Ee Bah Gum! They're Clever Clogs In Yorkshire

a clever clogs (British & Australian, humorous, Australian, humorous)

if you call someone a clever clogs, you mean that they are very clever. I bet old clever clogs here knows the answer.

BBC - Radio Two - Chris Evans

When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. ...... until I was talking to a chap who was a bit of fish clever clogs, ...

Press Release: Ee Bah Gum! They're Clever Clogs In Yorkshire

Having a Yorkshire accent can make you sound more intelligent than a Brummie - or even someone who talks posh.

That's the conclusion of a study by Dr Lance Workman, a psychologist from Bath Spa University. He found that a Yorkshire accent can have a positive effect on how clever you appear to other people - whereas speaking with a Birmingham accent can have a negative effect.

Dr Workman is presenting his findings to the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Dublin.

The UK has a wonderful variety of regional accents, but the Queen's English has traditionally been seen as the best and most desirable, especially if you want to be respected. To test this view, Dr Workman arranged for 48 people to take part in the Bath Spa study. They were asked to look at photos of female models while listening to a recording of women with different accents.

They were played examples of women speaking the Queen's English, in a Yorkshire accent and in a Birmingham accent. Participants were also shown the same pictures in silence, with no voice to accompany them. They were then asked which of the models they found the most intelligent.

The women associated with a Yorkshire accent were rated highest for intelligence. Unfortunately, the women with a Brummie accent were seen as less intelligent than any of the others, even those paired with silence.

Dr Workman said: "It appears that having some regional accents doesn't quite have the stigma that it had in the past. Certain regional accents are now perceived to have wisdom.

"Perhaps this is an effect of the fact that mainstream television and radio is no longer mainly populated with those speaking the Queen's English, and this has made regional accents more acceptable. Unfortunately, though, the Birmingham accent was received so negatively that our participants preferred the models who did not speak at all!"

Issued 04 April 2008.

最后更新时间: 2008年4月04日 格林尼治标准时间11:08更新 转寄朋友 打印文稿 南腔北调 天壤之别

难道口音不同就没有共同语言？ 南腔北调竟也会让人们对持不同口音的人的印象有天壤之别？ 最新研究发现，在英国人看来，伯明翰人的口音（Brummie）听上去最没文化、也最让人觉得缺乏想象力。与之相反，约克郡（Yorkshire）英语已经取代了所谓的正统标准英语（Queen's English），成为人们眼中最有文化、最显身份的口音。 巴斯思帕大学（Bath Spa University）心理学课程负责人兰斯•沃客曼博士（Dr. Lance Workman）说，人们对伯明翰口音存有偏见，很多人都认为带有伯明翰口音的人听上去像小偷。 他说，“有伯明翰口音的人常常被误以为是鸡鸣狗盗之徒，因为持这种口音让人觉得你没什么文化。” “事实上，人们的这种看法完全是种偏见。如果回到40年前，现在所谓的标准英语在那个时候根本登不了大雅之堂、也完全不被看作是有文化的象征。但随着时代的变迁，一些地区的口音在发展变化中逐渐占了上风。” 语言发展 自己就出生在伯明翰的沃客曼博士和同事一道，让48个人听四名持不同口音的妇女讲话，然后对这四人进行打分。 结果显示，约克郡口音平均得分6.71，位列第一；标准英语得分6.67，区区第二；但伯明翰口音却仅得了5.6分，大大低于5.99的平均分数。 沃客曼博士说，“随着煤矿的关闭，人们再也不把有约克郡口音的人和黑煤窑联系在一起。” “不仅如此，包括BBC在内的不少英国媒体在过去15年中也逐渐越来越多得使用地方方言主持或制作节目。” 同样来自伯明翰的BBC一套节目著名主持人阿得里安•奇利斯（Adrian Chiles）不但没有觉得伯明翰口音让他没面子，反而认为这种口音给了他很多便利。 他说，“带有伯明翰口音的人说话时往往言简意赅，两句话用一句话就能说地清，所以人们时常觉得伯明翰人说话语出惊人、非常聪明。”