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15885. Magoseph - 7/19/2005 2:01:51 AM mags, re dog training, the other thing I learned was to preface every command for the dog with the dog's name so they know you're talking to them. We forget how much chatter they hear and they can't be sure when you mean them.
Great advice, thoughtful, thanks much! 15886. Magoseph - 7/19/2005 2:16:18 AM The very old Frenchman we met Sunday invited us today for lunch—he wanted us to meet a friend of his who knows about real estate and finance. So Flexy was in his splendor having an animated conversation about subjects he loves to talk about while the Frenchman grilled me about my life in this country, This man has spent his life here and in France since he retired. One of his granddaughters wants to emigrate here hence his interest in what I had to say. 15887. Macnas - 7/19/2005 9:52:44 AM You don't want to hear me speak in my local tongue Arky & Ms.No, it'd kill you.
It's said that here in Cork we use a lot of Elizabethan english, especially in the way we structure our sentences. Not knowing a damn thing about Elizabethan english I'm hanged if I can give you a proper example. But I'll try and give you some of the more common oddities:
"I took my lunch to the park"
I brang me lunch to the park
"On the way there, I saw Dave"
And I going there, I see's Dave
"He had his lunch with him too"
He had his lunch and all
I said to him 'is there tea in that flask?'
I says to him 'is that a flask of tay?'
"He looked a bit sick, so I asked him what was the matter"
He was looking poorly, so I asks what ails him
"He said he was feeling fine, just tired from being out the night before"
He says he's grand, only knackered from being on the batter last night
"I asked him if he would go for a drink tonight, but he said "you must be joking!""
I asks him if he'll come out for a few later on, and he says "I will in my eye"
15888. Magoseph - 7/19/2005 11:33:13 AM I remember something like that and I found it, Mac.
To express your disbelief at what someone is telling you, use your index finger to pull down the skin under your eye and say, "Mon oeil“. This is equivalent to the English expression "My foot!"M/i>
15889. Ms. No - 7/19/2005 5:21:47 PM Mac,
Oddly enough much of that sounds very Southern. Just for a comparison:
I brang me lunch to the park
I brung my lunch to the park
And I going there, I see's Dave
On the way I sees Dave
He had his lunch and all
He had his lunch an' all
I says to him 'is that a flask of tay?'
I says to him 'that tea in your jar?'
He was looking poorly, so I asks what ails him
He's looking poorly so I asks what ails him
He says he's grand, only knackered from being on the batter last night He says he's fine just plumb wore out from last night.
I asks him if he'll come out for a few later on, and he says "I will in my eye"
I asks him if he'll come out for a few later on and he says 'In a pig's eye'
A friend of mine here in LA is from Cork and was telling me how much the accents there vary. She hardly has any at all and yet the people across the street from her are nearly impossible to understand.
I love listening to her and her husband talk and catching the little oddities -- she's much harder to catch than him. He's from Jamaica via NYC and has been living in LA for more than 10 years. He left Jamaica when he was 12 so I only hear that in his speech if he's had a LOT to drink. Caroline -- his wife -- doesn't even notice it. She's only been here in the States for about 3 years, but even when I first met her she didn't have much accent. 15890. Ms. No - 7/19/2005 5:22:12 PM toys
toys? 15891. Magoseph - 7/19/2005 5:37:24 PM Sorry for not picking up my toys, Ms. No--by the way, I put some pictures from my son of his "Lake Room" in The Good Life thread. Things at this are moving along nicely. 15892. Ms. No - 7/19/2005 5:45:23 PM Oh goody! I'll go look! 15893. arkymalarky - 7/19/2005 10:56:41 PM I was thinking the same thing about how Southern those lines sounded, before I got down to your posts, MsNo. Good job of showing just how similar they are. 15894. arkymalarky - 7/19/2005 10:59:02 PM I have a Swiss friend whose first language was German, and she didn't start speaking English until she moved to America at 16. I talked to her on the phone a few months ago, and I would never have guessed who she was. She'd completely lost any detectable accent. I was amazed. The last time I'd visited with her, just a few years before, she still had a mild accent. 15895. Magoseph - 7/19/2005 11:14:59 PM Germans are good at leaning languages, Arky, but your friend is obviously very gifted if she can be taken for an American. Most people who learn a language after puberty almost invariably have an accent, although it can be very slight, or rather heavy as it is in my case. 15896. arkymalarky - 7/20/2005 2:15:06 AM That's what I always thought, and it's the way she was for all the years she lived here. She called and had to tell me who she was, and I was still incredulous for a few minutes, thinking maybe another friend was teasing me or something. 15897. Macnas - 7/20/2005 10:14:05 AM Mago
Isn't that interesting? Similar phrase and meaning.
Ms.No
I never thought of the language of the American south being so similar.
Maybe it's due to all those Scots and Irish? Most of the odd word structure is a direct result of the use of Irish/Gaelic language grammar being directly translated and carried through when formulising sentences. For instance, if I were to say "I said" in Irish, it would be "duirt me", with duirt (doo-ert) being 'to say', and "me" (may) being 'I', hence "says I".
I know that in music, particularly some bluegrass and oldtime, I can pick out similar tunes and constructs to our own folk music here.
15898. Ms. No - 7/20/2005 5:34:58 PM Mac,
Yes, the Celtic influence is very strong in the American South particularly in the mountains of Western Carolina and Virginia and over the border into Tennessee. Bluegrass is very much a descendant of Irish and Scottish folk music.
When I was in Scotland my friend drove us up into the Trossachs National Park and I was struck by how much it reminded me of the Blue Ridge mountains. Even much of the drive along Loch Ness near Urquhart Castle made me think of Carolina. It was easy to see why Scottish immigrants would have settled so heavily in the Blue Ridge --- it's very similar terrain although I don't imagine creeks and rivers much compensated for the derth of lochs. 15899. Magoseph - 7/21/2005 5:19:49 PM Hello, everyone!
This morning, I go outside with Butch and going down the stairs, I hear a commotion and a baby bird lands on my head while several robins hover around me, screeching horribly. I freeze when I see the baby bird at my feet and I go back in a hurry in the house dragging Butch by his choker collar. No sooner I recompose myself, a visitor we expect is at the front door rapping on the screen—by the time I come to him, Butch, barking madly through the screen at his little boy, scares the kid so much that he falls backward down the stairs where he lands on his bottom sobbing.
The man and the boy leave with Flexy for the real estate office where a deal is to be signed finally for a piece of land that has been an object of contention between neighbors, each wanting it, but each haggling about the price. A little while later, a car is in the driveway and Butch is barking so fiercely that I have to lock him in the basement while I talk to an angry man who demands to know where Flexy is, saying “I’m the oldest resident and I should be the one who gets the property”. “Are you ready to pay 25% more than you offered”, I say to him. Not saying a word, he gets in his car and while driving away, manages to go over my perennials.
Half an hour later, it is suddenly very dark and a torrential rain comes down hard while the thunder and lightning seem to be overhead and I decide to close the porch windows and who do I see crouched over the broken perennials?--the angry man repairing his deed. Well, since Butch is downstairs, I invite the man in for a cup of coffee and some dry times. Bad idea, the next hour is spent listening to 30 years of grief of this man’s life. Flexy comes back and takes over the man’s saga and I am talking to you about this before I go for a well-deserved nap.
15900. Ms. No - 7/21/2005 7:07:48 PM What an eventful morning, Mags!
It was good of the man to fix the damage to your flowerbed. I know people get frustrated and lash out in anger but I always think more of them when they can be truly contrite about their actions. Sorry you got stuck listening to his laments, though! ;-> 15901. Magoseph - 7/21/2005 8:51:11 PM You know, Ms. No, I never cease to wonder at the fact that I can mind my business and the world comes over and destroys the peace in a few incidents that seem to follow in quick succession.
It always happens when I have made plans for the day after thoughtful reflections. No sooner am I in the middle of a project and making serious progress, the circus starts and when it is over, I am left with a mess I cannot possibly face because I am too exhausted. 15902. Macnas - 7/21/2005 9:03:24 PM You need to refine your curmudgeon technique.
I hate working late. 15903. arkymalarky - 7/21/2005 9:16:40 PM Dadgum, what a morning, Mags! 15904. Ms. No - 7/21/2005 9:36:42 PM Ah, the curmudgeon technique! I need to work on that myself --- actually, of late, I think I may be finally ready to fully commit to my curmudgeonly tendencies.
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