That's no a Bonk Machine

Moving North and venturing into real Scotland, the Highlands- full of beauty and elegance and all things Scottish. And, one hell of an accent. The Invernesian accent is boldly recognisable and it is most certainly Scottish- if an Englishman was to mimic a Scottish accent they would naturally tend to use the Inverness accent without realisation. And why not? With a beautiful Gaelic rhythm and excessive use of tongue, I love the northern accent.

Particularly throughout the western isles and northern coastline, Gaelic has imprinted its poetic footprint leaving a romantic tone and an arguable charm to the accent of 'the people of the North'. This, coupled with the over-enthusiastic approach to drinking, makes for a great time up North- maybe this is why Inverness was the fastest growing city in the UK last year? Refocussing on the dialect; the clarity and enhanced pronunciation of the Inverness accent is argued by many to be the best English spoken throughout the UK. I da ken aboot this. What I do know is that there are still words used up north that would appear alien to outsiders:

Hud yer wheest
A way of telling someone to shut up.

Dreich
Typical wet, grey Scottish weather



Inverness & the Highlands

Smasheen
I love this. It is the way in which 'smashing' is pronounced which means 'Great'. You may be much more familiar with these phrases than the aforementioned Doric- the reason for this being that the close ties between Inverness and Edinburgh are not only in heritage- they are existent in dialect also. Makes sense really -they are the two most Scottish places in Scotland.

 

 

Nonetheless, I couldn't avoid sharing this video along with the post:https://www.facebook.com/ScottishPatterr/videos/1465564570200330/
What's hilarious with this video is that it wasn't the literal concept that was critiqued on social media; it was the poor lad's Invernesian accent.


I also like the use of 'bud' instead of the 'mate' that tends to be used in the rest of Scotland- at least we're all friendly ey?

 

Finishing with a specific mention to Gaelic, I feel that it has a stronger backing than Doric and rightfully so as it is the first language of many in the Western Isles. Many are still brought up speaking Gaelic (not as many as some would like) and when combined with English in a foreign like manner, forms a harmonic vowel ridden accent that appeals to the ears of other Scots. Gaelic is strongly pushed by the government and is recognised as an important part of Scottish heritage- as it should be.

The real patter begins in the next post as I reach Glasgow- keep reading!