A funny one. In early 70's I worked at a large appliance sales & service store, Harry Haga Co. The lady who ran the service department was from Australia and I loved her accent. One customer ordered a dishwasher basket. Elaine called and said "This is 'arry 'aga company. Yoah bah-skit 'as arh-rived". Customer didn't understand so she repeated. Finally she said "This here's Harry Hager...yer baskits here". That they understood. Sent from my SM-S205DL using Tapatalk
My Dad was in the Air Force and worked with people from all over the world at Davis Field, here in Muskogee. The story goes, this Okie was working on one of the planes and a Yankee asked him for some “safety werre”.My Dad’s Okie friend asked him “what”?The Yankee again asked for some “werre” ! The Okie telling the story said “ I asked him twice, but I really knew he meant Saftey “ Wor” ! Folks would just bust out laughing when he would tell that story! The funny part is, he never really knew the real reason why everyone was laughing! Bones
@F-ONE I generally agree with your translations, except for ....... Spark - fire..........I respectfully submit it is ‘far’. Consistent with tire - tar, and perhaps wire - war. Now the reverse of that is road oil, aka tar, is usually pronounced tire. I have no quarrel with any of this. I think it is all rather nice to have some distinction between regions, as is common with food and beverages, among others things in our daily life that add flavor and context. Ray
Someone once told me that if you visit the US you had to either speak like them, or starve. It's funny, but there is more than a grain of truth in it. I've told friends of mine the same and they thought I was joking, until they got there. First time I was there, first time I ordered food, I had to repeat myself 4 times, slower each time. How hard is is to reply "a hamburger" when asked what you'd like? Very, as it turned out.
Rallings is wrong. The British didn't invent the english language. The english language is taken from the germanic tribe.
Not so. It was neither invented nor taken. It evolved. It is an amalgam over centuries of older and newer forms of several European languages which in turn evolved into modern English.
Hey D, Some get it and to others, it is just a grouping of words. Also, "vida" = life... There are some stories about its history. When it came out, it was accepted as the smoke level dropped down from the ceiling level and mulled around the participants. So to those, it did not matter, it was just the sound and consistent rhythm. Jnaki As to the origin of the head bangers, it is socially accepted as the anthem of the loud metal age. But, to those that were around during the "IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA" era, the rhythm and beat made those heads bob. YRMV
Southerners talk slower than our Northern counterparts, some talk so fast I can't understand them. HRP
Ray, There's an old corny joke about a live Christmas nativity. It was authentic to the last detail. People were amazed but they had one question. Who are the three guys with fire helmets? Oh, those are the three wise men, they come from a "far". In my natural speak I say t-Ire and f-Ire. It's real real heavy on the Ire. It's not as common, but sometimes you'll hear tire and fire with 2 syllables. Fie-ruh and Tie-ruh. While there's all kinds of Southern accents, two are prominent. The Coastal Plain (lowland) and the Scotch-Irish Appalachian (Highland). That coastal plain had a massive pine forest (long leaf or southern pine) that stretched from Virginia plumb through the Carolinas through Georgia and ultimately to Texas along the lowlands. Under that pine forest was mighty fine soil. It was great for tobacco but it was absolutely perfect for....cotton. This lowland accent is the stereotypical "Southern Accent" so often butchered in movies. A basic "rule" or sound is the dropping of As and Rs. Va-Jin-Ya...Kara-line-ah....Jo-Jah...Loozy-Anna... What most actors or impersonators miss is the rhythm. I daresay that the rhythm is more important than the actual pronunciation. The Highland or Appalachian gets it's origin from the Scotch Irish or Ulster Scots. There is also a mix of German and Native---Cherokee (Iroquoian) and Creek/Shawnee (Muskogean). Unlike the (Lowland) the Highland accent is very strong almost sharp with the As and Rs. It's especially strong with the Rs. The R sound is also stretched. It's also strong with the W. For instance, Naw for No. The R sound is so prominent it is sometimes used in words that have no r. Here are two good examples, Feller for fellow and Yeller for yellow. Here is Patsy Cline in 1961 talking about the wreck that nearly killed her and permanently changed her looks. Patsy was from Highland Virginia. Notice the sharpness and the strong Rs. Notice the rhythm and naw for no... Absolutely Alabama. Here is Hank Williams. What's neat about this recording from the Mother's Flour Show (1950) is you hear Hank and others talking. Notice at the end of the recording he says Flower for Flour. Hank speaks and sings like Alabama. It is a mix of the two accents mentioned, highland and lowland although I feel the highland is stronger but you will still hear the dropping of the As and Rs. Most interesting is that even though the As and Rs are sometimes dropped they are also prominent and stretched as well. It's all about the rhythm. The Midwestern accent that many claim to be a clean American, shows a strong Scandinavian/German influence. Some linguists claim that the children from a German speaker and a speaker from the South of England, sound like a Midwestern American. The "Cajun" accent from Louisiana is actually from Canada. In the 1760s many French Arcadians (root of Cajun) were relocated to French (then Spanish) Louisiana after the French and Indian War. Have you ever noticed that Harry Connick Jr has a strange accent, almost Southern but almost Brooklyn NY? Well, That's New Orleans. New Orleans being a port city has a lot to do with that. New Orleans dockworkers found work at the ports of New York City some 200+ years ago. A lot of the New York City accent comes from New Orleans. New Englanders, remember the Petridge Foms (Farms) commercials. This accent is celebrated somewhat in the play "Our Town" New Englanders are the real Yankees. Boston being a port city has it's own sound in New England. A fun historical fact... Daniel Boone (Pennsylvania Quaker who relocated to North Carolina). The Boone family was shunned by the Quakers after Squire Boone's wife gave birth a little too soon after their marriage. The Boones relocated to Yadkin NC. It was from here Boone went through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky. Shortly after the Revolutionary War, Boone moved to present day West Virginia. Boone said the reason he moved to the Wilds of Western Virginia was because..."Kaintuckee is filling up full of Yankees!" Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma are deeply influenced by TN, AL and LA. A Texas accent sounds a lot like AL and TN....same same but different. Colorado has a interesting accent. Ken Curtis did his rural Colorado accent for his character "Festus" in Gunsmoke. The West Coast sounds Midwestern to me but I can hear some uniqueness in a California accent. There is the stereotypical Surfer and Valley accent.... Also African, Spanish and other Native American groups have influence on accents..
Yes. Met a shore ‘nuf hillbilly there in 1975, he asked me if I liked “a-fryin’ squar-shees” (fried butternut squash covered with egg & corn meal) and asked me if I liked “to go a-sangin’ “ (digging up ginseng root in the woods). He also called stair stringers “gunnels”. Cool local dialect for sure. Didn’t hear him say it but I’m certain he would have called it “arn”.
x-38, we have a guy “ Limey Bob” in our drinking hole, and he talks with a heavy England accent. He reminds me of you guy’s dielect! Anybody that gets upset at the way a guy talks or his accent should take a chill pill! I for one, love all the different English languages! Lol Even the guys in Boston, that drive “ caws” ! I was in Ocala, Florida, inspecting a new fire engine, with my Chief. An over night deal, he hits the rack , I go to the “ hospitality “ room. There I find five firemen from the Boston area! Well then it starts.. you drive what?what’ a caw? We banter back and forth with good natured “ insults” and what not. Then I tell them it’s not fair five Yankees against one Southern boy! Well they agree and somewhat apologize. So I ask them “ could you round up a couple more Yankees? “............ There was a roar of laugher and we got down to the business of drinking beer! Good times with people with different accents! Bones
Used to work at a company with a number of Vietnamese employees - great people, and very smart, although their English tended to be somewhat spotty. One guy named Dung was telling my supervisor about going to Makka Bakka. After a couple of tries, he added, "Buy food!", and Billy figured out he meant Market Basket. This really cracked him up, so over the next few days Billy would ask Dung where he got his groceries, and would always be told Makka Bakka, and Billy would laugh. One day another supervisor stopped into our department, and Billy said, "Hey, come here, you have to hear this, this will crack you up!" They went over to Dung and Billy said, "Hey Dung, tell us where you get your groceries from," and Dung replied, "Shaws." When I was growing up in Rockland, Maine, a tourist asked me for directions. After I told her how to get there, she replied, "Do you live here?" "Sure, I've lived here all my life. Why do you ask?" "You don't have that funny Maine accent where you don't pronounce your R's." and I replied, "Oh, that? Yeah, sometimes we like to do that for the tourists!"
I appreciated the education. Will come in handy at swap meets so people can understand each other when negotiating... now this thread is car orientented as is officially appropriate.
Think of this information as a Rosetta Stone. Most of us may travel long distances. Most of may order a part and talk on the phone. (money is involved) Knowing phrasing and vernaculars can reduce confusion. Being stuck on the side of the interstate is a life threatening condition. (life safety is involved) If you travel. If you order used parts. It helps to know the language. Here's more examples... In most of the South... Crank...means Start and Run. Turn Over means...Crank My car will not "Crank" it will barely "Turn Over" while I'm turning the key. Something is wrong with my brakes, nothing happens when I mash them. OK we'll see what's going on with it. Get in there, knock it out a gear, mash the brake and turn it over.
The Jalopy Journal
