I believe that my accent comes from where I live, Norfolk, rather than where my parents are from, Yorkshire. When I see my family in Yorkshire the stark contrast between the two accents are emphasised when the usual debate of how "bath" and "grass" are pronounced arises. When with them, I usually take the mick out of what they say with words such as "nowt" to mean nothing. This usually ends up with them becoming a part of my vocabulary.
Due to my parents both having a hearing impairment; they both rely solely on how words are spelled to help them to pronounce them properly. This sometimes leads to words being said wrong such as "clothes" said like "cloths." So when I speak to my parents I usually change words to how the look like they are said to help them understand more quickly and effectively. For example, I recently had a conversation with my dad where I had to change the name "madame t(u:)ssauds" to "madame t(ɒ)ssauds" and "bur(ə) castle" to "burgh castle." so he could lip read what I was saying more quickly; which helps the conversation flow more seamlessly. Because I grew up and learnt my mum and dad's way of saying things I did used to pronounce words like these; how they said them before I went to school and/or spoke to friends before learning the proper way, so as growing up I've learnt to change my way of pronouncing words, without having to think about it, depending on who I am speaking to.
When with my friendship group the vocabulary I use doesn't stretch too far. We are that type of people that say "lol" out loud rather than actually laughing, usually for sarcastic effect, however still should probably remain on the internet. We also have the tendency to over dramatize and over exaggerate situations by over-using phrases such as "oh my god" and "as if" for everything we get told, whether its a good or bad thing. Along with taboo and slang words a lot of lexis we use and conversations we have come from the show 'the Inbetweener's'. We could be having a serious, calm conversation then someone can drop and 'Inbetweener's' quote, usually in a Scottish accent - no reason why, and it'll open the floodgates. Simple phrases such as "oh really" and "hm" said in a certain way, how Simon says it on the show, can lead to an 'Inbetweener's' quote overload.
However, at my job, in a restaurant I have to bite my tongue when someone says something that I associate with the semantic field of the 'Inbetweener's' quotes. This is because I feel I have to speak with a much higher prestige at work in order to come across as someone with a professional manner. I mainly do this because of the types of people that come in. Due to their age and their social class, which i consider higher than mine; I speak more respectfully and probably overuse please and thank
you in order to be as polite as possible.
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