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Tom Leonard This is thi six a clock news thi man said n thi reason a talk wia BBC accent iz coz yi widny wahnt mi ti talk aboot thi trooth wia voice lik wanna yoo scruff. if a toktabot thi trooth lik wanna yoo scruff yi widny thingk it wuz troo. Regional Glaswegian dialect Short lines almost spat out Standard English Phonetic spelling of dialect Can the news be read in a “scruffy” voice? Very little punctuation Repetition for emphasis Do we believe a “posh” voice more?
Match the terminology on the left with the definitions on the right. • A variety of English with different vocabulary and grammatical constructions. It reminds us of our roots. • The accent of Standard English. • The characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, especially one that betrays social or geographical origin. • The belief that society should be governed by the most powerful or rich. • An internationally recognized variety of English. It is largely used for public communication, in most written texts, in education, in law, and in the media. It is the form of English defined in dictionaries. • Elitism • Standard English • Received Pronunciation • Accent • Dialect
Tom Leonard is from Glasgow. He is proud of his cultural background, which he exhibits most noticeably through his accent and dialect. Leonard has said that “a person who doesn’t “speak right” is categorized as an ignoramous.” In this poem, Leonard vents his anger at this attitude and makes us think about who should read the BBC news, and how we judge people generally.
jist wanna yooscruff tokn.thirza rightway ti spellana right wayto tok it. thisis me tokn yirright way aspellin. thisis ma trooth.yooz doant nothi troothyirsellz cawzyi canny talkright. this isthe six a clocknyooz. belt up. this is thisix a clocknews thiman said nthi reasona talk wiaBBC accentiz coz yiwidny wahntmi ti talkaboot thitrooth wiavoice likwanna yooscruff. ifa toktabootthi troothlik wanna yooscruff yiwidny thingkit wuz troo.
jist wonna yoo scruff tokn. thirza right way ti spell ana right way to tok it. this is me tokn yir right way a spellin. this is ma trooth yooz doant no thi trooth yirsellz cawz yi canny talk right. this is the six a clock nyooz. belt up. This is the right way (his way), according to the poet Aggression mounts towards the end of the poem Why does he end in this way?
Questions • The shape of this poem is definitely different. Why did the poet write it like this? • Where would the punctuation go in this poem? Where would you put full stops or capital letters? Give 2 examples. Why has the poet not used much punctuation? • What use does the poet make of the word “scruff”? • What effect does hearing the news read in BBC English have on the poet and others like him? • Leonard does not believe in “elitist” language, why do you think he chose to express his views in a poem? • What is Leonard saying about his culture?
