I just found this by accident whilst browsing the net http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/irishaccent/irishaccent.html. According to the American writer, if you want everyone to think you're Irish, all you have to do is order "bahsil" and "tomahto" in Italian restaurants.
I just add "Like" to the end of every sentence. But since it comes out as "Loyke" I don't think it works. By the way, wasn't there an unlikely character named Sir Nose who used to hang around these parts?
Dow, I particularly enjoyed the duck at the top of the page, dressed in a green livery, doffing his hat and shouting "four leaf clover".
You get loads of those down our way.
Oh crikey - what was this discussion about? Oh yeah - hi bb, how's life without me? I'm generally just using these discussions to apologise for not turning up to social events... oh yes, and to share my wisdom on how to pretend you're Irish. Can we post a discussion on that website, Dow? 'Cos I've got some corkers, mostly involving Paul Brady impersonations. Which is an interesting angle, since I'm female.
Apologies for sounding a bit crass and caffeinated - it's quite difficult to convey sarcasm through the net so I might try to be vaguely serious from now on. I just don't think that anyone (apart from actors) could or should find the "so you wanna have an irish accent" website useful - well, apart from frathouse fellas on Paddy's day - and I know that there are people who will sit down and actually try it out seriously! Scary scary! I'm sure nothing could sound as bad as Michael Caine trying to do an Australian accent in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - well, maybe Johnny Depp trying to play an Irish gypsy in Chocolat - but I'm willing to denounce the website as yerk.
It's yerk. And not even funny! Dow, where do you find these things? In my supermarket a few weeks ago I found a sticker sheet with an Irish theme - it actually had a sticker of a pint, and a sticker of an Irish coffee, and - best of all - a sticker of a potato.
This thread is somewhat of a lark, but it does remind me of a dilemma I have faced as an American singing Irish and Scottish music. If I sing it the way some of my sources do, I would sing it with an accent that from me sounds phoney. If I sing it with a totally American accent it sometimes sounds flat. If I am singing a Burns song, with a few Scots words and phrases mixed in, the American accent really sounds weird juxtaposed with those Scots words. But I hesitate to translate some of those words, because you lose some of the original flavor. I think I have found a happy medium with a few hints of the original pronunciations here and there (softer A's for example--my Irish friends pronounce my first name as Ah-lahn). But has anyone else wrestled with this?
About fifteen years ago I was in Kentucky and spoke as if I'd just got off the Larne-Stranraer Ferry. American people kept stopping and telling me "I jus' looooov your English Accent!"
(Grrrrrr!)
And in fact I know the problem the other way around - I have friends who are Dylan fans, and they used to sing Dylan songs in (very) Belfast accents. That sounded VERY weird. I have exactly the same problem as Al Brown with Burns' Songs - especially "For a' That". Irish? Scottish? English? I think the answer must be.... STRINE!
I am origionally from the northwest of England..but have a strong lancashire yorkshire accent..But while on holiday in the states some years ago was asked what part of France i came from!! OOOLALAAA!!! Where's me whippet!! sacre bleu! well i'll go to the foot o' me stairs!! hey ho back to work!
My dad's from the Borders. He went into a hardware shop down south somewhere in the home counties once, and the shopkeeper asked him whereabouts in Holland he was from. I often get asked if I'm Irish or Scottish and I don't put on either accent. That doesn't really bother me. Mind you, if I ever pick up an Aussie twang and strangulated vowels I'll kill myself. Sounding like Bridie would be my worst nightmare. Like being in a real-life Kath and Kim.
Real-life?? I thought Kath and Kim was a documentary.
Actually I prefer singers who sing in their own accent, like The Proclaimers or Duke Special. Too many acts sing in an American accent for my liking. Harumph!
And Katiebee shouldn't you be in bed by now? At least I've got an excuse - have been working on my uni stuff and am winding down by posting crap on this board and checking my e-mail repeatedly.
There's a South African accent, but I don't have it. My father was Afrikaans but highly Anglicised at university, for his sins, and quite the stickler for Proper English at home when I was growing up.
However, for nearly 10 years at school I was also the only Saffrican in a "gang" comprising two Scots, an irish brother and sister, a 'pudlian, a Belgian and a German. I didn't have a chance: my accent was and still is a patchwork mess.
It's awfully embarrassing when I'm asked where I'm from and have to reply, "er, across the road".
I know, marky mark, this is just too addictive. I managed to post a tune at least - it weren't all natter. I'm going to bed in exactly ten minutes. But first I'm going to attempt a smiley face - can you do a yawny one? How's this? :-o
Thanks Dow !- I got loads of online Bingo pop-ups when I opened this link, so I closed it again fast - admittedly one of the casino pop-ups was bright green, so that must have been the Irish one! Must run Adaware now...
You did a very good job with the tune KB. Good on you for bothering to do stuff like check the tune wasn't already there, and, wow! you even learnt abc before posting, unlike some who post a whole load of gobbledegook and defeat the whole object of posting it which is presumably to share the tune with other people. That's okay though it gives me something to moan and be sarcastic about, otherwise I'd lose my whole reason for living, being the whinging pom that I am.
Whinge away, Dow. I bunged the tune up a bit but it's OK. That's a real good-un - don't know how it honks on the English 'tina but it's very sweet on the Anglo. Not that I can play it in a great hurry. Have a good one - I'll see you in a few weeks at Jim's farewell party.
If I pretended that I was Irish when I really am, would that be too confusing?
Instead of my beautiful, dulcet, norhern tones I could emulate one of those Kerry boys [like some of the lunatic Christian Brothers who taught me many moons ago] wear hobnail boots, wield my camán in a threatening manner, etc. - I jest not!
'Must be one of them feckin Yanks trying to be one of us'
Did they work?
How about pretending to be a fiddler when you really play the flute? Sounds about as logical to me......
I am partly Irish and would be utterly mystified as to which bit of myself to pretend to be. Some days are just like that.
I find it strange how some people allow their accents to change....or more frequently actively change their accent. Strange firstly because I find it difficult to change my own accent very much, except within a narrow band. I'm Glasgow through and through, but I know I speak a broader when in Glagow, a bit "posher" in England if I have to give a talk or something, or be in the company of academics or suchlike (thankfully not too often!) --- but it's still Glasgow. I've also noticed the hard Glasgow edges get sanded off a bit when I've spent protracted periods of time with players from Ireland, particularly the South. But my accent is Glasgow, endov.
But what I refer to is the wholesale abandonment, apparently for the sake of a desire to be accepted by the local populace, or more likely (he hints at cynically) for the sake of expediency, of ones original accent. The most curious example I can recall was of two climbers - no names mentioned, but one was from the Home Counties but who went up to the Glencoe area and became a mountain guide/instructor, whereupon he very quickly - and skillfully, it must said - acquired a hybrid Anglo-Lochaber accent. His friend, a Scot, went in the opposite direction - work brought him to London, and consequently his accent quickly changed from a soft middle-class Edinburgh accent to a Home-Counties-Golf-Ball-in-the-Mouth ostentacious chirp, with the merest hint of his Caledonian roots. The Excrement, of course, finally collided with the ventilator, when we three met up at someone's wedding in Edinburgh...one, despite the champagne, trying to sound English again, the other similarly trying to sound Scottish again..... and me just sitting there p!ssing myself laughing.
My Dad used to tell me (many years ago) of the time he went to Boston (we're Michiganders) on business and wanted to bring back a gift for my Mom. He went into a jewelry store and was confronted by a local salesgirl with the wicked boston accent. She tried to help him pick out a gift and finally they settled on earrings. Trying to be helpful, she asked him, "Does your wife have PSDS?" My Dad was a bit taken aback, thinking she was asking if she had some type of neuromuscular disease like MS or MD, and wondering what that had to do with what type of earrings he should buy. It took many repetitions and some hand language before he finally figured out what she was asking.
Apocryphal or not, it's always been good for a laugh.
When I first arrived in the Antipodes I nearly got cleaved by a punter at work-thickset bearded big Aussie bloke-because he thought my friendly "Alright Joe!!" was a jibe at his sexuality and I was calling him Rachel.He really didn't look like a Rachel.
I pick up accents really really easily, any accent, just about, and generally have no idea I'm doing it. It's very embarassing, because I'm sure I must sound like some wannabe loser aping my betters. Pete laughs at me a lot about it.
I got the PSDS question asked of me once too and had the same initial reaction as you, Scott - like what disease or condition was the person referring to. And it definitely was good for a laugh.
Hmm - Katiebee - I reckon you are on your way too making up for being a piker - maybe after another 1000 posts or something
Dow - I forgot to mention it to you, but you are starting to sound a bit aussie sometimes. And you do the best impersonation of Kath and Kim ever....even I dont understand it !
yes - I watched it on the plane the other day. So I have, so there. You are just upset cause you are more Aussie than the aussies and you are upset. So there. So you dont even know nuthen anyways - Shut up!
I am not - Katiebee said it. I dont even have much of an accent at all and youve got a stronger Aussie accent than I will ever have.
Aussie Mafia, Aussie Mafia, Aussie Mafia - oi oi oi!
I don't even sound nuffin like an Aussie or nuffin. Shut up you don't even know what yur talkin about so shut up. God this reminds me of this film I once saw where this woman goes into this place and sees Kath and Kim and says oh I love Kath and Kim and then the video cut off. Anyway Katiebee said she'd give Ado a blowy round the back of the opera house for a bite of his creme egg.
What a silly thread this is. It badly needs severe hijacking. Anyway Dow I thought you were recently complaining that Beebs spent too much time watching TV and not enough learning new tunes (or at least the ones you wanted her to learn).
As for Kath and Kim, it was very funny but it really all looks a little jaded to me now. Then again there's very little on the TV these days that I get a real kick out of. Maybe I need Cable/Foxtel.
Oh Beebs learns plenty new tunes, but by the sound of them I think she must be learning them during the ad breaks on telly cuz they sound like a jingle for Franklins. |B2FA- AEF2|DEED EFGA|B2FA- AEF2|DEED EFGA|... "no waaaiting in the queues, you know you're gonna get seeervice with a smile, shop at Frankliiiins".
Oh hello everybody, is it that time of day again already?
Just for the record, I have grown cats that have been with us since they were babies that freak out when the TV gets turned on, and it's not just because they are cats of taste and discernment, it's because they've never seen the damn thing on.
Though I must make an effort to see this Little Britain thing at least once, I suppose.
Tish I'm not really one for cats - more a dog person. We have two of them and one is a cross between a Golden retriever and a Standard Poodle. She is at present an endangered species because for the second time she has tried to eat my glasses.
She does like nature shows on TV and gets her nose right up to the screen.
I've heard of dogs eating people's glasses before. 'Twould seem to demonstrate some want of wit on the part of the dog.
One of my rescue cats is a budding technical writer who likes to lie in my lap watching the screen when I work at home . She recently discovered the cursor and banged her nose on the glass trying to catch it. Slobbery nose marks on glass are usually dog owner territory but I have cat ones on my PC now.
I'm a cat person. I like them because they're like me. One minute they can be really nice and cuddly and then the next they can be shockingly horrible. Dogs are boring - they're too friendly and they just come up and lick you after they've been licking their own arse and wolfing down their own poo and then they deposit particles of it on your hand.
Tish - Niamh is well. She is getting plenty of exercise and seems to like being stroked in all the right places. She thrives on new strings which is an expensive habit.
Dow - I know you couldn't handle dogs because they are too straight forward and loving. It would just make you uneasy. You need pain in your life!! Wow that was deep 8-D
I only just found this thread, and couldn't possibly be bothered to read any more than the first few posts, but here's a couple of verses from different parts of GK Chesterton's "The Ballad of the White Horse" which might help:
And all were moved a little,
But Colan stood apart,
Having first pity, and after
Hearing, like rat in rafter,
That little worm of laughter
That eats the Irish heart.
--------------------------------------
For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.
I'm confused. I am a 5th generation kiwi of Irish heritage on all sides, living in Oz, on the south side of the border of NSW (Victoria) so the New South Welshmen (!?!) call me a mexican (!?!) and yet I feel completely whole and quite unAustralian! Hey Dow, hows the boomerang throwing practice going...do the other s know about that yet mate?
Bad boy, Chris, NO biscuit! ;) Desi, it's not a question of growing cats, it's a question of how to STOP growing cats. I love my little moggies, though.
Yes, I did get a bite of Ado's Creme Egg, and it was a great follow-up to the Pleasure Palace. He sends his love to y'all, except Dow. For you he sends a creme egg.
How to pretend you're Irish
How to pretend you're Irish
I just found this by accident whilst browsing the net http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/irishaccent/irishaccent.html. According to the American writer, if you want everyone to think you're Irish, all you have to do is order "bahsil" and "tomahto" in Italian restaurants.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I just tell people my last name.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by DrSilverSpear
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
So most people from England would pass?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Paul_draper
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I just add "Like" to the end of every sentence. But since it comes out as "Loyke" I don't think it works. By the way, wasn't there an unlikely character named Sir Nose who used to hang around these parts?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
He's on the Oz Mafia casual staff list, he doesn't work here full-time.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Does Sir Nose have a brother called Sir Loin
One for the Vegeaquarians.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
SirNose wasted so much time here they banned him from using it at work!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
No way, like!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Hey, how do you do those smiley faces?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Try : )
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Donough
But just dont leave the big space I put between them
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by wreckin` rea
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Place your cursor over the faces and it shows you how, my fav is this one
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by wreckin` rea
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Have to try this one
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by kiwi
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Dow, I particularly enjoyed the duck at the top of the page, dressed in a green livery, doffing his hat and shouting "four leaf clover".
You get loads of those down our way.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Wouldn't it just be quicker and eaiser to buy a wooly jumper? I got mine at the mall. It was hand knit in Bolivia.
KFG
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by KFG
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Hi Katiebee!- fancy meeting you here! SirNose did get into trouble at work. Very funny
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I dont have to.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Desi Mc
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I didn't know they could knit malls in Bolivia. Especially with their hands
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Desi Mc
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
It's called finger knitting. I admit I haven't tried to knit a mall, but I'll try to get some lessons the next time I'm in Bolivia.
KFG
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by KFG
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
"I dont have to" - Desi Mc
Does anyone?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Oh crikey - what was this discussion about? Oh yeah - hi bb, how's life without me? I'm generally just using these discussions to apologise for not turning up to social events... oh yes, and to share my wisdom on how to pretend you're Irish. Can we post a discussion on that website, Dow? 'Cos I've got some corkers, mostly involving Paul Brady impersonations. Which is an interesting angle, since I'm female.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Apologies for sounding a bit crass and caffeinated - it's quite difficult to convey sarcasm through the net so I might try to be vaguely serious from now on. I just don't think that anyone (apart from actors) could or should find the "so you wanna have an irish accent" website useful - well, apart from frathouse fellas on Paddy's day - and I know that there are people who will sit down and actually try it out seriously! Scary scary! I'm sure nothing could sound as bad as Michael Caine trying to do an Australian accent in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - well, maybe Johnny Depp trying to play an Irish gypsy in Chocolat - but I'm willing to denounce the website as yerk.
It's yerk. And not even funny! Dow, where do you find these things? In my supermarket a few weeks ago I found a sticker sheet with an Irish theme - it actually had a sticker of a pint, and a sticker of an Irish coffee, and - best of all - a sticker of a potato.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
This thread is somewhat of a lark, but it does remind me of a dilemma I have faced as an American singing Irish and Scottish music. If I sing it the way some of my sources do, I would sing it with an accent that from me sounds phoney. If I sing it with a totally American accent it sometimes sounds flat. If I am singing a Burns song, with a few Scots words and phrases mixed in, the American accent really sounds weird juxtaposed with those Scots words. But I hesitate to translate some of those words, because you lose some of the original flavor. I think I have found a happy medium with a few hints of the original pronunciations here and there (softer A's for example--my Irish friends pronounce my first name as Ah-lahn). But has anyone else wrestled with this?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by AlBrown
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
About fifteen years ago I was in Kentucky and spoke as if I'd just got off the Larne-Stranraer Ferry. American people kept stopping and telling me "I jus' looooov your English Accent!"
(Grrrrrr!)
And in fact I know the problem the other way around - I have friends who are Dylan fans, and they used to sing Dylan songs in (very) Belfast accents. That sounded VERY weird. I have exactly the same problem as Al Brown with Burns' Songs - especially "For a' That". Irish? Scottish? English? I think the answer must be.... STRINE!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Innocent Bystander
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I am origionally from the northwest of England..but have a strong lancashire yorkshire accent..But while on holiday in the states some years ago was asked what part of France i came from!! OOOLALAAA!!! Where's me whippet!! sacre bleu! well i'll go to the foot o' me stairs!! hey ho back to work!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by fionarua
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
My dad's from the Borders. He went into a hardware shop down south somewhere in the home counties once, and the shopkeeper asked him whereabouts in Holland he was from. I often get asked if I'm Irish or Scottish and I don't put on either accent. That doesn't really bother me. Mind you, if I ever pick up an Aussie twang and strangulated vowels I'll kill myself. Sounding like Bridie would be my worst nightmare. Like being in a real-life Kath and Kim.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I thought sounding like Vicky Pollard would be anyone's worse nightmare.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I've got one word for you, Dow: Look at moooeeeee!!
I think that bb's accent is elegant, voluptuous and fruity. Like moooine.
It's ace - with an Aussie accent, you can cross-pollinate the Irish and Scottish traditions by singing about "The Fields of Athenroy".
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Real-life?? I thought Kath and Kim was a documentary.
Actually I prefer singers who sing in their own accent, like The Proclaimers or Duke Special. Too many acts sing in an American accent for my liking. Harumph!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Do Kiwis sing about the Filds of Uthenroy then?
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Hey Conan, still too many vowels in there for a kiwi to be able to cope with. They only have one, remember - "uh".
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
And Katiebee shouldn't you be in bed by now? At least I've got an excuse - have been working on my uni stuff and am winding down by posting crap on this board and checking my e-mail repeatedly.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Maybe we should start a website called "How to pretend you're Alexander Downer". All you have to do is pretend that your knee is your face.
And your knee would talk as much sense. More, probably. Plus it would look better in fishnet stockings.
But let's not get political. Well - it's a bit hard, really - a friend of mine once said that tunes make him want to start a revolution.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
There's a South African accent, but I don't have it. My father was Afrikaans but highly Anglicised at university, for his sins, and quite the stickler for Proper English at home when I was growing up.
However, for nearly 10 years at school I was also the only Saffrican in a "gang" comprising two Scots, an irish brother and sister, a 'pudlian, a Belgian and a German. I didn't have a chance: my accent was and still is a patchwork mess.
It's awfully embarrassing when I'm asked where I'm from and have to reply, "er, across the road".
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Q
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I know, marky mark, this is just too addictive. I managed to post a tune at least - it weren't all natter. I'm going to bed in exactly ten minutes. But first I'm going to attempt a smiley face - can you do a yawny one? How's this? :-o
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Thanks Dow !- I got loads of online Bingo pop-ups when I opened this link, so I closed it again fast - admittedly one of the casino pop-ups was bright green, so that must have been the Irish one! Must run Adaware now...
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by RichardB
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
You did a very good job with the tune KB. Good on you for bothering to do stuff like check the tune wasn't already there, and, wow! you even learnt abc before posting, unlike some who post a whole load of gobbledegook and defeat the whole object of posting it which is presumably to share the tune with other people. That's okay though it gives me something to moan and be sarcastic about, otherwise I'd lose my whole reason for living, being the whinging pom that I am.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Whinge away, Dow. I bunged the tune up a bit but it's OK. That's a real good-un - don't know how it honks on the English 'tina but it's very sweet on the Anglo. Not that I can play it in a great hurry. Have a good one - I'll see you in a few weeks at Jim's farewell party.
Thanks for the chat!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
It'll sound much better on the English since it is a much more beautiful and sophisticated instrument than the anglo
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Thanks, I was ready for bed and now I feel like I have to argue - errrrgh, no, I can't. It's not worth it. I can't even do smiley faces. Waaaaaaaaaa
Goodnight!!!!!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
It doesn't matter what I do, I'm never going to be able to pretend I'm Irish once someone gets a look at me, so I don't bother.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
If I pretended that I was Irish when I really am, would that be too confusing?
Instead of my beautiful, dulcet, norhern tones I could emulate one of those Kerry boys [like some of the lunatic Christian Brothers who taught me many moons ago] wear hobnail boots, wield my camán in a threatening manner, etc. - I jest not!
'Must be one of them feckin Yanks trying to be one of us'
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by breandan
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Did they work?
How about pretending to be a fiddler when you really play the flute? Sounds about as logical to me......
I am partly Irish and would be utterly mystified as to which bit of myself to pretend to be. Some days are just like that.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by tallulah
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
My cousins get this all the time, they`re half cantonese, half Irish, and live in Blackpool.
Imagine that Zeens.....8-0
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by wreckin` rea
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
See ?cant do the open mouthed ones, dont know why....
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by wreckin` rea
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Be 'all of yourself' all of the time, j d.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by curlew
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Yeah, I was most amused by that McCann's commercial that had that Asian family in it, Rea!
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Did anyone see the Lewis man who was Vietnamese by birth on telly tonight (BBC Gaelic program)?
He took his piano box to Vietnam while investigating his Vietnamese roots.
# Posted on June 2nd 2005 by Bren
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I find it strange how some people allow their accents to change....or more frequently actively change their accent. Strange firstly because I find it difficult to change my own accent very much, except within a narrow band. I'm Glasgow through and through, but I know I speak a broader when in Glagow, a bit "posher" in England if I have to give a talk or something, or be in the company of academics or suchlike (thankfully not too often!) --- but it's still Glasgow. I've also noticed the hard Glasgow edges get sanded off a bit when I've spent protracted periods of time with players from Ireland, particularly the South. But my accent is Glasgow, endov.
But what I refer to is the wholesale abandonment, apparently for the sake of a desire to be accepted by the local populace, or more likely (he hints at cynically) for the sake of expediency, of ones original accent. The most curious example I can recall was of two climbers - no names mentioned, but one was from the Home Counties but who went up to the Glencoe area and became a mountain guide/instructor, whereupon he very quickly - and skillfully, it must said - acquired a hybrid Anglo-Lochaber accent. His friend, a Scot, went in the opposite direction - work brought him to London, and consequently his accent quickly changed from a soft middle-class Edinburgh accent to a Home-Counties-Golf-Ball-in-the-Mouth ostentacious chirp, with the merest hint of his Caledonian roots. The Excrement, of course, finally collided with the ventilator, when we three met up at someone's wedding in Edinburgh...one, despite the champagne, trying to sound English again, the other similarly trying to sound Scottish again..... and me just sitting there p!ssing myself laughing.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
The only way to change my accent would be to extract my jaw. Maaaaate. You can take the girl out of Australia...
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
On the subject of accents...
My Dad used to tell me (many years ago) of the time he went to Boston (we're Michiganders) on business and wanted to bring back a gift for my Mom. He went into a jewelry store and was confronted by a local salesgirl with the wicked boston accent. She tried to help him pick out a gift and finally they settled on earrings. Trying to be helpful, she asked him, "Does your wife have PSDS?" My Dad was a bit taken aback, thinking she was asking if she had some type of neuromuscular disease like MS or MD, and wondering what that had to do with what type of earrings he should buy. It took many repetitions and some hand language before he finally figured out what she was asking.
Apocryphal or not, it's always been good for a laugh.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by ScottC
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
When I first arrived in the Antipodes I nearly got cleaved by a punter at work-thickset bearded big Aussie bloke-because he thought my friendly "Alright Joe!!" was a jibe at his sexuality and I was calling him Rachel.He really didn't look like a Rachel.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by horaldo
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I pick up accents really really easily, any accent, just about, and generally have no idea I'm doing it. It's very embarassing, because I'm sure I must sound like some wannabe loser aping my betters. Pete laughs at me a lot about it.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I got the PSDS question asked of me once too and had the same initial reaction as you, Scott - like what disease or condition was the person referring to. And it definitely was good for a laugh.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by mjct
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Katiebee I know how embarrassed you must be about your Kath & Kim accent but don't go doing anything rash will you?
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Hmm - Katiebee - I reckon you are on your way too making up for being a piker - maybe after another 1000 posts or something
Dow - I forgot to mention it to you, but you are starting to sound a bit aussie sometimes. And you do the best impersonation of Kath and Kim ever....even I dont understand it !
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Um, maybe that's cuz you've never seen Kath & Kim, Beebs.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
yes - I watched it on the plane the other day. So I have, so there. You are just upset cause you are more Aussie than the aussies and you are upset. So there. So you dont even know nuthen anyways - Shut up!
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Anyway if you ever saw it, you probably wouldn't find it funny, because you yourself basically *are* Kim.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I am not - Katiebee said it. I dont even have much of an accent at all and youve got a stronger Aussie accent than I will ever have.
Aussie Mafia, Aussie Mafia, Aussie Mafia - oi oi oi!
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I don't even sound nuffin like an Aussie or nuffin. Shut up you don't even know what yur talkin about so shut up. God this reminds me of this film I once saw where this woman goes into this place and sees Kath and Kim and says oh I love Kath and Kim and then the video cut off. Anyway Katiebee said she'd give Ado a blowy round the back of the opera house for a bite of his creme egg.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
What a silly thread this is. It badly needs severe hijacking. Anyway Dow I thought you were recently complaining that Beebs spent too much time watching TV and not enough learning new tunes (or at least the ones you wanted her to learn).
As for Kath and Kim, it was very funny but it really all looks a little jaded to me now. Then again there's very little on the TV these days that I get a real kick out of. Maybe I need Cable/Foxtel.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Oh Beebs learns plenty new tunes, but by the sound of them I think she must be learning them during the ad breaks on telly cuz they sound like a jingle for Franklins. |B2FA- AEF2|DEED EFGA|B2FA- AEF2|DEED EFGA|... "no waaaiting in the queues, you know you're gonna get seeervice with a smile, shop at Frankliiiins".
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I *cannot* believe that you just said that! I am so shocked, Katiebee is going to kill you...I pity you Dow. Its been nice knowing you....
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I cant read music Dow - so is that really one of my tunes? Or is it the Franklins add jingle?
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by bb
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
guys, whatthef............
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by horaldo
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Oh hello everybody, is it that time of day again already?
Just for the record, I have grown cats that have been with us since they were babies that freak out when the TV gets turned on, and it's not just because they are cats of taste and discernment, it's because they've never seen the damn thing on.
Though I must make an effort to see this Little Britain thing at least once, I suppose.
Anyone remember 'Let Stalk Strine'?
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I only know who Kath and Kim are because the ABC has ads for their DVDs on the sides of buses. I see lots of bus sides in my travels.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Tish I'm not really one for cats - more a dog person. We have two of them and one is a cross between a Golden retriever and a Standard Poodle. She is at present an endangered species because for the second time she has tried to eat my glasses.
She does like nature shows on TV and gets her nose right up to the screen.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I've heard of dogs eating people's glasses before. 'Twould seem to demonstrate some want of wit on the part of the dog.
One of my rescue cats is a budding technical writer who likes to lie in my lap watching the screen when I work at home . She recently discovered the cursor and banged her nose on the glass trying to catch it. Slobbery nose marks on glass are usually dog owner territory but I have cat ones on my PC now.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
So, how's Niamh?
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I'm a cat person. I like them because they're like me. One minute they can be really nice and cuddly and then the next they can be shockingly horrible. Dogs are boring - they're too friendly and they just come up and lick you after they've been licking their own arse and wolfing down their own poo and then they deposit particles of it on your hand.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Tish - Niamh is well. She is getting plenty of exercise and seems to like being stroked in all the right places. She thrives on new strings which is an expensive habit.
Dow - I know you couldn't handle dogs because they are too straight forward and loving. It would just make you uneasy. You need pain in your life!! Wow that was deep 8-D
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I see you got your glasses back from the dog,
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
8-} ;) ;-0 :-o
Just experimenting
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Trying again:
:D :x :X :P :? :oops:
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I just found
The ones I tried before work on another site I frequent.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Donough
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I only just found this thread, and couldn't possibly be bothered to read any more than the first few posts, but here's a couple of verses from different parts of GK Chesterton's "The Ballad of the White Horse" which might help:
And all were moved a little,
But Colan stood apart,
Having first pity, and after
Hearing, like rat in rafter,
That little worm of laughter
That eats the Irish heart.
--------------------------------------
For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.
----------------------------------------
Dave
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I remeber Lenny Henry once describing Dublin as a "white Jamaica". One of the few things he's said that I laughed at.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Tish. How do you grow cats? Could this be the answer to one of those food shortage questions.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Desi Mc
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
For the non-Irish.
Try this phrase, repeated quickly:
Whale oil, beef hooked.
Yer sounding fekkin Ahrish already!
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by FyfferGuy
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I'm confused. I am a 5th generation kiwi of Irish heritage on all sides, living in Oz, on the south side of the border of NSW (Victoria) so the New South Welshmen (!?!) call me a mexican (!?!) and yet I feel completely whole and quite unAustralian! Hey Dow, hows the boomerang throwing practice going...do the other s know about that yet mate?
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by kiwi
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Bad boy, Chris, NO biscuit! ;) Desi, it's not a question of growing cats, it's a question of how to STOP growing cats. I love my little moggies, though.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Thanks Fyfferguy! I've found the perfect place to use that.
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by ∅
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Nice one Fyffer guy!
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by wreckin` rea
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Can't take credit for that one, I'm afraid.
It was related to me by a friend who said he found it on the Guinness website.
Great marketing staff, apparently ....
# Posted on June 3rd 2005 by FyfferGuy
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
I know someone who had Fyfferguy's quote posted on his refrigerator door. Amazing how many people fell for it. Including my brother. ;)
# Posted on June 4th 2005 by sara g
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Heh, Zina's quite right, Desi.
(Says she with a house full of rescue animals. Who are all clamouring to be fed because the duty feeder is still snoring.)
# Posted on June 4th 2005 by Tish
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
All of this is purile.
# Posted on June 4th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
but why would you want to pretend you are anything else but what you are? Are you ashamed of what you are?
# Posted on June 5th 2005 by flying tigerpig
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Yes, I did get a bite of Ado's Creme Egg, and it was a great follow-up to the Pleasure Palace. He sends his love to y'all, except Dow. For you he sends a creme egg.
# Posted on June 9th 2005 by katiebee
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
Haha omg I was hoping you didn't read that - sorry kdb!
# Posted on June 9th 2005 by Dr. Dow
Re: How to pretend you're Irish
"why ...pretend you are anything else but what you are?"
Kind of begs the question. "Why pretend you are an Irish musician?"
Genetically I'm Irish, and Scots, but I wasn't born there by several generations. James Morrison moves me in ways that Bob Wills can't, or won't.
"Are you ashamed of what you are?"
DRUNK? Only when I get pulled over...
# Posted on June 15th 2005 by Owell Mabee