Mockney (a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of "
mock" and "
cockney
Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...
") is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of cockney or
working-class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
London speech, or a person with such an accent. A stereotypical mockney speaker comes from an upper-
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
background.
A person speaking with a mockney accent might adopt cockney pronunciation but retain standard grammatical forms, whereas the genuine cockney speaker uses non-standard forms (e.g.
negative concord).
Details
The first published use of the word according to the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
was in 1967.
It is an affectation sometimes adopted for aesthetic or theatrical purposes, and at other times just to sound "cool", to generate
street credibility, or to give the false impression that the speaker rose from humble beginnings and became prominent through hard work and some innate talent rather than the education, contacts and other advantages that a privileged background tends to bring.
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...
band
Blur was said to have a "mockney, down-the-dogs blokey charm".
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...
is often accused of being the first celebrity in modern times to overplay his regional accent in order to boost his street credibility.
One explanation of
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
adoption given in
social linguistics is the desire for
prestige
Prestige may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Films
*Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband
*The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...
, that a person is likely to adopt speech patterns (including accent, vocabulary, dialect or even language) which they perceive to be prestigious.
The concept of
communication accommodation, either upwards or downwards in
idiolect, can be seen in many social interactions. One can put someone at ease by speaking in a familiar tone or intonation, or one can intimidate or alienate someone by speaking more formally. For example, in a
courtroom
A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...
, a more formal voice
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), ...
with technical
legal jargon can be used to intimidate a defendant. In contrast, mockney seeks to lower the perceived socio-economic class of the speaker.
Notable people described as using mockney speech
*
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...
*
Russell Brand
*
Nigel Kennedy
*
Kate Nash
*
Jamie Oliver
*
Tim Roth
*
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...
See also
*
Class tourism
*
Estuary English
Estuary English is an English accent, continuum of accents, or continuum of accent features associated with the area along the River Thames and its estuary, including London, since the late 20th century. In 2000, the phonetician John C. We ...
*
Mid-Atlantic accent
*
Mock language
*
Mummerset
*
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...
*
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...
References
External links
*
*
Wot’s He Sayin’? British pop reclaims its accent{{what, date=December 2024
English language in England
Pejorative terms for people
English language in London