Useless Grammer Thread

[mookien]

Aye. ~. :butt: man-o-pause ...

[Grouse Claw]

"Do us Americans sound funny to you UK guys? Or vice versa?"

Yes, you do. Some of you. From west of the Appalachians, Mid West, and definitely Deep South. And I'm sure speakers of Queen's English are noticed by North Americans as being different. I notice how American-made movies (films) often cast a Q.E. speaker as the villain, which gives work to Shakespearean-trained British actors. But spare us from the North American who thinks (s)he can imitate Scots English! I speak Q.E with a Scots accent that was disciplined by elocution lessons in Glasgow. In America they ask me what part of England I'm from. After many years in New Zealand, with my compliance to a degree, I still speak Q.E. but with a hint of an occasional, tacky New Zealand vowel. ("Who will deliver me from this turbulent vowel.") Professor Higgins says of English, "The Scots and the Irish bring you close to tears. In America they haven't used it for years.

[David]

differences are more noticable when you hear words spoken. I used to travel around the UK a fair amount in a previous job. I heard many dialects from highland, west coast, doric ( a personal favourite), borders, geordie, sunderland - see i know there is a difference - yorkshire, etc. etc. I once sat down at a meeting where the following were being used - me central scotland with a hint of cockney, brummie (birmingham), norfolk and devonshire. It made for an interesting meeting, the word "pardon" was used a lot. I for one, really enjoy the differences in dialiect and hearing phrases that are somewhat unique to the region.Words and language as written on the interweb, social media and phone texts, are what cause me problems - these media cannot in my experience convey meaning. This is often the cause of arguments that can spill out of the digital world an into the real (analogue) world in which we live.By the way, why do you Americans say "math" in stead of "maths" and "it fit" instead of "it fitted". this last one makes reading passages in books where it is used difficult - to me at least.

[California Highlander]

This fun and interesting clip started making the rounds.

http://twentytwowords.com/tour-accen...unedited-take/
or via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8mzWkuOxz8

[Jack Daw]

OK, I'm perplexed by one accent from a British TV presenter by the name of Jonathan Ross. I'm not trying to be disrespectful or flippant, but he sounds like 'Elmer Fudd' to me. Is this a regional British accent or a speech impediment?

[Geoff Withnell]

I remember when I moved from Maryland to Cincinnati, OH, I ran afoul of a linguistic particularity in usage that caused some minor amusement. In Cincinnati, the word "Please" used after a verbal statement ofr question means "Please repeat that, I didn't hear you" So given that my hosts knew I am a little deaf, and I didn't know this usage the following conversation occured?

(by my host) "Would you like some coffee?"
"Please" (by me, yes I would like some coffee, please)
"Would you like some coffee?"
"Please"
(louder and slower) "Would you like some coffee?"

(louder, in response, thinking my host couldn't hear me) "PLEASE!"

[StevieR]

OK, I'm perplexed by one accent from a British TV presenter by the name of Jonathan Ross. I'm not trying to be disrespectful or flippant, but he sounds like 'Elmer Fudd' to me. Is this a regional British accent or a speech impediment?

He has rhotacism - can't pronounce his Rs. Other than that he is a Londoner (but not a cockney).

[ctbuchanan]

My mum was born in Glasgow and she and my father came to the U.S. after WWII. She taught herself to speak American English to help get work etc. Her Scots accent almost disappeared and that is how she spoke to us most our our lives. About 1994, the time she turned 80 or so, she announced that she'd had enough of that and was going back to the way she spoke as a young woman. The result of course was that almost none of her eight children could understand a word she said.

My dad was a Yorkshire-man but also a British Army officer in the Royal Horse Artillery so spoke elegant Q.E. , unless of course he got mad at us kids. Then the Yorkshire dales would take over and some of the most fearsome, unintelligible words would come out of his mouth. It also didn't help that he spoke fluent Arabic, some of which got put in the mix as well. Most of what he said in those moments I never understood to this day.

[Aussie_Don]

Interesting thread.....

When I moved here to Australia in '82 (Long story - ex-wife was an "exchange teacher", so I guess it makes me a souvenir ) She used to complain about me turning up the volume on the TV when Australian programs were being watched. This lasted until one evening "Cool Hand Luke" was broadcast. While I'm from PA and not the South, as with most from the USA, I don't have much trouble with the other regional accents. She turned the volume up and finally realised what I'd been saying all along. With an unfamiliar accent the listener needs a bit more volume to get enough redundancy to correctly decipher the words.

-Don

[TheOfficialBren]

I have noticed that foreign actors affecting an American accent for a role usually come close but not quite right. For example, Hugh Laurie on "House" (he plays an American doctor) over emphasises certain inflections. His "Rs" are highly rhotic, almost distracting. Occasionally he slips back into his native accent, too.

The various accents from the American South seem to be particularly difficult to master.

I've noiced this on lots of British shows.

American actors often seem to struggle with regional accents, too.