[6][7] People from Liverpool are known as Liverpudlians, but are usually called Scousers; the name comes from scouse, a stew originating from Scandinavian lobscouse eaten by sailors and locals.

[14] Popular colloquialisms have shown a growing deviation from the historical Lancashire dialect previously found in Liverpool,[12] as well as a growth in the influence of the accent in the wider area.

[20] It is related to the Norwegian lapskaus, Swedish lapskojs, Danish labskovs (skipperlabskovs), and the Low German labskaus, and refers to a stew of the same name commonly eaten by sailors.

In the 19th century, poorer people in Liverpool, Birkenhead, Bootle and Wallasey commonly ate scouse as it was a cheap dish familiar to the families of seafarers.

[21] In The Lancashire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore, Alan Crosby suggests that the word became known nationwide only with the popularity of the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965–1975), which featured a Liverpudlian socialist and a Cockney conservative in a regular argument.

[22][better source needed] The influence of immigrants from Ireland (especially Dublin) and Northern Wales, as well as visiting Scandinavian sailors, contributed to a distinctive local Liverpool accent.