Ha! To my great dismay and puzzlement, I was constantly asked by the native Dutch whether I was from South Africa when I lived in the Netherlands! They insisted that my accent (when speaking Dutch) was that of an Africaaner, although I am a native English speaker and learned to speak Dutch in Amsterdam. [There's just no fooling some people. ]
Americans dont understand the Queens english
by barry 41 Replies latest jw friends
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AgentSmith
Interesting problem Valkyrie. I suppose people can get it wrong. To say 'how are you my friend', very often is heard like this " Howzit my China" No idea where or why this came to be. I once heard of this greeting being offered to an asian chap, who replied, Hi there, but I am Japanese not a China!. No hard feelings though.. with all the hassles we had here, who gets upset about the small stuff?
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Sad emo
We have a few white customers from Zimbabwe and the first time I met them, I thought they were from Oz! I find it easier to distinguish now I've got used to the accent though. I think it's similar but slightly softer than South African English (which probably was the source of my confusion!).
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Mum
In the U.S., I understand that the dialect closest to the Queen's (i.e., Elizabeth I) English is what I spoke as a child, the Appalachian dialect. It is being lost as the country is more homogenized and everyone sounds more like everyone else.
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Stephanus
To say 'how are you my friend', very often is heard like this " Howzit my China" No idea where or why this came to be.
As an Aussie, I can answer that! It's from rhyming slang. This example exists in both the Cockney and Oz repertoires:
China (plate) = mate
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Anony-Mouse
As an american, I am proud to report that I already knew what fair dinkum meant :P .
But if the stewardess was american...why would she even CARE that the lady was swearing. I thought Americans swore all the time for no reason :P .
Or is it just me..... -
James Free
I watched Ripley's Believe It Or Not! TV show recently. They had people from Australia being interviewed. Although their accents were not very strong - no Aussie words - the producers decided to add SUB-TITLES! Haha - It always amazes me that US TV treats it's audience as if it is almost brain dead. I wonder why? ;)
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Anony-Mouse
I read once that most everything on TV in the USA is at a 5th grade level.
Ever heard the show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?"
Case and point. -
stillajwexelder
fair dinkum bluey
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HAL9000
And America doesn't exactly have a spectacular education system :P
Probably not worth a brass razoo!!!