Language is a funny thing - even when someone is speaking English, the words never come out the same in every region.Maybe it's his Scottish accent - but when Craig Ferguson pronounces his first name, it always sounds as though he is saying "Claig" (with an "L" instead of an "R".).
Most people assume that the conflagration of "L" and "R" only occurs when Far-East born Asians try to pronounce words or phrases like; "Shrimp Fried Rice".How many times does an American listener hear "Slimp Fly Lice" instead?
What about Northerners (Yankees) who seem to drop the "R" from words like "Bar"?
What is it to have a drink in a "Baah"?
In the American South - many people add an "R" to words in which none exist.
"Shrereprrt, Louisiana"? (Shreveport, Louisiana)
Or they seem to add an extra "R" or delete vowels altogether.
"Hot in Hrrr."? (Hot in here.)
The only place a noticeable accent is not common is in our country's media capitals.
Most residents of Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C. or Chicago have a corporate (or media) accent influenced by the speech coached accents of those on their local news casts.
(Except for Hispanics. Speakers of Spanish are a whole other story.)
What's the point of all this?
Only that today I was accused of "Talking White".
But there is no such thing.
I (as does everyone else) only speak in the dialect with which I was brought up.
5 comments:
Man you should write a book called Talking White. You get accused of it more than that brother who was married to Lisa Bonet on the Cosby show.
Many times our people make the claim of talking white when they don't hear you use some slang. It's like saying nice car instead of nice whip. When I used to be on the East people thought I talked white because I didn't use slang without reason. But then again they called me country too so NY just think if you are talking like a drunk Italian then it's not real.
I don't know how you can shake that issue but intelligence allows you to use more of your vocabulary. You use more vocabulary than I know any one to use so you might just have to talk using more of the common mans vocab. But you don't want to go slumming either huh?
Sometimes I have problems code-switching between hood and burbs.
I often come across as a pedant to some in the hood, but then again I can come across as too hood for the burbs.
Soemtimes I just don't have time to make the adjustments.
Sometimes I must admit I don't pick up on accents so well. I've lived in the south for years and sometimes southern dialects confuse the living hell outta me. When I lived in the New Orleans area I used to do a lot of nodding and smiling, particularly when I was speaking with the locals.
By the way, the shrimp fried rice looks absolutely delicious!!!
yeah you're right, it's soo funny that no matter if you talk the same language, a word can change for only a few kilometers of distant.
Shrimpy Fly Lice also makes for a funny t-shirt.
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