Mostly as…
A notney – you don’t have enough credentials (affected or otherwise) to claim Cockney status. You might even be from west London. It’s nothing to feel bad about – at least you’re not pretending.
Mostly bs…
A cockney. You’re genuine, old school type who laments the passing of a classic London character, but has no interest in spuriously trying to recreate the culture.
Mostly cs…
A mockney. Frankly, you’re trying far too hard. Your accent is only marginally less ridiculous than Don Cheadle’s in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, and you cover up for your complete lack of Cockney credentials by walking around giving it ‘geezer’ and ‘oi oi!’. But yet you are far from a working class, salt of the earth type. So stop it.
Feature continues
5 comments
so true jane harding.i went to the uk and went to devon, cornwall, kent and london and essex.there were different sounding accents in all these places.
i'd hate to be mockney. i wanna sound like a true cockney, but i probably never will cuz i'm from canada. i'm the only person in me school who knows differences between british dialects. i tell 'em everyday dat there are hundreds of british accents, but they insist that a british accent is the popular london accent
very interesting. im australian but have an interest in history in general and this area .my mother was from essex ,dad from devon but their speech has some dialect of cockney down thru their family.my ex husband was born in commercial rd and his father was half scottish half londoner but with a surname like wiseman ,no doubt originally came from the london cockney jews.my sons have the gorgious white blond hair, blue eyes and almond-shaped eyes and beautiful little noses with the flared nostrils and are both very much characters, with a strong love of people, caring, storytellers ,streetwise and have their wits about them , kindhearted but can also tell the odd convincing lie to get their way if they need something.sound cockney enough??i think its come thru strong.......
a cockney geezer is a bloke who has morals and ethics and has to be a true cockney born within the sound of bow bells nobody tells me im wrong someone who has respect for thier familys are diamonds mate
I disagree with lots of details in your artical.
A true Cockney cannot come from south of the river Thames. they have to be born within the sound of Bow Belles, that is within the Parish.
A true cockney today would be born in the city of London.
Pearly kings and queens were costamongers.