Youre All Talk

The book is suitable for anyone from an expert to a novice. As an armchair enthusiast who studied sociolinguistics, there were certainly things I learned, as well as having a smile at a couple of in-jokes. -- Lix Dexter * Shiny New Books * Rob Drummond is a brilliant tour guide around the endless labyrinths of the way we speak; in this book he hosts the talk show of our lives, ensuring that we listen hard to ourselves and everybody else. -- Ian McMillan For years, working exclusively in radio, my voice was my whole professional self. It is still vastly important now. With a voice an accent like mine, I suspect a career in news broadcasting would have been almost impossible a generation or two ago. In a fortunate twist of timing, as minds have broadened, I suspect its actually been an advantage to me and helped me stand out. I am fascinated by accents and all the perceptions they haul around with them. This is a brilliantly written analysis. It is warm and human in tone. Rob wears his vast expertise lightly, meaning the lay reader is engaged, informed, and entertained in equal measures. Id thoroughly recommend it. -- Chris Mason, BBC Political Editor A telling and compelling exploration of spoken English, charting the joys and risks of individual accents, and why we perceive them the way we do. Through a mix of history, anecdotes, and topical examples, Drummond brings light and humour into a gnarly subject that affects every one of us. -- Susie Dent, author of <em>Word Perfect</em> Rob Drummond has achieved something very special in this book an account of accents and identity that reaches across the generations, from concerned oldie to innovative TikToker, and shows how a sociolinguistic perspective can help reduce the anxieties and tensions that so often surround this topic. He writes: the world would be a better place if people knew just a bit more about how we communicate. Im in no doubt that Youre All Talk, with its humour, clarity, and breadth of illustration, will help make that happen. -- David Crystal, author of <em>How Language Works</em> We are what we say and Rob Drummonds intriguing and engaging book proves it. -- Gyles Brandreth, author of <em>Word Play</em> Drummond gives us a history lesson as to how the different accents developed and changed around the world, and how they continue to evolve and change today You're All Talk by Rob Drummond is highly recommended for non fiction readers interested in language and communication and why we speak the way we do. * Carpe Librum *

Rob Drummond is Professor of Sociolinguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he researches and teaches about the relationship between how we speak and who we are. He recently completed a large project exploring the accents and dialects of Greater Manchester, touring the region in his Accent Van. He appears regularly on radio and TV talking about language-related issues and spent some time as resident linguist on BBC Radio 3s The Verb, as well as appearing on the BBC Breakfast sofa.