Accentuation

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between


I don't know who "Mister In-Between" might be but I have always loved accents. I think I mentioned this before... It may have something to do with my having lived in several different regions of the country and been exposed to a number of accents. It may have something to do with living in a tourist mecca (south Florida) and, thus, being exposed to a number of accents. It may have something to do with my stint in the Navy and its exposing me to a number of accents.

One of my favorite memories is of a Japanese bar girl singing "You Don't Have To Say You love Me" (a Dusty Springfield hit of the time) whose words were:

You don't have to say you love me
Just be close at hand
You don't have to stay forever
I will understand

But these words came out as

"You no haffu say you ruv me juss be crose a han

You no haffu stay f'evah I rill unnastan"

I fell in love with her and overlooked her ability to drink me under the table and her ability to cuss like a lifer bos'n mate. I mean, who wouldn't?

Then there was the first class petty officer bos'n's mate ("Boats" to one and all) who would tell us our duties for the day at "quarters" and have the second class petty officer bos'n's mate interpret. You see, Boats was from the Lousiana and spoke a language no one quite understood (except the 2nd class guy). It was that lingering French influence that tainted his speech.

Nothing quite says sweet and pliant like the nice southern (or should I say "Suthun"?) drawl of a young lady from the south. The English accent says "calm and reserved", German accents say "precise and careful", and Russian ones say "We will bury you!"