When people say they consider Bush's accent most annoying (as Romanian did in his/her post above), I often think it's just because he/she doesn't care for Bush.
If he/she were given samples of various American accents, could he/she actually pick out which one is similar or even identical to Bush's? I wonder...
I think that if Bush were to say something that shows some intellegence, his accent would seem much more pleasing.
That's my point. I'm not even discussing actual policy here, as that is out of the scope of Antimoon. What I'm saying is I wonder if non-Americans who say they don't care for Bush's accent could actually pick out other southern (particularly Texas) accents. I'd wager that it probably has a lot more to do with policy rather than accent.
I think that has something to do with it, but I think you can also sound intelligent or unintelligent no matter what policy you're advocating. Well, I'll change that to articulate and inarticulate. I think Bush sounds inarticulate, and that can come across an an unappealing way of speaking.
I do think you're right, though, that non-Americans might not be able to recognize the same accent in other speakers.
Sure, but I think elocution ability and accent are two different things, despite that fact that some accents might be more well received than others.
Of course elocution ability and accent are two different things. I just think that a lack of elocution ability can sound unpleasant, and someone might confuse it with the accent.
Exactly what I was trying to say.
mjd:
"If he/she were given samples of various American accents, could he/she actually pick out which one is similar or even identical to Bush's? I wonder... "
I lived in the US for quite a while...(from Florida to New Orleans and New York)Besides my future ex-wife is American. I am presently settled in Oxford ,UK
Well, it’s true that some of the Bush-haters go way too far…
I know plenty of people who speak in a very Texan accent who speak clearly and coherently.
Bush’s accent (generally an Inland Southern accent)
Ex: "my," which Bush often pronounced somewhat like "mah" in the past. In his 2005 speech, Bush also generally pronounced the words ending in "ing" without dropping the "g," unlike in 2004. He largely overcame his tendency to say "hunnerd" for "hundred," and started pronouncing the word "government" more precisely.
Fair enough, Romanian. It's just something I wonder about sometimes. Obviously you're well acquainted with accents here in the U.S.
Like I said, it's just something I wonder about.
Romanian, how did Bush used to pronounce "government"? Was it "goverment", "govment" or just "gummint"?
As in ” gourmand” eating “Freedom fries”… :-)
That's a new one -- I like it!
You know what ticks me off?
When people, ESPECIALLY non-Americans, start replacing "to say" and/or "to think" with "to be like".
I'd hope I wouldn't have to give some examples of these monstrosities, but here they are, for clarification's sake:
"So we were going home, and she was like, 'OMG!'".
"I dunno. I'd be like, "Come here, baby."
"I'm just like, "Piss off!"
The thing is, I have no problem when "to go" is substituted for "to say"/"to think". At least there's some sort of "action" being implied with the verb "go". No such connection exists with "to be like".
And this has to do with Bush's stupidity why?
"No such connection exists with 'to be like'."
Dear Palanquin:
Obviously it does now.
Sunday, April 03, 2005, 08:54 GMT