When is English not English?

Royboy39 · 08-09-2008, 20:45

Whilst on this venerable forum

My wife tuned in to CNBC.
I can understand Ossy twang and even Geordie slang and the London vibes of Delboy....but cannot for the life of me get to grips with the American presentation of English.
Does anyone else have this problem?

MargaretR · 08-09-2008, 20:49

I can understand them, but find US female's voices are harsh and grate.
You can't beat those lovely soft voices of the ladies on Radio4

Bonnyboy · 08-09-2008, 21:05

Nowt like listening to ( or watching ) Kate Singleton reading the News. Natasha Kaplinski gets my attention too.

Not really into American female voices apart from that Southern drawl type accent. Thinkin’ Daisy Duke

WillowTheWhisp · 08-09-2008, 21:13

It's not so much the American accents which I find annoying but the TV programs where they all seem to shout at each other all the time even in normal daily conversation.

cashman · 08-09-2008, 22:30

i can't object, many say they can't understand me.

MissTechnophobe · 09-09-2008, 08:40

Even though I've lived in Lancashire for 15 years now, I still have problems understanding some of the words that are used up here.

When I first came up here, I heard barmcake now where I come from that is a roll, teacake to me that is a toasted teacake and on and on and some really weird words and sayings that you just don;t hear down south.

Going slightly off kilter, gravy on chips?? Unheard of down south and I thought was disgusting but oh so good now!

WillowTheWhisp · 09-09-2008, 09:05

You sound just like Busman! He's a southerner and always going on about teacakes and rolls!

Eric · 09-09-2008, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Whilst on this venerable forum

My wife tuned in to CNBC.
I can understand Ossy twang and even Geordie slang and the London vibes of Delboy....but cannot for the life of me get to grips with the American presentation of English.
Does anyone else have this problem?

Not me buddy ... t'aint no never mind how it's all presented.

One thing I noticed is that when a Canadian reporter is interviewing a Brit about a particular story, CBC and CTV provide subtitles when the Brit talks

polly · 09-09-2008, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Whilst on this venerable forum

My wife tuned in to CNBC.
I can understand Ossy twang and even Geordie slang and the London vibes of Delboy....but cannot for the life of me get to grips with the American presentation of English.
Does anyone else have this problem?

I am baffled as to why you should want to listen to them! You should know that they wont have owt worth listening to

steeljack · 09-09-2008, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

Not me buddy ... t'aint no never mind how it's all presented.

One thing I noticed is that when a Canadian reporter is interviewing a Brit about a particular story, CBC and CTV provide subtitles when the Brit talks

Yep I've noticed that here in the US as well , seems to happen more often with the Fox news channel (US version of Sky , both Murdoch owned ) especially with regional accents .
also happens with a couple of British comedy shows , 'Gavin and Stacy' and sometimes during 'Shameless'

Royboy39 · 09-09-2008, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

i can't object, many say they can't understand me.

Neither can singers here Cashy when I say 'Tha sa.unds that a fender being dragged down Ossy..............I get some funny looks.

Eric · 10-09-2008, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

Yep I've noticed that here in the US as well , seems to happen more often with the Fox news channel (US version of Sky , both Murdoch owned ) especially with regional accents .
also happens with a couple of British comedy shows , 'Gavin and Stacy' and sometimes during 'Shameless'

And yet it doesn't happen with Coronation Street ... go figure

If a Newfie were interviewed on English TV, would they have subtitles?????