Voices

Gill, Lorraine, Eileen and Pam

Voices

Gill Hallworth, Pam Hayes, Lorraine Whitehouse and Eileen Worthington talk about voices with a BBC interviewer over lunch at Eileen's house.

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All the ladies are connected by the village of Hampton in Arden. Eileen and Gill live in Hampton while Lorraine and Pam live in Solihull. Lorraine works in the village - she is a craft tutor, regularly teaching classes at Hampton Manor and for the Community Crafts programme. Pam has been coming to Hampton for years to see her friends and for dancing classes.

The group met over lunch in Eileen's dining room. Eileen had a terrible migraine but managed to contribute fully to the discussion - as well as providing everyone with sandwiches!

Find out more about the women below. Click the links to listen to them talking and hear the whole group in discussion in the 'best bits'.

Contributors
Gill Hallworth
Pam Hayes
Lorraine Whitehouse
Eileen Worthington

Best bits
'Dandy'
'Island' vs 'roundabout'
Pregnant
Rude rivers
Grandparents' names

Name: Gill Hallworth
Age: 51
Occupation: Clerical
Lives in: Hampton-in-Arden
Lived here: All her life
Born: Solihull
Describes own accent as: "Birmingham"
Languages: English (mother tongue), good British Sign Language

Listen to Gill
Gill talks about being part of the village community.
Listen to the clip	Read the transcript
Talking about words meaning 'cold', Gill says 'neche' which is a Northern term. The rest of the group have never heard this.
Listen to the clip

Name: Pam Hayes
Age: 67
Occupation: Medical secretary
Lives in: Solihull
Lived here: More than 10 years
Born: Birmingham
Describes own accent as: "Intonations of Brummie"
Languages: English (mother tongue)

Listen to Pam
Pam explains that Birmingham Black Country dialects are different.
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Pam's not pleased that 'knackered' is now an acceptable word.
Listen to the clip
Gill and Pam discuss the Brummie phrase, 'to be in your altot'. Gill thinks it's spelled: 'oiltot'.
Listen to the clip

Name: Lorraine Whitehouse
Age: 46
Occupation: Craft tutor
Lives in: Solihull
Lived here: More than 10 years
Born: Weston-Super-Mare
Describes own accent as: "West Country"
Languages: English (mother tongue), good German

Listen to Lorraine
Lorraine remembers she used to annoy her mother by adding the word 'laugh' to the end of everything she said! "Spitting chips she was!"
Listen to the clip	Read the transcript
At a wedding, people thought the groom's mother was "a bit slow". Lorraine says it was just because she was from Gloucester!
Listen to the clip
When visiting her son's granny in Stoke-on-Trent, Lorraine called her son a "little devil". Granny didn't like this!
Listen to the clip
The group think swear words are over-used. The group laugh about Lorraine's mother who over-uses a certain word...
Listen to the clip
People occasionally think Lorraine is a bit stupid because she has a West Country accent.
Listen to the clip

Name: Eileen Worthington
Age: 54
Occupation: Retired teacher, does part-time editing
Lives in: Hampton-in-Arden
Lived here: 23 years
Born: Nuneaton
Describes own accent as: "Not a strong regional accent. People often have difficulty knowing where I'm from. Traces of Lancashire from parents."
Languages: English (mother tongue), good French, learning Spanish

Listen to Eileen
Eileen's not keen on the way her name sounds with titles like 'auntie'. Her parents chose another name for her - and she'd have preferred that one!
Listen to the clip	Read the transcript
Working as a teacher in London, Eileen was teased by her pupils for her pronunciation. "It's Laindan not Lundun!"
Listen to the clip
Eileen laughs as she tells the group about a funny sign she saw outside the local bakery.
Listen to the clip

Best bit: 'Dandy' and 'gay'
Everyone joins in this discussion. Gill thinks it's a shame the word 'gay' has a different meaning now and Eileen feels a bit sorry for women called Gay.
Listen to the clip

Best bit: Islands? Or roundabouts?
Lorraine always calls them roundabouts and sometimes people in the Midlands are confused when she gives them directions: "oh, you mean island". The rest of the group decide they use both words, with no preference for either.
Listen to the clip

Best bit: Pregnant
The group discuss words and phrases which mean 'pregnant'. They think men have a whole range of ways to say 'pregnant' and that the words women use are nicer.
Listen to the clip

Best bit: Rude rivers in Germany
The group talk about words in other languages that are funny to an English mother-tongue speaker. There's lots of laughing as Lorraine talks about river names in Germany and Eileen remembers a funny name from her holiday to Spain. Gill hates the words! Don't listen if you're easily offended!
Listen to the clip

Best bit: Funny names for grandparents
Lorraine's father is called Stan and he loves football... can you guess what Lorraine's children call him?
Listen to the clip

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