Cellar Door

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Diamond18

I've heard speech that is English but qualifies as "garble" (cockney, anyone? )

Actually, I rather like "true" cockney. But it is quite rare nowadays. Much more common is the awful "Saaff London" accent, which is unfortunately very prevalent round where I live.

Given that he was brought up in the environs of Birmingham, it is rather amusing to imagine Tolkien as having a Brummie accent. No offence to any Brummies here, but it's not exactly the most erudite sounding of accents.

It seems to me that, in the UK at least, the harshest sounding accents are those hailing from urban areas. Rural accents seem much softer and somehow more pleasant. I particularly like the rounded burr of the West Country.

I, of course, speak the Queen's English.