Asso wrote:My friends, I find this discussion about Trip's accent VERY, VERY, VERY, interesting.
That, not because I would draw some inspiration from all that (Never I will be capable of doing such a difficult thing), but because this notifies me of the subtle nuances of differences Americans have even in their pronunciation. It's good to touch with a living hand how much extended your country is. Sometimes, here, in Europe (and signally in Italy, which is a very small country), we tend to perceive Americans simply as Americans, forgetting the great quantity of differences that they can have.
Yeah, I can personally think of at least five Canadian accents, and at least 5 or 6 American ones too. There are
several that belong just to New York. And I can hardly understand anyone from Newfoundland.
I used to amuse myself when I worked in a Shopper's Drug Mart in downtown Victoria, BC (quite a u.s. tourist hotspot) by trying to guess which customers were American vs Canadian by their accent, speech, hairstyle, sunglasses......and then I would know whether or not I was right depending on whether they pulled out a Canadian credit card or a US one (or more likely, a fat wallet with $35,000 in Amex travellers cheques just a-crammed in there...what IS it with you guys and the travellers cheques???
) It was a fun game.
And somehow, even though we are each others' brothers, and most of the world lumps us all together as north americans, I could tell with like 95% accuracy when I was ringing in a visiting American. And not always the accent either. Something is different about...like, the way the middle aged women do their hair, and the kind of sunglasses they wear. The 40+ women give it off somehow, this vibe that can be detected. Nothing good or bad, mind you....just this infinitesimal
difference. And then boom: they open their purse and there's the Amex cheques. Two inches of em.
^ true story
Also when I worked at the pharmacy counter, every single day we'd get 2 to 20 different US visitors coming up and asking what was "the most codeine they could buy and take back over the border". And then they'd buy, like 15 bottles of the stuff. I guess it's all prescribed and expensive over there. I always felt bad for them, anxiously trying to stockpile enough pain meds to last a while at home.