I'VE got some sympathy with MP Jim Knight, the schools minister who this week claimed that more than half of West Lancashire's schoolkids can't speak English.
As someone whos hated maths at school with a passion only reserved for the likes of Vernon Bloody Kay and GMTV, I can understand why he got it so wrong.
Of course, he didn't get it wrong per se as it was his department who furnished him with the dud figures. And as minister he carries the can.
However, I've never understood kids no matter what language they speak... which these days seems to be anything but clear English.
As someone who uses words every day, and a former foreign languages tutor, I'm fascinated by regional accents. Actually, as we were discussing the Jim Knight story in the office, we all started to give our opinions on what the dominant accent is in West Lancs.
Out of three of us, only I thought that Lancastrians still had the upper hand, with the others opting for Scouse.
Certainly, there's a lot of 'Scousers' in the council chamber these days - and not all of it from the Skelmersdale councillors either.
Infact, the Aughton-based Tory leader Geoff Roberts is from Liverpool as are a few of his colleagues.
As Liverpool grows as a city, so does its influence culturally.
Gone are the days when it was just Skem which was the most affected. Indeed, if you go to the likes of Aughton, Ormskirk and even as far north as Burscough, you'll hear kids who were born and bred in West Lancs talking as if they've spent their whole life on the Dock Road!
And my top five favourite Scouse words?
1) Bizzies (Police)
2) Tar-lar (Thanks mate)
3) Trackies (Tracksuit bottoms)
4) Trainees (Trainers)
5) Bezzie (Best)
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