I love regional accents. I love accents, in general. As a matter of fact, we have one doctor at work who has such a fabulous French accent, that I sometimes page him when he's on call, just to listen to him talk. OK, so not exactly, but I do look forward to talking to him, and tell the other girls that I'll page him for them, if need be.
Antonio Banderas has a pretty cool accent too, even when it's on a Nasonex commercial. Dutch accents are really, really hot. I think Canadian accents are fun -- even when it's from my sister. Ohyeahsure youbetcha.
In Gatlinburg, it goes without saying that most people speak with a twang. You can't go anywhere without hearing a ya'll, or a y'ins. Y'ins always makes me giggle. It just sounds funny. But not so funny as Seth, when he decides to serve as a translator.
He spent much of our vacation translating regular English (which, of course, is something of a misnomer. Americans speak an odd derivative of proper English, that is rarely understood from one generation to the next).
Now, we all understand that Seth orbit is just a little wider than most of ours. Those of us who live with him also understand that he has enough of a range of sound effects that he could take that show on the road, maybe even with his brother, who does a mean Wookie imitation. But I think that the funniest thing I've heard is Seth's translation service, when he translates into hillbilly.
Granted, it basically consists of variations of "derkadur. Uh der der der. Derkadur," but it's hilarious to listen to. And since there were a LOT of hillbilly accents in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, we got the full effect. It started with Jill, I believe, saying that she hadn't understood a word of what someone said, and Seth turning to her, and saying, quite seriously, "he said uh derkadur." From there on out, all hope was lost of me keeping a straight face, whenever Sethanese went hillbilly, because he carried it off so well.
"What would y'ins lahk for dinna" would turn into "derk derkadur dur dur," as soon as the server was out of earshot. "What kahnd of fudge would ya'll lahk," turned into "derky derky derky dur." I swear he probably was doing it in his sleep, like a drunken Annie Sullivan.
I've often told this kid that God gave him to me, just to make me laugh, and he always does just that. The kid is a nut, so here's a Nut and Squirrel print pair of golf pants, from Rubeus-Feire, on ebay. Der der der.
1 comment:
I need to be paying closer attention; if I'd known you were going to be in my area, I'd have driven over to meet you! I'm about an hour and a half away, in Western North Carolina.
The word isn't y'ins, it is you'ns which is short for you ones. It's similar to the South-wide y'all or you all. One of the most confusing things in the English language is the pronoun you and the way it can be either singular or plural. It leads to a lot of confusion. But Southerners solved the problem, with this particular, and if I must say, superior twist of the language!
One of the things that makes our country interesting is the variations in language. I'm glad Seth had fun with it and kept y'all amused because when he brings his own kids to the mountains years from now, I'm afraid he'll not have the same experience. The Southern Applachian (with a short, not long "A" please) dialect is fast disappearing, partly due to young people being aware that they are being made fun of, and also due to the influence of TV, etc.
Lizzie, a hillbilly and damn proud of it.
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