Diary of a St Ivean

[Monday/Tuesday] On the 8.05 am bus to St Erth to catch the train to Truro and the air is thick with what sounds like the twang of a variety of Australian English from local teenagers on their way to college in Penzance. It's quite remarkable how the use of that questioning (rising) tone, where every sentence is turned into a question, has been adopted across the age group. It's rather like the back-to-front baseball cap phenomenon; and quite how it spread across the globe is a mystery.

Also, there's much use of 'like' and 'Oh, my God!' This latter isn't reserved specially for situations where the speaker has been surprised or shocked by an awful event. Almost every utterance, however unremarkable or banal, is followed by a desperate cry of, 'Oh, my God!'

I once overheard a teenaged youth (he was wearing the baseball cap) talking on his mobile phone to a friend. The bus was arriving in Truro and he wanted to know if he could call on his friend for a cup of tea. When the friend acceded to his request, he responded with, 'Oh, that's brilliant mate. You're a legend.' A legend. And that's just a man who makes you a cup of tea. A legend.

Oh, my God!