In article ,
Andy Dingley wrote:

They didn't. Seventeenth century English travelled to New England and
stayed their, spelling, pronunciation and all. Then England changed.

Wow. I had nary a clue. I always figured it was the Colonists who
changed, either through assimilation of people speaking differing
languages or just out of spite.

From the '60s onwards, RP (received pronunciation) has gradually
disappeared from the UK. Brian Perkins and Alastair Cooke being the
last radio bastions of it - Brian Sewell is a caricature of it.
Regional accents have also toned down, with increased communications
between the regions. About the only widespread and locally distinctive
accents left in England are Geordie and Brummie - everything else is
diluted beyond recognition.

Now kids spend so much time watching cheap imported TV that they speak
a vile concoction of Sydney valley-girl that's unintelligible to
anyone over 30.

TV (and, I'm seeing much more, print) grammar and vocabulary is
HORRIBLE! Is it just me or have people started to misuse when to use "a"
and "an"? "A earthquake." or "An earthquake." "A historical house." or
"An historical house." (Maybe it's just the result of relying on
spellcheckers instead of observant journalists and editors.)

Australia still has theirs,

Australia speaks a variant of Dickensian Convict, with that weird
rising inflection at the end of every sentence, you know ?

He,he,he. A serious question, can you pick out any Brittish accent
embeded in the Aussie accent? Could their accent have originated from a
certain class of Brittish society that was more prone to being convicted
of illicit behavior?

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