Re: Australians (Ozzies) and New Zealanders (Kiwis)
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This really made me laugh...As a Kiwi, I have been msitaken for a nOzzie
(or Ocker), but asbolutely *never* by an Australian.
When I visited with my husband, he got talking with a pretty sales lady,
and when I entered into the conversation, she asked ,"Where's ya
geelfriend from?"
It seems my husband takes on whatever language he is about....his Mum
tells me he was accepted a an American when they visited.
Someone recently asked (at a playgroup) if my ds7 was from England...that
cracked me up too.
The biggest joke for Aussies and NZer's, it seems, is the way we both say
the number 6.
Shell (in NZ)
DS7 & DD3
If it helps you at all Sandra, I was told my accent (oft confused with
English but not by English people) is designated "Educated Australian", but
I can slide into Strine if you ever want a demonstration of a more "working
class" (supposedly) lingo.
Try "Muriel's Wedding" too.
Robyn L. Coburn
(or Ocker), but asbolutely *never* by an Australian.
When I visited with my husband, he got talking with a pretty sales lady,
and when I entered into the conversation, she asked ,"Where's ya
geelfriend from?"
It seems my husband takes on whatever language he is about....his Mum
tells me he was accepted a an American when they visited.
Someone recently asked (at a playgroup) if my ds7 was from England...that
cracked me up too.
The biggest joke for Aussies and NZer's, it seems, is the way we both say
the number 6.
Shell (in NZ)
DS7 & DD3
If it helps you at all Sandra, I was told my accent (oft confused with
English but not by English people) is designated "Educated Australian", but
I can slide into Strine if you ever want a demonstration of a more "working
class" (supposedly) lingo.
Try "Muriel's Wedding" too.
Robyn L. Coburn
Wendy S.
Along the accent line...it was very interesting to me (even if it was
a "duh" moment) that non-English speakers usually cannot distinguish
where English speakers are from. I discovered this on my first trip
to Europe--many people thought I was from Ireland, but I'm from the
U.S. Then it dawned on me, that it *is* hard for me to tell
Australians and New Zealanders apart, and there is *no* way I could
tell you if a French speaker was from Montreal or Paris, but I bet
they can. I just found that very interesting.
Wendy S. in GA
http://www.trustbirth.com
"Motherhood: 24/7 on the frontlines of humanity. Are you man enough
to try it?" Maria Shriver
a "duh" moment) that non-English speakers usually cannot distinguish
where English speakers are from. I discovered this on my first trip
to Europe--many people thought I was from Ireland, but I'm from the
U.S. Then it dawned on me, that it *is* hard for me to tell
Australians and New Zealanders apart, and there is *no* way I could
tell you if a French speaker was from Montreal or Paris, but I bet
they can. I just found that very interesting.
Wendy S. in GA
http://www.trustbirth.com
"Motherhood: 24/7 on the frontlines of humanity. Are you man enough
to try it?" Maria Shriver
On Mar 9, 2006, at 3:03 PM, deyoung@... wrote:
> This really made me laugh...As a Kiwi, I have been msitaken for a
> nOzzie
> (or Ocker), but asbolutely *never* by an Australian.
>
> When I visited with my husband, he got talking with a pretty sales
> lady,
> and when I entered into the conversation, she asked ,"Where's ya
> geelfriend from?"
>
> It seems my husband takes on whatever language he is about....his Mum
> tells me he was accepted a an American when they visited.
>
> Someone recently asked (at a playgroup) if my ds7 was from
> England...that
> cracked me up too.
>
> The biggest joke for Aussies and NZer's, it seems, is the way we
> both say
> the number 6.
>
> Shell (in NZ)
> DS7 & DD3
>
> If it helps you at all Sandra, I was told my accent (oft confused with
> English but not by English people) is designated "Educated
> Australian", but
> I can slide into Strine if you ever want a demonstration of a more
> "working
> class" (supposedly) lingo.
>
> Try "Muriel's Wedding" too.
>
> Robyn L. Coburn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
On Mar 9, 2006, at 8:58 PM, Wendy S. wrote:
In college a New Yorker seemed incredulous and irritated (one of
those jealous moments among English majors, it seemed) because I
could tell West Texas from East Texas in an accents exercise in a
History of English class. He couldn't tell Texas from anywhere else
in the south. But that's fine; he grew up very far from there. I
never "studied" or analyzed to know the difference, it's just I just
I had relatives in West Texas, and friends southeast of Austin, so I
only had to know that one sample sounded like my dozens of
relatives, and one sounded like Dave and Fran. That was easy. <g>
The r's are different.
Holly can understand Australian accents better than I can, and for no
reason we know. I don't think I would ever have heard New Zealand
accents if not for the special features on the Lord of the Rings
movies. (And again I was grateful for DVD subtitles.) I liked the
story of so many people only learning after it was over that Brad
Dourif was American. He used the accent he was using for Wormtongue
the whole time so he'd have it, and only when the filming was all
done did he use his own voice.
When we were staying in east Yorkshire she could understand people
better than I could. If they knew we were American they could
rephrase, but if they used their regular shortcut phrases full speed,
assuming I would understand, I was baffled, but Holly usually got it
the first time.
It's one of the best things about lists like this, that even though
there are problems with communicating in writing, at least we don't
have accent problems.
Sandra
> Along the accent line...it was very interesting to me (even if it wasNew Yorkers can tell different parts of NYC, right?
> a "duh" moment) that non-English speakers usually cannot distinguish
> where English speakers are from. I discovered this on my first trip
> to Europe--many people thought I was from Ireland, but I'm from the
> U.S. Then it dawned on me, that it *is* hard for me to tell
> Australians and New Zealanders apart, and there is *no* way I could
> tell you if a French speaker was from Montreal or Paris, but I bet
> they can. I just found that very interesting.
In college a New Yorker seemed incredulous and irritated (one of
those jealous moments among English majors, it seemed) because I
could tell West Texas from East Texas in an accents exercise in a
History of English class. He couldn't tell Texas from anywhere else
in the south. But that's fine; he grew up very far from there. I
never "studied" or analyzed to know the difference, it's just I just
I had relatives in West Texas, and friends southeast of Austin, so I
only had to know that one sample sounded like my dozens of
relatives, and one sounded like Dave and Fran. That was easy. <g>
The r's are different.
Holly can understand Australian accents better than I can, and for no
reason we know. I don't think I would ever have heard New Zealand
accents if not for the special features on the Lord of the Rings
movies. (And again I was grateful for DVD subtitles.) I liked the
story of so many people only learning after it was over that Brad
Dourif was American. He used the accent he was using for Wormtongue
the whole time so he'd have it, and only when the filming was all
done did he use his own voice.
When we were staying in east Yorkshire she could understand people
better than I could. If they knew we were American they could
rephrase, but if they used their regular shortcut phrases full speed,
assuming I would understand, I was baffled, but Holly usually got it
the first time.
It's one of the best things about lists like this, that even though
there are problems with communicating in writing, at least we don't
have accent problems.
Sandra
Joy
Holly can understand Australian accents better than I can, and for no
reason we know.
When we were staying in east Yorkshire she could understand people
better than I could. If they knew we were American they could
rephrase, but if they used their regular shortcut phrases full speed,
assuming I would understand, I was baffled, but Holly usually got it
the first time.
-= We've noticed similar things in my family. Dh can understand people
with accents we're
not used to hearing much quicker than myself. Yet, I can usually say where
someone's accent
was acquired from and he can't unless, it seems, he's known someone
personally from that area.
-= He was a military brat and heard accents all his life. The first time I
remember any personal
interaction with anyone with an accent was when a family member married
someone from
NC.
Joy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
reason we know.
When we were staying in east Yorkshire she could understand people
better than I could. If they knew we were American they could
rephrase, but if they used their regular shortcut phrases full speed,
assuming I would understand, I was baffled, but Holly usually got it
the first time.
-= We've noticed similar things in my family. Dh can understand people
with accents we're
not used to hearing much quicker than myself. Yet, I can usually say where
someone's accent
was acquired from and he can't unless, it seems, he's known someone
personally from that area.
-= He was a military brat and heard accents all his life. The first time I
remember any personal
interaction with anyone with an accent was when a family member married
someone from
NC.
Joy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Wendy S.
My mom is the same way. She's 4th or so generation Texan, and she
can tell what *part* of East Texas they're from (such as Dallas vs
Houston). She also used to be able to tell which state in the south
someone was from based on their accent. Not so much now that people
are working to loose their accents, which I just do not get. I like
accents. They're cool.
Wendy S. in GA (who's actually working to get her Texas accent back
after being ridiculed in school in California for my accent and
therefore lost it)
http://www.trustbirth.com
"Motherhood: 24/7 on the frontlines of humanity. Are you man enough
to try it?" Maria Shriver
can tell what *part* of East Texas they're from (such as Dallas vs
Houston). She also used to be able to tell which state in the south
someone was from based on their accent. Not so much now that people
are working to loose their accents, which I just do not get. I like
accents. They're cool.
Wendy S. in GA (who's actually working to get her Texas accent back
after being ridiculed in school in California for my accent and
therefore lost it)
http://www.trustbirth.com
"Motherhood: 24/7 on the frontlines of humanity. Are you man enough
to try it?" Maria Shriver
On Mar 9, 2006, at 11:16 PM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
> In college a New Yorker seemed incredulous and irritated (one of
> those jealous moments among English majors, it seemed) because I
> could tell West Texas from East Texas in an accents exercise in a
> History of English class. He couldn't tell Texas from anywhere else
> in the south. But that's fine; he grew up very far from there. I
> never "studied" or analyzed to know the difference, it's just I just
> I had relatives in West Texas, and friends southeast of Austin, so I
> only had to know that one sample sounded like my dozens of
> relatives, and one sounded like Dave and Fran. That was easy. <g>
> The r's are different.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]