#i love his american 'r' pronunciation

[cosmogyros]

.

[intersexcat-tboy]

Queer Black artist of the day

Dreamer Isioma is a non binary Nigerian-American singer-song writer!

Here is a video (tiktok link) of the pronunciation if needed, and the official website can be accessed here (link)

His music can be considered as having: contemporary R&B, Afrobeats, hip-hop, jazz, lo-fi bedroom pop, indie rock, and funk influences! They are based in Chicago, Illinois

Some of my favourite songs include: Crying In The Club, Stop Calling The Police On Me, and Love & Rage

I will be randomly uploading small artists that I randomly remember are part of, and sometimes write about their, marginalizations! Starting with him bc they're nearly over my personal bar of "smaller" (under 1 mil)

[athing4actors]

Cherry|R. Cameron

Summary: There’s a new European girl on the island.

warnings!: black!reader X rafe cameron, cursing, reader has an accent, reader’s first time in the states

“Kids!”

The Cameron’s hear their dad’s voice echo through their large house as they get ready for an important event.

The three children make their way to the main room.

“Yeah?” Sarah speaks as Wheezie, her younger sister, and Rafe, her older brother, follow behind her.

“Our neighbors have a guest” Rose says “Ok? What’s that gotta do with me?” Rafe scoffs

She ignores his attitude.

“It’s their niece and she’s new to the island, so be nice” Rose warns “That’s it? Why would we be rude” Sarah chuckles “The message was more so for Rafe” Ward sighs

The families make it to said important event which was held annually, as Sarah broke off to go find her friends (friends that Rafe and most kooks hated) and Wheezie stayed glued to their father’s hip, Rafe went to find his two best friends.

On his short journey across the nicely decorated ball room he ran into a rather small figure.

“Ow! What the hell!” Rafe backed up to make sure his suit was untouched with stains and other debris

The person, which he noticed was a short girl, did not speak.

Rafe thought she was cute—her chocolate skin, big curly hair that fit her perfectly , the white thigh length dress she chose to wear which was sort of asymmetrical towards the end and had a low cut at her chest, and her white kitten heels matched perfectly.

“What? Can’t speak?” Rafe bitterly said

The girl began to stutter “Je suis désolé!” The girl frantically apologizes with her French accent that reminded Rafe a lot of Lily-Rose Depp

“What?” He pondered “Is that what sorry means? Listen I don’t have time for your bullshit” He sounds fed up and begins walking away “Wait!” The mystery girl with the French accent reached for his bicep, which did not fail to stop Rafe in his tracks

“I’m new! My name is y/n DuPont, I moved here from France” She explains “I just didn’t know the English word to apologize to you! I’m mostly fluent!” She frantically explained as though she was frightened of Rafe

“I’m not gonna kill you, I’m Rafe” Rafe assured her “Right?” She gave a confused nod “So France hun?” He sniffled as she nodded

“Like Mon Cherry and shit like that” Rafe sat at the nearest chair “Mon chérie? It means darling” She corrected “Ok, Cherry” Rafe sighs “Chérie” she corrects his butchered pronunciation “I like Cherry better” he smirks before rising from his chair and returning to his mini quest to find his friends

Towards the end of the night the families are all preparing to leave.

“Kids!” The Cameron children hear their father call for them and they appear one by one

“This is Mr. and Mrs. DuPont’s guest, their niece, y/n” Ward introduces “Cherry? You’re the DuPont’s niece?” Rafe asked with a dazed look to which she nods “You two met?” Wheezie asks “Apparently, and he gave her a nickname” Sarah gags “I’m Sarah! We should hang out sometime” The kind blonde offered

“Sure!” Y/n’s accented voice happily accepted the invitation “yeah totally! Let’s hang” Rafe nodded “that didn’t include you” Sarah scoffed at her older brother’s advances and began to leave with Wheezie following

“I’d love to “hang” Rafe” Y/n giggles

Rafe liked that he could make her giggle. He liked it a lot.

“Really, Cherry” Rafe smirked as she nodded “good girl” he accepts

Y/n giggles and makes her escape to her uncles car “Cherry” I whispers her new nickname

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hey- don't get mad, but I (kinda) didn't listen to your advice and a few things fucked (as expected) but I listened it halfly- like it doesn't matter rn but thank youuu, it helped

Btw it's Czesław.

I decided to listen to you and not change my name, because I love it and the name was given by my sister (who died when I was 14) anyway, I decided Americans are not worth it. Anyway, you looking it up to pronounce it right literally made me so happy, thank you (yes the pronunciation is correct, and sorry for the late update I wasn't planning on updating originally)

But I added a name, (Olive bc I realized I can name myself anything bc America is not strict on this topic, like what? You can name yourself after olive??? I chose it because it's funny in my language. It's like I named myself cheese or something, anyway.)

Then my Friend was like, "האם אתה טיפש" (it means are you dumb or something like that) so I added an r and made it Oliver- anyway, now I have 2 names- which was weird at first but still.

Then I learned it's a common name for trans people because when I told my name to a coworker she was like, are you trans???? And I didn't know it was common to change your name to Oliver- it's not a bad name at least, but Elijah was nice too.

Anyway x3, so I decided I don't like Americans much (no offense to you I love you xoxo) because I didn't want to change or add a new name much, but they were being rude and annoying, so I just gave up, it doesn't worth to correct them, i am tired. They Still struggle with my surname and first name, but it got easier now. And thanks for saying I shouldn't change my name for them, it helps when someone from us says that- it feels more real if it makes sense.

Thank you for your advice and sorry for the late update! And it isn't anything related but I got a boyfriend! And his name starts with 'cas'- so, fun coincidence for me!

I am still in the closet btw. and he is pretty!!!

Hi!

Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything lol.

And I'm not about what you said about Americans...a lot of us suck, ngl. I'm glad you're doing what's best for you <3

Congrats on your boyfriend! If you ever need to vent about shitty americans, feel free to use my inbox!

[my-pjo-stuff]

Hey I saw your south german-american Thalia and Jason grace post and I wanted to ask if you had any more headcanons around it? I've always loved the German American Grace family headcanons but there's not a lot of content with it

(btw I'm not German but I find it really cool)

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoy the headcanons ^^ Now to be quite honest, I don't really have much more on them. Mostly because at this point I prefer my german-american Luke headcanon. Though if I had to come up a few it's probably just a lot of angst from Jason. I mean...Thalia at least had some time to know her german side. She knows the basics of the culture and speaks the language. The "Servus" from the original post for example being a friendly greeting in south Germany which I think she would use. But Jason? He may aswell not be German at all. Besides some light language tics like a hard "R" or throaty "such" he has nothing. Not even his own name remains as it was supposed to be, having been changed to the English pronunciation. He's Roman, not German. And I think that would so, so tragic. Especially on top with his whole identity issues caused by the amnesia. Just imagine having to find out that not only did you lose your memories, but you also had a whole facet of your identity stolen from you. Thalia would be fine if she got dropped in Germany tomorrow, Jason would be completely lost. He doesn't even know the language. Just imagine Jason finding out he's partially German and attempting to learn it, only to fail horribly. German is a complicated language and frankly said, a torture to learn (if the tales of my friends with German as a second language). Or Jason trying to somehow connect to the culture only to find himself as a complete loss. German culture is multifaceted and very catholic in the south. Someone raised at CJ would probably have his troubles really understanding it. And this isn't even mentioning that in the very old traditions and communities, Jason most certainly would feel like an outsider. Would be an outsider, considering how most people would have partaken and been in these communities ever since they were born.

[neptunerunaway]

Alastor's Accents & Linguistic Analysis

I love linguistics and I ended up getting really fixated on Alastor's accent so here's an analysis I cooked up

In the series, Alastor speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent, also known as a transatlantic accent. It is a blend of English that seeks to blend American and British (specifically Received Pronunciation) accents. This accent was mainly used by two groups of people. 1) the wealthy, upper-class, who often learned to use it in private preparatory schools. And 2) entertainers.

(It was also commonly used to teach non-native English speakers)

This accent was very commonly used in the entertainment industry in films, theater productions, and radio broadcasts, which explains why Alastor would use it.

(It's not that important, but while listening to the character, I noticed that the pilot va and the series va have slight variations of the accent. Particularly, pilot Alastor avoids the rhotic r sound almost completely, while series Alastor only occasionally cuts the rhotic r, so you hear them a lot more.

If you want to hear it, listen to the words than end in -r. Can you actually hear the r sound or is it a vowel that implies an r?)

The thing about a Mid-Atlantic accent though, is that it is a learned accent that speakers need to be trained in. No one used it natively except maybe those raised in the wealthy elite.

(I have a slight fascination with accent training bc I'm from an area that has an accent that people train to use. Newscasters used to be sent here in order to learn the accent)

So Alastor would not have grown up using that accent, but rather had to learn it for his job as a radio host. He may have taken to using it in everyday life as an adult, but we can't be sure.

So what is his natural accent? We can't be 100% certain, but we can take a guess, so lets' look at the facts we have about his life.

We know he was born and raised in New Orleans and he's 'mixed race Creole' which narrows it down quite a bit. Now, New Orleans is actually quite linguistically diverse, but to untrained ears (myself) they sound very similar. Here's a video about a few of the accents:

So there it is, that is possibly the accent Alastor would naturally have. Of course, there are a few other factors to consider, such as the time period, but I'm not sifting through research papers to figure out if there were any distinct differences.

As I leave us here, let me say that I am in no means an expert in anything I talk about here, I am merely someone who really enjoys languages and linguistics and all notes here are from an amateurs observations.

[khalidistan]

something interesting I noticed is that 42-miles pronounces morales w a rolled R whereas our miles introduces himself with an american pronunciation. I wonder if 42's dad died when he was much younger, meaning rio has a much bigger influence on his life 🤔

in general the use of english vs spanish as a means of familiarity vs distance is so interesting in atsv. we know miles isn't proficient in spanish, but gives bendiciónes to his mother to apologize to / comfort her and greets miguel w "qué tal, tío!" to get on his good side.

we also see that conflict precipitates use of the english language like "eso no es my fault!" "tu estas tomando la clase en spanglish!" and "dame un break." "is that spanglish?" I love that atsv places miles's latin heritage front-and-center and that atsv explores his relationship with rio more deeply 🥺

[uc1wa]

Ok, so, it's the middle of the night and I have some thoughts about the beauty of accents that I need to share, this is probably be ranty and unnecessarily long so bear with me (or don't it's your blog, right!)

I'm Canadian but i listen to this band from Japan and I have for 17ish years, the lead singer sometimes sings in English and I love his accent. Most of the time he sings clearly and I can understand what he is saying even if he pronounced something incorrectly and sometimes I can't because it's a metal band and I probably wouldn't fully understand without reading the lyrics even if he didn't have an accent.

So, while listening to them tonight it got me thinking about accents, like jjk happens in Japan so obviously they would speak Japanese, I watch in English because I don't know Japanese, but I was wondering what Geto, gojo, and the rest of them actually speaking English would sound like. Obviously they wouldn't sound like the English VAs.

Accents tell you so much about a person that most people don't even realize. More than just where they are from. Accents come from languages having different sounds and different cadence in speaking. For example, there is no "L" or "th" sound in most Asian languages. So those are difficult sounds to make when learning english. Like, the singer in the band I listen to sings a line in English "gasp for breath" but it sounds like "gasp for bress." If you pay attention to where your tongue is in your mouth when you make a "th" sound compared to a "ss" sound it's not very different but if you didn't grow up moving your tongue that way or haven't specifically been told where to put your tongue you're not going to make the sound like a native speaker. Same with the "L" sound coming out as an "R" sound, very minor differences in tongue position. And to be fair even if you know where to put your tongue and have a minimal accent, if you speak too quickly you'll naturally go back to moving your tongue the way your muscles are used to and your accent will come back. On the flip side Swedish uses almost the exact same set of sounds as English so while learning either language is still a difficult task, pronunciation isn't and when most Swedish people speak English they have very minor accents. (I'm one of your hockey anons and my team has had a LOT of Swedish players over the years so I looked into why they didn't sound like Swedish people you see in movies, it's because Swedish people don't actually talk like that at all 😂) So the language(s) you grew up speaking affect the way your muscles move.

Language also affects the way you perceive the world. For example, the Inuit have between 40 and 70 words for snow! Imagine knowing the difference between that many types of snow! Like I said, I'm Canadian and I can only think of snow with adjectives in front of it (packy snow, frozen snow, fluffy snow) but it's still all the word snow. But it goes deeper than that. There is a stereotype that Asian people are amazing at math so "they," I don't remember who at the moment, ( the moment being 1:38 am) did I study on it, and they found that students in Eastern Asia consistently could remember more numbers when given a list of numbers than north American students could. But Asian students in North America were a mixed bag. They realized the Asian students in North America whose numbers were comparable to the east Asian scores weren't native English speakers, their first language was an East Asian language. Whereas the Asian students whose first language was English had numbers comparable to the rest of the English speakers. Most east Asian languages have a very simple way of counting, like Japanese, from my minimal understanding, the number 84 would be spoken as eight ten four, whereas in English each set of ten has it's own name which causes a longer processing time in your mind. (84 in french is 4 20 4, you have to do math just to count! I assume that would make french speakers even slower at math than English speakers, insert that video of the new York cabby going off about french numbers) also the individual numbers tend to be a single short syllable and that also quickens processing time. This allows east Asian native speakers to remember more numbers than native English speakers. Being Asian doesn't make you better at math, being a native Asian language speaker does. It's not race, it's language.

If you think about it the laws of the universe are defined by physics, and what is physics but math in motion. So, your language literally affects the wiring in your brain and your perception of the world around you.

You can hear the way a brain is wired from the way someone's tongue moves, how cool is that? AND, it can change depending on where you grew up, even with the same language! I tongue from Scotland will move differently than a tongue in Oklahoma! And you can hear it and I love it! I love accents so much. 😩😩😩

Back to jjk, would Geto put in the effort to minimize his accent? I don't think so, honestly I don't think cult leader Geto would even attempt learning English since Jujutsu is mostly in Japan, why would he want to talk to monkeys? (Also, Naoya? Not learning English either, too proud of his family line and honestly not willing to be bad at something, like everyone is at the beginning) Gojo on the other hand, I think he would learn English (to annoy more people) and know lots of words but not necessarily speak clearly, he's the best at everything right? Why wouldn't he be the best at English? So he puts no effort into minimizing his accent, doesn't think he needs to, spoiler he does, haha. I think Yuuji might learn for fun or to understand Jennifer Lawrence interviews, I think he'd have a decent accent but speak clearly.

Anyways, do you have thoughts on this? This being accents in jjk (or any anime) Or am I deliriously tired and not making sense.

finally answering this now that i can give this the attention it deserves. beforehand note, this is such a coincidence bc i took an anthropological linguistic class last sem! also HELLO ONE OF MY HOCKEY ANONS!! MISSED U!

in terms of jjk! most (besides kyoto ppl) are from northern jp, miyagi i think!! i'm from the osaka-hyogo area so there is definitely a different dialect in comparison to miyagi! i do speak more similar to that of kyoto ofc since it is closer. but, just like any city, there are sayings that are foreign in one and the ssame in another.

Most east Asian languages have a very simple way of counting, like Japanese, from my minimal understanding, the number 84 would be spoken as eight ten four, whereas in English each set of ten has it's own name which causes a longer processing time in your mind.

this part was crazy^^ to me. honestly, as somebody who speaks japanese, i never thought of this on my own though it makes perfect sense. saying this as a data science major who grew up being trilingual HAHA

gojo... i honestly think he' grow up speaking english. coming from the most notorious clan in all of jujutsu, i feel like it would just come natural to him and his clan to speak both jp and english. yuuji w the jlaw interviews made me LOL btw.

so, something funny ab naoya (specifically naoya cuz he;s fucking crazy ofc) is he speaks the kansai dialect (this is what i speak as well so ab to clown myself in the process. yk how in english there is like a "valley girl" way of speaking? kansai is the jp version of that. so naoya the all and powerful speaks japanese like a socal valley girl would speak english.

anyways, i loved reading this! language and anthropology in general is so interesting to me. its so cool learned about different people and what makes them... them!! another silly to imagine, when i was little i would sometimes accidentally use an accent from one of my languages when speakig another. imagine a 5 year old xi speaking spanish in a japanese accent lol

[mapled-penitentiary]

back with more. more thoughts. i am not immune to gay people thoughts. for the bg here: hc that ice speaks fluently in russian and polish, as well as a couple other primarily slavic languages. ice was well aware of his husbands stupid ideas. usually, they surrounded flying and ideas in the sky. once in a while, it would be something about the house, like making a cat door or trying to diy a lazy susan. this one however, was one that iceman had not seen coming. it took him until one tuesday morning, when mav had presumably forgotten ice was off that day. walking down the stairs, a cup of coffee in hand, he was met with the sound of the worst pronunciation of russian words he had ever heard. his husbands accent was creeping into words, the R's sounded dusty, and if ice didnt know the language, he would have just assumed maverick was vomiting. but here he was, sitting on the barstool in all of his stupid glory. a couple textbooks were strewn over the counter, and a whiteboard was nestled under one, a half-erased word showing. the dedication maverick seemed to have to the language was.. outstanding. as he crept down the rest of the flight of stairs, his smile grew wider. the books were actual russian books, ones that taught in russian and weren't americanized versions of it. it was the russian he had learned at home, all those years ago. he tried to sputter something in appreciation, but mav jumped up as when he heard him. he slammed the book shut, and looked at ice with blush spreading on his face. "oops."

ice just laughed, and wrapped his husband in a hug, the warmth from his body a welcoming feeling.

"Я тебя люблю, пилот." [I love you, pilot.]

[ballisticiansfolly]

I've noticed this about you – Trying to pick up and understand things referenced in The English, pt. 1/2

So, I just watched Amazon's new miniseries The English at the beginning of this year, and while enjoying the it immensely I couldn't help but to notice that, besides historical facts and details, there were undercurrents in it that I just wasn't getting. I decided to do some research and came across pretty interesting things. Lots of thought has went into the making of this series. I've divided my findings in two parts. This first part is about general stuff.

Eli's a member of the Skiri/Skidi-Federation, one of the four bands (or groups) of the Pawnee people. Also known as the Wolf Pawnee or Loups, the Skiri used to live along the Loup and Platte river areas in Nebraska. The Skiri use a different dialect of Pawnee than the three southern bands (South band and Skiri differ mainly in pronunciation and vocabulary), but Pawnee speakers don't have trouble understanding each other. Eli's Pawnee name Ckirirahpiks is pronounced [tskirira:hpiks]. Ckirir means 'wolf' and rahpiks 'scarred.'

Recruitment of Indian scouts was first authorized in 1866 by an act of Congress. Between 1864 and 1877, 170 Pawnee men served in the "Pawnee Battalion" under Frank North (1840–1885) who had learned the Pawnee language after moving to Nebraska at the age of 16. (Interestingly, in 1882 North joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West as a manager of the American Indians.) Indian Scouts were officially deactivated in 1947 when their last member retired.

I found pictures of Pawnee scouts from 1870s in this blog post. These three pictures, taken by William Henry Jackson, were particularly interesting because you can clearly see that details of their appearance have been used as an inspiration when creating Eli's looks.

When rewatching the show I noticed that Eli was wearing an Indian peace medal. According to Trooper Charlie White, Eli was known for his heroic exploits while in the army, but - given Eli's brush off - I wonder if Eli's medal had been something he had inherited. Had his father been a chief? Still, among William Jackson's pictures there were Pawnee scouts with peace medals hanging around their necks. A Pawnee scout called Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish was the first Native American to receive the Medal of Honor.

Raise your hand if you really thought that Richard Watts had managed to get his hands on freshwater oysters. Perhaps this was yet another case of him "spitting in the soup."

I was super confused when Simon the squeezebox player reappeared in the last episode since I had completely forgotten about him, but I loved the colours in this scene.

"I've noticed this about you. You keep saying these negative things and you end up always doing the opposite." "Hmm, well... Maybe I should start listening to myself."

So apparently even women who have never given birth can breastfeed babies. To induce lactation you need to stimulate breasts 10–15 minutes several times a day and milk will start after a month or so. Also, of course a 'breast' would be an English word Eli couldn't have picked up naturally.

Although hunting was also an integral part of the subsistence pattern, horticulture - particularly corn - occupied a preeminent position in Pawnee life. It not only provided their sustenance but also figured prominently in their religious life.

At the beginning of the 19th century the Pawnee lived earth lodges which were large, dome-shaped structures of wood covered with packed sod and earth and had a long, narrow, covered entryway. The sizes of lodges varied in diameter from 8 to 15 metres and generally contained several families. Historical sources give varying numbers of Skiri villages, ranging from 13 to 18. Each village had its own separate identity through religious functions, but by the mid-19th century the importance of village identity began to fade as the Skiri population rapidly diminished. (Murie, J. R. and Parks, D. R. (1981) Ceremonies of the Pawnee.)

As the 19th century progressed, the Pawnee bands were forced together onto a reservation on the north side of the Platte and were treated as a single tribal entity by the United States government. Missionaries and the government worked steadily at "making white men"of the Pawnee. By 1873 because of disease, crop failure, warfare, and government rations policy, the Pawnee population had decreased to approximately 2,400. In 1875 the Pawnee were persuaded to give up their reservation in Nebraska and move to new one in the Indian Territory. By the 1876 the entire tribe had removed there, where efforts to acculturate them continued. By 1890 most of the Skiri Pawnee lived on individual farms, dressed like contemporary whites, and spoke English. (Murie, & Parks, 1981)

Bundles were an integral part of Pawnee religion and served as shrines. Among the Skiri, there were two general types of bundles. Sacred bundles, cuharîpîru, were village and band bundles and naturally more important. The oldest sacred bundle was the Evening Star bundle. The other type was referred as karûsu, a bag/sack, and was any lesser bundle – that of a warrior, a doctor, or any other individual.

I was curious about the skull in Eli's bag and using skullsite.com and Royal BC Museum's bird bone identification guide I was able to identify it. Given that Pawnee villages used to be located along rivers, it not surprising that that the skull Eli treasured would belong to an osprey aka fish hawk.

Ospreys differ from most hawks by having short prefrontals.

Round and almost circular nasal (nostril).

Has perforation in sheet of bone between eyes.

Particularly curved bill.

Frontal’s width stays even. 

I always like it when a show makes me curious and inspires me to learn something new, in this case to determine cardinal directions using the sun. I used the instructions in this post to make the collage of Eli determining the compass points.

[gogyposting]

blows my mind that george’s name in his head is the british pronunciation and not “jorj.” like to me he is joRj. not jawej or however british ppl say it

[chronic-optimistt]

K so like

Neil lived like everywhere right

He’s been across the globe

And in order to blend in he had to like

Use different accents depending on the local tongue

SOOOOOOO who’s to say that he has a natural American accent

Like if I used a new voice every year my entire life I wouldn’t have a pristine American accent

I say he has some sort of drawl

And idk what kind but something cool

And he probably unconsciously makes his voice American around everyone just bc yknow he’s raised to not stick out

BUT when he’s comfortable he starts to talk normally (and doesn’t really realize it)

It’s usually in front of Andrew cuz it’s Andrew duh

And the first time Andrew hears it he doesn’t comment of course but he is definitely excitedly screaming internally

Until one day Neil says something like “bo-uh o’ wo-uh” instead of “bottle of water” in front of the foxes accidentally

And everyone’s like the fuck did he just say

And immediately start teasing him obviously

And he gets all flustered and vows to never let his accent slip again

Andrew gets a little annoyed because he misses hearing Neil’s cute pronunciation

So like one day when Neil is so focused on something he forgets to cover it up and says something funny sounding Andrew shoots absolute DAGGERS at the team so they don’t comment on it

(They end up still smiling behind their hands but Neil doesn’t notice)

And then it happens more frequently

Neil rolls an r in a word where it doesn’t require it

Or he adds an “eh” at the end of a sentence

Or he pronounces the letter ‘y’ like ‘oi’

skoi-diving

And eventually it’s normal to hear him talk funny

No one thinks anything of it

It’s just Neil

Neil being Neil

We love you Neil

And if Matt melts at the way Neil says the ‘a’ in his name every time, he doesn’t comment on it

[owen-not-carvour]

cultural differences

i have a lot of international friends. and with me being american and them being from Literally Anywhere Else, we have discovered a Lot of cultural differences. pair that with curtwen/spies brainrot and you get whatever This is: 

- starting off strong with an obvious one: temperature. the age old fahrenheit v. celsius debate. like i imagine the guys just walking around whatever city they’re in for the week and (we’ll say it’s summer idc) curt’s like ‘it’s so hot out here, it’s gotta be like 90 degrees or something’ and owen just looks at him in Horror for a second (maybe he even says something along the lines of ‘mega ik it’s warm but that’s just overdramatic’) before he remembers curt’s american and that’s just Regular hot in fahrenheit and not like INSANELY hot like it is in celsius. and then he’s just ‘no its more like 32 degrees i think’ just to fuck with him bc the same though process will go through curt’s head and owen just wants to see his face before he remembers owen’s british and not just saying the opposite of what he said. and ofc they know both systems well enough; they’ve traveled around enough for that. and usually it’s not that weird; curt’s used to owen using celsius and owen’s used to curt using fahrenheit and they usually get what the other is saying, but Sometimes they just either forget or don’t want to convert what they’re saying for the other, so they just Don’t and let the other suffer trying to figure it out for a minute. 

-same with measurement. american measurement names are so weird to begin with, it’s like curt’s asking to get made fun of when he talks about how many feet something is or Whatever. (also just imagine owen mocking curt’s accent the way curt mocks owen’s at the start of the show,, yeah it’s great) Anyway- it’s pretty much the same thing as the temperature situation, but because of the american measurements curt just gets made fun of a lot more. like owen knows what he means when he says it but he’s still gonna respond like ‘what the ✨bloody hell✨ is an inch????’ (extra british to just make it that much worse for curt lol)

-chain stores. listen idk what all types of chains they had in the 50s (britain especially lol) but they for sure weren’t nearly as globalized as they are now (pretty much all i remember is that walmart and mcdonalds existed in the US at that point tbh) but ik based on conversations i’ve had with my international friends it’d go something like this (the same for if you flipped them too ofc): owen: hey have you been to *insert British chain (restaurant, store, Whatever)*   curt: sorry to What?? i’ve literally never even heard of that. what is it?       owen: ONLY THE BEST THING EVER???? i can’t believe you don’t have those in america, no wonder you’re so miserable...                                                         and then the second they have an opportunity to do so, owen drags curt to britain to experience Whatever The Place was lol. curt’s done the same with some american places, too. They both really love those trips :)

-names of every day objects. this one probably comes up between them most often (also the most obvious). of course there’s the difference between apartment and flat, trunk and boot, elevator and lift, etc. these types of differences generally don’t bother them (same with the extra u’s in words like colo(u)r), it just earns the other some classic accent mocking. it’s the pronunciation of some words has nearly ended their relationship a few times. examples include but are not limited to: 1) cicada; i imagine they’re out on like. a stakeout or something and it’s getting dark and curt’s like ‘woah the sic-kay-duhs are so loud right now’ and owen’s just ‘... the What?? are you talking about sic-ah-duhs?? like the bugs?’ ‘yeah... how did you say it???’ ‘sic-ah-duh.’ ‘wrong.’ and it’s just them realizing that this is yet another american/british relationship clash and argue about who’s right about the pronunciation until they almost miss their mission target moving. 2) scone; i’m not gonna write this one out like i did the last one but here’s the rundown: owen: scahn curt: skown. owen goes out to pick them up some breakfast from a coffeeshop or Wherever before a mission and gets them a couple of scones. He brings them back and calls them ‘scahns’ and curt is Appalled at that. they proceed to argue about the pronunciation of their breakfast until cynthia or barb calls to ask them why tf they haven’t even left the hotel yet. eventually they make it to their mission but the argument never stops. not until the end of the day. 

(the scone one is literally based on a recurring conversation i have with a canadian friend of mine)

Bonus: y’all know how curt’s from Texas? well i’m from the south as well (different region of the south, yes, but shhhh this is funny ok) and WELL. that opens up a whole new section of cultural differences, but the first one that came to mind was sweet tea. i hate unadulterated sweet tea so much but OHHHHHH does it make for a great headcanon. so i hc that owen is a tea over coffee type of person,, not just bc he’s british (though that certainly doesn’t help) but just because i feel that suits him more. And of course curt very much so makes fun of owen for drinking tea (a la when he mocks his accent at the top of the show) too. but one day curt’s like hey owen i made you some tea. totally harmless right? WRONG! he made sweet tea™️ and it might as well be poisoned bc that shit is sweeter than sugar itself (bc that’s practically all that’s in it). but owen doesn’t pay it any mind and accepts it as his boyfriend just doing something nice for him (though he does give curt a Look when he takes it). but curt knows exactly what he’s doing and waits for owen to taste it. the second he does he just. imediately gags and curls in on himself (yes it can be that bad when you’re not expecting it lol). curt can’t stop laughing. a few moments later when they both recover (kind of) owen’s just. shocked. absolutely speechless. he just sits there staring at curt with murder in his eyes until, “...what the hell did you just give me?” “sweet tea” “no shit, but this isn’t tea by a long shot. how much sugar is in it?” “no clue” “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘NO CLUE’?!?! YOU MADE IT!” “just bc i made it doesn’t mean i measured.” “WHAT??!?!” “that’s just how you do it :)” “NO??????” 

owen doesn’t forgive him for a week. he also doesn’t trust curt to make him tea (or really any drink) at all after that unless he can actually Watch him make it :)

[static-fanatic-1]

Platonic Yandere Kikyo, Hisoka, Illumi and Silva with a teen reader w/ a southern accent? They say y’all and pardon in a cute lil southern accent!!💖💖

As a southern American myself, I can confirm that anytime I type tall it autocorrects to y’all. Kinda funny. Kinda annoying.

Silva:

He isn’t too crazy about it, but he does find it a bit endearing. He really isn’t used to the accent so hearing it is a bit of whiplash.

He’ll be sitting on his couch, going over some of the contracted kills his family will have to partake in, and then you’ll wonder in to ask a question. His head is down and when he asks what you want, the southern drawl you have makes him take a double take.

It’s cute, and it makes him pay attention to what you say more than normal. He isn’t exactly used to hearing a southern drawl.

Kikyo:

Oh she loves it. She loves how you have hard ‘r’s and how they roll of your tongue. She isn’t used to it, but she really loves listening to it and your accent will never get old.

Anything you pronounce differently she will correct you in a teasing fashion. She will always start up conversation too, she finds your drawl comforting and cute.

You better expect a lot of garden tea parties with Kikyo.

Illumi:

He doesn’t mind, as a mater of fact he’s curious about it. He never payed a lot of attention to people’s accents, but yours is unique

The hard ‘r’s and drawl of your tongue is strange to him, but welcoming none the less. He finds a strange comfort in it and could listen to you talk all day.

Don’t be surprised when he corrects your pronunciation though.

Hisoka:

Hisoka is a tease, and it also means he teases your accent. He’ll make fun of every different pronunciations and make sure you understand that how you speak is weird.

He likes it though. That’s for sure. Honestly, it’s kinda sexy. He doesn’t think of you that way though.

He’ll poke your cheeks anytime you say something in a weird way and correct you with a mischievous grin. You get used to it pretty quickly.

[citizensmth]

Alastor’s accent and the Golden Age of American radio

I really adore Alastor’s character so far. That eccentric strawberry dandy is just dripping with a slightly sinister sort of genteel charm. But I particularly love his accent/affectation. That over-enunciated ‘old time radio’ voice is a very specific style of speaking with an interesting history that I think adds a lot of richness to his character.

If you’ve ever wanted to know about where Alastor’s accent comes from then grab some tea, settle in, and read on! I am a huge history nerd, my first job was in radio, and I can write for days when I’m in the mood.

Alastor’s speaking style is based on the Trans-Atlantic accent. This accent is also called the Mid-Atlantic accent (as in ‘middle of the Atlantic ocean’, not the Mid-Atlantic region of the US). It is an invented style of speaking that combines elements of British English with American English to create a hybrid accent with no geographical roots. This faux British style of speaking was extremely popular among the American upper-class in the first half of the 20th century. Wealthy Americans were imitating elements of aristocratic British speech as far back as the 1800′s. By the end of the 19th century, this learned affectation was increasingly associated with East Coast urban elites.

About the same time, this style was also becoming popular in both formal public speaking and the theater. Regional American accents were not desirable so serious aspiring actors trained to imitate British speech on stage. Many stage actors during the early 1900′s embraced the works of phoneticians like William Tilly who wanted to create a universal standard of class based English. Tilly and his followers heavily promoted the teaching of this invented style of ‘proper’ American English pronunciation. Private New England preparatory schools in particular embraced this form of English instruction.

Some elements of the Trans-Atlantic accent include:

Lack of rhoticity (means you tend to drop the “R” at the end of words).

Soft vowels. Example: The A in Dance pronounced as ‘ah’ and not like ‘ant’.

Sharp, clipped emphasis on the “T”. American English frequently softens “T” into a “D” sound. Hit that T like it owes you money.

So... how did a sound associated with East Coast urban elites and high culture become synonymous with the Golden Age of radio?

Early audio technology was extremely primitive and radio broadcasting didn’t take off as a form of electronic mass media until the 1920′s. Prior to WW1, radio was dominated by hobbyists and amateurs experimenting with crude homemade equipment. Microphone technology was in it’s infancy and so was recording technology. Early radio experimenters were forced off the airwaves at the outbreak of WW1 to make room for military use; a major setback for the development of the technology.  The first radio stations didn’t become operational until 1920 and a commercial plug-in receiver with speakers wasn’t widely available until the late 1920′s. The first feature length movie featuring both sound and spoken audio wasn’t released until 1927 and it took about 4 years for Hollywood to complete the transition from silent films to ‘talkies’.

The biggest problem was that early microphones really struggled to pick up natural speaking voices and had a particularly hard time with base tones. Early receivers also lacked the ability to effectively reproduce natural base tones. One had to learn how to speak in a manner that could be captured and reproduced into something intelligible. The Trans-Atlantic accent with it’s clipped nasal pronunciation that elevated treble tones and strongly enunciated individual words was ideally suited to early radio technology. Performers were trained in this style of speaking and it formed the foundation for the classic ‘radio announcer’ sound of the era. That the accent was geographically neutral and associated with cultured respectability was also a plus. Microphone and radio receiver technology improved greatly by 1940 but by then the sound had become part of radio culture. Although you could now speak in a more natural voice, announcers continued to invoke the old affectation in order to sound like ‘real newsmen’. The Trans-Atlantic accent rapidly declined in use after WW2 due to continued technological advancements, an emerging middle class, changing social attitudes, and a decline in schools willing to teach it. In a relatively short time, it completely disappeared from every day use.

So there you have it. A little history about Alastor’s accent and where it fits into America’s Gilded Age and the Golden Age of radio. No one organically talks this way so Alastor would have had to deliberately learn this artificial style at some point in his life. His style of speaking also firmly dates him to the 1930′s. Lastly, the fact that his speech sounds like it is being played through an old radio receiver is super cool.

That’s enough of my sleep deprived word dumps for one night.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Do you have any sort of, words of encouragement, for a Greek-American who is struggling to learn Greek? My family is pretty connected to our heritage but I was never taught to speak Greek. I am an adult now, and I know I'm at an incredible disadvantage trying to learn a new language. The most discouraging thing is when I try to pronounce a word with a sound that isn't really in English (like γ) and I KNOW I am not saying it right, but no matter how hard I try I can't pronounce it correctly.

Hello! I'm very sorry for delaying this answer for some days, but as we see here, Zeus was fucked this week 😅

I will pin my answer so you can see it when you return, and the rest will be under the cut.

I believe there are MANY reasons for hope in this situation. Of course it feels very discouraging that you don't know the language already and you might feel left behind in this process. Plus, learning a new language is not an easy thing to learn. But worry not!

You are grown, and that means you can learn a language better and with more consistency and discipline. Have trust in your skills as an adult. What is more, you have grown up around Greek speakers and you will pick up certain things faster.

You are not alone in feeling this way. Most of the world has to learn a second language (and a third, as it's usual for many) and that would be the language most dominant in the wider area. Almost every person in the West who is not an English speaker has to learn English and learn it well, otherwise we feel embarrassed every time we try and form a sentence. For example, we apologize to each other about our accents in English German and French, even though we speak Greek.

Surely there are some differences between your situation and ours, but I mentioned this to show you that most people will be very understanding with accents because they have the same struggle. I mean, I'm not going to make fun of someone for having an accent in Greek when I sound like a demented chicken in German, despite taking years of lessons 😵 I have more confidence in my English but even now that I'm writing to you in this language I have to quadruple-check my sentences and phrasing. The amount of times I apologized in advance for my accent to English speakers is higher than my credit.

I relayed your situation to other Greek speakers and non-English speakers, and ALL agreed the accent is not anything they would pay attention to and told me to write you that you shouldn't feel bad about that. I did that because I knew they would have words of encouragement for you. And it turns out they believe exactly what I'm writing in this answer.

Accents are natural. You cannot expect not to have an accent when you have been speaking a different language all your life. Beating yourself up for having difficulty with the Greek pronunciation is like beating yourself up for something normal like walking or laughing when hearing something funny. You lack practice with the pronunciation due to circumstances beyond your control. You are doing what you can to change that, and every small win is worth celebrating!

I found this post the other day:

The notes? The likes?

And NO disagreements in the comments and reblogs for OP’s statement! Look how many thousands are supportive in this! (And that’s a small fraction of people who understand accents are natural.) And some of the responses:

Sure, some mention they have met native speakers who made it more difficult to feel comfortable with their accent and phrasing. But those people are assholes in general, and not the people you want to surround yourself with. If a relative expresses disgust about your accent remind them you didn’t have any control of how much and how well you were taught Greek when you were a kid, and then tell them that if they are a true friend and relative to you, they should support you in your journey. And even if you had some control and chose not to learn, you are learning now. So they should leave their resentment behind because, honestly, what do they have to lose from you learning the language better??

For the embarrassment you feel for yourself: you wouldn't make fun of a Greek for having trouble with the “r”, "s", “ch”, and possibly the "h" when speaking English, so extend that kindness to yourself when you speak Greek. Not to mention that with enough practice and time you can nail the accent!

Worst case scenario, if the accent never leaves, that's no problem whatsoever. Anyone who thinks badly of you for your accent is probably a PoS and they don't deserve your time. No matter where you are from, if they make you feel bad for having an accent in Greek, block them from your mind forever.

But chances are that (from experience) if anyone laughs with how you said something, I guarantee they are not laughing at you but because of how strange the sound or phrasing was. The person doesn't think badly of you because of this. Making mistakes of any kind when learning a language is very natural and it's something everyone must accept. If you are not willing to make mistakes and expose your language vulnerabilities to people who know the language better, might as well not try improving at all.

If anyone corrects you, they are not doing it out of pity. The majority of Greeks do it because they are very happy you speak the language and want you to be even more fluent. Like, they are doing it as an act of backing you up, they are feeling like they are giving you that extra XP to reach the next level! Others - like me - get that rush of happiness when they get to share their language with others 😁

I remember a guy on Tiktok who was learning Greek and ordered a coffee "without sugar" in a Greek cafe but instead of saying σκέτο ("without") he said σκατά ("shit"). I mean damn that was funny! I remember it weeks after I saw the video of him telling that story and it always cracks me up. Do I still appreciate him the same as before and follow him? Absolutely! He just had an unfortunate - and funny - incident, not something that lessened his integrity as a person.

From tiktok again: An American girl wanted to pronounce γύρος correctly when ordering it, and she was mumbling to herself on camera: “yeero, yeero, yeero!!” When her time to order came she shouted “May I have a gairow? FUUUUCKK FUUCK FUCK I SAID IT WRONG” 🤣

Another example is Athena from the Bachelor 2! She has given some gems throughout the show because she doesn't know the language that well, but everyone still loves her because she spreads positivity and is so cute!! If we, as viewers, disliked her it would be because of her character, not because she doesn't know the language well. And if some of the other girls in the show don’t take her seriously is because she laughs too much and mentions feta too often, not due to her Greek level of literacy. Athena, even when she is hurting someone else’s feelings, is always so genuine and you just can’t be mad at her!

I really can’t stretch enough how people laugh at the mishap, not the person! Please don’t feel discouraged if you ever see a Greek laughing with the pronunciation of an English speaker when it comes to Greek words (which I have done as well) because we never laugh at the speakers. We don’t even know them! We might laugh at one mistake but then instantly want to become this individual’s friends because we think they are amazing (see the three examples I mentioned above, the sugar guy, the gyro girl and Athena). Because that’s the normal thing to do; laugh at fun stuff and not judge people for their small mishaps. (In a casual setting, and not to an uncomfortable degree ofc!)

There are so many things to a person other than their accent and the accent becomes old news really fast. What remains is how the presence of a person makes you feel and if they are a good individual. If an English speaking friend says yatakai instead of γατάκι that opens the way for sooo many jokes! Greeks will laugh, do some YATAKAAIIII screams - ninja style, and then continue being friends with that person!

Greeks makes these mistakes as well... A Greek once said "arrive arrive" (φτάνει φτάνει) instead of "enough" when an English speaker was filling his glass. A Lower English degree caught fire that day 🤣 I have many bad examples of Greeks’ mistakes in English but I can’t remember a lot. But I’ve seen many videos of Greeks mocking themselves for how they sound in English. You can take a look at Tsipras’ (our former prime minister) mistakes on youtube if you are feeling brave 😂 (Ο Τσίπρας μιλάει Αγγλικά)

So, own your possible mistakes, laugh at them and move on because everyone makes them and we better have some good while we are struggling!

(( For the record, we are not making fun of Tsipras because of his accent, but because 1) he doesn’t know γρι English and yet he rarely brought a translator with him in international meetings with world leaders, 2) he could absolutely not hold a conversation with negotiating or discussing 3) he didn’t take steps to improve or fix the situation (like bring a translator). 4) Instead, he chose to torment us all with mind-numbing hours of reading English texts and making other world leaders struggle to explain to him what they meant for the nth time and meetings move at a snail pace.))

Alright, now that I cringed with the memory of Tsipras speaking English, I’ll go though the recommendations for improving the Greek pronunciation.

1) Go to my resources for learning Greek (#learn greek) where I have many videos where you can hear the sounds individually or withing other words very clearly. Easy Greek on youtube has excellent videos about pronunciation!

2) Seek practice as much as possible. Some Greeks switch to English when they hear an English accent to make the conversation smoother for the other person. If Greek speakers insist on talking with you in English tell them that you would wish to speak in Greek. I've seen that people often mirror the accent of the native speaker when they speak to one, so this might work for you as well with hours of practice. If no Greek speakers are available to you now, you can find Greek Americans online – or go to their festivals – and start talking to them.

3) Listen to Greek podcasts, songs and shows. (In my blog you’ll find them at #greek youtuber #podcast #greek tv #greek movie #short film #greek music). You know when you hear a catchy foreign song and then it’s stuck in your head and you say all the words perfectly without even knowing what it means? Well, this helps with pronunciation!

4) If you had Spanish in school or have Spanish friends mimicking the Spanish accent might help you. (Our accents are extremely close! The Spanish are the best at Greek pronunciation, and vice versa!)

5) Find sounds in your native language that sound close to the sounds you want to say in Greek. In German lessons I had trouble with “ch” in certain words because I made it sound like χ and it was horrible. My Greek teacher told me to remember how χ sounds in χήνα (it sounds a bit flatter) and make that sound when I encountered “ch”. It worked actually!

To people who have English as their native language I often suggest they remember the sound of w for γ because, although not used the same in the word, at times they have the same intensity. Γ is pronounced more “to the front” of the mouth, so if you can bring that sound forward in your mouth you’ll be very close, if not accurate, to γ. (But don’t bring it too much forward, sometimes it can sound like a “y”, unless you are saying a word where γ sounds like “y”).

Greeks pronounce σ more closely to “sh” than to “s”, so you also might want to keep that in mind since σ often distinguishes the Greek accent in English for me :p

That’s all! If you have more questions or want to tell me anything else about your experience with learning Greek, feel free to send another ask or a DM!