoyce!

Scottish Dude Damien- yes I understand it is a bit old of a word, but I saw it in the movie Snatch used once and it is great word. When I go to London I will hear it all proper, yeah? I must say, I understand Scottish English much more so than Irish English.

Thank you for that...

Still no Adam...

Imperial Measurements debate raging somewhere else...

The way Prince Philip speaks is awesome!

Great example of word usage for me to learn from mates!

"In all due respect ma'am we cannot allow you entry into the castle, as we must verify that the entourage you are with are legal."

Damian in Scotland -

your right - I am having a bit of fun with chum its just too funny.

Cheerio!

Candy (or Minnie),

True you can call yourself whatever you want, but the majority of us are proud of our heritage and do not choose to masquerade as something we are not. I think you are correct about the link being Queen Victoria- I thought it was a generation before so the relationship is even more incestuous than I first thought- but she was practically German and married a German anyway!!

As for wearing kilts etc, I think they might have a wee dram of Scots blood in them, not sure the same can be said for Anglo-Saxon blood.

(aka Candy)

<<True you can call yourself whatever you want, but the majority of us are proud of our heritage and do not choose to masquerade as something we are not.>>
Can't argue with that. Mind you, would you want to be called Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg??!! Imagine having to spell it on the phone!

Damian, AFAIK you don't even need to change your name by deed poll - you just inform people what your new name is, and that's that (or at least used to be - may have changed) The only thing you can never change is your birth certificate.

Rick - it is horribly incestuous, isn't it? Mind you, royal families always have been. Think of the pharoahs <shudders> Certainly explains the 'amazing chinless wonders' who are Lizzie's sons.

Wasn't the Queen Mother Scottish?

"Still no Adam...

Imperial Measurements debate raging somewhere else... "

Yeah, there was,actually. On an American politics discussion forum, and that discussion about Imperial VS Metric lasted about 15 pages.

But wasn't that mosly copying and pasting towards the end by the other users, in defiance to your references of the Imperial and examples. Surely this debate lives on...

**Wasn't the Queen Mother Scottish?**

Aye ADAM....her family was Scottish...Bowes-Lyon....her daddy was the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne BUT...she wasn't born in Scotland...she was born at the family home in Hertfordshire, England so in my book that didn't make her a true Scot. No self respecting Scot would allow herself/himself to be born outside of Scotland.

Her Scottish family home was up at Glamis Castle in Angus. She lived a life of extreme privilege...she had no conception of understanding of money or its value....she was mega extravagant and when she died at the age of 101 or whatever it was she left debts running into millions of quid but that was immaterial to the old dear. Daughter Lizzie probably wrote it off and marked it down to petty cash or incidental expenses or whatever.

The other side of the family...Lizzie's Dad's side....George VI ....had strong German connections...I think that during WW1 their thoroughly German name...Battenberg whatsits or whatever it was.....proved to be a mega embarrassment considering this country was fighting the Germans at the time so they all became Windsors overnight. How very English. I was about to say they shared a name with a cake as well before the change...but Battenburg is spelt differently. I'm no so keen on Battenburg cake....marzipan..yuk!

ROLLS old chum.....how are you this evening? Jolly decent of you to reply, old thing, what! Carry on the good work of promoting English Upper Class Britspeak circa 1920s style......one lump or two old bean? Indian or china? You really must try the cucumber sandwiches ...fresh from Fortnum and Mason you know! Cheerio...pip pip!

CANDY.....I can be sane now...this is the site I dug up about changing your name. It seems to involve deed poll stuff. It's amazingly easy...I've never thought about it before. It's like that guy Sidney Snott who hated his name...... so he changed it to Simon Snott.

http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/

=>No self respecting Scot would allow herself/himself to be born outside of Scotland. <=

:-)

Hey Damian, here's a link I found - no legal process strictly necessary, but helpful.

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/basics/changeofname.htm

BTW, never told you, but my so-called 'Canadian' partner was actually born in Paisley - his parents emigrated when he was 3....I'm living with a Scot, OH MY GOD!!!!