Does one speaketh the lingo?

I love listening to conversations by different people, in particular the way things are pronounced and types of words that are used.

I used to live in East London and never used to think that I had an accent or spoke in a particular way that was outside the 'norm', but after moving out to Essex 4 years ago I am very much aware of the speech patterns different Towns and Villages develop. Especially of late, after becoming a sucker for The Only Way Is Essex - it just makes me realise that I am slowly going over to the dark side and sounding more and more common each day (as much as you can believe than from an East Londoner!)

I admit I've never been one to have a cockney accent or delved into the world of 'Lady Mcguivers or apples and pears' but still, I am who I am and I always liked to pride myself on the fact that you can't take the town out of the girl......but.....

The longer I find myself living away from East London the more my 'non-existent accent' disappears. Gone are the days of 'Alright Mate', 'Hows it going?!' and 'Yeah, nice one!' and in it's place I am finding myself replicating the local Essex sing-song sayings such 'Hi-Ya', 'How-Are-You?' and 'Yeah, that sounds lovely!' I even found myself chatting to the local checkout girl the other day and referred to her as luv! Oh, how degrading.

But I think I am not alone in these thoughts and apparently the local jargon not only exists in the outside world, but also take place in the world of business too. I loved reading this article today on the BBC website and was cracking up at the commentary.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7457287.stm

Not only is there such a thing as business jargon - it has also been complied into it's very own top 50 list, which is not bad going. I particularly love item number 22, having worked in sales for over three years this was a regular saying amongst the directors at our monthly sales meetings.

I wonder what the future holds for the English language and how the local lingo will differ by the time I reach middle age - one can only but imagine....