little Englander

Bach = stream in German- lovely. Or it could be scouse for 'back' ;)

One of my work colleagues used to preface a lot of her moans/complaints with 'Iesu Mawr' - it seemed to be the strongest epithet she could muster!

I don't think they know any swear words yet (at least I hope not!) , they are still little!!

www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bach

I expect so Jalima, hope your grandchildren enjoy learning Welsh , great language to swear in

If you say so, Annie, but round here it is used as a term of endearment.

No Ana, it is not a term of endearment, it means small, Cariad is the most popular word of endearment

Grumppa, Anniebach is my nickname in my family, started by my Grampa when I was a tot, Annie is taken from the second half of my Christian name , so I was little Annie , it caught on in the family , just I kept growing

Happened all over the world at some point- and thank goodness people have realised how wrong that was- the forceful and at times brutal repression of local languages or dialects. Happened in SW France with Catalan- kids were beaten if they did. All over the world- English was beaten into the brains of kids as being 'superior' and of true value (same for French in French colonies)...

I wouldn't say 'coïncidence' - consciously or unconsciuously, it made sense to the group, for the group to do so ...for whatever reason.

I remember some of our billingual kids at school who suddenly refused to speak Bengali or Pakistani with their parents- who were very upset about it. The cause was usually the bullying and teasing/mocking, from other children. I could well imagine that some Welsh kids may well have been made to feel like second-class, or from the title of the OP 'Little Welshers' by some of the more affluent, better educated, etc, English new arrivals. Perhaps?

But we digress- this thread is about the concept of 'Little England/er' - and perhaps we should return to it. Or have we gone round teh block twice already?

It would have been the same time probably

Big Cwtch girls
Don't overdo it

To my knowledge the only time there was bullying of children for speaking Welsh was a long time ago. My Grampa when in school, a small child at the time Welsh became forbidden in school - orders from London - had the problem of parents who couldn't speak English , like all children in Anglesey at that time, but was hit with a stick in school if he spoke welsh .

I do know, I knew an old lady who said she had to wear the dunce's cap and sit in the corner for speaking Welsh in school in South Wales, that would have been over 70 years ago.

I can't get my head round Annie without the bach. Anniefawr would be a challenge!

Big Cwtch girls

I know what 'bach' means Annie. It can also be used as a term of endearment, which would hardly be appropriate!

^Jalima* in the past there was bullying with The Welsh Not for example.People have long memories.

grumppa the one I mentioned was in Mid-Wales and they were all speaking Welsh, not switching over from English.
They were rude about the English and did not realise a Welsh speaker was with his English family.
Oh dear - but he was very nice to them and said he had enjoyed their chat etc etc

You are over doing the flattery Ana

Ana, I wouldn't expect to be called Bach by you, it means small, as I am 5'7 you would sound rather silly calling me Bach would you not?

Fair point, gj. Having been involved in trilingual conversations at times, I understand where you are coming from. So it could have been coincidence that languages were switched just when an English party arrived at this mythical pub in Anglesey.

Actually, I have every sympathy with people who switch languages at times for a bit of privacy. But it's dangerous to generalise on what's overheard in pubs.

I imagine that some Welsh parents speak Welsh to their children- and at some point the kids rebel and reply in English (possibly because of the bullying and image).
There is absolutely no bullying going on about children speaking Welsh in Wales - on the contrary, they all learn it as a compulsory language. My DGD do, that is why I speak (or sing) a bit, being taught by a 4 year old.

And do read my post again. I did not say that the entire population of Wales doesn's speak Welsh. Where did you learn your post-twisting technique? It's very impressive...

Get what you mean about people speaking in diff languages to each other though. When I could speak a bit of Spanish (sadly v rusty now), I was able to hold a conversation with a Brazilian friend who was speaking Portuguese.

gj, what do you mean by bullying and image? Why would it be bullying that made a Welsh child learn to speak English? Surely it's a good idea for Welsh speakers to learn English given how few people in the islands of Great Britain speak Welsh?

I'm baffled by the reference to bullying. Bullying by whom?