How much of a geek am I?

[swan_tower]

I suspect the answer lies in the way I'm grinning over my latest acquisition, a book called Cockney Past and Present, which was written in 1938 and apparently remains one of the best histories of cockney speech.

Comments

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Since I've been drooling all over my 1902 Sears catalog, I understand.

[myladyswardrobe.livejournal.com]

For 8 years up to last September I used to work near "Petticoat Lane". On the rare times I came into London late enough to be there when the market was running, I could still hear some real, genuine cockneys chattering away.

Its getting rarer to hear it now due to immigration into the area, but there are still the odd pockets of Cockneys around.

I *think* my maternal grandfather qualifies as a cockney - he was born within hearing of the Bow-Bells (one of the last probably as the bells were destroyed in WWII) but I think his family moved out of London when he was a small child so he doesn't sound like a cockney at all.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Neat! I've been reading about Petticoat Lane. And the definition of a cockney is actually relevant to this series, as A Star Shall Fall will begin to show. :-)