Accents and Identity
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
There were two of us waiting for the lift (elevator) at a hotel in the USA. When the car arrived, the other man got in first, pressed "9" and said to me (with an English accent), what floor do you want?
I said "12 please".
He said: "oh you are an Aussie".
From two words he worked out where I came from. Yet after travelling to the USA for twenty years, I cannot tell you how many times people have assumed I am English or asked me if I am from "over the pond".
How come an Englishman can tell after two words that I am Australian and Americans cannot? Likewise why can Australians identify a kiwi or a South African immediately but confuse a Canadian with someone who is from the USA. Why do we think someone from Wisconsin sounds the same as someone from Florida or Texas?
I said "12 please".
He said: "oh you are an Aussie".
From two words he worked out where I came from. Yet after travelling to the USA for twenty years, I cannot tell you how many times people have assumed I am English or asked me if I am from "over the pond".
How come an Englishman can tell after two words that I am Australian and Americans cannot? Likewise why can Australians identify a kiwi or a South African immediately but confuse a Canadian with someone who is from the USA. Why do we think someone from Wisconsin sounds the same as someone from Florida or Texas?
I think we American's are accent illiterate. I'm just saying...
:)