Armstrong and Miller Video

In the first video, Armstrong and Miller use a register that juxtaposes the scene in which their sketch is set, in order to create a situation that the audience will find amusing. While the scene takes place on D-Day, during world war two, the characters played by Armstrong and Miller use modern colloquial language to communicate, a form usually associated with the sociolect used by urban teenagers. Within this colloquial lexis are slang words like ‘blud’, ‘aks’ and ‘ain’t’. This contrast is what generates the humour upon which the sketch is based.

   The use of non-standard grammar throughout their discourse, such as, ‘I love the seaside, isn’t it,’ and ‘If they do has donkey rides,’ is to reinforce the audiences awareness that the register they are using is not formal, the one you would perhaps expect to hear because of the connotations that come with seeing black and white films. They also use fillers from the colloquial register – things like, ‘like,’ and ‘right’– and a high frequency vocabulary of commonly used words. Back channel agreement is also used throughout the piece (‘yeah’ and ‘mmm’) to show that they are listening to each other and responding positively. The repetition of ‘isn’t it?’ is their way of receiving this positive feedback.

   At one point the simile, ‘Gonna put on so much vinegar that my lips turn all blue and I look like my nan did when her neck stopped working,’ is used. This is quite an extreme simile and has been written this way for the sake of humour. The fact that these characters can talk like this with each other shows a certain amount of comfort and familiarity, traits often common with informal pieces or interactions.