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Which explains why we can understand Aussies and Kiwis, but a random Nigel from the UK would have a speech that baffles. It boggles the mind how two people from
by mahmud 16y ago
Which explains why we can understand Aussies and Kiwis, but a random Nigel from the UK would have a speech that baffles. It boggles the mind how two people from different corners of London have different accents. Not to mention Manc vs Scouser vs the myriads of tongue-twisting nasal hiccups uttered all over them Shires.
It's like they almost take pride in differentiation. Throw an international party and the two UKians that show up will have a verbal civil war that puts us Somalis to shame. The shopkeepers maintain their peace with healthy and frequent exchange of muted disdain and murmured resentment. That's, when the other ethnic tonsils are not being inflamed (Scotts, Welsh, and the verile Manx; consciously absent are the clover-wielding gentlemen of the east, left out of the union for my own safety, and to keep membership of my drinking club.)
All good people though. Except the Chavs; a meta-culture of mediocrity that belongs on the next boat leaving for America, to plug the Gulf oil well.
[Edit:
Oh, this seems to have offended someone, most likely a fellow yank. No need to be a hero; piss-taking is a national past-time of the Isles, and its cultural debris scattered around the world, outside the U.S (we have escaped the wit shrapnels I guess) I have deliberately disclosed my own heritage within that rant above, expecting to be paid in kind ;-) When in doubt, stay out of it. It's a bonding experience]
- wwortiz 16y agoYour typing comes off with a very thick accent, something you don't find often online.
- detst 16y agoRight, but which one? He says "us Somalis", "...the U.S (we...", mentions in his profile that he lives in Northern Virginia but also calls Sydney home yet the diction (i.e. "shopkeepers", "Chavs", "piss-taking", etc.) of his post screams British to me.
- mahmud 16y agoNapoleon called the English "a nation of shopkeepers".
- wildjim 16y ago> Napoleon called the English "a nation of shopkeepers". Not a lot has changed, then...
- Amnon 16y agoOh, so that's what A Nation of Shoplifters means! Funny. (It's a song by Carter USM).
- Gormo 16y agoHe intended it as an insult; the English, in his mind, were too concerned with the practical matters of life and not at all with grand visions and ambitions. This is also the man who said "You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I have no time for such nonsense."
- wildjim 16y agoMost of the slang is also Australian, and some, like "Chavs", is becoming more recognised outside the UK. However, I'm sure it would only take a few years living in one country to pick-up local slang. With globalisation comes comes a greater migration of the work-force, after all.
- mahmud 16y agoHi, I am Amy Walker, I am 25, and I was born in Somalia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k (make sure to not miss a second)
- pbhjpbhj 16y agoShe's not British is she? She's definitely not Irish or Scottish, her RP seems off to me ... is she American? She [purposefully it seems] doesn't say in her CVs.
- mahmud 16y agoOh, a funny American. Did you get that humor in a legal settlement? -- Edit: Let me add that what you're noticing is probably my staccato diction, filled with code-words and verbal winks to deliver mild amusement to an invisible audience of masochists who I love oh so very much. Cultural and linguistic banter might not be appreciated in these "learned" circles; but to the objects of my affection, the working classes of the crown and its colonies, it's a delicacy best enjoyed over beer and a pool table (Warning: too much of it might lead to the real-world version of a downvote, a black eye.)
- wwortiz 16y agoSee now I can't tell if you are trying to be funny or a dick, but what I said I meant in no way to offend you. Your previous comment did indeed come off with an accent (I wasn't even trying to be funny).
- mahmud 16y agoAnd this is exactly what I meant by "piss-taking"; your comment was such a delightful jab, I was pleased to play along :-) I stopped short of scratching others as well, my gut response was to say "Did you divorce a German and take half her humor in settlement." That would have gotten an ovation from the English crowd, but could have confused you and other festive yanks in this victorious of all occasions! Happy 4th of July, mate! No harm was meant :-D
- detst 16y agoI can't speak for him but as someone that had the exact same thought, here's the problem: it's not a "delightful jab" at all. You misinterpreted it and then went on to say things in a way that could be easily taken as being a dick or an internet troll. I have a sense of humor and will laugh at just about anything but the written word does a poor job at conveying subtleties. If you want to be interpreted as "piss-taking" and not another internet troll, you need to do better. EDIT: How does this get down-voted? I'm simply saying he misinterpreted a comment and then was himself misinterpreted. If the point of "piss-taking" is just to have a little fun then I would think that it would follow that it be relatively clear that's what you are doing. Clearly that didn't happen on both sides here.
- intellectronica 16y agoI don't think your comment is offensive, but it is neither funny nor relevant.
- wildjim 16y agoI seem to remember a statistic where UK is reputed to have a greater number of dialects than any other country in the world, which probably has a lot to do with the difficulty people have with understanding some accents (tried Glaswegian, anyone?) Also, IIRC, the colonies tended to have a commonality in heritage of the colonists, too. E.g. at one time, Australia had a "large number" of criminals, there are quite a lot of Dutch in NZ -- there are large parts of NZ with very strong Scots heritage -- New York is famous for Irish heritage, other parts of USA are famous for German, etc. The UK hasn't really had the same homogenisation outside the big cities.
- barrkel 16y agoIreland has a distinct accent for almost every county too. The fine differences can be subtle, but sampling Cork/Kerry sing-song, Northern Ireland ("Norn Iron"), northside / inner city Dublin and Dublin 4 / southside are all quite different range in the spectrum.
- waterlesscloud 16y agoThe US has a large number of distinct accents. I'm originally from Georgia (Atlanta, not Tbilisi) and there are at least 5-6 accents in that state alone. I'm willing to bet a trained specialist could narrow down someone's origin pretty closely. The idea of a "southern" accent is very, very broad. The thing with US accents is that we're a very mobile country. People move around and lose much of their accent. I lost a lot of my own living in Atlanta, which is over half non-Georgian, and then a lot more living in California the last decade or so. It's there, but only in traces. A lot of Americans are the same...
- mahmud 16y agoThe BBC has recordings of various dialects from the U.K. that you might find interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/
- ErrantX 16y agoTry being a Brit without an accent. It's so bloody boring I have to fake the Queens English to get laid. ;)
- mahmud 16y agoBring that accent to America and you might land yourself an endorsement contract with a condom maker.
- hugh3 16y agoWhat does "no accent" mean? How can anyone not have an accent?
- ErrantX 16y agoI just mean there is no discernible accent; you can't tell where in the UK I am from.
- detst 16y agoBut you do sound distinctively British? Similar to Americans that saw they have no accent but there's no mistaking they're American.
- mahmud 16y agoEthnocentrism 101: Only other people have accents, never us.
- jrockway 16y agoYeah, the American English that people use in the Midwest and on TV is the correct form of English. Everyone else has an accent.
- detst 16y agoI served this one up on a platter for someone to take but I think lkozma's reasoning is more plausible. I don't think ErrantX's comment was based in ethnocentrism. It's just a way of describing a non-regional accent in the US and apparently the UK.
- hetman 16y agoFunny you should say that. I saw someone post a link from an Aussie comedy show on another site. Apparently most of the Americans couldn't understand half of what he was saying, which surprised me because while distinctive, it's certainly not the thickest I've heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVxmPpyR9s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVxmPpyR9s Edit: My experience (and that of other Aussies traveling to America) seems to be that you have to slightly Americanise the way you speak to be understood easily.
- mahmud 16y agoHaaaa, Bana is a top bloke! There is not exactly one Aussie accent; a posh office jockey from a major CBD will not sound the same as a country boy. Americans probably wont get Chopper (the comedian) but they should have no trouble with Carl Barron.