-Have you ever put much thought towards your accent? How it sounds, the similarities and differences it has with other accents?
I'm a bit of a social linguist, so this is an interesting topic.
I am in my late 20s and I'm from Boston. I am a second/third generation American (second on my mother's side, third on my father's). I am of Scottish/Irish descent and had relatives with an 'accent'
My father does not have an accent, but has a tongue thrust lisp. My great aunt was a 1st gen American and she had a certain way of speaking (she pronounced H like Hay-ch... and she liked Cool Hwip...)
I had a speech impediment caused by a severe (corrected) overbite and I went to speech therapy from ages 8 to 9 to correct it. As a result, I tend to alliterate a bit more than most. Also, as a result of growing up around Boston, I'm non-rhotic (I don't pronounce my Rs [ahhs] consistently). I also have a decidedly Irish cadence to the way I speak. I tend to blur my words together when speaking quickly and I tend to reorganize certain words. The best example of this on a daily basis is the phrase "Isn't it?" which comes out a bit like "In'nit"
My wife and I were discussing a few points last night about certain words that simply don't play in American English and British English... and in some cases certain areas of American English. One such 'word' is "Packie". Packie is short for Package Store. Now, what's a Package Store? Well, in New England... it's a Liquor Store (or an off-license if you're from Ireland and probably the UK too...). Upon arriving in Dublin, I asked our cab driver (without thinking of course) where the local packie was. To which I was given a puzzled look. I expanded, "Package store?" The puzzled look did not disappear. "Liquor store?" He returned, "Well, there's plenty of places to drink in Temple Bar." Then I replied, "Let's say I want to buy my own booze and drink it in the Hotel room?" Which elicited a sudden, "Oh, an off-license!" Which I replied, "Quite..."
Now, I've gone to Florida and attempted this same request and had it answered at the "Liquor Store" portion.
Now, certain British English words don't play at all well in American. Most commonly, fag. Much to the delight of pre-pubescent American boys, once they've found that there's a double meaning, they love to go into the whole 'smoking a fag' routine. Another interesting thing: pants. At some point, pants means trousers to Americans... and means underwear to Brits. Strange.
Now, I occasionally hang out with a few Irish Travellers. One of which is my handy-man. We tend to talk about this at length. Am I aware of my own accent? Sure, when I'm with people with different accents.
-From a global perspective, how do you think your accent (note: Accent, not the country/place of origin in question) is viewed?
Globally? I think it flies under the radar. I think the global view on 'American accents' is that of the southern drawl... which is entirely unfortunate. I think a (Boston) Southie accent is most associated with where I'm from... but mine isn't that deep. I also think the OTHER global view on 'American accents' is that of the New York goombah-douchebag... which is also entirely unfortunate. I think aside from the non-rhoticity and cadence of my speech... I come off as well educated. Unless I'm drunk... then it's god awful.
-Since we're sort of on the subject, what's a foreign accent you have fondness for (it would help to say what country you are viewing this foreign accent from so I can see if there is a link between accents and what accents are liked by people with said accents.
I prefer an Irish brogue.
-In the same sense as the above, is there any accent you don't care for at all, or find downright infuriating?
Southern 'mericans.
And while I'm here, I might as well ask
-This whole Toasted cheese sandwich thing, is it just me? I'm thinking it might be that there was a toasted cheese sandwich present at the time of the original event, but it's not the first time such a sandwich has sparked a memory like this. Maybe I just need to go outside more.
what the hell is a 'toasted cheese sandwich'? How is that prepared?
over here, we have 'grilled cheese'. The standard way to prepare it is to take two pieces of bread, shove two slices of cheese between then, throw them on a buttered pan and grille them evenly on both sides. A slightly better way (and fatter way) is to butter the bread on both sides, put the cheese on the bread, grille the bread on a buttered pan and PRESS the bread using a small plate or saucer (of equal size to the sandwich) until golden brown... then serve with some cream of tomato soup. Your choice of cheese... Americans tend to use American Cheese.
Also called a Cheez Sammich.
