Wherein we ask each other dialect questions we don't quite understand

[Morrus]

Watch for the long vowels. Pronouncing "about" as "aboot" is a dead giveaway for most Canadians I've met.

I'm not able to hear the difference - you all have long vowels compared to me! Probably the same way @Bullgrit can't hear the difference between English and Welsh. We're simply not used to the accents enough to hear the fine-tuning which seems obvious to locals.

Outside of Val-speak (like, fer sure, no way!) I'm not familiar with a California accent, and I'm a native (southern) Californian -- curious what people identify as a California accent.

I don't think I could pick one out. It would just be "generic strong American accent" to me. Really, it's just the Southern drawl and the Noo Yoik accents that I can pick out; the rest all sounds the same. Just like you probably can't distinguish between a Yorkshire and a West Country accent, or a Geordie and a Cockney accent.

In English English (British English? UK English? Who owns English?) it's the mixed common terms that get me. The pants-trousers divide is particularly humorous; chips-crisps has caused me frustration; I never know what I'm getting if offered a biscuit; and corn-maize has me downright bumfoozled.

Don't worry; it works both ways!

 

[Scott DeWar]

In English English (British English? UK English? Who owns English?) it's the mixed common terms that get me. The pants-trousers divide is particularly humorous;

Don't forget slacks and jeans

 

[Morrus]

Don't forget slacks and jeans

They're two different things. They mean the same in both dialects - jeans are those denim things made by Levis and the like, while slacks are (a fairly old-fashioned term for) loose trousers. I don't imagine the term's been used since, say, WW2!

 

[Scott DeWar]

ah hush! I'm trying to a bit o fun there!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

It might be a shorter list to focus on things that are the same in all dialects!

Do any of these other outer leg coverings in American English become unmentionables in British English? Pants, trousers, slacks, jeans, knickers, bloomers, chaps, shorts, capris, khakis ... (I hear the phrase "Don't get your knickers in a twist" in the US, but that saying makes more sense in the British interpretation of knickers than in the US one, where knickers are knee-length short pants, cf: knickerbockers.)

I notice "pants" redirects to "trousers" in Wikipedia, so it appears the Brits have won this round.

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I need to find an episode of "Law and Order UK". Being familiar with the US version, it's fascinating the differences that arise from the same procedural model applied to a different justice system, especially when overlaid with the UK-specific language (and robes and wigs in court, but I digress). I suspect if there are Brits who have watched the UK version and then seen the US they might be equally boggled.

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Re: California accent. There is a particular cadence. I can't put my finger on it though.

Sandy Eggo, dude!

The rest of the English speaking world does understand that Bill and Ted are parodies of Californians, right?

 

[Scott DeWar]

Sandy Eggo, dude!

The rest of the English speaking world does understand that Bill and Ted are parodies of Californians, right?

Like totally dude!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The rest of the English speaking world does understand that Bill and Ted are parodies of Californians, right?

No they aren't!

 

[Tonguez]

I'm not able to hear the difference - you all have long vowels compared to me! Probably the same way @Bullgrit can't hear the difference between English and Welsh. We're simply not used to the accents enough to hear the fine-tuning which seems obvious to locals.

At University I had a party trick of identifying where girls were from by their accents so I trained my ear and was even able to identify about 5 New Zealand regional accents and even a rural-urban divide, although thats disappearing now.

Strangely enough I find that northern US accents are more neutral than Canadian, although Canadians aren't as distinct as US comedy implies.. I do hear the California valley accent and the Compton accent, New York of course and then theres Texan and a few others.

The UK has a huge range of accents and some of them don't even sound like English Central London has distinct drawl and I can distinguish a Glaswegian, Cockney, Geordie, Preston*, Cornish accents too.

*My grandfathers from Preston

 

[Bullgrit]

Something to keep in mind about the American accent(s): "General American" is what most people hear in American media. And many/most celebrities hide their natural accent, or at least try to sound more "general", unless they are specifically portraying someone with a particular accent. So as a result, in most American media, where most Americans and non-Americans hear American English, (outside their own local dialect), American English sounds sort of "accent neutral" to Americans.

And since I've used the word "American" so many times in this post, I feel I should post this:

Bullgrit

 

[delericho]

Who owns English?

The Queen. Though the rest of us get to use it under an Open Language License. Efforts to revoke said license have failed, although one guy did suggest transferring the copyrights to Mexico...