Brummie Accent

The term Brummies refers to people from the city of Birmingham. Brummies have their own accent which is a subject of debate all on its own. Many people confuse the Birmingham accent with that of the Black Country.


The word comes from Brummagem, the local name for Britain's second city and from which the word Brummies is derived. Strangely enough many foreign visitors to the city actually like the accent but it does appear to have something of a stigma amongst the English. Surveys have shown it to be the least favoured British accent.


If someone speaks with a strong Brummie accent then they are often percieved as not very bright or as one academic research suggests - a police suspect with a Brummie accent sounds guilty!


Unfortunately this stigma applies to the Black Country accent too. Speakers from Wolverhampton, Dudley or Walsall are often assumed to be Brummies by default whereas in reality the accents are different. The likes of Ozzy Osborne, Carl Chinn and Clare Short have helped to make the Brummie accent famous and there are many words that are typical to this city.


Brummies have the last laugh though when it comes to hearing outsiders trying their best to mimick the Brummie accent. It never sounds right, is always over emphasised and exaggerated and often comical.


Remember this - the Industrial Revolution didn't begin down south. The great engineers, industrialists and the workhouse of Britain was here. It took brains to organise all that.