Talking to Canadians!

Today I was contemplating ordering a new dictionary or two for my much-neglected reference collection, and in my research I stumbled upon the Wikipedia article on Canadian English. Fascinating! It was clearly written by one or more people with a serious interest in linguistics, as it does consider the "eh" phenomenon but goes into considerably more depth. My favourite part:

The ending "er" is often added to the end of words:

"Gooder" means a good thing, as in "that's a gooder". "Header" means to leave, as in "we gotta header". "Giver" means to exert allot of effort, as in "to push the truck out of the ditch you'll have to really giver".

Heh. Awesome. I can't say I really use many of these colloquialisms, although I guess I have probably said the phrase "We gotta header" on occasion-- although my inclination would be to write it as "We gotta head 'er." Also I thought about editing this article to note that the present participle form of "giver" is obviously "givering." Anyway.

I don't think I say "eh," but whenever I talk to Americans I suddenly become hyper-aware of the fact that I MAY HAVE said it.

Also: when I visit my parents in Washington state, everyone I talk to sounds like me, to me. I don't notice an accent. And yet people there know I am not from 'round those parts. Also, while I was at an antique store in Monterey a couple weeks ago a guy asked me if I was from England. So clearly accent-awareness varies from one person to the next.

Chimo, happy Wednesday

From deputy-dog: 13 of the worst fake accents in film. I'm glad that they titled their list "13 of the worst," rather than "the 13 worst," because it's hard to make absolute decisions about these matters. I mean, Kate Beckinsale in Van Helsing should probably be on this list, along with David Boreanaz on Buffy/Angel (well, OK, TV...) and MICHAEL CAINE?!? No one makes fun of Michael Caine on my watch. Especially since in The Cider House Rules they specifically explain that his accent isn't meant to be American, that he is the son of an immigrant--"someone not from Maine." And I know this because in John Irving's memoir about the making of The Cider House Rules (my Movie Business) he specifically discusses Michael Caine's accent and how they wanted to create a kind of ambiguity about his background. Grrrr.

In other news, Jocelyn is obsessed, but then, you already knew that. All I demand is that everyone, all the time, know everything about things they try to discuss before they discuss them--you know, like I do.

Also, there should be some kind of good accent list to accompany this one. "Accent props!" 1. Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary-- that movie was the first time I ever actually considered her to be acting. 2. Forrest Whittaker in The Last King of Scotland-- unimpeachable, and I actually know what an East African accent sounds like! 3. Me and James, doing our own rendition of the Four Yorkshiremen!