Telephone voice

[Beckett]

When I was young, many people had a "telephone voice": a slightly - or sometimes extremely - "posher" version of their normal accent. I was reminded of this while watching one of those BBC documentary extracts - it was about people going to Blackpool for their hols in the 1960s - and, despite what you'd expect, the interviewees spoke ina version of RP that I don't think came naturally.

Nowadays, we don't seem to do it as much. I wonder why.

[EuroTr@sh]

I always used to be told I have Brummie as my telephone voice. That's strange because I never in my life lived anywhere near Birmingham. But my mum lived there and she had a slight Brummie twang. Maybe I turned into my mother on the telephone... baffling.

I haven't been told that in a long time so maybe I lost it.

I was once told by the person on the phone at the French tax office that I sounded like Jane Birkin. I said, Well please don't expect me to pay as much tax as Jane Birkin. For a feeble joke it went down rather well.

[Beckett]

Jane Birkin?

I wish I sounded like Serge Gainsbourg

[woolybanana]

You mean deceased??

[nomoss]

Post moved to the correct topic.

[EuroTr@sh]

Nomos, I hate to tell you this but I don't think using a Spanish keyboard changes your accent on the telephone!

Wrong thread, perhaps?

[Lehaut]

I find the subject of using the telephone quite ironic.

When I was a child we did not have a phone in the house, but at the top of the street the button A and B type. (Such phones could be a lucrative supplement to one's pocket money)

My grandmother had a real phone. We were desperate to use it but it cost too much. Our only treat was to ring up the speaking clock.

When we did get a phone in the house it was a "party line" and was for emergency use only.

Now we all have a phone and rarely speak to anyone. Its bad form to ring your children in case of embarrassment, text/whatsapp/signal is much preferred.

For longer chats its Duo/Skype, face to face, as was often predicted on Tomorrows World.

[Beckett]

[quote user="woolybanana"]You mean deceased??[/quote]

Haha!

[nomoss]

ET said "Nomoss, I hate to tell you this but I don't think using a Spanish keyboard changes your accent on the telephone!

Wrong thread, perhaps?"

BTW, occasionally, when I use "quote" the software says the post has non matching quotation blocks and won't accept the post.

[8-)]

Thank you ET. I don't know how that happened. Something to do with writing replies in word and pasting into the forum.

I have moved the post to the "Archant bust?" topic.

[Beckett]

I think the quote function is broken - at least, it doesn't work when I use it.

[nomoss]

[quote user="Beckett"]I think the quote function is broken - at least, it doesn't work when I use it.[/quote]

It varies for me, even with successive posts.

This time it's working, according to the Preview.