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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/11/2008 7:51:12 AM
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GrahamCracker
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What annoys me is fast talking used car commercials or other commercials in which the speakers try to sound excited. I suppose they are excited given that it makes money when their product sells. Used car commercials here are always local which means not a lot of money for good actors. Often, it's the owner or president of the dealership himself who makes the commercials. I find them obnoxious.
quote:
Hmmm... I can't think of any... perhaps you would like to mention a few shows with regional accents... for some reason when I read this question, the only thing that came to mind (for whatever reason) was 'The Dukes of Hazard' ~ and I don't really recall having a problem understanding them if they had an accent...
Almost any show with American southern settings will have regional accents. American black ghetto slang will reflect a dialect of the same. Reese Witherspoon was in a movie entitled "Sweet Home Alabama" and there was some of that in there.
But frankly, American TV and movies with regional accents is toned down to the extent that it sounds like almost American Standard. The accents seem to me to be so slight as to be nonexistent. But then, I can understand some pretty strong American southern accents quite easily, having been exposed to it from childhood. And I think 99% of native born Americans can too. I do know that some Mexican Americans have trouble with them because they have told me.
However, black ghetto slang can be impossible to decipher. It's not quite so much the accents as it is the slang terms and euphemisms in the dialect.
< Message edited by GrahamCracker -- 4/11/2008 11:06:53 AM >
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/11/2008 8:00:47 AM
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agapetos
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quote:
But frankly, American TV and movies with regional accents is toned down to the extent that it sounds like almost American Standard. The accents to me to be so slight as to be nonexistent. This was my point... there are few programmes with 'real' accents ~ most have been toned down.
I will confess that it frustrates me when I hear people try and translate every word in a single sentance into Cockney ~ believing that's the way it's meant to be spoken ~ it isn't! But that's not on tv programmes (none that I watch anyhow).
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/11/2008 11:15:44 AM
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GrahamCracker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: agapetos
I will confess that it frustrates me when I hear people try and translate every word in a single sentance into Cockney ~ believing that's the way it's meant to be spoken ~ it isn't! But that's not on tv programmes (none that I watch anyhow).
I have read some stories with Cockney in them. Even the written novels containing Cockney are so saturated with Cockney slang terms that it is only 80% comprehensible English. I suppose you're saying that it is not that bad. But the novels were set in the 19th century. I don't know how realistic they were.
I have heard and read English Patois (pa-TWAH) or Creole English that is completely incomprehensible. The standard English origin is unmistakable once the words are explained. It exists in the Caribbean. I visited Central America once and heard local blacks using English words. I was told by one of the educated Costa Ricans that they didn't actually speak English but that it was Patois. I had never heard the term before. I didn't get a chance to find out how much English they knew. I did speak with an older black gentleman who said his family was originally from Jamaica. He spoke excellent Standard English. I doubt that the other Costa Ricans would have taken him seriously since they didn't know English.
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Larry
Sure we're under the law, everybody knows that!
When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. (Heb 10:13)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 10:12:29 AM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
I have read some stories with Cockney in them. Even the written novels containing Cockney are so saturated with Cockney slang terms that it is only 80% comprehensible English. I suppose you're saying that it is not that bad. But the novels were set in the 19th century. I don't know how realistic they were.
Do you have any novels in particular in mind?
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 3:29:25 PM
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lexie
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I'm always recommending British television shows to my sister, but she won't watch them because she says they go too fast for her to understand the accent.
I have not really seen many American shows that use regional accents for an entire show. It would be the same here, there are some East Coast accents that I find hard to understand, but they don't use them in tv programming, and if they do, it's watered down for the rest of us to understand.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 4:27:21 PM
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GrahamCracker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: manda59
quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
I have read some stories with Cockney in them. Even the written novels containing Cockney are so saturated with Cockney slang terms that it is only 80% comprehensible English. I suppose you're saying that it is not that bad. But the novels were set in the 19th century. I don't know how realistic they were.
Do you have any novels in particular in mind?
The one I am thinking of was science fiction, written by Robert Asprin. It was entitled Ripping Time. The characters traveled back in time and met Jack the Ripper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Asprin
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Larry
Sure we're under the law, everybody knows that!
When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. (Heb 10:13)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 4:31:31 PM
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GrahamCracker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: lexie
I'm always recommending British television shows to my sister, but she won't watch them because she says they go too fast for her to understand the accent.
I have not really seen many American shows that use regional accents for an entire show. It would be the same here, there are some East Coast accents that I find hard to understand, but they don't use them in tv programming, and if they do, it's watered down for the rest of us to understand.
Few American actors and actresses do accents well. It really depends on the writer. The accents are just enough to give the audience a taste for the character but not enough to be genuinely realistic. Sometimes, they'll do a southern accent but it will be generally "southern" but not quite distinguishing between different parts of the South. Texas is different from say Georgia or Alabama. They sound the same to those not familiar with them. Heck they sounded the same to me at one time, and I was exposed to Georgian from childhood.
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Larry
Sure we're under the law, everybody knows that!
When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. (Heb 10:13)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 4:35:55 PM
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HisCovenant
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quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
I have heard and read English Patois (pa-TWAH) or Creole English that is completely incomprehensible. The standard English origin is unmistakable once the words are explained.
Is this similar to what some from Louisiana do? I find their accent incomprehensible, and I am from the south. I believe it is partially their accent and partially that they have slang based on French, but I'm not really educated about it. Those are just my impressions. Oh, and I think some from South Carolina's "Low Country" may have a similar accent... I may be totally mixed up. Doinkdom will probably know more about that than I do.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 5:57:33 PM
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GrahamCracker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: HisCovenant
quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
I have heard and read English Patois (pa-TWAH) or Creole English that is completely incomprehensible. The standard English origin is unmistakable once the words are explained.
Is this similar to what some from Louisiana do? I find their accent incomprehensible, and I am from the south. I believe it is partially their accent and partially that they have slang based on French, but I'm not really educated about it. Those are just my impressions. Oh, and I think some from South Carolina's "Low Country" may have a similar accent... I may be totally mixed up. Doinkdom will probably know more about that than I do.
Exactly. There are probably several creoles in the US, the Louisiana Cajun creole being merely one of them. I believe there is another one on the coast of either S. Car. or N. Car. called Gullah.
http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/06.htm
With reference to the Louisiana Cajun, I was told that the grammar and syntax is French but with English words--or quite possibly vice versa. Or, it could be a mixture of the two. Most people probably know that the term Cajun comes from the Canadian area of Acadia. When the English took over Canada 200 years ago, some of the French were forceably moved to the New Orleans area where they subsequently developed their own culture and language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadia
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Larry
Sure we're under the law, everybody knows that!
When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. (Heb 10:13)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 6:20:48 PM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
The one I am thinking of was science fiction, written by Robert Asprin. It was entitled Ripping Time. The characters traveled back in time and met Jack the Ripper.
Sorry - I've not heard of that one.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 6:53:51 PM
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doinkdom
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Gullah and Geechee are what the lowcountry boasts as their regional language.
I had a very dear friend's mother who was white, but had a black nanny growing up (very normal around here still to this day). The mom (Auntie Tina) grew up learning only Gullah and Geechee all during her childhood and even into her early school years.
When she graduated college, she wanted to teach at the local schools and the administration said she had to take additional english classes because her vocabulary and accent were way too thick to teach in a public school.
So she did and ended up teaching for many years.
She also recorded many Gullah and Geechee stories for the Charleston museum which they still sell to tourist when visiting. My personal favorite was Tailey Bone - it was a scary story and was used to keep the children inside their homes at night out on the local islands.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/12/2008 9:50:09 PM
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GrahamCracker
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quote:
ORIGINAL: manda59
quote:
ORIGINAL: GrahamCracker
The one I am thinking of was science fiction, written by Robert Asprin. It was entitled Ripping Time. The characters traveled back in time and met Jack the Ripper.
Sorry - I've not heard of that one.
I wouldn't have thought so. Some of the fiction novels I read have a very small market following. I don't read very many highly popular novels.
< Message edited by GrahamCracker -- 4/14/2008 5:25:15 PM >
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Larry
Sure we're under the law, everybody knows that!
When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. (Heb 10:13)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/14/2008 12:55:22 AM
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DenimDiva
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quote:
ORIGINAL: lexie
I'm always recommending British television shows to my sister, but she won't watch them because she says they go too fast for her to understand the accent.
I have that problem with some of the British shows that I have watched too.
I also sometimes have a problem with understanding SuperNanny sometimes too. I'm not exactly sure where she is from though.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/14/2008 4:42:53 AM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DenimDiva
I also sometimes have a problem with understanding SuperNanny sometimes too. I'm not exactly sure where she is from though.
I am quite surprised at that - she's only from London.
Is it the speed she talks at, words she uses or ...........?
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/14/2008 7:18:05 PM
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Mrs.X
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Ok, I finally found a clean clip of Brad Pitt speaking in Pikey, which I think is Irish gypsy speak. He only hs a few small parts in this trailer because his language is foul in the rest of the movie. I definetely have a hard time understanding his regional accent. HERE is the link.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/14/2008 8:52:34 PM
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manda59
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Christina,
From the Urban Dictionary on-line:
quote:
Pikey language is a polluted derivative of English in a pseudo-Irish dialect, and the Pikey alphabet contains half the amount of constonants that the regular English one does. This is to allow for very fast and unnecessarily mumbled speech, giving them an edge in their day-to-day business deals, as no-one can understand a word they say.
Careful how you use the word "pikey" though - it's generally considered to be a racial slur.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/17/2008 4:04:52 AM
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manda59
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Do any of you like Monty Python?
Is Blackadder ever shown over there?
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/17/2008 9:32:05 AM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: lexie
Blackadder is funny. I don't watch it often, I don't think it's on here anymore, but my stepfather has it on dvd....now that you've mentioned it, I think I may just have to go borrow it from him!
Which series does he have, lexie?
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/17/2008 1:44:42 PM
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DenimDiva
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I've never heard of Backadder.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/17/2008 4:10:03 PM
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manda59
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/episodes/
(the guy playing Blackadder is Rowan Atkinson, who also played Mr Bean)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 4/18/2008 8:54:36 AM
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lexie
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quote:
Which series does he have, lexie?
I think he has it all since it's a rather large collection.
Is it typical of British shows to have only 6 episodes a series? I first noticed that with Ab Fab. Do they show a few series a year?
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Once a non-Patois speaker can understand it, they'll find that many words are very similar to the original English. It's usually just the accent that throws people off from understanding, not necessarily the patois itself.
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