Innit!

[Wispy68]

Why do some white, British people feel the need to speak in a West Indian accent? Do they not realise how stupid it sounds? I am not being racist by asking this genuine question!

[tetherend]

Could have something to do with Baron S Cohen's character, maybe it's just a phase thing. 

[Wispy68]

Thank you for your reply Andy. I do remember posting a question a few years ago about inflections and it still irritates the wotsits off me when I hear it, much the same as the West Indian thing. I realise that there are different phases of speech among young people but some are so much more irritating than others! I'm not really bothered by words which are used but more by the way they are said, eg, people changing their accents. It's so pretentious. Maybe I ought to just walk around with earplugs in!! Anyway, I'm off to make a nice cup of tea and calm myself down!

[Aschenbach]

I noticed my local job centre was trying to be street with a placard that said 'NEW JOBS INNIT'. I went in to complain about the appalling grammar but it turned out I had misread what was actually written - ' NEW JOBS IN IT'

(I noticed added 'street' effect kids like to add double negatives to their accents eg I ain't got no rizlas left even though I'm from Surrey)

[Kay]

" Innit" had been said for years in Wales and its nothing to do with a W,Indian accent here! Im 56 and its a habit I've grown up with. We may say." I could have bought it cheaper somewhere else like innit".  Likewise we sometimes say "Yer" instead of Here.

[littleoldme]

Yo, Wispy68. Ya wanna know why da white bwoyz an' gyalz talk like dem from Jamaica when really dem iz comin' from lahk de Chiswick and ting, innit? Me tink it is coz dem tink it lahk make dem look cool and ting and get dem respeck from da posse and da bredren, ya know, me lickle smudgeling. Aiiiiiiii.

Ahem. Oh gosh. I say, that really did feel most unpleasant.

[cheyenne]

here is a BBC interpretation innit!!

[miss_chase]

We do 'absorb' accents from those around us. So if you are living in Hackney (where i am from) and mixing with others from different countries and areas, it stands to reason you will sound similar, no matter what colour you are or where you originally came from. 

We do also adapt our accents to assimilate with others too (eg posh telephone voices compared with talking to the garage bloke). Or of course you may fiercely maintain 'your' accent regardless of who you are talking too - to affirm your identity.  Teenagers are learning to adapt whilst maintaining their own identity - its confusing for them!

There are lots of theories, grab a book from the library about Sociolinguistics.

Oh, and we did have one kid who spoke 'posh' (received pronunciation) in my class last year. So it may also be for survival - basic evolutionary theory...!!

[honuhuleia]

As I teenager I feel it is necessary to put my own two cents into ths topic. Yes there are some that try to emulate accents from different regions because they think it's cool. I on the other hand think that language adaption is a form of necessity(sometimes). Maybe those Brits hear the W. Indian accent alot through the media, travel, ect and it just brushed off on them. I live in an extremely ethnic diverse region and I have  actually caught myself speaking in another speech pattern when talking to tourists. It just happens, after a while our mouths spit out what our ears pick up.

   I don't quite like generalizations, and for further refernece...very uncool.

[Louis XIV]

Although I'm not one for the English language being cheapened or trivialised, there are certain contexts where I find the term 'innit' really rather charming.

[devonmanuk]

The word innit has always been a derivative of the words 'ain't it' meaning 'hasn't it' or 'isn't it'. I have no idea where you get the idea it is West Indian

[Wispy68]

Devonmanuk: I do realise that, but 'innit' does seem to be used, if not by some West Indian people, by white, British people trying to sound 'West Indian'. As I said before, it's not so much a 'word' issue, but more about faked accents. Maybe I didn't give much thought to my question title.

[graemer]

Hi Andy, I was reading your answer? the one about upward inflection? And that Australian soaps are to blame? I can't recall that we used to speak like that before soaps? It's a mystery to a lot of us how it started. What about the girl in American Pie "This one time in band camp?" How did it get started in America I wonder?

[GucciGal]

Wispy68 - I know what you mean, I live in Brixton and have done so for most of my life, If I didn't know better I would have thought EVERYONE was from the West Indies ;-)

[mr. piper]

Aschenbach, i accuse you of plagerism with your innit anecdote shame on you!!!!!