In my travels around America I enjoy speaking to the various people I meet as I go about everyday life.....but do they enjoy speaking to me,or more precisely do they understand me? Most Americans when speaking to me seem bemused by my obviously English accent but they are confused as to my exact origin,the most popular attempts at my origin are Ireland and Australia. I take the time to explain that I am in fact English born, but due to my birth in Liverpool I am graced/plagued by a very distinctive and sometimes unintelligible accent known as 'Scouse'. Scouse,with its Irish/welsh origins is one of Englands most recognisable accents (as spoken by The Beatles) but for a non speaker it can sometimes be a bit of a handful. Americans also tend to be interested in the fact that only a couple of miles from my home accents begin to change rapidly and soon become so different as to be upon occasion mutually unintelligible,something that doesn't happen too much in America. My baby daughter Princess OTW is only learning to talk just now and despite my best efforts has already developed a mini Scouse accent...imagine a very babyish voice say words ending with k.....darkkkkk!.....I see a fortune in private schooling ahead!
Sunday, 1 March 2009
What to say?...how to say it.
In my travels around America I enjoy speaking to the various people I meet as I go about everyday life.....but do they enjoy speaking to me,or more precisely do they understand me? Most Americans when speaking to me seem bemused by my obviously English accent but they are confused as to my exact origin,the most popular attempts at my origin are Ireland and Australia. I take the time to explain that I am in fact English born, but due to my birth in Liverpool I am graced/plagued by a very distinctive and sometimes unintelligible accent known as 'Scouse'. Scouse,with its Irish/welsh origins is one of Englands most recognisable accents (as spoken by The Beatles) but for a non speaker it can sometimes be a bit of a handful. Americans also tend to be interested in the fact that only a couple of miles from my home accents begin to change rapidly and soon become so different as to be upon occasion mutually unintelligible,something that doesn't happen too much in America. My baby daughter Princess OTW is only learning to talk just now and despite my best efforts has already developed a mini Scouse accent...imagine a very babyish voice say words ending with k.....darkkkkk!.....I see a fortune in private schooling ahead!
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5 comments:
de do do dat doh dont de doh, kidda
Actually, you'd be surprised at how much some of the American accents vary in a relatively small area. I can take you to places here in Utah where the people sound like east Texas, and other places where they sound like easterners.
Doesn't matter how it is pronounced...we still make more sense than the rest of the planet!
I often have people think I'm Australian. Nothing to do with a scouse accent though - my mother beat what little scouse accent I ever had out of me through elocution lessons when I was little!
My brother-in-law though - now he has a real scouse accent - and my dear husband often has a hard time understanding him!
scouse, it don't make no nere mind bit, laough to see a clof walk down the poth to take a both
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