I Say, You Say... (Accents and quirks)

[Quatermass]

I worked with a nurse from Spain the other day. Lovely accent though he talked veryveryfast.

I don't like this rhetorical (?) question, "Tell me I'm right?" Or, "Am I right?" after a statement or more usually someones opinion. Drives me batshit.

Doesn't drive me crazy (which, as anyone in my family will attest, is a short trip), except when it is used after expressing an offensive opinion.

Anyway: the Mummerset accent, AKA the West Counties accent. Is this one of the funniest accents in the world?

[Bickaxe]

Quite possibly. For those that don't know where that is, if you've seen Hot Fuzz, it sounds like the farmer with the arsenal in his barn. Bill Bailey is close but I think his is more Bristolian.

The funniest accent is Russell Crowe in Robin Hood as it seems to change each scene.

Is the UK unique in its accents? For a small county its incredibly varied...there's only 30 miles or so between Manchester and Liverpool and look (look? Surely its listen) how different they are.

[Quatermass]

Quite possibly. For those that don't know where that is, if you've seen Hot Fuzz, it sounds like the farmer with the arsenal in his barn. Bill Bailey is close but I think his is more Bristolian.

Or Phil Harding from Time Team. My mum and I call him 'Mr Mummerset', given his accent.

Actually, Dave Prowse (aka the body of Darth Vader) is from that area. David Learner, the guy who played the body of Marvin the Paranoid Android for the TV version of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, had a similar situation to Prowse, in that his voice was overdubbed by that of Stephen Moore. As Dave Prowse appeared in the series (as Hotblack Desiato's bodyguard), Learner got to speak to Prowse, and asked him about Darth Vader. Specifically, he asked why he thought George Lucas had Prowse's voice dubbed over with James Earl Jones' voice.

Prowse's response? "Oi have no oideah."

Actually, that scene from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is actually quite impressive. Prowse is seen to lift David Dixon (Ford Prefect) without help and act. Indeed, apparently Prowse did the entire take without Dixon being on a box or anything.

[raisindot]

The Boston accent must sound very odd to other Americans, but it only does the same r-dropping thing that a lot of British English accents do (including "standard"/RP English), so proabably sounds less odd to us.

If only that were it. In addition the 'r' dropping, Bostonians pronounce short 'o's and 'a's as 'ahs' as in "Bawwwston," and the moldly old axiom, "Pahhhk the cahhhh in Hahhhvahd Yahhhhd."

[Del]

I too tend to pick up accents very very quickly when immersed in them. Some people think I am taking the p*ss so I have to concentrate very hard on "talking like an Australian" which I dont think I do unless I have to concentrate on doing it. Its especially hard with the Irish accent as my mother although born in Australia spent the first 21 years of her life with her immigrant Irish family on an Australian farm... hence she had a broad Australian accent but she talked in the Irish vernacular, if you get what I mean... so its very easy for me to slip into.

My father loved linguistics and was very very strict about us speaking with good diction. Good manners, good posture and good diction would open doors for us he said... and it did.

My oldest daughter who is now 25 was punished at her first primary school for "talking too posh". I moved her to another school for this and other reasons to many to list. Even now she admits that she "tones down her diction" in certain circumstances. Thats a crying shame. Luckily its easy for her as she has a wonderful ear for linguistics as well so its not hard.

Australia is credited as being the one country on earth with very little difference in its accents for such a large area... though if you listen carefully you CAN tell roughly where a person is from, and it doesnt hinder their ability to succeed as it does in some countries.

Not as much as the UK though. I remember being in a train in the UK once and these ladies were talking about the accent of two girls on board who were chatting... they could place them to a STREET!

Edit: I used to be a stickler for diction and speech... until I had a little girl who had NO speech for the first 7 - 8 years of her life. Oh she chattered endlessly... mainly in the key of "eeeeeee" "E" eeeEEEee"... she has had to learn the placement of her tongue and cheeks and teeth and throat for each and every sound we all take for granted every time we utter a single syllable. And practice and practice and practice every sound over and over... THEN she had to learn to put two sounds together... its not as easy as you think. Learning to reform the whole mouth everytime you say the same sound but with a different pattern of consonants and vowels. "Church" for instance keeps the whole mouth forward.. while "chilly" was a mountain to climb.

Her sister used to sit in the bath with her playing (as speech therapy could be so exhausting for her) and use a toothbrush to hold the back of her tongue down to get her tongue to learn how to "deform" to make the "ahhh" sound.

We were told she would never make a three syllable sound. She did.

Her speech isnt perfect.. I doubt it ever will be.. and I get glares from people if I ask her to slow down and repeat herself when we are out in public or if I say "Didnt understand a word you said! Try again slower." (said with a smile and kindness mind).. but if she isnt prompted she doesnt learn and her speech gets worse and worse if we dont stop and regroup.

So I guess I am a lot more tolerant these days.

You never know what obstacles some people are dealing with.

[Dotsie]

I remember being in a train in the UK once and these ladies were talking about the accent of two girls on board who were chatting... they could place them to a STREET!

We do have some place names with the word 'Street' in them. Placing to an actual street seems a bit extreme, even for the UK

Sounds to me like you are an excellent role model for your daughters

[Del]

Sounds to me like you are an excellent role model for your daughters

Uuuuuuuuummmmm.... you obviously havent seen the "What made me smile" post I made about swearing right?

[Dotsie]

Best that they learn how to swear properly, in a safe environment Who knows where they would have to go otherwise?

[raptornx01]

Heh, you don't realize the muscular gymnastics your mouth has to do when speaking. I found out when I started doing animation that involved lipsyncing. To get something that feels right I have mouth every syllable and pay attention to what the lips are doing, what the tongue is doing, the cheeks, the teeth, etc. Noting how one sound flows into another. and how it changes depending on what is supposed to follow it. (and thats not counting the issue of timing)

I used to think it was kind of funny when I would see behind the scenes at Disney or where ever and you would see clips of someone sitting at their desk making faces into a mirror. Now I see how important it is.

So I can imagine what it would be like to have to actually learn how to do all of that.

[jaznbonnie]

Best that they learn how to swear properly, in a safe environment Who knows where they would have to go otherwise?

Strangely enough this reminded me of the first time I heard my mother swear. She was really put out and drawled out the word sh*t. I was stunned and couldn't speak for a full minute. Then I burst into laughter. I think it was the last time I heard her swear too.

[Conforumist]

What's with the "there" at the end of all the sentences lately??

Can I help there?
Are you really to order there?
I'll be right with you there.

[Will of Lancre]

Is the UK unique in its accents? For a small county its incredibly varied...there's only 30 miles or so between Manchester and Liverpool and look (look? Surely its listen) how different they are.

Germany has very varied dialects from Low German (Plattdeutsch) in the North to Bavarian in the South, to say nothing of Swiss and Austrian.

Here in Luxembourg (which is like a microcosm of German dialects) there are distinct accents from places as near as 10 miles apart.

I live in Waldbillig and there is a very different accent in Echternach. Only ten miles, but a a lot of hills to cross in the days before proper roads (which only arrived in the 19th century).

I remember being in a train in the UK once and these ladies were talking about the accent of two girls on board who were chatting... they could place them to a STREET!

That is what Prof. Higgins could do in "Pygmalion" - I didn't realise that was still possible in the UK!

[Del]

Exactly Rap... speech is something we take for granted. When you slow it down and realise HOW many gymnastics your mouth and tongue and throat do to make a sound then reconfiguring a split second to make another.. Most people never in their lives stop to consider it.

I know about the variety of German accents. I had two very close German friends who had an open house for visiting German people up north. To my English speaking ears I never saw the difference but they used to explain to me all the differences when visitors came.

And yes the ladies on the train were right. They asked the girls about where they lived and they had it spot on. At the time I wasn't that up on the UK geography and accents for them but I remember the conversation was going on as we crossed the Forth Bridge travelling south.

[Will of Lancre]

Ah, Scotland, that explains it.

[SamHain]

Exactly Rap... speech is something we take for granted. When you slow it down and realise HOW many gymnastics your mouth and tongue and throat do to make a sound then reconfiguring a split second to make another.. Most people never in their lives stop to consider it.

Ahem...


As a professional linguist, and a fan of words my life long, I am a firm believer that words in their many forms are the single most important defining aspect of humanity. Everything we are, everything we do, virtually everything comes back down and around and is broken back down into words. They are how we describe and identify the world around us, and thoughts and feelings within. The science of the word is a fascination study indeed, from how the mind learns them to what what words it chooses to use for a given idea. There are nearly limitless ways to phrase a single idea. Hundreds of ways in the same language to say the same thing. And yet the same word can have entirely different meanings in and out of context. Master the words, and you can master the world. The grand infinite of everything on the tip of the tongue.

For further consideration on the power of words.... see "FUS RO DAH".