"nkew" or "N.Q."

English translation: Thank you

11:23 Feb 16, 2021

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / London accent (or Southern English pronunciation)

English term or phrase: "nkew" or "N.Q."

Hello!
The expression is taken from a George Orwell article published in 1945 in the UK weekly, the Leader Magazine. Orwell complains about the state of pronunciation in the south of England, including London. He gives a couple of examples, I only quote part of the paragraph:

"Most of us now speak in so slovenly a way that if you ask for a threepenny bus ticket you are as often as not given a three- halfpenny one, or vice versa. And how exactly would one write down the mystic formula which any two Londoners invariably utter after concluding a transaction? The nearest you could come to it would be “nkew,” or perhaps simply “N.Q.” Or take the current pronunciation of such words as “passionate,” “deliberate,” “vegetable,” “actual” or “average...”

Does anybody know what this "mystic formula", or "nkew" is about? And can you give a more explanatory context than the "concluding of a transaction"?
Thank you.

vitaminBcomplex KudoZ activity Questions: 249 (none open) (7 closed without grading) Answers: 0
Local time: 03:19

Selected answer:Thank you

Explanation:
He is referring to "thank you" prononounced by Londoners in such a way as to sound like "nkew" or "NQ"

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Note added at 4 hrs (2021-02-16 15:30:17 GMT)
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I live in the south of England but I often hear this simply as "kew" or "Q." - i.e. with no "n" sound at all.

Really, Orwell's criticism of "slovenly" speech could be about pactically every accent and dilaect of every language on earth. "Clipping" of speech is prevalent everywhere.

Selected response from:

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:19

Grading comment

Thank you very much!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

5 +3

Thank you

AllegroTrans

4 -1

Notes and Queries

Claudia Sander

Thank you

Victoria Britten

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

Notes and Queries

Explanation:
He refers to Notes and Queries, a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to "English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".[1] Its emphasis is on "the factual rather than the speculative".The journal has a long history, having been established in 1849 in London; it is now published by Oxford University Press.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_and_Queries
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/notes-and-queries-14716941?cc=br&lang=en&

Claudia Sander
Brazil
Local time: 21:19
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

38 mins confidence:

Thank you

Explanation:
I grew up next to London, and have definitely heard something like this: the "th" sound disappears in "slovenly" speech (Orwell's description, not mine!).
It is a nightmare for foreigners, of course, and probably also for people hailing from some other parts of the anglophone world (including in Britain), but is fairly standard in and around (south) London.

Victoria Britten
France
Local time: 02:19
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

29 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

"nkew" or "n.q."

Thank you

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:19
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 52

Grading comment

Thank you very much!

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English translation: Thank you

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