Yes, I realize that I’m not a nice person:
Keddy: (Muffled laughter — at this point, his sweater is pulled over his head and obscuring most of his face).
Well, it’s been a long time since my last update. It’s that hectic time of year whereby school is somehow managing to take up almost all of my mental power, but I’m not really doing much more than usual. The end of semester is always a bit stressful, however, and moreso when it’s the winter semester that’s coming to a close. I’m not sure if this is because (a) the nice weather simply won’t come until I’m out of school, and I want the nice weather, or (b) I’ve got the summer ahead of me. Probably the latter.
Planning on my Scotland trip is starting to look good; I’ve secured a place to sleep whilst I am in Glasgow. My dream is to spend a few days in Glasgow, a night or two in Edinburgh, and hopefully get down to London for a few days. I’m not sure if I can navigate my way as far down as Stonehenge, but I’d love to see it again. Either way, I’m definitely going to check out some stone circles and a ley line or two. I love that crazy island — so many mysteries. I’m not sure if I’m intrigued by it because it’s where my DNA originated, or because it’s genuinely interesting. Maybe it’s so fascinating because until maybe 800 years ago, the Celts were pretty much barbarians, so there isn’t any information on any of the strange stuff there. I also find it amusing that this tiny little island managed to hold such a large chunk of the world in its grip for so long.
Speaking of the British influence, I’ve been wondering lately about accents/dialects. First of all, how far back in Canadian/American history would we have to go before we had the British accent again? Why did we lose it in the first place? You can point out (and be quite right) that the distance isolatng us was a major factor, but Australia and New Zealand are considerably more distant, and yet considerably more British. Yes, I know you Aussies/Kiwis hate being compared to the British, but your accent is much more British than Camerican. Also, a lot of phrases are too. I got an email from a Scottish relative asking me to look into how much it would cost to “hire” a car, and I had a flashback to talking to Simon about that last year. No, you can’t hire a car, you can rent it. Don’t argue with me: you hire people, you rent objects. Cars are not, as far as I know, human. Check a dictionary
.
Either way, I know it’s a losing battle. Every region has its nonsense ways of doing things; that’s the only explanation for why you can tell a Canadian that they’ve got a really comfortable chesterfield
and they’ll know what the hell you’re talking aboot
.
Comments
Steve
This just in my new Domo-kun has left Japan on its way to a doorstep near me!
Reverend H.L. Spork
From what I’ve read, the Canadian dialect has one major element in common with the American South drawl: a strong Scottish influence. The reason the accents diverged so much was because of the American South’s large slave population, most of whom spoke a hybrid of English and various west African lingos; white Southern children soon picked it up from their house servants, much to Whitey’s dismay.
I think what made Canadian and American accents so different from those in Australia and NZ was the diversity of our immigrants; while Australia’s early immigrant population was largely British, the U.S. and Canada took in just about everybody, from African slaves in the American South to Russian Mennonites along the Canadian plains to Southern/Eastern European immigrants landing all over North America. As a result, our lingo evolved much earlier and much faster, not to mention more varied regionally.
As for how far back in history does one have to go before finding a North America with a British accent, I’d say it depends on the region. Urban dialects mutated much faster while more isolated regions changed very little for centuries; it’s been written that until the age of radio, some areas in Appalachia still spoke Elizabethian English. Australia and New Zealand until the 20th century was about as isolated as you can get within the British Empire, thus the dominant British influence in their dialect. That my opinion, anyway.
Or was that a rhetorical question? Damn, it was a rhetorical question, wasn’t it? Man, I feel like an idiot.
Pugs
That’s what I was gonna say but the reverend beat me to it. Also I think that was the longest comment ever.
Nathan
My Grandmother on my Dad’s side regularlly calls her couch a Chesterfield. Of course she still calls most casual pants "Dungarees", so it could be that she’s just weird.
KEddy@home
Well simons other big lingo switch was when he had the shits. to him its being down or depressed. to us its diarreha.
Tony
what happened to linkpool? Isnt it always supposed to show 10 links?
Pugs
Yea it is but I had to delete about 47 half life 2 links leaving only like 6 new links in the list.
Tony
shouldnt there still be stuff from earlier?
Mark@Floor
It only keeps the last n links. Remember, with Linkpool 2.0 each category is a separate table, including the newest category.
Kitta
I haven’t been online for over 4 days, I’ve been upgrading my computer. Amazingly, I didn’t do to bad without it. I’m not sure if this is good or bad. :o\
What’s this about linkpool?
Keddy@home
I am not even too sure. Mark When you wake up call my cell.