Popular RCT myths get busted for good

WHEN it comes to Rhondda Cynon Taf, people often get things wrong.

From the things us locals apparently say and do to the things we don’t do, there are some misconceptions that need to be set straight.

So here are 13 things people often believe that couldn’t be further from the truth...

Ever since Gavin & Stacey come out, people have been saying “Oh, what’s occurring?” to Welsh people upon discovering they are Welsh.

The only thing is, Nessa is from Barry, and we really don’t sound like her.

While there are no rules about outsiders drinking in our pubs, someone will definitely come up to you and say: “Alright, butt? You’re not from around here, are you?”

Rhondda, Cynon and Taff are three different places. Shortening Rhondda Cynon Taf to the Rhondda just doesn’t work.

“Where in Wales are you from, then?”

“About half an hour from Cardiff” is something we have all said at some point. The truth is, a lot of us work in Cardiff and we can only dream of a commute taking half an hour.

We do love a good caravan, but our adventures take us much further afield in non-lockdown times.

Not necessarily true (but we will all definitely know at least one person who is).

My mother’s friend is my auntie, but she isn’t my AUNTIE. Know what I mean?

Don’t forget about Thomas and Williams too, but of course we have more surnames than these classic Welsh ones.

Wrong. We even have one, and it is the largest university in Wales.

We do! RCT has historically been seen as an area that doesn’t speak Welsh due to the Industrial Revolution, which saw a lot of English people move to the area to work in the mines.

This wasn’t helped by the introduction of the hated Welsh knot decades earlier.

This tipped the language balance of many communities in South Wales.

But it didn’t wipe it out. In fact, 19% of the population of RCT over the age of three said they speak Welsh in the annual population survey in December 2019.

We do, but it isn’t always affectionate. If someone shouts “Ow butt” or “Ow love” at you, you may have done something wrong.

“Alright, love?” and “alright, butt?”, on the other hand, spell complete acceptance. We like you.

Look, there’s more than one valley in the Rhondda, let alone Rhondda Cynon Taf and let alone in Wales.

Even in RCT, not everywhere is technically a valley.

When you say “The Valleys” you aren’t exactly narrowing a location down. Do you mean Swansea Valleys? Neath Valleys? Gwent Valleys?

It is Rhondda Cynon Taf and then the River Taff. River Taff in Welsh is Afon Taf. So the Taf part of RCT is the Welsh spelling of Taff.

Also, RCT is not someone saying road traffic collision the wrong way around.