This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/04/baffling-vagueness-of-the-british-accent

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Baffling vagueness of the ‘British accent’ Baffling vagueness of the ‘British accent’
(35 minutes later)
Alexei Sayle’s review of David Aaronovitch’s Party Animals (Review, 2 December) reflects the extent to which present-day cultural life is powered by the personal grudges of children against parents, lovers against those who dumped them, and wannabes against those who scorned them. These days, as the socialist baby goes out with the communist bathwater, it’s not Cyril Connolly’s “buggy in the hall” (DJ Taylor, same issue) that inhibits writers from saying what people “might not wish to hear” so much as the north London rear extension.Steve GoochRobertsbridge, East Sussex Alexei Sayle’s review of David Aaronovitch’s Party Animals (Review, 2 December) reflects the extent to which present-day cultural life is powered by the personal grudges of children against parents, lovers against those who dumped them, and wannabes against those who scorned them. These days, as the socialist baby goes out with the communist bathwater, it’s not Cyril Connolly’s “buggy in the hall” (DJ Taylor, same issue) that inhibits writers from saying what people “might not wish to hear” so much as the rear extension.Steve GoochRobertsbridge, East Sussex
• Depressing that the main use that government sees for modern technology is to test 19th-century rote learning (Report, 4 January). Nicky Morgan seems to share Michael Gove’s strange obsession with the pointless 12 times table. Is there a hidden agenda: to leave the EU, and then reintroduce shillings and pence, and feet and inches? Or is this the usual attempt to distract attention from the real problems in education, like class sizes and teacher shortages?Averil LewinEly, Cambridgeshire• Depressing that the main use that government sees for modern technology is to test 19th-century rote learning (Report, 4 January). Nicky Morgan seems to share Michael Gove’s strange obsession with the pointless 12 times table. Is there a hidden agenda: to leave the EU, and then reintroduce shillings and pence, and feet and inches? Or is this the usual attempt to distract attention from the real problems in education, like class sizes and teacher shortages?Averil LewinEly, Cambridgeshire
• Living in Canada for part of the year, I have a frequently rehearsed rant against references to “a British accent” in the North American media. “Would that be a Welsh accent, then? Or perhaps Scots?” And now the Guardian is doing it, on the front page too (Report, 4 December). Don’t lend me your ears.Peter ClarkeCambridge• Living in Canada for part of the year, I have a frequently rehearsed rant against references to “a British accent” in the North American media. “Would that be a Welsh accent, then? Or perhaps Scots?” And now the Guardian is doing it, on the front page too (Report, 4 December). Don’t lend me your ears.Peter ClarkeCambridge
• They were probably always there, but I have only recently noticed the deliberate errors in Doonesbury drawings, eg in the strip on 2 January a car number changed from “140” to “180” and back again. Do you know why Mr Trudeau does it?David WrightsonClifton Reynes, Buckinghamshire• They were probably always there, but I have only recently noticed the deliberate errors in Doonesbury drawings, eg in the strip on 2 January a car number changed from “140” to “180” and back again. Do you know why Mr Trudeau does it?David WrightsonClifton Reynes, Buckinghamshire
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com