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tam1MI
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
558 Posts |
 Posted - 10/28/2005 : 7:28:16 PM
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Here in Michigan, I don't really notice a lot of really glaring regionalisms, except maybe for our ubiquitious use of "you guys" to refer to a group of people. That, and if you refer to a native of our state as a a "Michiganian" you will be instantly branded as an ignorant tourist. The correct term was, is, and always shall be "Michigander". Another neat little bit of Michigan slang: if you live in the Upper Peninsula, you are a "Yooper", in the Lower a "troll" (because live under the bridge). I was always brought up to refer to a couch as a "davenport", but I think that was just a family thing. On a non-speech note, I have come tot he conclusion that any native of this state who does not learn how to play euchre is tarred, feathered, and run over the state line into Ohio.
When I lived in Central Wisconsin, however, the regionalisms came thick and fast. For example, a water fountain was a "bubbler". Athletic shoes were "tenners". Something located diagonally from something else was "catty-corner". Anything that was set near or in a wall from which heat emerged was a "radiator". Because of the large number of Polish-Americans in the area where I lived, sentence structure was often very "Eastern European". Instead of "Put the cake in the oven", for example, it was "Put in the oven the cake." And every sentence - EVERY SENTENCE, my hand to God - had to be suffixed by either "hey", "der hey", or "yah der hey", i.e., "So how about dem Packers, yah der hey?". Amd so on and so forth. The most un-beige place I've ever lived. |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2005 : 04:18:31 AM
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| I have to ask this, because I'm useless when it comes to distinguishing accents myself, and anyway most american movies I see are dubbed: Do actors from South Africa like Arnold Vosloo, Charlize Theron or Embeth Davidtz have a different accent? How is it like? |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 9:28:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ubiq
quote:
Originally posted by John Nowak I like "y'all" myself. I'm almost tempted to use it.
If you do, be sure to use it in the correct gramatical sense of referring to a group. That's one of the things that bugs me about actors trying to sound "Southern", they fling the word "y'all" about with reckless abandon while not even pronouncing it correctly.
One of the many things I love about "Firefly" is that they know how to use "y'all" correctly.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 9:32:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Ubiq
On another note, "ain't" is a contraction of "am not" and should never be used to refer to a group.
I don't know what your source is for that, but in my experience (born, raised, and lived 44 years in Georgia) "ain't" is conjugated as follows: "I ain't, you ain't, he ain't, we ain't, you ain't, they ain't." It may or may not have originated as a contraction of "am not", but it is definitely used in both singular and plural, all 3 persons.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 9:35:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dirk
Watching football, I notice that the atrocious Phil Simms says "eem" instead of "him" and "ee" instead of "he", as in "Ee tackles eem" or "Ee sacks eem".
From what part of the country does this originate?
I'm not a football fan and haven't heard the gentleman, but a lot of Southerners say it like that.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 9:38:42 PM
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Re "Dude", I have noticed in my teenaged daughter and her friends that the word has become so completely meaningless that they now say "dude, man" as in "dude, man, it's cold out here!" instead of just "dude".
By the way, hi everybody. Been busy at school.
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2005 : 2:27:51 PM
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Hi, Mom!
Personaly, i prefer Ain't to isen't...Isen't has a speed bump in it, while ain't just flows smoothly along.
Example....
That just ISEN"T right, Bubba.
Vs.
"That juut ain't right, Bubba.
Beware the verbal speed bump.
"Reality is arguable...lunch time is not." H. Flangepart.
"One Weekend a month my ass!" Crow- The Beginning of the End.
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Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
229 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 05:24:40 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeC
quote:
Originally posted by Hinda
In New York City, many people put their dishes or their clothes in the draw.
And they drink wawtah.
And they axe you to do something.
Besides me, has anyone ever known anyone who referred to a woman's underpants as her drawers? Come on, we're all to old to giggle.
And has anyone ever known anyone who called a woman's purse her pocketbook? |
Edited by - Hinda on 11/01/2005 05:25:46 AM |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 07:22:22 AM
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"Do actors from South Africa like Arnold Vosloo, Charlize Theron or Embeth Davidtz have a different accent?"
I don't know about the other two but Theron used an American accent in the films I've seen her in. Similarly Lucy Lawless in real life has a New Zealand accent but uses an American one in everything I've seen her in. In terms of how a South African accent (at least the English language one) sounds to American ears, I can say that most Americans, myself included, have a hard time distinguishing it from an Australian or New Zealand accent. |
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MikeC
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 10:10:16 AM
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A lot of actors go to great lengths to lose their
distinctive accents. I recall seeing Charlize Theron
on the old ROSIE O'DONNELL show (stop laughing! My
wife loved her, and I love Ms. Theron, so it worked
out in this case) talking about all the work it took
for her to wipe out her Afrikaaner accent (and it still
is present when she speaks normally, but only slightly).
To hear her speak Afrikaans is amazing; she can switch
back and forth without seeming effort.
Why do actors do this? I suspect its because that if
they have distinctive non-English or non-American accents
they will get typecast in ethnic roles.
MikeC, who would watch Charlize Theron read the
phonebook in Afrikaans..... |
Edited by - MikeC on 11/01/2005 10:14:02 AM |
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KurtVon
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 11:29:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeC
Why do actors do this? I suspect its because that if
they have distinctive non-English or non-American accents
they will get typecast in ethnic roles.
Probably. The woman across the street from me actually teaches accents to actors (both getting and removing). We walk our kids to the schoolbus together frequently. I haven't asked specificaly, but it seems that even mild accents can affect a persons opinion about what you are saying, so it isn't even the audiece that is the big deal so much as the interviewer.
Although I suppose it would be harder to get a job as a French revolutionary in The Scarlet Pimpernel with a thick German accent than with no accent at all.
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 3:03:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeC
Why do actors do this? I suspect its because that if
they have distinctive non-English or non-American accents
they will get typecast in ethnic roles.
Yeah, probably -- it's just part of being able to fall into a role, I think.
Were there really too many actors with non-American accents that didn't get pigeonholed? The only one I can think of is Arnold. His scripts rarely bothered to mention that he was playing an Austrian immigrant...
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We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 3:37:40 PM
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| Never seen Charlize Theron in a subtitled movie, so I can't speak about her. I *think* Arnold Vosloo has some of an accent, but since he often plays Russian / Middle east villains I can't be sure. |
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KurtVon
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 4:58:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by John Nowak
Were there really too many actors with non-American accents that didn't get pigeonholed?
Peter Lorre. Unless you count "creepy" as a pigeonhole.
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2005 : 6:57:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by KurtVon
Were there really too many actors with non-American accents that didn't get pigeonholed?
Peter Lorre. Unless you count "creepy" as a pigeonhole.
[/quote]
Oo, great one! I never even thought of his voice as an "accent." It was always "Peter Lorre" to me. But you're right, of course.
Sigh. When I grow up, I want to be Peter Lorre.
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We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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