[MikeLM]

Aurora and CHRose-
Just an interesting sidelight on Justin Wilson...

We were staying in a B & B in Cajun country and I found a book in their library (while waiting for my wife to put on her makeup) on Cajuns and their culture by a professor at (as I recall) LSU. He explained that Wilson made his reputation as a comic by telling what were essentially Polish Jokes about Cajuns.

Polish Jokes were, before the advent of Political Correctness, a generic term for jokes about of the stupidity of any particular racial group. ("How many Poles does it take to screw in a lightbulb?") etc. Now, you can lose your job, and maybe your career, if you say such a thing in public.

Anyway, what drove the Cajuns nuts about Wilson's Polish/Cajun insulting jokes was a couple of things. He was just barely Cajun. One parent was, and the other wasn't. Worse, given his carefully-fractured English, he had a graduate degree in Industiral Engineering. He spent WW II as an Industrial Safety Engineer in defense plants in the Detriot area.

According to the author, the Cajun community really DESPISED Wilson. I was amused with his program at first, but found his cooking uninteresting and his jokes, after a little while, kind of tiresome.

Mike

[Gardenia]

I don't think this is peculiar to any geographical region - but I am so tired of hearing it. Come to think of it, it's used a lot on cooking shows...
The sentence begins, "Now I'm just going to (or gonna) go ahead and..." (what - as opposed to waiting a while?)

Also the word "EXACTLY" is very over-used in response to something one agrees with.

[Free Rider]

Originally Posted by Marion

"..............When the phone was answered, in a private residence, the normal salutation was; "This is the "blank" residence, "blank" speaking."
..............

I think the age of telemarketing knocked off that chink of "proper". I give out as little information as possible these days.

[chrose]

Originally Posted by Gardenia

The sentence begins, "Now I'm just going to (or gonna) go ahead and..." (what - as opposed to waiting a while?)

Also the word "EXACTLY" is very over-used in response to something one agrees with.

I was gonna say, that's exactly what I'm talking about! Ya know what I'm saying?

[BigDog]

I'm kind of weird. I grew up in Massachusetts (18.5 years) but I don't normally have any inkling of that accent. Now, if I go back and stay a while, it comes back. My mother blames it on my teachers (at the school where she was principal). All of the teachers I had through my elementary years were not native New Englanders.

That said, listen to both of my folks. It is crystal clear they're from Massachusetts.

I'm kind of a blend I guess, and somewhat conform to where I am. I do say "y'all" and "fixin'" and southern type cliches, but I also have caught myself saying "ah-ite" (all right). I don't try to conscieously (sp?) try to control my accent or "dialect" (that doesn't mean word use in terms of cussing, which I control). Whatever is said is what is said.

BTW, it's g-r-a-m-m-a-r. I only mention this as I noticed a couple posts misspelled it!

[Free Rider]

Originally Posted by BigDog

I'm kind of weird. I grew up in Massachusetts (18.5 years) but I don't normally have any inkling of that accent. Now, if I go back and stay a while, it comes back. My mother blames it on my teachers (at the school where she was principal). All of the teachers I had through my elementary years were not native New Englanders.

I have a similar "problem", if you'd like to call it that. I am a foreigner, but I sound American. Once I had to undergo emergency surgery and I called a friend afterwards so she could let everyone know I was okay. I heard gales of laughter. I was quite miffed and then she said, "Your accent is back!" The anesthesia had apparently turned off my American-accent mechanism. My accent also reverts when I am around others with the accent.

Glad to know there is at least one other person who experiences the same thing.

[Blade55440]

Originally Posted by Free Rider

I have a similar "problem", if you'd like to call it that. I am a foreigner, but I sound American. Once I had to undergo emergency surgery and I called a friend afterwards so she could let everyone know I was okay. I heard gales of laughter. I was quite miffed and then she said, "Your accent is back!" The anesthesia had apparently turned off my American-accent mechanism. My accent also reverts when I am around others with the accent.

Glad to know there is at least one other person who experiences the same thing.

This may sound like hogwash to some, but I experience something similar. When hanging around various folks with accents, I eventually begin to emulate the accent (be it successfully or not heh). I finally noticed it after hanging out with a bunch of friends with southern accents, then going to work and talking to a bunch of hispanics that I worked with.

That... and when you're friends just up and go "dude, stop trying to fake the accent" and you don't even realize it.

[Nick.Shu]

Accent is not such a big deal. Lack of spelling skills is.

But anyway, FreeRider, I am Australian, but I spent a considerable amount of time under the tutelage of English teachers in Hong Kong and have a wee clipped accent. Throw another 2 years of Jesuit education and "teh posh" accent jumps out every now and then. Catches people by surprise, somewhat, but then again - Meh.

[Mezzaluna]

I understand the "cameleon ear" effect because I have it! This trick helps me understand people who are speaking English with other accents. I once went to a physician who is a native of Japan. People warned me I wouldn't be able to understand him, and that he brings nurses (American English natives) into consulatations because no one can understand him. I could understand him perfectly without any difficulty.

[Free Rider]

I suppose that's one of the side-effects, Mezzaluna. I also have no trouble understanding people with heavy accents. A friend of mine who grew up in NY and was not exposed to languages other than English absolutely cannot understand someone with even the slightest accent other than the NY type. Noam Chomsky talks about a black box for language that turns off at about age 12. If one is exposed to other languages and accents before age 12, learning those languages is easier, even if the learning takes place many years later.