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I am a big fan of Alelou's Missing scenes (especially seaon one and three). In the last missing scenes I was struck by the use of special American expressions and proverbs by Trip. I find his expressions very amusing (and it's great to see how T'Pol responds to them), educational (most of them I never heard of them) and a great part of the stories. However, I can't help wondering: I hardly noticed in the show that Trip used a lot of typical (American) expressions (but maybe that's because I was distracted and noticed other things). So I like to hear more of Trips unique expressions from the show. Any one?

Hmm... Well I got to say I don't know he used a lot of unique Americanisms either.

Right off the top of my head I remember him telling Malcolm to "keep his shirt on" in Broken Bow, and in the episode where they visit P'Jem (can't remember name) he tells the Andorian not to "get his antennas in a twist," which is a variation of "don't get your undies in a twist." I'll look for more.

Still those expressions aren't uniquely American, at least I've never thought so. I've seen British movies with the same expressions.

Let me rephrase: typical proverbs/expressions used in the English language.

If they are coming out more often for Trip, it's not because I'm working hard to put them in there. That's just the way I grew up talking, and I figure he's from the same state I am. (And actually I tend to make him more grammatical than my family, even if we are a bunch of editors and writers -- we have some egregious Southernisms like "the lawn needs mowed" and "my hair needs cut.")

I do enjoy it when I suddenly realize that something he's said may puzzle a Vulcan. Although that happens so often, I actually ignore a lot of it, figuring by now she's been around English long enough to have learned most of it.

I remember trying to look up Jamaican slang for Kendra in "The Locum" and trying to plug some in there and ultimately deciding to remove almost all of it. If you're not comfortable using it and you don't hear it being used around you, chances are you'll use it badly. At any rate, I thought the effect was distracting and probably inappropriate from an educated woman, unless she was really, really angry or something.

Alelou wrote:If they are coming out more often for Trip, it's not because I'm working hard to put them in there. That's just the way I grew up talking, and I figure he's from the same state I am. (And actually I tend to make him more grammatical than my family, even if we are a bunch of editors and writers -- we have some egregious Southernisms like "the lawn needs mowed" and "my hair needs cut.")

Well, If you grew up in the same state as Trip, his use of English would be almost the same as yours, so if you use a certain expressions in a story it would come across naturally. That's the reason in my stories Trip hardly uses any unique expressions. I am not use to them and writing them down, feels... odd.

I don't understand just because you know a language and are fluent, that automatically means you should automatically understand phrazes like "break a leg?" I don't get it. Just because you can speak a language doesn't mean you can understand their idioms. I'd be lost in England, and I am usually lost in Prince Edward Island. Because they use different expressions. But I speak english. I live in a state of constant confusion.

Idioms have to do with what you're used to and what the people around you are used to. Every culture/language/subset has its own idioms, not nessicarily understandable by anyone else.

Random example off the top my head: when I lived in Okinawa, we all refered to the US as "The States," whereas, since coming back to the US, I've only ever heard that phrase from others who have recently come back from overseas. You can understand it regardless, but it's just a local difference. And a lot of it is context. I've lived in the south 11 years and still come across idioms that don't make the least bit of sense to me - not as often as when I first moved here, but still occassionally - though, generally, I can get the general idea of what they're trying to say. Usually.

True enough I guess. Although I still don't understand "cool beans."

I've lived in the South my entire life, and even I don't understand all the idioms I sometimes hear.

I don't think Trip uses a whole lot of them, but, then again, maybe they just don't register with me because I'm so used to them. The "keep your shirt on" thing is the only one that really comes to my mind. Actually, aside from "Broken Bow," I don't even think his southern accent is that strong. Maybe it's because that's what I'm exposed to all the time, but, then again, I hear some really strong east Texas and Arkansas accents on a regular basis. Trip's accent isn't nearly that noticeable.

I agree that his accent is not very strong. It's there. It's more like a hint. When I write his dialogue, I very rarely write his accent in. It's like he was raised in the south, but spent enough time away that his accent dropped a bit.

I have a friend that is from Mississippi. She had been in the Northwest long enough that though her accent was noticable (and adorable), it wasn't that strong. But when she moved back to Mississippi and after a few months called me... her accent was much, much stronger.

Wg, I guess it depeds on the area. When I first was in the Air Force I was wxposed to people from the South and East. Much of thier idioms thew me. A few sounded really wierd.

In England, a Cornishman, Yorkshireman cannot often understand one another all though theySpeak English. someone from Manx speaks a different brand too. the one who really stands out is a "cockney" (born in the sound of the Bow Bells) they speak a ryming tounge. It is something to hear. what you might hear in the movies isn't real Cockny. A guy like Micheal Caine can speak it because he was born a Cockny but learned to speak a far more understandable English. It is somewhat of a joke in England the different idioms spoken in different areas.

OK I realize that. But my point is just because T'Pol learned english and was around it for years, how does that mean she'd understand, all of Trip's Florida idioms.