I'm gonna recuse myself from commenting on specific works of a fellow countryman (whose work I've always admired). It's interesting to me that he seems universally to be a "known Canadian." Roy mentions his voice/accent, which has never struck me as being obviously Canadian; contrast that with his son Kiefer whose accent (to me) is so ob…
I'm gonna recuse myself from commenting on specific works of a fellow countryman (whose work I've always admired). It's interesting to me that he seems universally to be a "known Canadian." Roy mentions his voice/accent, which has never struck me as being obviously Canadian; contrast that with his son Kiefer whose accent (to me) is so obviously Canadian I can barely believe he was allowed to play both Jack Bauer AND the US president. (Willem Dafoe is another guy whose accent would peg him as Canadian to me.) And, for fuck's sake, we do NOT say "aboot"!
"Take off" and "eh" I heard all through my childhood from the frostbacks. In fact when I first saw the McKenzie Brothers I thought "how do they know Uncle Bud and Aunt Addee?"
Back in early 2001, I went to a protest in Quebec city against George W Bush and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the best protest button I saw had a maple leaf with the words "No, eh"
Canada and the US are both pretty large countries with a wide variance of accents/pronunciation/vocabulary/etc. I (from Nova Scotia) was once mistaken as an American (by a cop in Alberta). He made me name the last 5 Cup winners to prove I was Canadian (nahh, I made that part up!)
Yeah, there's that parody-Dakotan accent much loved by Garrison Keillor and by the Coen brothers in Fargo. Being simplified and exaggerated for comic effect, it helps you see how an American accent could shade gradually into Canadian as you move north. But is a Wisconsin accent really that different from a Chicago accent? Not that I can tell.
That is a Minnesotan accent, not Dakotan. The heavy Scandinavian inflection can be found in the eastern Dakotas, but you’re just as likely to get German or Czech inflections, and the farther west you go, the more Montana-Wyoming cowboy drawl you get.
I'm gonna recuse myself from commenting on specific works of a fellow countryman (whose work I've always admired). It's interesting to me that he seems universally to be a "known Canadian." Roy mentions his voice/accent, which has never struck me as being obviously Canadian; contrast that with his son Kiefer whose accent (to me) is so obviously Canadian I can barely believe he was allowed to play both Jack Bauer AND the US president. (Willem Dafoe is another guy whose accent would peg him as Canadian to me.) And, for fuck's sake, we do NOT say "aboot"!
Maybe it's a class thing but my Picton, Ontario relatives said something close enough to "aboot" to be rendered "aboot."
It's a pet peeve of mine. I've recorded myself saying "about" and played it back for friends who said it sounded like "aboot!" I hear "about" dammit!
They say it like that in the Shenandoah Valley (with a correspondingly similar version of „house“, „mouse“, &c).
I've always heard "aboat" but then, I'm from a city that mixes Upper Midwest with Mississippi Delta.
Hey, I’ve heard plenty of Canadians say aboot, eh. Is it true that Canadians never said hoser? That Bob and Doug just made that up?
I can swear on The Cup, that I never heard anyone say "hoser" before that skit. "Hosebag," was the word they "cleaned up" for TV.
"Take off" and "eh" I heard all through my childhood from the frostbacks. In fact when I first saw the McKenzie Brothers I thought "how do they know Uncle Bud and Aunt Addee?"
Back in early 2001, I went to a protest in Quebec city against George W Bush and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the best protest button I saw had a maple leaf with the words "No, eh"
And yet Willem Dafoe is from Wisconsin, and Sconnies just sound Midwestern to me (a transplanted Illinoisian) and nothing like Canadians.
Oh, where's Henry Higgins when you need him?
Damn, I coulda swore he was Canadian (just checked and you are correct!).
"Willem Dafoe was born in Appleton" is one of the "fun facts" on regular rotation on the Spectrum News. Sponsored by Gruber Law Offices!
Canada and the US are both pretty large countries with a wide variance of accents/pronunciation/vocabulary/etc. I (from Nova Scotia) was once mistaken as an American (by a cop in Alberta). He made me name the last 5 Cup winners to prove I was Canadian (nahh, I made that part up!)
Yeah, there's that parody-Dakotan accent much loved by Garrison Keillor and by the Coen brothers in Fargo. Being simplified and exaggerated for comic effect, it helps you see how an American accent could shade gradually into Canadian as you move north. But is a Wisconsin accent really that different from a Chicago accent? Not that I can tell.
I can't keep up with Japanese accents/dialects. If I understand you, that's English!
That is a Minnesotan accent, not Dakotan. The heavy Scandinavian inflection can be found in the eastern Dakotas, but you’re just as likely to get German or Czech inflections, and the farther west you go, the more Montana-Wyoming cowboy drawl you get.
He made me name the last 5 Cup winners to prove I was Canadian
Trying your hand at being in the Canadian Stalag 17?
I'm a native of Buffalo, where Canadian accents aren't rare. It's more subtle than "aboot" but definitely not "abowt".
I don't know what you're talking abowt! ;-)