I don't know, Steve. Martin Luther King was easy to understand, but Jesse Jackson often seems to make up words as he goes along. I have heard him take parts of different words to make up his own. I suppose he thinks it makes him sound intelligent. There are slang words in every part of the country. What is "pop" anyway? Is it supposed to explode? :lol: We call soft drinks Coke. Even a Pepsi is a Coke. And I am not talking about the kind you snort. Well, I suppose the bubbles could get up your nose. :wink: Steve, there are different dialects within regions. North Georgia has a different dialect than South Georgia. The same with Maine or Massachusetts. And what language do they speak in New York? :roll: There are different dialects from Queens to Brooklyn. Upstate has a different dialect than down state or the City. And you will find some Southerner's who will put it on rather thick when dealing with some from the North. Just don't let yourself get too excited about it. They probably have as difficult time understanding you as you do them. :wink:

 

Well That was a typo. Sorry...

 

Living in NH 12 years I used that to my advantage many, many times... :wink:

I realized it wasn't my imagination that some think Southerners are a little slow when I had a supervisor that always seemed to give me a hard time get nose to nose with me once and tell me he didn't like me because I was from the South...

After the initial shock that this guy was 100% serious wore off...I could only laugh in his face.

 

Once again I'll reiterate. I'm not talking about accents or the south. I'm talking about every single state including Mass and NH where I'm from. I do not say ca for car or pak for park. Those are all regional words made up. You can tune in any radio station or TV station from any state in the U.S. and understand them. That's because they speak English and NOT made up words.

That girl said to me, "jewwannaeye". It was one word. When she wrote it down it said, "do you want a thigh" WTF

Every school in every state taught everyone the same. Gman, your from the south, have an accent BUT speak perfect English.

 

Eh'd loch tae see ye butt sniffin' Yanks try tae make fin ay Gardener Willy. It's ye Yanks 'at dornt ken hoo tae gab. Heel, Ah cannae kin a damn wuid ye ur sayin', half th' time. Ye gang aheid an' try tae gab ower mah heed will ye...ain i'll knock ye doon a peg ur tois, jist ye try it......hoike...spit....Ya mucker ay a Hog.

 

Reminds me of a funny story. A nurse I worked with ask me if there was a place called " Revco Bangles". Proplexed, I went and ask the lady myself. She wanted her prescription called into the " Revco BY (beside) Ingles( grocrey store ).

 

Not trying to sound racist but that sounds like a black person talking there. Not all but a few. But I feel that what Steve talking about a FEW, Not all, but stating it to sound as meaning All. Least that how it sounded like to me.

Alot of the blacks around home you have to listen carefully to see what they are trying to say, but as GMAN said all pending where you are.

Maybe I am just getting tired of the Southern Redneck Jokes if your from the South your nothing but a Redneck, Non english speaking hick. That called Stereo Typing. I do have a hard time people understanding me at times, but that's not cause I am from the south, but I do have a speach inperment. But that does not mean I am stupid or Dumb. Just means I can not pronouce some words correctly.

Steve, you or one other mention going to Wendy's and had a hard time understanding you there, I had the same problem in Portsmouth, NH at a MacDonalds. But it was not just me, my 1st Wife went there later on and they could not understand her either.

So what you were complaining about the south, again I can say about the north.The west or where ever. But the South does get the Hick treatments.

But I guess We Guys from south of the Mason Dixie Line is nutin but RedNeck any Wazzzzzzzz So Ya'll Commeeee Bacckkkk Nowwwwwww, youzz hearrrrrrr..

But if we said something like "Those Dang Yankees" We would be said we're trying to start the Civil War over again.

 

No, not at all. It is more of a "mountain" southern drawl. And not all of us around here talk that way. Just a few family's have that certain "twang". We actually have < 3% black population here. I knew of the lady and her "people" and they all lacked formal schooling to a degree. They just learned to talk like they heard their parents talk. A lot of run-on words, if you would.


Ridge

 

No bad, no bad it aal bonny lad....Ken?

 

In my position, I talk to many drivers that don't have a full grasp of the English language. In fact, comparing today to the way things were 5 years ago, the influx of non-American's into the trucking industry is absolutely unreal. That leaves me in one of two camps, depending on the driver.

On one hand, I'll get someone that is difficult to understand and will tell them right up front to bear with me, I might have to ask them to repeat themselves. In many cases, the driver is unfailingly polite and we'll get through the Q&A OK. I have no issues with that and I commend those drivers that are trying.

Then there are those complete lazy-ass buttheads like this morning that calls me up, barely speaks the language, and makes it abundantly clear that it's my fault that I can't understand him.

{rant on: a moderator comes unglued}

Here's my non-politically correct take on the whole thing. If you're going to enter this country and make absolutely no attempt to become PART of this country, learn the language and the customs, then I will have nothing but bucketloads of contempt for you.

This is America. We speak English, sometimes rather badly, but we still speak it. I don't give a good gol'damn what you speak around the house or with others from the same point of origin. But when you speak to me or to the fuel attendant or the waitress or the hot dog vendor or the bank teller or who the hell ever, either speak the language or run your little rear end back home and pick up a copy of Rosetta Stone. Here, the burden of effective communication is on YOU and no one else.

My wife speaks a bit of Spanish, my daughter speaks it well. My in-laws speak it rather fluently. I won't do it. Why? Because when I decide to take the time to learn a foreign language, it'll be because I want to do it for me and no one else and it'll probably be some obscure language like Tibetian monk or ancient Egyptian. It damn well won't be because I have to learn it to communicate with a growing segment of the population. I learned my language and I keep my happy little ass here at home.

If I ever decide to visit a foreign country, I will absolutely take the time to learn the basics of the language and have a little translation dictionary with me. If I ever decided to actually move to a different country, you better believe I would take a lot more time and learn the language well before I went. Why? Because that's the expectation and also the considerate thing to do. The burden of communication would be on me, since I would be the visitor, permanent or temporary. What really chaps my ass is when people think it's different if they come to this country.

{rant off}

There, I feel better.