Great to hear this. I worked with a lot of scousers in the 1970s and they all spoke like this. Fantastic people with a wise crack for every situation. One of them once told me some of the nicknames dockers had. It doesn't really work written down - you'll have to imagine it spoken with a broad scouse accent. The lazy solicitor: he was always asleep on a case. The sick lobster: always taking days off because one of his nippers was bad. Batman: he couldn't walk through the warehouse without robbin'. Once I was on the bus in Liverpool and someone got on and asked the driver 'Is this bus going to Speke?'. Instantly from the back of the bus came 'Well I've been on it since the Pier Head and it hasn't said a word yet.'
@@TheJohnRowley Thanks! I was in London a few years ago, walking down a fairly posh street in the west end. I saw this big, burly guy coming my way. He made a bee line for me and I thought … now what. He marched over very purposefully and without any preamble said in as broad a a scouse accent as I’ve ever heard 'Is der an ale house round here like?'. I was probably the only person in the street who would have understood him and we went and had a few bevies and a laugh and a joke.
@@aloysiussnailchaser272 Hahaha! Nice! It's things like the use of words like 'Alehouse' that give the scousers so much charm. I was in Liverpool for a couple of days a few years ago and three times in three different places I overheard someone talking heatedly and saying something that had happened and then '...and now YOU'RE TELLIN' ME...' something or other. So for example 'I've taken the bus all the way down here draggin the kids with me and now you're tellin me the museum's closed?' The first time it was a feckless young father and his exasperated spouse and she was proper cross. But the other two times I realised that the outrage they were expressing was a sort of mock outrage - they were enjoying the drama of it, you could tell they weren't really angry :D I love it. I use it all the time with my old mum since because she is from Liverpool. And I've another overheard conversation I loved. A young woman at a fruit and veg stall and an older man wearing a suit but in a wheelchair rolls past. She says to him, "Morning Harry, you're dressed up nice today", and he replies warily, "What are you after?" and she says, "Yer money of course!" she says and laughs loudly :D Even the heroin addict outside a sainsburys was kind of charming. I asked him if he wanted anything from the shop and he said, "Just some jellies". I had to ask him what he meant by jellies! (jelly babies/gummy sweets)
@@aloysiussnailchaser272 I think you're wrong there and I'll tell you why. I didn't understand what he meant by jellies and told him so and he replied - 'you know, jellies, jelly babies'. Heroin addicts can't or don't want to eat a lot of regular food I think. I'd told him I'd buy him something in the shop - a sandwich or something but he wanted jelly babies (gummy sweets) so that's what I bought him, i also bought him a croissant and a banana but i dont know if he was able to eat these.
Liverpool scouse accent dirved from a mixture of Northern English, Irish, Scottish and North Welsh settlers of people that lived in west Lancashire and Merseyside!
Welsh always seems to be forgotten about with the accent and Liverpool in general. Over 100,000 Welsh moved to Liverpool in the 19C and early 20th C for work. Road names were named after Welsh places and Welsh chapels were all so built. Not to mention the most common surname in Liverpool in the Welsh surname Jones.
That was interesting. LIverpool is now beautiful. The regeneration of the docks area and since it was the EU city of culture back in 2008 - it is a lovely city filled with wonderful sites. The people were lovely. I have been a few times and look forward to going back. It is nothing like depicted in this dated film. At least what I could see. It is such a history-rich city. I have so loved my visits.
@@biegebythesea6775 That's irrelevant. I am talking about the people. There is poverty throughout the UK but the south acts like the north is some far away land.
@jamesbyrne9312 I'm Portsmouth born and bred, my old man was born in Bootle, he used to say the cities were very similar, tough dockyard area, full of working class people who looked after each other, definitely don't look down their noses at Liverpool if you're from Pompey.
Alan Bleasdale taught my late ex-husband English at school. St Columbus, Huyton. When we got married we used to listen to his radio series about Scully. I remember my husband saying he based the series on the lads he went to school with. So obviously we both enjoyed listening to their adventures! I attended college and met a girl in our class. She told us she was going to be a bridesmaid for her sister at the weekend, she was marrying Alan Bleesdale! So, obviously I was interested to follow his plays and tv series Boys From The Black Stuff. I seem to remember his children playing the part of Yozzer’s children. I found the tv series intriguing as it could relate so much to my experience of Liverpool. In one episode he focused on Liverpool docks where my grandad was a trade unionist fighting for reforms! Seeing this has brought back so many memories of people and the city! I moved away along time ago but still have family and friends who live around Liverpool and surrounding areas! My mum was also raised on Scotland Road until they had to be evacuated during WW2 due to heavy bombing! 👍
I feel your pain there. I'm an American from the south, and people make fun of us a lot. I absolutely refuse to change my accent, and that's a hill I'm willing to die on! 😠
@@Mick_Ts_Chick The southern American accents are the best. I really like the Georgian accent especially, i think there is just something very honest about them.
@@PaxBritannica34563 Thank you. I lived in GA for a year and a half. Lots of the accents are very similar to ours in NC, but some are like the typical tv or movie accent where they say r like ah.
I'm not ignoring the rest of the film and the people in it, that was interesting too - but I've so much respect for the group of black men at the end, they seem like really nice guys and they put up with so much abuse and discrimination.
@@sueprince5597 Thanks so much for responding to my comment Sue, it's really nice to put names to the faces of your partner and his brother, it's sad to hear they are no longer with us, RIP.
We moved to Australia from Kilmarnock 30 years ago. One thing that struck me recently was the rise of that really strange 'posh' Scottish accent (Kevin Bridges is forever taking the piss out of it). I'd never really heard that until recently.
@@neilr4867 The one people cannot stand is the Glasgow Uni accent. No matter where in Scotland you come from Wether it’s Glasgow, Aberdeen, Fife or even abroad. They all have the same phoney accent it’s a mixture of Posh Scottish( whatever that is lol) American with the word like thrown into sentences every other word, and an English accent. We in Glasgow cannot stand it it’s laughable and fake and is as Glaswegians see through it. Every Uni student speaks the same no regional dialect. Phoney and pretentious.
I'm trying to remember how people from Glasgow say "but". They have a certain way of using "but". Can anyone explain how it's used and give a few examples?
I'm from Kirkby, my mum and dad were teenagers around this time and still have this sounding accent, much less harsh. I have it to, I have a much more "classic scouse" accent as its been called compared to a lot of young people who sound like they're putting it on.
The thing that I notice the most about these amazing pieces of footage, is that whilst BBC English is majorly different now, the working class accents haven't changed that much. I'm from the Liverpool area, and although some of them were speaking with accents with more of an Irish lilt than you find today, a bit lighter accent, with less of the Welsh throaty "chhh" sound, Alan Bleasedale could be talking today in Liverpool and his accent wouldn't be out of place at all. Tbf, he'd only be about 70 now, but there are still young people who speak exactly like that. Same with the footage of the cockney accents though. A lot of them sound the same as they do today. Whereas the BBC estuary English accent is completely different now.
@@AmeeB-oo1lr Same here. My parents are both from Liverpool, and my DNA is 30% Irish (both my dad's dad and dad's mum are of Irish ancestry). My surname is Regan, which is an Irish name, although none of us have any ancestors in living memory who are Irish. It's common to have Irish ancestry in Liverpool, because of the major Irish migration there in the 1800s. I think it's why the city has such a unique flavour of its own. Think "we are Scouse, not English", it's the Irish roots. My dad is from Toxteth but did kinda lose his accent. But I do find it interesting how what the gent calls the "south side" greeting - saying "Arite laaa", became the dominant slang in all of Liverpool. The "North side" greeting he mentioned, "ay fella", in an almost Irish accent, you never hear that in Liverpool anymore. La is everywhere, lol. So I do think Liverpool is losing its Irishness, which is sad, but understandable.
that's true mate, and there's an explanation for it - check out the video "the year that killed rp" by doctor geoff lindsey on here, he explains how the cultural revolution of the 1960s killed the old "aristocratic"accent of the british upper class and of course, the bbc. long story short, james bond and the beatles had regional accents, it was suddenly cool to be working class but stuffy and uncool to be upper class, so rich kids grew up trying to sound less posh, fast forward 60 years and no young people have the old accent anymore!
Alan Bleasdale. A literary genius. "Boys From The Black Stuff" was a great satire on the state of the country and the struggle of the masses on the dole - "Gizza job?" I've been to Liverpool often. Love the people. Love the City.
Alan Bleasdale!!! I thought it was. Another reason I love Liverpool. Sundays on Radio City at noon Fanny Scully. This American could not stop laughing. I lived with the love gf my life then. “You sure. You understand what he’s saying?” “Of course I d😌” He translated anyway.😇
How Busy Lodge Lane was in those days. I can't even remember a Tesco being there. A lot of what we saw here was typical of the 70s, thank god things have vastly improved in the city today.
I really appreciate this kind of video. Americans almost never get to see non-Americans who aren't white unless they're famous, especially not in a historical context, even as relatively recently as this video was filmed in the 70s. There have been Americans over the years who honestly thought there were no black people in the UK and Canada.
@@X-4-2-TVreally? My family is from Liverpool and would proudly call themselves English. If you brought up to my dad he’s actually more Irish than English he would start getting very mad. He is English and he won’t consider himself anything else.
Thats due to their own ignorance not any fault of ours. Americans are taught to be ignorant of other countries as they are conditioned since school to worship their country as the best on earth which leads to them seeing other countries as fairground attractions that should cater for them - look at how most usually say 'europe' as if it is one country.
Accents are a funny thing, aren't they? Here in London everyone thinks I'm either bizarrely strongly Scouse or (more correctly) Cheshire (I'm well spoken with a slight Wirral/Cheshire accent) and back in the North everyone thought I was posh or weirdly from Manchester! You can discern the difference I think between like John Peel who is heard in this clip who was from Heswall in the Wirral, and the Scousers. There's nuances even within an area.
Amazing how the South End accent has taken over now. Because nobody says "ay ay fella" or sounds much like the gent with the glasses any more. His is like the older Liverpool accent, a bit softer spoken than the modern Scouse accent, more gentle and Irish sounding. More like the Paul McCartney or John Lennon did in the early days.
The man at the beginning pronounces the word ‘Irish’, the same way Irish people pronounce it. The lady with the glasses sounds almost like she could be from Dublin. I assume that older Dublin Irish accent has all but disappeared these days.
Some wicked afros there. I had a friend at school in the 70’s and he’d stick as many pencils in his afro and he did 31. When our teacher came in she said it ‘Ohhh this is like the Kerplunk game’ 🤣😂🤣 I stayed in Liverpool recently for a few days and didn’t come across one Scouser until my last day when I got an Uber, proper Scouser and he sounded like Harry Enfield’s lot On tv 😂
Love this story. I used to work with this guy with an ear hole piercing and we used to put his cigarettes in the hole and see how many we could squeeze in lol!
They all sound exactly like my family in Liverpool when I go and visit them. The accent is still exactly the same. One of the ladies sounds a lot like my auntie. It’s interesting that this video paints Liverpool I’m such a bad light. I had no idea it was so run down and had so much crime. My dad would of been 4 years old growing up in Liverpool at the time this video was made. He said there was more crime but i didn’t think it was that bad. The Liverpool in this city looks completely different to the Liverpool I’ve seen. Now Liverpool looks no different to any other British city. No different to Glasgow or London. I never felt unsafe when I visited Liverpool and I never felt like I needed to put up extra cautions.
When the Beatles first hit America- and A Hard Day's Night came out...I could NOT understand one word The Beatles were saying. But when they sang, it sounded American. I've been watching videos on various British accents- but to me Scouse is the most difficult for me to understand. I can see from this video that I would still have a lot of trouible if I ever visited Liverpool.
I never noticed it but a couple years ago I heard an American say that British people sound American when they sing and they’re totally right. Most people take on an American accent when singing and it’s so strange. I wonder why it is. Annoyingly, I don’t have an American accent when I sing and my accent makes my singing sound worse.
@@HueyRocks23 I have since worked out why it is this way. A lot of modern music genres originate in America so an American accent is just kinda part of the genre. Like it would be weird to hear reggae not in a Jamaican accent. Genres that originate from the UK often have British accents attached.
I am 57 .... some words "He's Last" god I have not heard that in 40 years ... the same with "A Cob On" ... as for the raceism that has faded, we have all races in our city as we are The Pool of Life!
The racism has faded? Lol. Not likely. It will have changed shape but you need to ask black people whether or not there is still racism. You won't see it because racists will be on their best behaviour in front of you.
@@biegebythesea6775 Yes you will get stupid ignorant racists everywhere and people who are but will not say. Yet our society has Changed For The Better, many more people understand racism now, and have nothing to do with it ... People and society changes over time for the Better. I can look back look back from the early 1970s onwards and see the progression of anti racism.
"Cob On" is still around, my kids mum who's scouse says it all the time. I'm from Wigan and I had never heard that phrase until I met her, and now I even say it.
I was born in Liverpool but family moved to Australia in 1974 so I lost the accent but can easily understand it, my poor nephews had no idea when their great uncle visited lol they were like can you understand him I was like of course it was hilarious
LOL..".they were like can you understand him I was like of course it was hilarious". Now you're talking like a Californian (me)- we have a bad habit of inserting the word, "like" in too many sentences😄
That’s wild to me. I think it’s easy to understand. I mean my dad is a scouser but I can’t hear his accent. There was a couple things in the video I didn’t understand but that might just be my bad hearing. I can understand this just as well as a Glaswegian accent and I’m from Glasgow.
I went to Liverpool while I was visiting England in 1990. I had no trouble understanding anyone there. Recently I saw a video of young people in their 20s from Liverpool speaking and the accent has changed. I was struggling to understand them and they were making this guttural sound from from the back of their throats when they'd pronounce certain words.
Some of the younger scousers try and be "professional scousers" and over do the accent on purpose, especially from North Liverpool. They are just annoying.
As an Irisman, I've always liked the Liverpool accent. But I find many Liverpudlians get quite defensive if you suggest the scouse accent is heavily influenced by Irish immigration. It's not something many like to hear.
Have you even been to liverpool? because one look at the city would disprove that notion. Its a pretty common thing in liverpool to be more proud of their irish heritage than being proud of being English. There is also more republic flags in that city than there are union jacks. The one thing they do not like however is considering that it isnt just irish that influenced them - particularly welsh, they havent fully accepted how welsh they actually are yet.
Really sad to hear the comments from the lads in L8. No wonder it all kicked off in '81. Thankfully things have gradually improved over the years, though the recent gains by the Reform party (who seem to pine for an England that never existed) give cause for concern.
I've said it before but I'd rather be fluent in numerous dialects than different languages. English isn't a simple language and to understand more than 5 dialects takes a very strong brain. There are many people who would say that they can can't catch what anyone is saying. A LARGE MAJORITY of english speakers
Really? I can understand every English dialect I’ve heard so far in my life. I’m not very good with accents, they all just sound the same to me. I think it might be because I grew up surrounded by a lot of different accents so my brain is used to having to translate them all. I’m surprised you say it’s hard to understand more than 5 though, I can definitely understand way more than 5. I’m not fluent, I don’t know all the different words people use but I can usually guess from context.
@@pattskatoey3139 😂 sometimes they do , there’s a fella who does impressions of Steven Gerrard and Jamie carragher and he makes all mad squeaky noises when he does them and sounds like he’s in pain. 😂
I’m from the north end of Liverpool , we’ve a different accent from the south end of the city . There is several variants of our accent depending where you are in Merseyside.
@@senorra941 There was a massive influx of Welsh into Liverpool, a lot of the street names around Dingle have Welsh names. Also there was a lot of Welsh Churches here too and there is still a Welsh speaking society that people can go to and learn the Language.
100,000 Welsh moved to Liverpool for work in the late 19th Century and early 20th century. The Welsh eisteddfodd has been held in Liverpool 3 times as well. Not to mention the most common surname is Jones. Wales always seems to be forgotten tho unlike the Irish.
Those three guys were so well-spoken and thoughtful, and really open and articulate about the racial issues they faced. Then we had that first group at the pub ..... what on earth were they on about?
Liverpool in the 70s and 80s was brutal for black Liverpudlians. They were so accurate about not seeing black people in town (the city centre.) You'd rarely see non-white people working in shops and Black Liverpudlians were very reluctant to go to Anfield and Goodison given the unhidden racism on display. Pubs and clubs had well-known 'colour bars' in operation and as for the Police...
Born and grew up in Liverpool, before and after WW2; sad to hear the anti social experiences of the boys at the end, as I never came across racism at any time, some of my mates were of Chinese and African descent, just all good mates
I don't know why white people say they never came across any racism. Why would you? They get us when we're alone. We're only immune or safe when around white people.
Yes mate post WW2 was a shithole for most places. Especially Liverpool because of its docks. It was the second highest hit city in the UK, from the German blitz. With the lack of funding from the self centred southerns, it had a very hard time getting back to its great self. Don’t blame the north. Blame the south.
I don't blame em, they probably thought you had sticky fingers lol. I'm from Wigan and my dad never liked scousers, he say they were city folk and all for themselves. Tbh I don't find them like that I think they are some of the friendliest people. Not all like that but they are generally nice people and their heart is in the right place. They can be very nosy people though.
Great to hear this. I worked with a lot of scousers in the 1970s and they all spoke like this. Fantastic people with a wise crack for every situation. One of them once told me some of the nicknames dockers had. It doesn't really work written down - you'll have to imagine it spoken with a broad scouse accent.
The lazy solicitor: he was always asleep on a case.
The sick lobster: always taking days off because one of his nippers was bad.
Batman: he couldn't walk through the warehouse without robbin'.
Once I was on the bus in Liverpool and someone got on and asked the driver 'Is this bus going to Speke?'. Instantly from the back of the bus came 'Well I've been on it since the Pier Head and it hasn't said a word yet.'
hahah! great anecdotes - and name :D
@@TheJohnRowley Thanks! I was in London a few years ago, walking down a fairly posh street in the west end. I saw this big, burly guy coming my way. He made a bee line for me and I thought … now what. He marched over very purposefully and without any preamble said in as broad a a scouse accent as I’ve ever heard 'Is der an ale house round here like?'. I was probably the only person in the street who would have understood him and we went and had a few bevies and a laugh and a joke.
@@aloysiussnailchaser272 Hahaha! Nice! It's things like the use of words like 'Alehouse' that give the scousers so much charm. I was in Liverpool for a couple of days a few years ago and three times in three different places I overheard someone talking heatedly and saying something that had happened and then '...and now YOU'RE TELLIN' ME...' something or other. So for example 'I've taken the bus all the way down here draggin the kids with me and now you're tellin me the museum's closed?' The first time it was a feckless young father and his exasperated spouse and she was proper cross. But the other two times I realised that the outrage they were expressing was a sort of mock outrage - they were enjoying the drama of it, you could tell they weren't really angry :D I love it. I use it all the time with my old mum since because she is from Liverpool. And I've another overheard conversation I loved. A young woman at a fruit and veg stall and an older man wearing a suit but in a wheelchair rolls past. She says to him, "Morning Harry, you're dressed up nice today", and he replies warily, "What are you after?" and she says, "Yer money of course!" she says and laughs loudly :D
Even the heroin addict outside a sainsburys was kind of charming. I asked him if he wanted anything from the shop and he said, "Just some jellies". I had to ask him what he meant by jellies! (jelly babies/gummy sweets)
@@TheJohnRowley I wouldn’t be so sure about yer man's jellies. It’s slang for drugs of some kind.
@@aloysiussnailchaser272 I think you're wrong there and I'll tell you why. I didn't understand what he meant by jellies and told him so and he replied - 'you know, jellies, jelly babies'. Heroin addicts can't or don't want to eat a lot of regular food I think. I'd told him I'd buy him something in the shop - a sandwich or something but he wanted jelly babies (gummy sweets) so that's what I bought him, i also bought him a croissant and a banana but i dont know if he was able to eat these.
Love bbc archive
I hate the bbc. Liars.
i would love to see a vid comparing the change in accents over the years
Liverpool scouse accent dirved from a mixture of Northern English, Irish, Scottish and North Welsh settlers of people that lived in west Lancashire and Merseyside!
Welsh always seems to be forgotten about with the accent and Liverpool in general. Over 100,000 Welsh moved to Liverpool in the 19C and early 20th C for work. Road names were named after Welsh places and Welsh chapels were all so built. Not to mention the most common surname in Liverpool in the Welsh surname Jones.
That was interesting. LIverpool is now beautiful. The regeneration of the docks area and since it was the EU city of culture back in 2008 - it is a lovely city filled with wonderful sites. The people were lovely. I have been a few times and look forward to going back. It is nothing like depicted in this dated film. At least what I could see. It is such a history-rich city. I have so loved my visits.
Nice, but you say it like it's a bad thing, I am proud of the working class. We don't need to be hidden away so southerners find it palletable ;))
@@jamesbyrne9312I get your sentiment but the programme shows smashed windows and boarded up houses. That's not a northern thing.
@@biegebythesea6775 That's irrelevant. I am talking about the people. There is poverty throughout the UK but the south acts like the north is some far away land.
@jamesbyrne9312 I'm Portsmouth born and bred, my old man was born in Bootle, he used to say the cities were very similar, tough dockyard area, full of working class people who looked after each other, definitely don't look down their noses at Liverpool if you're from Pompey.
@@daveericson8447 thanks, yes true.
I love Liverpool, I'm not from there, I'm from South London, but I have mates and family that live there.
Alan Bleasdale taught my late ex-husband English at school. St Columbus, Huyton. When we got married we used to listen to his radio series about Scully. I remember my husband saying he based the series on the lads he went to school with. So obviously we both enjoyed listening to their adventures! I attended college and met a girl in our class. She told us she was going to be a bridesmaid for her sister at the weekend, she was marrying Alan Bleesdale! So, obviously I was interested to follow his plays and tv series Boys From The Black Stuff. I seem to remember his children playing the part of Yozzer’s children.
I found the tv series intriguing as it could relate so much to my experience of Liverpool. In one episode he focused on Liverpool docks where my grandad was a trade unionist fighting for reforms! Seeing this has brought back so many memories of people and the city! I moved away along time ago but still have family and friends who live around Liverpool and surrounding areas! My mum was also raised on Scotland Road until they had to be evacuated during WW2 due to heavy bombing! 👍
I find the liverpool accent lovely and find it patronising when people mock other peoples accents as we can't help the way we speak.
I feel your pain there. I'm an American from the south, and people make fun of us a lot. I absolutely refuse to change my accent, and that's a hill I'm willing to die on! 😠
@@Mick_Ts_Chick The southern American accents are the best. I really like the Georgian accent especially, i think there is just something very honest about them.
@@PaxBritannica34563 Thank you. I lived in GA for a year and a half. Lots of the accents are very similar to ours in NC, but some are like the typical tv or movie accent where they say r like ah.
I'm not ignoring the rest of the film and the people in it, that was interesting too - but I've so much respect for the group of black men at the end, they seem like really nice guys and they put up with so much abuse and discrimination.
The first black guy to speak was my partner of 18 years Manny Uchegbu. RIP . His brother is next to him also speaking Delroy Burris RIP.
@@sueprince5597 Thanks so much for responding to my comment Sue, it's really nice to put names to the faces of your partner and his brother, it's sad to hear they are no longer with us, RIP.
R.I.P Manny and Delroy. 💔💔
@@sueprince5597 ooo!! Was he part Igbo?? I'm Igbo!
@@Laura-sg6ss , yes. His father was Igbo from Olu (?) Nigeria. Also called Emmanuel.
Very interesting viewpoint from the lads in Toxteth. They weren't wrong and not much has changed today.
Loved this, what a great video.
Thanks for posting
A very good eye opener.
Love the liverpudlian accent.
I’ve always liked the Scouse accent. I am a Glaswegian and we have very similar way of speaking very guttural and have our own dialect. Love it.
Feelings mutual , I know some sound Glasgow lads .
We moved to Australia from Kilmarnock 30 years ago. One thing that struck me recently was the rise of that really strange 'posh' Scottish accent (Kevin Bridges is forever taking the piss out of it). I'd never really heard that until recently.
@@neilr4867 The one people cannot stand is the Glasgow Uni accent. No matter where in Scotland you come from Wether it’s Glasgow, Aberdeen, Fife or even abroad. They all have the same phoney accent it’s a mixture of Posh Scottish( whatever that is lol) American with the word like thrown into sentences every other word, and an English accent. We in Glasgow cannot stand it it’s laughable and fake and is as Glaswegians see through it. Every Uni student speaks the same no regional dialect. Phoney and pretentious.
C'moan, get aff.....
I'm trying to remember how people from Glasgow say "but". They have a certain way of using "but". Can anyone explain how it's used and give a few examples?
I'm from Kirkby, my mum and dad were teenagers around this time and still have this sounding accent, much less harsh. I have it to, I have a much more "classic scouse" accent as its been called compared to a lot of young people who sound like they're putting it on.
You're accent is diluted because you're on the outskirts of Liverpool 🙂
The thing that I notice the most about these amazing pieces of footage, is that whilst BBC English is majorly different now, the working class accents haven't changed that much. I'm from the Liverpool area, and although some of them were speaking with accents with more of an Irish lilt than you find today, a bit lighter accent, with less of the Welsh throaty "chhh" sound, Alan Bleasedale could be talking today in Liverpool and his accent wouldn't be out of place at all. Tbf, he'd only be about 70 now, but there are still young people who speak exactly like that. Same with the footage of the cockney accents though. A lot of them sound the same as they do today. Whereas the BBC estuary English accent is completely different now.
@@AmeeB-oo1lr Same here. My parents are both from Liverpool, and my DNA is 30% Irish (both my dad's dad and dad's mum are of Irish ancestry). My surname is Regan, which is an Irish name, although none of us have any ancestors in living memory who are Irish. It's common to have Irish ancestry in Liverpool, because of the major Irish migration there in the 1800s. I think it's why the city has such a unique flavour of its own. Think "we are Scouse, not English", it's the Irish roots. My dad is from Toxteth but did kinda lose his accent. But I do find it interesting how what the gent calls the "south side" greeting - saying "Arite laaa", became the dominant slang in all of Liverpool. The "North side" greeting he mentioned, "ay fella", in an almost Irish accent, you never hear that in Liverpool anymore. La is everywhere, lol. So I do think Liverpool is losing its Irishness, which is sad, but understandable.
that's true mate, and there's an explanation for it - check out the video "the year that killed rp" by doctor geoff lindsey on here, he explains how the cultural revolution of the 1960s killed the old "aristocratic"accent of the british upper class and of course, the bbc. long story short, james bond and the beatles had regional accents, it was suddenly cool to be working class but stuffy and uncool to be upper class, so rich kids grew up trying to sound less posh, fast forward 60 years and no young people have the old accent anymore!
I love my Liverpool home I wouldn’t be any were else xx
Alan Bleasdale. A literary genius.
"Boys From The Black Stuff" was a great satire on the state of the country and the struggle of the masses on the dole - "Gizza job?"
I've been to Liverpool often. Love the people. Love the City.
Very interesting. This generation of scousers sound a lot more Irish than scousers today.
Didn't they used to say Liverpool was the Ireland of England given so many lived there?
Alan Bleasdale!!! I thought it was. Another reason I love Liverpool. Sundays on Radio City at noon Fanny Scully. This American could not stop laughing. I lived with the love gf my life then.
“You sure. You understand what he’s saying?”
“Of course I d😌”
He translated anyway.😇
How Busy Lodge Lane was in those days. I can't even remember a Tesco being there. A lot of what we saw here was typical of the 70s, thank god things have vastly improved in the city today.
I love different accents and dialects.
Alright la' 'ows it goin' softlad?
I really appreciate this kind of video. Americans almost never get to see non-Americans who aren't white unless they're famous, especially not in a historical context, even as relatively recently as this video was filmed in the 70s. There have been Americans over the years who honestly thought there were no black people in the UK and Canada.
@@X-4-2-TV theres not many blacks there
A lot of black families in Liverpool are not from the slave trade. Many I know are descended from African seafarers who settled in Liverpool.
@@X-4-2-TVreally? My family is from Liverpool and would proudly call themselves English. If you brought up to my dad he’s actually more Irish than English he would start getting very mad. He is English and he won’t consider himself anything else.
Thats due to their own ignorance not any fault of ours. Americans are taught to be ignorant of other countries as they are conditioned since school to worship their country as the best on earth which leads to them seeing other countries as fairground attractions that should cater for them - look at how most usually say 'europe' as if it is one country.
@@Richard-od3gcblack PEOPLE not "blacks"
Accents are a funny thing, aren't they? Here in London everyone thinks I'm either bizarrely strongly Scouse or (more correctly) Cheshire (I'm well spoken with a slight Wirral/Cheshire accent) and back in the North everyone thought I was posh or weirdly from Manchester! You can discern the difference I think between like John Peel who is heard in this clip who was from Heswall in the Wirral, and the Scousers. There's nuances even within an area.
I can relate to that as well I’m from the Isle of Man and our accent is very similar to the one you described
Paul McCartney at 2:10
I never realised the phrase alright La, was a docker expression. Nice
Amazing how the South End accent has taken over now.
Because nobody says "ay ay fella" or sounds much like the gent with the glasses any more.
His is like the older Liverpool accent, a bit softer spoken than the modern Scouse accent, more gentle and Irish sounding. More like the Paul McCartney or John Lennon did in the early days.
The man at the beginning pronounces the word ‘Irish’, the same way Irish people pronounce it. The lady with the glasses sounds almost like she could be from Dublin. I assume that older Dublin Irish accent has all but disappeared these days.
Half of Liverpool have Irish ancestry
They also say filum
@@biegebythesea6775surely you mean fillum!😂
That area was the only area in mainland Britain to repeatedly elect an Irish Nationalist MP. That went on until the 1930s I think.
@@davidmundowyahoo7839So what's the difference between "filum" n "fillum?" Just a L! Lol
So does this mean the band called The Las meant The Lads?
Yes
Yep and it was Mike Badger who was in the original band and thought of the name.
@@bennymalonedidn't know that!
Yes
to us here this and Brummy accent are the funniest accents .. in the UK I dare say people will think ours is too. (Glaswegian) 🤣🤣🤣👌🏻
I used to be a telephone operator (here in America) and a call came in from Scotland and I had no idea what the man was asking me for.
Scottish accents are my favorites. 😊
I always had problems when watching "Taggart" on the Telly
Some beauty’s on here 😂😂😂
Yeah I think it interesting that they interviewed Olive from On the Buses.
@6:39 - Eh ? Isn't that Alan Igbon who played "Loggo" in BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF ?
Nah….Is not him, but can see resemblance .Am sure Alan Igbon was from Manchester.
Some wicked afros there. I had a friend at school in the 70’s and he’d stick as many pencils in his afro and he did 31. When our teacher came in she said it ‘Ohhh this is like the Kerplunk game’ 🤣😂🤣 I stayed in Liverpool recently for a few days and didn’t come across one Scouser until my last day when I got an Uber, proper Scouser and he sounded like Harry Enfield’s lot On tv 😂
Love this story. I used to work with this guy with an ear hole piercing and we used to put his cigarettes in the hole and see how many we could squeeze in lol!
0:38 didn't know Michael Douglas was a scouser!
4:06 she's gorgeous 😍🥰
They all sound exactly like my family in Liverpool when I go and visit them. The accent is still exactly the same. One of the ladies sounds a lot like my auntie.
It’s interesting that this video paints Liverpool I’m such a bad light. I had no idea it was so run down and had so much crime. My dad would of been 4 years old growing up in Liverpool at the time this video was made. He said there was more crime but i didn’t think it was that bad. The Liverpool in this city looks completely different to the Liverpool I’ve seen. Now Liverpool looks no different to any other British city. No different to Glasgow or London. I never felt unsafe when I visited Liverpool and I never felt like I needed to put up extra cautions.
When the Beatles first hit America- and A Hard Day's Night came out...I could NOT understand one word The Beatles were saying. But when they sang, it sounded American. I've been watching videos on various British accents- but to me Scouse is the most difficult for me to understand. I can see from this video that I would still have a lot of trouible if I ever visited Liverpool.
Americans are quite a sheltered bunch
I never noticed it but a couple years ago I heard an American say that British people sound American when they sing and they’re totally right. Most people take on an American accent when singing and it’s so strange. I wonder why it is. Annoyingly, I don’t have an American accent when I sing and my accent makes my singing sound worse.
@@rachelcookie321 Well some groups sounded English when they sang, like Herman's Hermits.
@@rachelcookie321 The Animals. Eric Burdon was from Newcastle but sounded like an American boy from the South.
@@HueyRocks23 I have since worked out why it is this way. A lot of modern music genres originate in America so an American accent is just kinda part of the genre. Like it would be weird to hear reggae not in a Jamaican accent. Genres that originate from the UK often have British accents attached.
Very accurate
2.35 is that olive from on the buses 😂
Guy in the hat talking about clubs - so handsome!!
Gorgeous! I have a feeling he suspects one of the reasons "the men think he is going to cause trouble"
I believe he was interviewed on some documentaries I've seen here on TH-cam about Liverpool / Toxteth in the 1980s.
A thick Scottish accent is realy hard to decipher as being the English accent - fascinating!
4:00 looks like Daniel Jebbison
Also looks a bit like the guy in Lock Stock
6:31 haha I love him.
Scousers Rule.👏👏👏👏
I am 57 .... some words "He's Last" god I have not heard that in 40 years ... the same with "A Cob On" ... as for the raceism that has faded, we have all races in our city as we are The Pool of Life!
I’m a scouser and I still say he’s got a cob on 😂😂
@@Ka54 I have'nt said that in 40 years.
The racism has faded? Lol. Not likely. It will have changed shape but you need to ask black people whether or not there is still racism. You won't see it because racists will be on their best behaviour in front of you.
@@biegebythesea6775 Yes you will get stupid ignorant racists everywhere and people who are but will not say. Yet our society has Changed For The Better, many more people understand racism now, and have nothing to do with it ... People and society changes over time for the Better. I can look back look back from the early 1970s onwards and see the progression of anti racism.
"Cob On" is still around, my kids mum who's scouse says it all the time. I'm from Wigan and I had never heard that phrase until I met her, and now I even say it.
Went to a black club once somewhere in the 8 don't remember how I got there me and my mate had a great nite
❤the scousers.
I was born in Liverpool but family moved to Australia in 1974 so I lost the accent but can easily understand it, my poor nephews had no idea when their great uncle visited lol they were like can you understand him I was like of course it was hilarious
LOL..".they were like can you understand him I was like of course it was hilarious". Now you're talking like a Californian (me)- we have a bad habit of inserting the word, "like" in too many sentences😄
That’s wild to me. I think it’s easy to understand. I mean my dad is a scouser but I can’t hear his accent. There was a couple things in the video I didn’t understand but that might just be my bad hearing. I can understand this just as well as a Glaswegian accent and I’m from Glasgow.
In my Liverpool home we speak with a accent 😂😂😂boss la go on lid😂😂😂
Amazing look back at history gone into the past. 11/08/22
I remember August 2022, good times......
This is when the liverpool accent sounded nice and poetic.
or every other word is lad@@Embracing01
I went to Liverpool while I was visiting England in 1990. I had no trouble understanding anyone there. Recently I saw a video of young people in their 20s from Liverpool speaking and the accent has changed. I was struggling to understand them and they were making this guttural sound from from the back of their throats when they'd pronounce certain words.
Really? I think my family from Liverpool all sound exactly like this. The accent hasn’t seemed to change to me.
There are different accents within Liverpool
Some of the younger scousers try and be "professional scousers" and over do the accent on purpose, especially from North Liverpool. They are just annoying.
I thought "la" was scouse full stop. Didn't know it belonged to south Liverpool.
The lady at 2.10 looks like paul mccartney lol
Never knew Kevin Webster from Coronation Street was a DJ
0:28 Shaun Ryder's dad? :')
"Eh La" The La's. Met John Power. He said "La" every other Word.
First guy in the red sweater made me think of animal from the Muppets
Singapore and Liverpool both ended up with "lah".
As an Irisman, I've always liked the Liverpool accent. But I find many Liverpudlians get quite defensive if you suggest the scouse accent is heavily influenced by Irish immigration. It's not something many like to hear.
Have you even been to liverpool? because one look at the city would disprove that notion. Its a pretty common thing in liverpool to be more proud of their irish heritage than being proud of being English. There is also more republic flags in that city than there are union jacks. The one thing they do not like however is considering that it isnt just irish that influenced them - particularly welsh, they havent fully accepted how welsh they actually are yet.
Well this video proves it. These old scousers have an accent that is half way between Irish and modern scouse.
Never heard anyone get defensive, scousers are proud of their Irish ancestry.
Liverpool is commonly known has the capitol of Ireland
Brendan Behan had no time for the Liverpool-Irish, they didn’t treat him very well apparently..
Really sad to hear the comments from the lads in L8. No wonder it all kicked off in '81. Thankfully things have gradually improved over the years, though the recent gains by the Reform party (who seem to pine for an England that never existed) give cause for concern.
I've said it before but I'd rather be fluent in numerous dialects than different languages.
English isn't a simple language and to understand more than 5 dialects takes a very strong brain. There are many people who would say that they can can't catch what anyone is saying. A LARGE MAJORITY of english speakers
You will never know your native language until you know a second language.
Really? I can understand every English dialect I’ve heard so far in my life. I’m not very good with accents, they all just sound the same to me. I think it might be because I grew up surrounded by a lot of different accents so my brain is used to having to translate them all. I’m surprised you say it’s hard to understand more than 5 though, I can definitely understand way more than 5. I’m not fluent, I don’t know all the different words people use but I can usually guess from context.
Their accents are quite tame compared to some mickey mousers I’ve heard speak.
Some of them put it on, especially the scotty roaders and round by Everton’s ground. I live in Liverpool and hear it first hand. 😆
@@Eleventhearlofmars it sounds like they are in pain the way they speak.
@@pattskatoey3139 😂 sometimes they do , there’s a fella who does impressions of Steven Gerrard and Jamie carragher and he makes all mad squeaky noises when he does them and sounds like he’s in pain. 😂
I’m from the north end of Liverpool , we’ve a different accent from the south end of the city . There is several variants of our accent depending where you are in Merseyside.
Yes it’s annoying mostly with young lads, everything laaa or lad.
@3:45, keeping the mind of oneself occupied is not the job of others! Go read a book!
Sounds Welsh to me! 😂
I read that scouse was a mix of Lancashire, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian accents... I think we might have a mongrel accent?! 😂
Yes, some sounds heavily influenced by the Welsh language.
@@senorra941 There was a massive influx of Welsh into Liverpool, a lot of the street names around Dingle have Welsh names. Also there was a lot of Welsh Churches here too and there is still a Welsh speaking society that people can go to and learn the Language.
100,000 Welsh moved to Liverpool for work in the late 19th Century and early 20th century. The Welsh eisteddfodd has been held in Liverpool 3 times as well. Not to mention the most common surname is Jones. Wales always seems to be forgotten tho unlike the Irish.
Its the blacks towards the end of the video who are the most articulate and lucid .
And what they had to say is so sad. Nothing has changed…..
Glesga and Liverpool exactly the same
The fella in the leather jacket looks like he is from the present day, dress, fashion - a time traveller?
3:06 ot from the UK, can someone explain why Liverpool looks like Nato just got done bombing it for 57 days
2:06 She reminds me of the actress Barbara Mitchell a lot her appearance and voice sounds very similar.
Those three guys were so well-spoken and thoughtful, and really open and articulate about the racial issues they faced. Then we had that first group at the pub ..... what on earth were they on about?
Liverpool in the 70s and 80s was brutal for black Liverpudlians. They were so accurate about not seeing black people in town (the city centre.) You'd rarely see non-white people working in shops and Black Liverpudlians were very reluctant to go to Anfield and Goodison given the unhidden racism on display. Pubs and clubs had well-known 'colour bars' in operation and as for the Police...
Beautiful..
If you got to liverpool now you wont find a pot of scouse but you`ll find a scouse on pot😄😄
More than one as well. 😂
I'm a natural born lever puller...
The accent is a lot different now.
will never understand a word they say but yeah (i’m from suffolk)
The scouse are just paddys that could swim.
There is a significant Welsh input into the Scouse accent.
Born and grew up in Liverpool, before and after WW2; sad to hear the anti social experiences of the boys at the end, as I never came across racism at any time, some of my mates were of Chinese and African descent, just all good mates
I don't know why white people say they never came across any racism. Why would you? They get us when we're alone. We're only immune or safe when around white people.
I only know of this accent from Paddy The Baddy.
One,
Nine,
Four...
Radio Ciiiity!
Wow ... that's going back a long time ago ...😀
Thoes were some good lookin lads
that accent is going now these days its all lad this and lad that
That’s because it’s a new accent. It’s only been around 100 years roughly.
How come the Beatles don't sound like that?
they were posh
@@Answersonapostcard Ringo, McCartney and Harrison were working class through and through. Lennon was a bit more middle class.
Sometimes the Beatles sounded more like they were from Birmingham than Liverpool lol.
They came from a more middle class, suburban part of Liverpool, away from the docks
the beatles will have sounded like this when on thier own together but infront of cameras they have a bit of a telephone voice so the accents softens
Love this my dad bless his this is gold Irish side English side sorry about the coloured gents
south end say ay la north end always say ay lad. Jimmy poss Liverpool
Liverpool like most northern cities were a dump in the late 60’s early 70’s
Why?
@@nadezhda4867 look at the video lots of slum housing that was knocked down and rebuilt
Yes mate post WW2 was a shithole for most places. Especially Liverpool because of its docks. It was the second highest hit city in the UK, from the German blitz. With the lack of funding from the self centred southerns, it had a very hard time getting back to its great self. Don’t blame the north. Blame the south.
Ok
I cannot understand why they have to make a spitting noise when they finish with ck
I was once refused service at a newsagent in Portsmouth in the early 90s when the shop keeper heard my accent... "We don't serve Scousers in here!" 🙄
I don't blame em, they probably thought you had sticky fingers lol. I'm from Wigan and my dad never liked scousers, he say they were city folk and all for themselves. Tbh I don't find them like that I think they are some of the friendliest people. Not all like that but they are generally nice people and their heart is in the right place. They can be very nosy people though.
I go to the movies and i go down town somebody keep telling me Don't Hang Around l ❤️💛💚👊🏼👊🏼🙏🏽
The scouse accent is not from the Irish it derives from the 🏴 Welsh
Looks like Stephen French at 3:48
It's not. At 3:47 it's Manny Uchegbu RIP my partner of 18yrs.
Is this an english dialect?
Yes, different regions in England have different accents.
Not much difference to a working class north/inner city Manchester accent, great.
Wait, this was English? 😳
This is very old and the black situation has well changed, thankfully.
The black guys were decent guys.
Прикольно. Хотя, почему бы и нет?
L8 home where we roam !