Some years back I was reading a Lonely Planet guide which talked about English accents. Their advice was to be very careful about asking people what language they are using, since it might well turn out to be English.
With that in mind I note that the areas in which we will be based have some rather good specimens of the accents available. At least they were available when I was wearing short pants.
A challenge is going to be finding a way of representing these terms in text. To try to kick things off, a great example of the Yorkshire accent was our physics teacher at Maldon Grammar (which was a Government school, despite sounding like the toffee places in Australia where Grammar= huge fees). The brats - myself included - went to fair lengths to get him to refer to the gas given off at a cathode during hydrolysis of water. The way he pronounced the outcome can I think be reproduced as "Boobles of iiidrigin."
A small side issue on this may be recording some of the bizarre names of places, reflecting their genesis in a mediaeval language and changes through the years. The thought has arisen from the name of a village quite close to Ingleby: Rudby Sexhow. Following our trip down the Hume Highway I must confess that English names will mostly seem quite sensible compared to places like Wangaratta, Wagga Wagga and Yarrawonga. (Also, the Australian examples may translate as something just as funny as 'Sexhow'.)
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