Accents

[tygati]

Heh. So, today I had to cashier, which I despise, but okay, whatever. About halfway through the day this guy comes through my register and I ring him up and he tells me it's on an in-store charge account. Okay, no problem. The account name is Line-something. Only, it's not coming up. I try again. Nope. I have him spell it. L-I-N-E. Nadda. Finally, he watches as I type and corrects me: "No, not I. I." >.> I am confused. Type it again. Nope. Finally manage to figure out that what he means is LANE, which is the county we're in. Boggle.

Thirty seconds later, I have a new problem. The system is asking for the customer's P.O. number. Here we go again. The guy tells me 'Wine' to the best I can figure. He watches as I type. No no, not wine, W-I-Y-N-E. >.> Huh? Not I, I! .... Oh! Right. I = A in accent land. It's Wayne. Which is apparently the guy's name.

Most embarrassing of all? I asked about his accent, and it's Australian! Which I ordinarily have no problem with and generally drool over, but this was like... the clipped, British version of Aussie drawl. Which now makes me wonder how many regional dialects Australia has and what Flamebyrd sounds like. ^^;;

Comments

[aggybird.livejournal.com]

You followed him out to the car and kidnapped him later, right? Tell me you didn't let the opportunity go to waste!

[amatsubu.livejournal.com]

So...does that make his name Wayne Lane? *LOL*

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*laugh* No. A lot of companies around here start with Lane. Lane Enterprises, Lane Sheetmetal, Lane Plumbing... that sort of Lane-somethings. ^^; But a lot of employees for companies use their names as POs for the company's bookkeeping.

[theotherdibbler.livejournal.com]

Which now makes me wonder how many regional dialects Australia has
Three, but they're not all that regional. I personally call them High, Standard and Broad. High is most likely what the guy was speaking, that's the more British sounding one, where the vowels are pronounced differently (eg 'Grant' would be pronounced to rhyme with the Aussie proninciation of 'aunt', like 'Grahnt', rather than 'ant', which is flatter and more typical). Standard is what the majority of Aussies speak and Broad is, well, broader, like Crocodile Dundee, and makes you sound comparitively uneducated, even if you're not.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Iiiinteresting. >.> I wonder which one my yummy flight attendant was speaking so many years ago that made me fall hard and fast for the awesomeness that is Aussie accents... ^^

Definitely not 'High' cause wow is that ever hard to make out. ^^;

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

I rarely have a problem with Aussie accents (at least so far) but some of the American ones throw me off sometimes.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Heh. Some of the American ones throw me sometimes. ^^;

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Does it ever get easier?

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Not really, no. ^^;

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

Aww. :/ *hugs*

[zeffy-amethyst.livejournal.com]

I dunno if it's different from the rest of the country, but most people in know in Queensland divide it into: city, country, and bogan.

City's probably the equivalent of the accent you heard. Country's...earthier and looser in its pronounciation. Bogan's the uneducated one.

[zeffy-amethyst.livejournal.com]

...*I know

[flamebyrd]

Give me some text and I'll read it out loud for you and record it. XD

I can't even imagine how one could make an 'ay' sound like a US-style 'i', though. *scratches head*

I mentioned this to Alex and he gave a very convincing demonstration of how it might have happened, so I get it now! Accents are funny things.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Hee. <3 Thank you, Alex! Man that was weird on my brain. *nod*

Hmm... read the first paragraph or three of something you've written? ^__^

[kalldoro.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I live in a country where everyone speaks the same way...no dialects and accents are minimal (practically non-existent).

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Benefits to a small country that isn't spread out everywhere? ^^;;

>.> Then again, England has like, a bazillion accents and it's just one tiny island...