The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Friday, September 26, 2014

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!"
 
 

2 comments:

Vagabonde said...

I like some accents too – I like the way people from Africa speak French, but in reverse I just don’t like my French accent. I have lived in this country for so long, but still people always ask me where I am from because of my accent. So I tell them I am from Georgia, they laugh and say – no way, where are you from? If I call someone they immediately know who it is – I can never make a joke because they know it’s me because of my dreaded French accent. I heard my accent many times on cassettes and I think it is not nice at all and wished I could get rid of it, but I just can’t. When I speak to strangers it gets worse – I know it, I can hear it, but I can’t stop it.

Douglas said...

I have added your bog to the blog roll. Fascinating perspective. As to your accent, many men I know (and knew) would have likely fallen for you just because of it.