BRUMMIES will be talking loud and proud in their local accent tomorrow for the first international Talk Like a Brummie Day.
It is the brainchild of 32-year-old Perry Barr man Jon Bounds who organised the day to raise the profile of the accent he says usually gets a rough deal in the media.
"It originally came from me and a few of my mates sitting in the pub. We had heard of Talk Like a Pirate Day and we just decided to do it for a laugh," he said.
"You hear about a lot of cheap surveys that companies try to get into the press and I had heard about ones saying that people thought Brummies were stupid because of their accent.
"I don't think people do think Brummies are stupid so I decided to organise this day to raise the profile of the city and its accent."
Tomorrow there will be a special event staged in Chamberlain Square, from noon to 6pm, when a panel of experts, including Birmingham poet laureate Giovanni Esposito, will be on hand to recount their own favourite Brummie phrases and sayings.
There will also be an opportunity for people to display their Brummie accents which will be recorded and played on the BBC big screen.
There will also be an opportunity for people to win Birmingham-related prizes at the event.
Jon, who works in graphic design, said: "I was surprised when it became so popular, I was expecting more people to think I was making fun of the accent or trying to be ironic, but people have really taken it up in a big way."
He got the idea for the day off the ground using a blog on his website www.birminghamitsnotsh*t.co.uk which he launched five years ago as an alternative campaign for the 2008 City of Culture bid.
