Posted on 03/26/2016 8:42:11 AM PDT by the scotsman
A word or phrase of foreign usage can be effective if done very carefully, but most of the time it does make one seem like a poseur.
There is a beautiful English lady living in our community, married one of those barbaric Americans, who desperately hangs on to her “Britishisms”.
Her greatest regret is that her young children have barely a hint of English accent and are using more American slang than British.
Her husband lived in England for fifteen years before they moved here.
He occasionally slips some British slang into a conversation without realising it.
He uses it as seamlessly as she does so he gets a pass from me.
We accuse him of “going native” during his time in England.
Something I don’t like is how our regional accents are disappearing.
The kids going to school now make fun of us older people because we talk and sound like our parents and grandparents.
My co-leader in Cub Scouts is from England. He’s lived here about ten years. Once in a while he says something that puzzles everyone. His wife is American, but his 7-year-old son can do a good English voice.
Both my childhood family and my adult family (so to speak) have moved so much that we don’t have any clear local sound. Obviously Southern as opposed to the North, but that’s about it.
Tell me what they say and I will try and help.
I used to watch the tv show House. The first time I heard Hugh Laurie do an interview on BBC I was stunned.
The face of Dr House with an English accent floored me.
My family has been rooted here in Virginia since we got off the boat way back in the early 1700’s.
Virginia accent thick enough to cut with a knife.
I can’t recall anything offhand. I don’t mind saying, “I didn’t understand that ... can you say it in American?”
It’s great to have roots. When we moved from Texas to Southern Middle Tennessee (Manchester) in 1995, we could tell instantly when we met someone who was really “from around here.” And it worked the other way: genuine locals would ask us, “Way-uh y’all f’om?”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.