Have you heard of Talk Like A Pirate Day? We have an idea… how about Talk Like A Brummie Day? Well, if this comes off, this July people around the city and the rest of the country with be asked to spend one day talking like a Brummie, in the hope that it will break down some of the prejudice and stereotyping that surrounds Birmingham’s accent. We’re trying to get Londoners, Scots, Mancs and even Brummies who usually hide their accent to call each other “bab” and hope that it doesn’t get too “dark over Bill’s mother’s”.
The Talk Like A Brummie Day website at www.talklikeabrummieday.co.uk includes links to existing dictionaries and collections of Brummie – please add any you know of. There are posters, screensavers and other bits to download.
You can also leave your own favourite Brummie phrases or words, building up a dictionary and helping to promote the region’s particular take on the English Language. When TLABD (as we’re already calling it) is over we’ll try to squidge it into a proper downloadable book or something.
Special events would be great and we’ve got one or two irons in the fire to be announced near the time, hopefully, although anyone wanting to organise their own event – readings of Brummie poetry, bands or singers that use sing like Brummies – can do and we’ll add them to the site, particularly Brummie expats in other towns or cities around the UK. As we know, Shakespeare’s sonnets work especially well in a Brummie accent.
How often do we hear or read that ‘the Brummie accent has been named the least intelligent’, or ‘boring’, in unscientific polls? The council have done a fine job changing the image of the city, but Brummies need to celebrate our accent and dialect and encourage everyone to ‘Talk Like a Brummie’ for one day. Come on everyone, join in, don’t gerra cobb on!
As B:iNS loyalists, if any of you want to help – we’ll need it probably, drop us an email.