Follow Us!
Subscribe to Blog via Email
-
Recent Posts
All-Time Most Popular
1. The Accents in Downton Abbey
2. The 5 Best Irish Accents on Film
3. Arrr, Matey! The Origins of the Pirate Accent
4. The 3 Types of Australian Accents
5. Canadian Raising: Nobody Says Aboot
6. South African or Kiwi or Aussie?
7. Top 10 American Accents by Non-Americans
8. Mom Mum Mam
9. When Did Americans Stop "Talking British?"
10. The Wild World of the English "r"Recent Comments
For the Uninitiated
Sites I Love
Categories
Archives
- April 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
Author Archives: Ben
“Princesses,” Reality TV and Disassociation
Much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy reality TV. (Although I can’t stomach the less savory Real Housewives offshoots). Many programs have a regional bent (“Divorcees of Des Moines!”), and I find them sociolinguistically fascinating for this reason. … Continue reading
Light Posting
Hi, All! I’ve been extremely swamped with work and a few other obligations recently, so posting has been pretty light around these parts. Although many blogs I admire post big, juicy posts every couple weeks, I find shorter pieces to … Continue reading
The Language of “The Troubles”
When people discuss “accent discrimination,” they usually refer to everyday injustices: being passed up for promotions, denied loans, or scolded in school. Contemporary history, however, suggests more severe examples. In the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, … Continue reading
Regionally “Corrupted” Names
Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks details the real life of a poor woman from rural Virginia whose cancer cells became an important tool for medical innovation. The titular woman hailed from a tiny, impoverished Southern town, which prompts … Continue reading
“Orphan Black’s” House of Dialect Mirrors
I’ve recently been watching Orphan Black, BBC America’s sci-fi mystery about human clones. For reference, here is the guns-sex-and-intrigue-laden preview: The show admittedly has its silly moments, but its lead actor makes up for these. Not only does one woman (Tatiana Maslany) … Continue reading
Dialectal “Bitch” (circa 1898)
I doubt one could pinpoint the moment English-speakers started using the derogatory sense of “bitch” (meaning, roughly, “ill-tempered woman”). Given our awful tendency toward misogynistic coinages, people probably called female humans “bitches” all of five minutes after they started using … Continue reading
Singapore English (Vs. “Singlish”)
If I could nominate a “dialect of the 21st Century,” I would probably go with Singapore English, a native English dialect spectrum spoken in a region with few competitors (for nearly 1/3 of Singaporeans, English is the primary language spoken at … Continue reading
Anglicized Spanish (British vs. American)
While watching an old episode of Absolutely Fabulous last night, I was struck by the way a British character pronounced the Spanish wine rioja. In Spanish orthography, the j represents a velar fricative (the guttural consonant in Scottish ‘Loch‘). The character on … Continue reading
“You’re Causing a Row”
[Update: I have added a few additional comments about “causing a row” at the end of this post] While watching Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby the other day, I was struck by the climactic scene in which Tom Buchanan barks, “What kind of a … Continue reading
“Fourth Person:” You, One, Y’All
In most English speaker’s everyday language, “you” can represent an indefinite referent. That is, when I say “you never can tell” I don’t mean that you, the specific person I’m talking to, never can tell, but rather that “somebody never can … Continue reading