ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 illustrates how, through widespread mediatization, Cheryl has contributed to expanding the number and range of individuals acquainted with Geordie as well as eliciting their responses to it. In practice, the singer has ‘laminated’ Geordie with a layer of coolness and, in imbuing it with this sign-value as some sort of ‘attitude’ branding, she has made it ‘marketable’ (i.e. attractive to potential ‘clients’). Other people have appropriated chunks of Cheryl’s Geordie, i.e. inserted Geordieisms into their stylistic bricolage to appear more cool. Such ‘Geordie meanings’ have become detached from their original sources, breaking the link between regional provenance and stylistic meaning: people use Geordie interpolations in their talks, without this implying that they count themselves or are counted by others as Geordie.
