The other day I was talking to my American flatmates about slang. It seemed I knew a lot of their slang, as English media is highly americanised, even to the point where I seemed to know about a lot about their culture (including their term for ‘Bum bag’, which means something very different in the U.K)
On the other hand, they seem to have a lot of trouble understanding what I say, as opposed to other, more ‘normal’ British accents. However, with my accent being barely understandable from ‘God’s own country’ (that’s Yorkshire to anyone below Lancashire) they seem to have a much harder time with me.
In Yorkshire, there is so much slang that we practically have our own language, so much so that up until GCSE English, after researching a presentation on accents and dialects, did I realise that the term ‘ginnel’ is in fact, part of Yorkshire’s complex, historical dialect. Now this word had been so incorporated into my daily language that I was shocked to hear that it was slang and that for 15 years my Kentish family members had no idea what I was talking about when I said “A walk t’dog up t’ ginnel”.
Even within the northern area of England, there is many an argument about what objects should be called, a famous example is something that I would call a ‘bread cake’. Whereas in Huddersfield, which is a mere 25 miles away from where I grew up, may call it a ‘teacake’ which I would say is a fancy bread cake with raisins in it. On the other hand, our Liverpudlian counterparts may call it a ‘barm’ or a ‘bread roll’.
In addition to our own language, in the north we have an entirely separate culture, from our strong history of mining and brass banding (and our inevitable love of classic ‘Thatcher-bashing’ films like ‘Brassed off’ and ‘Billy Elliot’) to the best night out on the ‘toon’ you will ever have, be it in Leeds, Liverpool or Newcastle, its so much better than the south. Even the best cuppa you’ll ever have will be up here.
Emmaroehampton 
You do have your own language in Yorkshire. I’m not sure I’d call it ‘slang’ though. Is it not dialect?
There are some linguists who argue that dialects are dying out – so it will be interesting to see if ‘ginnel’ survives. I so hope it does 🙂
LikeLike
I really found that interesting, I also believe that having your own dilect and culture is pretty amazing!
LikeLike
Wow! it is crazy how much diversity there is in one country. It must be such a great experience, staying and learning in a completely different part of England. I like to impersonate your dialect when I am in a really good mood , I find it to be bubbly and less aggressive than many others, but I never even noticed the amount of different words northerners used, it is actually really cool and unique. I also thinks that’s what has started to fascinate me about Coronation street.
LikeLike
I find this really interesting too. I hail from Lincolnshire, but only just across the River Humber from the East Riding of Yorkshire, and I went to college in Hull, so I heard a lot of the dialect there. It’s interesting to mention that you use the term ginnel, while I would use “ten-foot” in it’s place, And as for the age old argument of what to call such a bread product, I would personally use “bap” or “bun”. It’s also funny to note that many people here struggle to understand my accent as well, I never really thought it was strong until I moved out of the county.
LikeLike
This is probably one of the most interesting things about Engish. As soon as you start to hit the midlands of England, the accent starts to change. And I found that there is much more of a contrast between the Northen accents and dialects in comparison to the south. There is a lot more variation and a massive divide between the north and south.
Also, in relation to your point about your American housemate, it also raises the point about the misconception many Americans have about there being a “British” accent. There is no such thing as a “British” accent because of the variations throughout the country.
LikeLike