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Variations on 'cockney'

Posted by Alex on January 07, 2002

In Reply to: "My Fair Lady" a pun? posted by Word Camel on January 07, 2002

: Does anyone know why the musical is called "My Fair Lady"? It struck me that "My Fair" could be a joke based on the cockney pronounciation of "Mayfair". And while we are at it, I thought "cockney" specifically referred to East end accents. If that's the case, what are accents in other parts of London referred to as?

Cockney does refer specifically to the east end of london - as in the english tv program 'Eastenders'. The accent prevalent in the wider London area is most commonly known as 'Estuary English', because it seems be common around the whole Thames estuary area, i.e. Greater London, bits of Surrey, Essex and Middlesex. This basically Standard Southern English but a much more lax pronunciation of certain consonants:
e.g. In "Gatwick airport" you wouldn't make out the first 't'.

And there's nothing nearly so exciting as Guy Ritchie's mockney rhyming slang

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