Everything about Mockney totally explained
In
British English, the term
mockney (a
portmanteau of "mock" and "
Cockney") has come to be used, predominantly in the media, to describe those who present themselves as Cockneys (or, by extension, other working-class groups) with the intention of gaining popular credibility. A stereotypical Mockney comes from a middle or upper-
middle class background in England's
Home Counties. The most-cited current example is that of TV chef
Jamie Oliver who has adopted a matey mockney persona but who originates from middle-class rural
Essex.
Mockney is distinct from
Estuary English by being the deliberate affectation of the working-class London (
Cockney) accent.
As another example, a Mockney might adopt Cockney pronunciation, but retain standard grammatical forms where the Cockney would use non-standard forms (for example
negative concord or
don't-leveling).
It is an affectation sometimes adopted for aesthetic purposes, other times just to sound "cool" or in an attempt to generate
street credibility. The phenomenon was first named in the mid-1990s and was made famous in describing
Britpop bands such as
Blur.
Mick Jagger is often accused of having been the first celebrity in modern times to overplay his regional accent in order to boost his street credibility.
The term has also been used to describe
Dick Van Dyke's execrable cockney accent in the film
Mary Poppins. Similar criticisms were also made of
All Saints' members
Natalie and
Nicole Appleton for their attempts at the cockney accent in the 2000 film
Honest
Thieves, criminals, prostitutes (
Jack the Ripper films), and English pirates in films often use an exaggerated version of cockney to emphasize the atmosphere of lower class old London, no matter where in England the character is from.
One explanation of dialect adoption given by social linguistics is prestige. A person is likely to adopt speech patterns (including accent, vocabulary, dialect or even language) which they perceive as 'prestigious'.
The concept of
communication accomodation, either upwards or downwards in
idiolect, can be seen in many social interactions, for example to put someone at ease by speaking in a familiar tone or inotation or to intimidate someone or alienate them by speaking in a more formal way than they're used to, for example in a court room where a more formal register will be used with technical legal jargon to intimidate a defendant. This refers to a person altering their perceived accent and covers the concept of "mockneying".
Notable mockneys
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mockney'.
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