Pamphlet given to American soldiers in Britain
10 Jun 2009 20:59 #15
by TommyUSA
To my midwestern ears, the New England accent (called 'downeast') is nearly unintelligible. Not the posh Boston accent, but how the fisherman talk along the coast of Maine.
But probably the winners (losers?) would have to be West Virginia/Kentucky/Tennessee. I can say this because my mother was from West Virginia.
I can differentiate between all three accents.
You can always tell someone from Tennessee, because they say 'TEN-uh-see', whereas the rest of us say 'ten-uh-SEE'.
Some folks in Georgia seem to have a 'baby-talk' thing going on sometimes.. Some Alabamaians sound like Forrest Gump - no kidding - I've heard them!
In south Florida, they all sound like New Yorkers - because the old folks from New York move there!
Have I made enough gross generalities about my countrymen yet??
TommyU
.
Follow my World War II daily tweets at twitter.com/Sept1939
Replied by TommyUSA on topic Pamphlet given to American soldiers in Britain
That awkward question usually arises about the worst accent - I assume the US have one?
To my midwestern ears, the New England accent (called 'downeast') is nearly unintelligible. Not the posh Boston accent, but how the fisherman talk along the coast of Maine.
But probably the winners (losers?) would have to be West Virginia/Kentucky/Tennessee. I can say this because my mother was from West Virginia.
I can differentiate between all three accents.You can always tell someone from Tennessee, because they say 'TEN-uh-see', whereas the rest of us say 'ten-uh-SEE'.
Some folks in Georgia seem to have a 'baby-talk' thing going on sometimes.. Some Alabamaians sound like Forrest Gump - no kidding - I've heard them!
In south Florida, they all sound like New Yorkers - because the old folks from New York move there!
Have I made enough gross generalities about my countrymen yet??
TommyU
.
Follow my World War II daily tweets at twitter.com/Sept1939
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10 Jun 2009 21:57 #19
by Stevo
Replied by Stevo on topic Pamphlet given to American soldiers in Britain
Thanks for posting these TommyU, they have made great reading and have gave me a bit of chuckle. The way its written is great, although as my Dad said while reading it, "you could still give this to American's coming in to the UK today, there's almost no difference in the way we are", LOL
I think we are more aware these days of the differences in UK, US English, mainly due to TV. e.g my little cousins watch programs like High School Musical and Hanna Montana and both tend to sing (whether watching TV or not) with a similar American accent and all their dolls now seem have American accents too.
Stevo
I think we are more aware these days of the differences in UK, US English, mainly due to TV. e.g my little cousins watch programs like High School Musical and Hanna Montana and both tend to sing (whether watching TV or not) with a similar American accent and all their dolls now seem have American accents too.
Stevo
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11 Jun 2009 00:18 #20
by P Bellamy
Paul Bellamy
Replied by P Bellamy on topic Pamphlet given to American soldiers in Britain
Good series of posts there Tommy. 
I have a copy of this booklet, it was reprinted in the UK about 10 years ago (from a copy held at the Bodlean Library, Oxford IIRC).
I'm think it's still available, possibly now in hardback format from a cursory glance at a shelf in the Princes Street branch of Waterstones in Edinburgh last autumn.
All the best,
PB
I have a copy of this booklet, it was reprinted in the UK about 10 years ago (from a copy held at the Bodlean Library, Oxford IIRC).
I'm think it's still available, possibly now in hardback format from a cursory glance at a shelf in the Princes Street branch of Waterstones in Edinburgh last autumn.
All the best,
PB
Paul Bellamy
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