Accent….No I don’t have no stinkin’ accent!

There is more to language than the use of words. There is also pronunciation! I am always amazed at the way words are pronounced by different people. You can live only a hundred miles away from someone and a word can sound totally different! Oh and lets not forget about the way some people pronounce words in a language that is foreign to them. I wonder why they are surprised when they get blank stares or smirks from native speakers of that language. And no, shouting will still not make anyone understand you*g*

I have always said Mum and not Mom, Leftenant instead of Lieutenant, shedule instead of skedule, aluminium as opposed to aluminum and I can’t put on paper how I say garage! Now most of these things are pretty easy to understand but once in a while something I say makes people just stop and stare. Now when I go shopping to the Mall the way I say it, it rhymes with pal…now is that so different than mall sounded like all. I didn’t think so but I have had looks that quite defy description! Now if I was being humble I would normally pronounce it with the H but here in Texas there is a town that pronounces its name without so it is umble! And why in New York is Houston pronounced Howston? I’ll never know!

Everyone tells me I have an accent but I don’t…I’m from England and you are all the people with accents. (Or maybe as I live in Texas I should say Y’all…no that doesn’t sound good in a English accent!) Now how can someone from western Pennsylvania and pronounces the word John like Jawn tell me I have an accent?

Now I just adore a Southern accent. It is so melodious. There is something though that has always fascinated me about accents! How is it that someone like …you guessed it…Clay Aiken, can have the most pronounced Southern accent and yet when he sings seems almost accentless? (I wonder is that even a word?)

Watching Clay the other night on American Idol 5 I could not help but think of the Beatles! Hmmm I wonder why? When I was a child growing up I was told that the Liverpool accent was considered low class and no-one should ever speak like that! Funny how four mop-topped boys literally helped change the way people think about class and status in society!

Oh yeah about the hair or as they say in Liverpool her. I loved it. I thought it was fab and oh so groovy baby!

I had never really heard the way I speak until I did a cellcert at one of Clay’s JNT2 concerts. My goodness do I really sound like that? I was cringing…picking my self apart…not really sure if I liked what I was hearing until I received messages from friends who said they loved the way I talked! Who would have thought it, certainly not me! I should have figured out that it did not sound too bad because I got hired at my present job really because of the accent! My boss liked the way I sounded on the phone….said it added class to the place! Boy was he mistaken!

Now I have been here over 30 years so I must have kept some of the accent but it sure is difficult. I have to remind myself constantly to say twenty and not tweny, hello instead of hi, dance and not daance etc!

So if I meet you one day just say Howdy in your best American accent and I promise not try and copy you*g*"

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken
accents
language
The Beatles

____________________

Thanks for visiting The ConCLAYve. Please don't be shy about commenting - we love feedback. And visit often - bookmark us to make it easy! Don't forget to check out the other posts here on The ConCLAYve for more about Clay and lots of other topics.

And visit the great blogs we've linked on our sidebar.

Tweet