Cutest Accent Ever

Daniel   Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:57 pm GMT
Do you think she was born in the UK, or did she move there?
Deborah   Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:00 pm GMT
Damian wrote:

<< It's also just possible to detect her Asian origins in the way she enunciates some of her words, especially at the beginning of her audio run. I've noticed the same thing with Asians generally, even if they've never been outside of the UK in their lives. This observation comes of me dropping into Asian takeaways on a regular basis! They have their appropriate local British accents, yet still have this touch of Asian influence in their speech, especially when it comes to certain sounds, more particularly at the end of words. It's quite difficult to explain exactly what I mean in here, but Mishy does display this tendency in her speech, even though it's quite slight. >>

I noticed the same thing. My guess is that either Chinese is still spoken in her home or that she's been exposed to it a lot. I guessed Chinese because what I heard in her speech sounded just like what I heard in Chinese girls in my school, at least the ones who weren't third- or fourth-generation Americans. In my school days (1956-1967), most first-generation and second-generation Chinese kids in San Francisco went to Chinese school after regular school, and just about always had at least a trace of a Chinese accent. The last thing to go was leaving off final L's, such as in school and towel, which became "schu" and towu.
Kirk   Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:12 pm GMT
<<Och, meant to ask: just why DO Americans use the word "AAH-SUM!" so much? I've heard them say it loads of times as they order their "HAT DAHGS!" :-)>>

Haha--it's just like the current preference for "brilliant!" in the UK to describe good/agreeable/cool things, I guess ;)
Deborah   Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:57 pm GMT
I associated "awesome" wth teenagers for the longest time, but of course the teenagers grew up. Still, I was amused the first time I heard a young attorney(!) in my law firm use it. I phoned to tell him his memo was ready, and his response was "Awesome!"
Damian in Brill London E1   Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:39 am GMT
**I phoned to tell him his memo was ready, and his response was "Awesome!" **

Ha! That's brilliant! Thanks for that snippet, Deborah! Just brilliant! Or more popularly - brill!

Popularly? Not easy to say is it?...even dead sober....it's not as if it even sounds right.....
Uriel   Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:58 am GMT
<<Och, meant to ask: just why DO Americans use the word "AAH-SUM!" so much? I've heard them say it loads of times as they order their "HAT DAHGS!" :-) >>

Dude, have you TRIED our hot dogs? ;) Perhaps you, too, would be moved to fall to your knees in reverence and, yes, awe....

Especially with relish. Gotta love the relish.... Not such a big fan of the chili dog, though.
Deborah   Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:03 pm GMT
Uriel wrote:

<< <<Och, meant to ask: just why DO Americans use the word "AAH-SUM!" so much? I've heard them say it loads of times as they order their "HAT DAHGS!" :-) >>

Dude, have you TRIED our hot dogs? ;) Perhaps you, too, would be moved to fall to your knees in reverence and, yes, awe.... >>

Don't you mean you'd be moved to fall to your knees in "AAH"?
Kirk   Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:19 pm GMT
<<Don't you mean you'd be moved to fall to your knees in "AAH"?>>

I'm sure she did. That's how God intended "awe" to be pronounced, of course :)
Deborah   Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:33 pm GMT
Well, I almost fell to me knees in AAH today, eating the wild blackberries my roommate picked. Aaaah!
Deborah   Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:15 am GMT
(I really meant to write "I fell to *my* knees".)
Travis   Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:18 am GMT
My two cents:

"HAT DAHGS!" suck and are quite bland overall. You should eat bratwurst or italian sausages, which are far superior to them, instead.

As for "AAH", well, such is clearly heresy, as God meant the vowel to be [O] not [A] - and furthermore, around these parts, "AAH" means [a] not [A], and "AAH-SUM!" with [a] is even more wrong.

But then, people really don't say "AWE-SOME!" either around here, considering that I generally associate it and other things like "DUDE!", with other dialects of North American English due to their general non-use around here. In particular, I associate "AAH-SOME!" uhh "AWE-SOME!" and "DUDE!" with California English more than anything else, and clearly California English is one of those dialect groups in which people do most definitely heretical things like overuse "LIKE!" and so on. It is best that people make the most rational choice and (obviously) learn Upper Midwestern dialects of English instead.
Meh   Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:31 am GMT
Meh, sausages suck. You're all better off eating pure meat like steaks than guessing what goes into an intestinally stuffed mishmash of offal: (gristle, fat, grains, bread crumbs, butcher's fingernail, etc)
Dude Damian in Ldn E16   Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:02 am GMT
***Dude, have you TRIED our hot dogs? ;) Perhaps you, too, would be moved to fall to your knees in reverence and, yes, awe.... >>***

Sure I've tried hot dogs.....loads of times, but don't remember ever doing the "falling to the knees" bit...that's more likely to happen with a one over the eight. Aren't ALL dot dogs "yours" anyway, no matter where in the word you scoff them? I mean....a hot dog is a hot dog is a hot dog, no?...whether in Albuquerque or Auchtermuchty :-) Or are your fillings different? They can't be as the Americans I've seen scoffing them over here were all "awesomeing" in unison...with relish. Or perhaps they are different here and that's why the change caused the chorus of "AAHSUMS"? Talking of relish, my fave is seriously corrosive mega hot chilli and tomato relish....yummy scrummy. Awesome!

Over a 1000 types of relish.....just think,teams of food specialists concocting new relishes every day:

http://www.astray.com/recipes/?search=Relish
Uriel   Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:29 pm GMT
I think the original hot dog is credited to Vienna, hence the nickname "wiener". Whether that's true or not....?

A big ol' slab of kielbasa with swwet hot mustard sounds pretty divine, too, but it just wouldn't be "AAHHH-SOME!"

I actually try to stick a W at the end of "awe" on the very rare occasions that I have to say it by itself and out loud -- it's an awkward, word, isn't it?
Damian about to go home   Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:47 pm GMT
***it's an awkward, word, isn't it?**

Aye!...awesomely so!

Anyone seen Noel Coward's "Hay Fever" on stage? We performed it at uni with the uni dramatic society. Instead of using the word "winsomely" during the loopy family's parlour game...a sort of guess the word by looking at physical action only.....it would be cool to substitute it for "awesomely". How would you mime that word? Hands held up in the air...mouth and eyes wide open...look of both pleasure and surprise on the face?

I'm passing time a wee bit waiting for the worst of the rush hour to be over....gloria mundi is sic of the transit. :-)