Dialects, got to love them

GaryM · Jul 25, 2021

k0ua said:
I have been an Amateur radio operator for 50 years, and I have heard just about every version of English there is to be had out in the wide world. I can usually zero in on the various accents and the different words and phrases fairly quickly. And of course there are Europeans in various countries that speak English better than a lot of us here on this side of the pond.

Last letters of my call is GOM. I've found some Europeans have trouble with Golf Oscar Mike, so I switched to Germany Ontario Mexico.

fried1765 · Jul 25, 2021

GaryM said:
Last letters of my call is GOM. I've found some Europeans have trouble with Golf Oscar Mike, so I switched to Germany Ontario Mexico.

The Asians would likely have a problem with "Ontario".

ponytug · Jul 25, 2021

If you like the bubbler/spends/median word usage patterns, have a browse (check out/take a gander) at the Dictionary of American Regional English. Lots of fun...

There are reports that when the TVA flooded some valleys, that there were some folks who emerged speaking Shakespearean english. Apparently, they had come across the Atlantic, gone up in the hills and hadn't really interacted with outsiders for 300 years.

All the best,

Peter

bunyip · Jul 25, 2021

Took our grandmother to France, she had never been outside the UK, she was stopped by french customs asking if she had anything to declare, she became quite indignnant and wanted to know what business it was of theirs, they said that they stopped all foreigners, well, that was just too much as she pointed out that she wasn't foreign, they were, british arrogance at its best.

fried1765 · Jul 25, 2021

bunyip said:
Took our grandmother to France, she had never been outside the UK, she was stopped by french customs asking if she had anything to declare, she became quite indignnant and wanted to know what business it was of theirs, they said that they stopped all foreigners, well, that was just too much as she pointed out that she wasn't foreign, they were, british arrogance at its best.

Kinda like the old former WWII US army Sgt. going to France to visit the cemetaries at Normandy.
French immigration agent at De Gaulle airport was somewhat irate that the old Sgt. did not have his passport out for inspection.
Sgt. said he had not needed to show a passport the last time he entered France.
Agent said: Impossible, you must always show your passport to a French immigration agent.
Sgt. said: When I landed at Normandy there was not a Frenchman in sight!

Sigarms · Jul 25, 2021

fried1765 said:
Kinda like the old former WWII US army Sgt. going to France to visit the cemetaries at Normandy.
French immigration agent at De Gaulle airport was somewhat irate that the old Sgt. did not have his passport out for inspection.
Sgt. said he had not needed to show a passport the last time he entered France.
Agent said: Impossible, you must always show your passport to a French immigration agent.
Sgt. said: When I landed at Normandy there was not a Frenchman in sight!

For the record, I can only guess that's a made up story.

turnkey4099 · Jul 25, 2021

Sigarms said:
For the record, I can only guess that's a made up story.

I've heard several different versions of it.

Alien · Jul 25, 2021

Last time I was in New Zealand I laughed at the way my nieces pronounced some words. The language sounds strange to me now even though I was born there. For example Fish and chips sounds like fush and chups, Megabit sounds like Mugabit. They call a block of land a section. Many other things that confuse me now. I have been in Oz since 1976 and never have anyone asking me if I am a kiwi like they used too many years ago. In fact some friends I have had for years were surprised to learn that I was born a kiwi.

/pine · Jul 25, 2021

The part I remember always hearing about is the frenchman thanking the Brit or the American that he was not speaking German...!

Sigarms · Jul 25, 2021

turnkey4099 said:
I've heard several different versions of it.

I call internet myth on all the versions.

1 - Don't blame the soldier for the governments action, lack of action or strategy. I get the fact that we bust on the French, but it wasn't the French soldier, but the French government.

2 - I'd be willing to wager that the people in France probably reconize the US soldier more on their own soil than Americans reconize their soldiers who fought during the same time frame on our soil. We've never had an invader on our soil, in part due to geography. People tend to forget that the French were and are still very grateful for the help they recieved during WW2.

Per the original story of a veteran being asked for his passport when he was going to visit Normandy, it's a very simple story to knock the French.

That said, I did find this story from 6 years ago...