Friday, I was out at the SICM with Ana, and her friend, and his friend Mary

[conuly]

And her mother (the friend of a friend's mother, that is) was there, and I was playing that game I play - is that an Australian accent or a British one?

I'm not very good at this game, but I play it anyway whenever I'm confronted with a possibly-Aussie-or-Brit.

By an amazing quirk of luck, she had the opportunity to tell her child "You fill down!" (the kid was fine), which enabled me to successfully peg her accent as New Zealand and get a literal pat on the back. Apparently, nobody had ever done that before!

I've heard New Zealand accents before, I'm sure, but if I ever heard that particular marker, short i for e, I didn't notice it. But I've read about it and was able to identify it accurately, thus proving that personal experience isn't, after all, everything. You can still get by by doing nothing more than reading a lot.






Which is good, because I spend so much time reading that I just don't get out that much!

Comments

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

Ironically, Brits play "is that an Australian accent or an American one?"

In fact, our #1 way of determining if someone is Australian is if I think they're British and mmaestro thinks they're American.

[conuly]

Yes, I've heard that! It's so weird to me, because of course neither British nor Australian accents sound anything like American accents to my ear!

Now, here's the question - what game to Australians play?

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Probably "is that American or Canadian" :p.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

We can tell the difference very easily.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Mind you, we have some trouble distinguishing americans & canadians.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

I thought it was funny in NZ, they thought I was calling Greg "Craig" but to them Greg is "greeg" and Craig is "crayg". I said "no no, Craig and Greg rhyme, but one starts with a C and the other a G" and they said they don't rhyme. lol

[conuly]

This is why I never say the name Craig if I can help it - I've mostly only ever seen it written, so even though I know it should be cr-egg, I want to say cr-ayg!

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in NZ Craig is almost universally pronounced 'Crayg' so Americans who come here and say "Creg" would get an odd look and a "who?"

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I am American...and definitely would say "Crayg" lol! I guess because I have really only ever *read* the name and not heard it spoken here??

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, we're famous for the clipped vowel :p. Apparently we say things like, "iggs for brickfist".

Kiwis are also prone to speaking quickly and mumbling so it can end up sounding like "iggs f' br'fst". Working at the cinema, I found my own fellow countrymen the hardest to understand.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

The whole sex=six thing is the most amusing part for me.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, kiwi accents are weird.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

Ironically, Brits play "is that an Australian accent or an American one?"

In fact, our #1 way of determining if someone is Australian is if I think they're British and mmaestro thinks they're American.

[conuly]

Yes, I've heard that! It's so weird to me, because of course neither British nor Australian accents sound anything like American accents to my ear!

Now, here's the question - what game to Australians play?

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Probably "is that American or Canadian" :p.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

We can tell the difference very easily.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Mind you, we have some trouble distinguishing americans & canadians.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

I thought it was funny in NZ, they thought I was calling Greg "Craig" but to them Greg is "greeg" and Craig is "crayg". I said "no no, Craig and Greg rhyme, but one starts with a C and the other a G" and they said they don't rhyme. lol

[conuly]

This is why I never say the name Craig if I can help it - I've mostly only ever seen it written, so even though I know it should be cr-egg, I want to say cr-ayg!

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in NZ Craig is almost universally pronounced 'Crayg' so Americans who come here and say "Creg" would get an odd look and a "who?"

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I am American...and definitely would say "Crayg" lol! I guess because I have really only ever *read* the name and not heard it spoken here??

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, we're famous for the clipped vowel :p. Apparently we say things like, "iggs for brickfist".

Kiwis are also prone to speaking quickly and mumbling so it can end up sounding like "iggs f' br'fst". Working at the cinema, I found my own fellow countrymen the hardest to understand.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

The whole sex=six thing is the most amusing part for me.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, kiwi accents are weird.