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30 May 2012
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The Voices Recordings
Interviewee James Jones

Born: 23 October 1947

Lives: Marylebone, London

Time lived in area: All my life


Find out more about the group

Listen to
James reveals a Cockney-slang word for toilet which had its origin in war-time.

Language of interview: English

Duration: 00.31 (mins/secs)



About the interview

The participants were asked to describe how they spoke in their own words.

How do you describe your accent: "Cockney."

Have there been other influences on the way you speak: Not Given

Do you have skills in languages other than English?: No

Other languages: None

About this interview
INTERVIEWER: Words that you use for toilet? JOHN: Bengasi or WC, depending upon company. INTERVIEWER: What does that come from, Bengasi? JOHN: Bengasi is a place in North Africa, its one that the soldiers bowrt back when we were going fru there and uhh it was a mess and they bowrt this back, when you wen inta u dirty toilet it was known as a Bengasi and sometimes you go into a ummm dirty place and ya say oohhhh its a khasi ere. It could be, oh I dunno, a house, a dirty house that you wen into or uhhh sometimes a rotton old pub.
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Did You Know?
'Gestuno' is an international sign language, equivalent to the constructed spoken language of Esperanto, invented in 1972.
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