Mockney
In British English, the term mockney (a portmanteau of "mock" and "Cockney") has come to be used, predominantly in the media, to describe those who present themselves as Cockneys (or, by extension, other working-class groups) with the intention of gaining popular credibility. A stereotypical Mockney comes from a middle or upper-middle class background in England's Home Counties. The most-cited current example is that of TV chef Jamie Oliver who has adopted a matey mockney persona but who originates from middle-class rural Essex.
Mockney is distinct from Estuary English by being the deliberate affectation of the working-class London (Cockney) accent.
As another example, a Mockney might adopt Cockney pronunciation, but retain standard grammatical forms where the Cockney would use non-standard forms (e.g. negative concord or don't-leveling).
It is an affectation sometimes adopted for aesthetic purposes, other times just to sound "cool" or in an attempt to generate street credibility. The phenomenon was first named in the mid-1990s and was made famous in describing Britpop bands such as Blur. Mick Jagger is often accused of having been the first celebrity in modern times to overplay his regional accent in order to boost his street credibility.
The term has also been used to describe Dick Van Dyke's inaccurate Cockney accent in the film Mary Poppins. Similar criticisms were also made of All Saints' members Natalie and Nicole Appleton for their attempts at the Cockney accent in the 2000 film Honest.
Thieves, criminals, prostitutes (e.g. in Jack the Ripper films), and English pirates in films often use an exaggerated version of Cockney to emphasize the atmosphere of lower class old London, no matter where in England the character is from.
One explanation of dialect adoption given by social linguistics is prestige. A person is likely to adopt speech patterns (including accent, vocabulary, dialect or even language) which they perceive as 'prestigious'.
The concept of communication accommodation, either upwards or downwards in idiolect, can be seen in many social interactions, for example to put someone at ease by speaking in a familiar tone or inotation or to intimidate someone or alienate them by speaking in a more formal way than they are used to, for example in a court room where a more formal register will be used with technical legal jargon to intimidate a defendant. This refers to a person altering their perceived accent and covers the concept of "mockneying".
Other notable Mockneys
- Lily Allen has been regarded as Mockney. [1]
- Kate Nash has also been regarded as Mockney and similar to Lily Allen.[2]
- Nigel Kennedy [1] [2]
- Damon Albarn [3]
- Mark Steel
- Dido
- Guy Ritchie
- Lacey Turner