The Oxford accent exists, but it defies defini­tion. It is not, as the French think, the kind of English which is spoken within a twenty mile radius of the city. Indeed, it is not an accent at all,

OXFORD ACCENT

By D. Balsden

The Oxford accent exists, but it defies defini­tion. It is not, as the French think, the kind of English which is spoken within a twenty mile radius of the city. Indeed, it is not an accent at all, but a manner of speaking. In particular it is a manner of pausing in your speech, of pausing not at the end of sentences, where you might be inter­rupted but in the middle of sentences. Nobody, it is to be hoped, will be so rude as to interrupt you when you are in the middle of a sentence. So

TEST YOURSELF

1. Can you prove that nice is not the only adjec­tive the English language possesses? Try to use more exact words or expressions for each nice.

"It's nice to be home," sighed Gloria. "But I did have such a nice time at Ann's. Friday was nice and warm. I wore my nice blue suit and that nice' white blouse I got for my birthday. I had a nice seat in the train, and the conductor was very nice about warning me before we came to West Lake. Ann and her mother met me in their nice new BMW."

"Wasn't that nice of them?" "What comes next is even nicer. We drove to their place, a nice brick house, and had the nicest supper. After supper Joe and Tommy, two nice boys, took us to see a very nice movie, and after that we all had nice big sundaes at the Sugar Bowl.

"On Saturday we had a nice game of tennis on those nice new high school courts, and Saturday night we went to a nice barn dance. Ann looked very nice in her nice light-blue print dress. On Sunday she and her mother drove me to the train, and I thanked them for the nicest weekend I've ever had."

These words might help you:

attractive, pleasant, exciting, sunny, fashionable, comfortable, kind, terrific, considerate, deUcious, interesting, modern, fine, lovely, grand, great, pretty, splendid, wonderful pause there, to decide what your next sentence is going to be. Then, having decided, move quickly forward to it without a moment's pause at the full stop. Yes, jumping your full stops — that is the Oxford accent. Do it well, and you will be able to talk forever. Nobody will have the chance of breaking in and stealing the conversation from you.

2. George Mikes advises us to finish all our sen­tences with the tag "isn't it7" However, not all disjunctive questions take this tag. Can you put the right tag to each of the following sen­tences?

1. Let's go to the park,

2. Nobody phoned,

3. I'm beautiful,

4. They never quarrel.

5. It's no good,

6. He has to get up early,_____________

7. It's hardly rained this summer,

elaborate [i laebrit] сложный, замысловатый railway terminus ['t3:mmss] железнодорожный вокзал vowel [ vauel] гласный (звук) consonant [ konsenent] согласный (звук)

to suspect [ses'pekt] подозревать beggar [ begs] нищий, попрошайка

to defy [di'fai] не поддаваться (определению)

in particular [pe'tikjule] в частности to pause [po:z] делать паузу to interrupt [.inta'rApt] перебивать rude [ru:d] грубый, невежливый full stop точка, конец предложения sundae ['SAndei] пломбир с сиропом, орехами, фруктами и т. п.

"Sugar Bowl" [fuge baul] "Сахарница" (название кафе)

barn dance амер. сельский праздник с танцами

print dress ситцевое платье

(See answers on page 60)

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