Proper Brummie

by Carl Chinn (Artist), Steve Thorne

Language, dialect, reference.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2003

Reviews

[S.P.]

The problem with this book is it takes itself far too seriously. I was looking and looking for a book about 'Brummie' - the official language of Birmingham, and amongst the wealth of Cockney-Rhyming-Slang, and Geordie language books in the Birmingham Waterstones, this was the only on to come close. Unfortunately most of the language is not anything I recognise (which being a brummie is slightly surprising), much of what I do know isn't there, and well it is all a bit too academic. I wanted a Birmingham edition of Viz's profanisaurus really and there is not humour here at all. It gets two stars because at least Chinn is passionate about local culture - apparently the only person to want to write a book about the local language at all.