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Post by chonies on Aug 18, 2016 22:43:12 GMT -4
I was thinking about Trae the Liberal Redneck, which I really like because he subtitles his videos with the dialect spelled out, but that takes me back to the Jeff Foxworthy/character-speech problem. A lot of "mountain towk" videos have also been filmed and selected because they're such pristine examples, and of course, they're anonymous people.
I know I'm being fussy about this, so thanks for all the help so far! : )
ETA: Actual dialect problem I had the other day. I legitimately thought someone was talking about skiing, which was weird because I'm in the subtropics. But they were saying "skin." Vowels, man. Will I ever understand?
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Post by Kaleidoscope Eyes on Aug 19, 2016 2:51:21 GMT -4
Skin/skiing reminds me of the time a woman, who I'd later become close friends with, was telling me about how she'd basically gone from rags to riches back to rags. She and her husband built a business from the ground up, it did really well, was a multi-million dollar business. Headquarters was in this very economically depressed region. I was fascinated by her story and finally asked what kind of business it was. "Pillas," she said. "Pillas?" I repeated, not quite knowing what a pilla was. I figured it was something mechanical or had something to do with farm implements since I know nothing about them. I had to ask three times. Turns out it was a pillow business. When I was a kid, both of my grandmothers (one of whom was a maw-maw, natch), would ask "have you et yet." No, that's not a typo and I didn't leave out the "a." That's just how they'd ask me if I'd eaten yet. My mother was from Chicago and when she moved down here was fascinated by the local greeting of "Heidi" instead of "hello."
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Post by ratscabies on Aug 27, 2016 14:27:17 GMT -4
I know you said no politicians, but I just watched James Carville on Chris Hayes' show. AWESOME Louisiana accent.
Technically, he's a campaign advisor...
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Post by chonies on Aug 27, 2016 15:47:36 GMT -4
That is an excellent suggestion! Thank you! I'll look into it.
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Post by Mugsy on Sept 5, 2016 16:34:34 GMT -4
If someone mispronounces a word, is it polite to tell them?
Yesterday, hub and his friend were talking about a strange smell in friend's car, saying, "It smells like pneumonia." I said, "You mean ammonia." And they reply, "Yeah, pneumonia."
I didn't want to belabour it, but dudes! Not the same thing! They might have been messing with me at that point.
But if it was a different circumstance, do you tell someone they're mispronouncing something to save them future embarrassment? Or do you figure most people don't notice anyway? I can't think of an example offhand, but I know there have been cases where someone in authority (a course instructor or a meeting chairperson) has grossly mispronounced, and I feel associate embarrassment for them.
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Post by Ripley on Sept 5, 2016 16:44:02 GMT -4
Well, I've had to tell TTMR a couple of times he has mispronounced a word. I try to do it later when it's just the two of us and preface it with, " I just wanted to let you know..."
I'm soon going to have to tell him he keeps mispronouncing "pedantic." He says "pendantic. The irony is not lost on me.
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mrpeanut
Landed Gentry
Posts: 543
Jun 9, 2010 15:00:08 GMT -4
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Post by mrpeanut on Sept 5, 2016 18:06:20 GMT -4
If someone mispronounces a word, is it polite to tell them? Yesterday, hub and his friend were talking about a strange smell in friend's car, saying, "It smells like pneumonia." I said, "You mean ammonia." And they reply, "Yeah, pneumonia." I didn't want to belabour it, but dudes! Not the same thing! They might have been messing with me at that point. But if it was a different circumstance, do you tell someone they're mispronouncing something to save them future embarrassment? Or do you figure most people don't notice anyway? I can't think of an example offhand, but I know there have been cases where someone in authority (a course instructor or a meeting chairperson) has grossly mispronounced, and I feel associate embarrassment for them. I think I'd probably only feel comfortable correcting my (theoretical) children or close friends who I know would sooner laugh at themselves and shrug it off rather than die from embarrassment. Most of the people in my immediate family view any correction as condescension, so I've learned not to bother (+ mispronunciation would be the least of my concerns w/ all the ignorant crap they spew).
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Post by chonies on Oct 4, 2016 19:21:59 GMT -4
Overheard and paraphrased: "if it's not longer ok to say 'oriental' for people, is it ok to say it about carpets? And if not, what do you call the carpet?"
My opinion is, No, it's probably better to work around it, and say "area rug/carpet". It's not a hard position, but it feels weird in my mouth.
Any thoughts?
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Post by ratscabies on Oct 4, 2016 20:24:58 GMT -4
Overheard and paraphrased: "if it's not longer ok to say 'oriental' for people, is it ok to say it about carpets? And if not, what do you call the carpet?" My opinion is, No, it's probably better to work around it, and say "area rug/carpet". It's not a hard position, but it feels weird in my mouth. Any thoughts? In my mind, "oriental rug" conjures those rugs that are usually a red field, with an ornate design and fringe on the edge. This description also applies to "Persian rug", a'la the magic carpet in Alladin. Though, in today's political climate, calling them "Persian rugs" might offend the wealthy white people who may have old and valuable examples of the art in their houses, cuz, you know, Sharia Law... ETA: thank you for making me think of Taylor Negron in "Standup". I love that scene!
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Post by smitten on Oct 4, 2016 20:29:29 GMT -4
It was explained to me about 15 years ago, that it was still fine to use "oriental" to describe a thing (like a rug) And that's why you don't use it to describe a person, because they aren't things. But I agree, I'm not comfortable using it either.
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