Formidable

It's curious how while many things about us remain plastic throughout our lives, our accents are fixed relatively young in life and rarely change.

We were listening to Raymond Blanc on Radio 4 yesterday morning who, despite having lived in the UK for 40 of his 71 years, he still retains the comedy French accent that endears him to so many. 

Similarly, my father lived in the UK for over 40 of his 86 years and said; "Dis, dat and der udder," with a pronounced Dutch accent, when he meant; "This, that and the other." The dental fricative, 'th', was impossible for him to pronounce without strenuous effort involving lots of spitting.

When I came to the UK in 1961, aged 6, I couldn't speak a word of English. I was thrown into a primary school class in Southport where not a single individual had an inkling of what I was saying, but within 6 months I was fluent, including a West Lancashire accent which I have never lost, despite having moved to London, Reading and Bristol.

It demonstrates how our early childhood experiences, good or bad, influence us throughout our lives.

Another interesting thing that cropped up in the Raymond Blanc interview was the manner in which some words in English that have a French root have a different meaning in the original French. Any word in English that ends in 'able' comes from French and generally has the same meaning. However, while the English word formidable conjures up images of battle-axe housewives who inspire fear, in French it means amazing.