Morrissey speech therapy?

[nightandday]

I am an idiot, you know. Just been told it's Received Pronunciation - I think that's something close to what Moz has, isn't it?

Not really. I think you may hear RP if you listen to someone from the Royal family, or if you watch BBC period drama It was also called Queen's English, Oxford English, or BBC English, and basically it is the 'posh accent'. It's also the accent that foreign people who study English in school are taught, as it was considered the 'received pronounciation', but I don't think that there are many native speakers who actually speak it. But I think that nowadays it serves as some kind of yardstick and that many people in Britain speak some kind of modified RP, or something in between their regional accent and RP. Or at least that's what I was taught as my English language studies at the university.

Morrissey may not have a thick Mancunian or Irish accent, but he definitely doesn't speak RP and he never did. I think his accent is one of those that fall somewhere in between RP and regional accents.

[nightandday]

And here's what Wikipedia says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

"In recent decades, many people have asserted the value of other regional and class accents, and many members (particularly young ones) of the groups that traditionally used Received Pronunciation have moved away from it to varying degrees. There are signs that RP is losing its "normal English" status (but not its "posh English" one) to the "Estuary English" accent whose spread from Southern Essex is being fanned by TV exposure."

[Amy]

RP? What's that, then? Rait Posh?

lol "Rait Posh" , excellent. And .. lol, you poor git, I've just noticed you're from Cas

[Sofia]

No, it isn't.

There are so many different British accents, do you find them all sexy, or just some of them? Which one do you find sexy - RP? Cockney? Mancunian? Scottish?

I know that lots of people find RP sexy, but I just don't get it. I don't like RP to start with. As for accents, it all depends on the person.

Obviously I havn't heard all british accents, but all I've heard have been sexy. More or less.

[Wild Oscar]

And here's what Wikipedia says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

"In recent decades, many people have asserted the value of other regional and class accents, and many members (particularly young ones) of the groups that traditionally used Received Pronunciation have moved away from it to varying degrees. There are signs that RP is losing its "normal English" status (but not its "posh English" one) to the "Estuary English" accent whose spread from Southern Essex is being fanned by TV exposure."

Thanks for this.

My thinking was that Moz falls more into the 'normal' than the 'posh' English mode, but I understand that you're saying that RP was traditionally associated with what we used to call the Queen's English.

Where would Brian Sewell fit into this picture? Cut-glass?

Btw, I know I'm hardly Rait Posh myself, but I do think that Estuary English sounds horrid (or should that be 'orrid?), but to be fair to the BBC et al, regional accents in the media are now a lot more acceptable than they were, say, 20 years ago, aren't they? (Or did you already say that in an earlier post?)

[Wild Oscar]

lol "Rait Posh" , excellent. And .. lol, you poor git, I've just noticed you're from Cas

No I'm not!! I was, errr....visiting some friends

(Was born there, but live just a few miles away now. )

[Amy]

No I'm not!! I was, errr....visiting some friends

(Was born there, but live just a few miles away now )

lol me too unfortunately my Dad's side of the family still reside there,though we have tried in vain to get them out . As for Moz' speech...I don't think it's RP (certainly not now, it seems to have become much stronger as he got older..it's just a soft,well-spoken Northern voice

[nightandday]

Thanks for this.

My thinking was that Moz falls more into the 'normal' than the 'posh' English mode, but I understand that you're saying that RP was traditionally associated with what we used to call the Queen's English.

Where would Brian Sewell fit into this picture? Cut-glass?

Btw, I know I'm hardly Rait Posh myself, but I do think that Estuary English sounds horrid (or should that be 'orrid?), but to be fair to the BBC et al, regional accents in the media are now a lot more acceptable than they were, say, 20 years ago, aren't they? (Or did you already say that in an earlier post?)

I don't even know who Brian Sewell is, sorry. And I must point out that you're talking to a non-British person. When you're a student of English, you're expected to know the Received Pronounciation, though, fortunately, nowadays you're not expected to actually speak it, you just have to speak any form of Standard English. You're just supposed to know about other accents, but not in details. Most of what I know about accents other than RP and General American I've just picked up watching TV or films or music, or on the occasions when I happened to meet and talk to some British and American people. Anyway, I don't think I've mentioned it, but we were taught that RP used to be called "BBC English", among other things, but that it's not really true nowadays because BBC has become more open to regional accents.

I think that very few people speak RP nowadays, and it does sounds very 'posh'. Morrissey speak standard English, but he definitely doesn't speak RP. For instance, the way he pronounces 'R' is completely different, very unlike the 'R' in RP, or the 'R' in any Southern accent (or in American English).

[Amy]

I don't even know who Brian Sewell is, sorry. And I must point out that you're talking to a non-British person. When you're a student of English, you're expected to know the Received Pronounciation, though, fortunately, nowadays you're not expected to actually speak it, you just have to speak any form of Standard English. You're just supposed to know about other accents, but not in details. Most of what I know about accents other than RP and General American I've just picked up watching TV or films or music, or on the occasions when I happened to meet and talk to some British and American people. Anyway, I don't think I've mentioned it, but we were taught that RP used to be called "BBC English", among other things, but that it's not really true nowadays because BBC has become more open to regional accents.

I think that very few people speak RP nowadays, and it does sounds very 'posh'. Morrissey speak standard English, but he definitely doesn't speak RP. For instance, the way he pronounces 'R' is completely different, very unlike the 'R' in RP, or the 'R' or any Southern accent (or in American English).

Brian Sewell is an utterly detestable art snob who's voice rips through me like nails down a blackboard and who I would dearly like to garotte. And ... you're not British/American? nightandday I would never have guessed that in a million years ..

[WHY!]

I don't know much about accents as well because I'm not a native speaker and I'm just glad if I can understand the person. I'm not very talented in languages.

For instance, I really can't understand Johnny Marr. He's mumbling all the time.

That's why I'm glad I can understand Morrissey very, very well!!! I DO love the way he speaks! Could listen to it for hours. And I like the way he speaks "cup" and "ugly", thinks like that. He has a very clear speech which is a huge help for me as a non-English person and "language-idiot".

[Kewpie]

Brian Sewell is an utterly detestable art snob who's voice rips through me like nails down a blackboard and who I would dearly like to garotte. And ... you're not British/American? nightandday I would never have guessed that in a million years ..

nightandday is a Serbian, isn't she?

[left out]

Very few people speak RP. Most speak with a regional accent. However these have softened a bit as people are more mobile than they used to be, and so are exposed to accents from other areas on an everyday basis.
When I was younger I had to modify my regional accent 'cause no-one outside my part of the world could understand me! However, when I'm tired or emotional it comes back stronger!

Even now I meet people with a strong accent who I have to "tune in" to over several minutes to get the gist of what they are saying...I love the variety and richness of local expressions. I guess it's the same in most countries.

[imogen11]

I freaking love his lisp, I'm obsessed with his underbite and I adore his accent.

Me? Worst accent on the planet - Australian.

[Wild Oscar]

[QUOTE=nightandday;468135]I don't even know who Brian Sewell is, sorry. And I must point out that you're talking to a non-British person. QUOTE]

Like Amy said, an upper-class art critic - see part of what Wikipedia say about him below. Also ditto-ing Amy, while I didn't think you were British, I thought you might be American (reminder: must get my signature changed again!).

Apologies for assuming we all know the same about everything British. You are very well-read/educated - it's a pleasure to, errr, converse with you.


"Noted for his affected manner and anti-populist sentiments. He offended some people in Gateshead by claiming an exhibition was too important to be held only at the Baltic and should be shown to "more sophisticated" audiences in London. He has become a popular subject for impersonation and is sometimes described as having "the poshest voice in Britain", or, as Paul Merton once told him: "You make the Queen sound rough." Sewell is imitated by Jon Culshaw for the Dead Ringers comedy show."

[Wild Oscar]

Brian Sewell is an utterly detestable art snob who's voice rips through me like nails down a blackboard and who I would dearly like to garotte.

Talking about snobs....let's just take a look at 1 or 2 of the comments directed towards my hometown, shall we, Amy?

“you poor git, I've just noticed you're from Cas”

“we have tried in vain to get them out” [your family, I believe]

Now, now...i do hope that we don't have a touch of the 'double-standards syndrome' here, do we?

(P.S. just joshing... )

[nightandday]

nightandday is a Serbian, isn't she?

Yes, and me and chica have the same first name (but it's a very common one).

[Amy]

Talking about snobs....let's just take a look at 1 or 2 of the comments directed towards my hometown, shall we, Amy?

“you poor git, I've just noticed you're from Cas”

“we have tried in vain to get them out” [your family, I believe]

Now, now...i do hope that we don't have a touch of the 'double-standards syndrome' here, do we?

(P.S. just joshing... )

lol i think the fact that I'm actually from W Yorks and have family in Cas gets me out of being called a 'snob' though... twas meant in gest my friend

[Mars_Rover]

Bit of a newbie fan, me, and I've been trawling through YouTube to find interviews old and new to find out more about the great man.

One thing that has struck me is how bad Morrissey's speech was in the early years. He had a very pronounced lisp and an obvious underbite, which looks uncomfortable even around 1995.

I personally think he looks better the older he gets, but his lisp seems to have gone and his underbite looks less uncomfortable. Do we know if he's ever had speech therapy or perhaps even surgery on his jaw or teeth?

Harry

I remember him talking about his jaw in a television interview saying "it's never worked properly" but that was such a long time ago I can't remember the interviewer's question (I mean *why* would you ask someone that? It's rude) or anything else.

[Please]

So just because he speaks well, and not with a strong mancunian accent he has a speech problem?

[nightandday]

I remember him talking about his jaw in a television interview saying "it's never worked properly" but that was such a long time ago I can't remember the interviewer's question (I mean *why* would you ask someone that? It's rude) or anything else.

I don't see anything wrong with his jaw.