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livingdebI got a message on my phone answering machine from Bill Clinton. It was kind of cool having a celebrity call me up and ask me for a favor. To bad I already voted. I'd forgotten what a southern accented he had. Right, he's from Arkansas, my neighbor. (There is a city called Texarkana on the border between our two states.)
About accents. Answer 13 questions to see which American accent you have. This might be especially fun if you are not from the United States (agirlnamedlucky).
Like llcoolvad and sarcasticah, I don't have an accent, but they can somehow tell who raised me. My accent is from "The Inland North" which includes Wisconsin and Chicago, and my parents were born and raised in Chicago.
About voting. I voted no on "fixing" the roads. I've seen how they like to fix roads: Rip them up forever. For our safety. They tried to fool me by including money for sidewalks and bike lanes, but it turns out that was only a small percentage of the total money.
Yes on "affordable" housing. I might be a sucker. Well, I am a sucker. But the money sounds like it's going to nonprofits, who may waste it but who at least aren't willing to sacrifice resident safety (on purpose) for profit.
No on the arts. I don't have a problem with arts or cultural centers, but I did have a problem with this bond package. Too much money to people who shouldn't need it (shouldn't the film studio pay for itself?), and I didn't like the way all the races got the same amount of money for cultural centers except the blacks who got way less.
Yes on maintenance and repair of things that are the city's responsibility and should be included in the regular budget.
No on the new library.
**
Today I got cheese and nuts. I already had pretzels and whole grain energy bars. These will help stretch the food budget at Disney World.
**
Buying a house can be extremely scary.
For example, check out Luneray's Buying a Home, part six: The Close. "Then, at approximately 3:50, we started signing the paperwork for the second mortgage. Most of the paperwork was identical to the first set (lots and lots of disclosure statements!), so she didn’t have to go over all of them in the same detail. But when we got to the actual loan paperwork, my eyes focused on two words that made me nearly pop a vein in my head: BALLOON PAYMENT. . . . I had brought copies of all the paperwork for the loan and there was NOTHING about balloon payment."
Or how about Madame X's Closing: More Funds Availability Panic. "But then, less than 48 hours before the closing, my lawyer called, saying that he'd gotten a statement of funds due to the seller and that there was an extra $3500 mortgage tax credit something-or-other on there that he had forgotten about!" Sounds like a scam, doesn't it? But no.
By the time the closing date rolls around, one is quite invested, but if someone sprung a balloon payment on me or sprung an extra $3500 in closing costs on me, I'd like to be in a position to just walk away.
And then there's the remodeling after you move in.
Check out J.D.'s Remodeling a Home, part one: Little Surprises. "'Are you the owner?' asked a young man, tattooed and sweaty. 'We have a bit of a Problem,' he said. He led me into the house, through the kitchen, to the dining room. He pointed at the wainscoting. The beautiful wainscoting, the focal point of the dining room, sported nineteen two-inch diameter holes evenly spaced around the perimeter of the room."
Unbelievable. And that's from someone who came highly recommended. Makes me want to learn how to do everything myself. Or at least be watching over people's shoulders the whole time, which probably doesn't help with the worker morale.
**
And now for your giggles. Read Sneed's Can You Sell a Dog on E-bay? Here are my three favorite quotes (maybe): "Lock Brittney Spears in the library for the next 100 years and when you let her out, the only resemblance she will have to Carl Sagan is that she will be dead too." "I had to take time away from my busy work schedule today for a trip to the dentist. As I often say, any reason to leave work early is a good reason, even the dentist." "In another revolting bit of dental-related news, the weasels at [dental insurance company], where the corporate motto is, If we knew you had teeth, we wouldn't have sold you the insurance, only paid $566 of the $1820 of charges to get the two crowns installed and another tooth repaired."
And speaking of mottoes, remember how my office came up with a new motto? Not that I remember it anymore. Something like Accuracy, Integrity, Caring. I saw a sign in one our back offices that added an extra line to the motto: "Two out of three ain't bad." Cracked me up.
About accents. Answer 13 questions to see which American accent you have. This might be especially fun if you are not from the United States (agirlnamedlucky).
Like llcoolvad and sarcasticah, I don't have an accent, but they can somehow tell who raised me. My accent is from "The Inland North" which includes Wisconsin and Chicago, and my parents were born and raised in Chicago.
About voting. I voted no on "fixing" the roads. I've seen how they like to fix roads: Rip them up forever. For our safety. They tried to fool me by including money for sidewalks and bike lanes, but it turns out that was only a small percentage of the total money.
Yes on "affordable" housing. I might be a sucker. Well, I am a sucker. But the money sounds like it's going to nonprofits, who may waste it but who at least aren't willing to sacrifice resident safety (on purpose) for profit.
No on the arts. I don't have a problem with arts or cultural centers, but I did have a problem with this bond package. Too much money to people who shouldn't need it (shouldn't the film studio pay for itself?), and I didn't like the way all the races got the same amount of money for cultural centers except the blacks who got way less.
Yes on maintenance and repair of things that are the city's responsibility and should be included in the regular budget.
No on the new library.
**
Today I got cheese and nuts. I already had pretzels and whole grain energy bars. These will help stretch the food budget at Disney World.
**
Buying a house can be extremely scary.
For example, check out Luneray's Buying a Home, part six: The Close. "Then, at approximately 3:50, we started signing the paperwork for the second mortgage. Most of the paperwork was identical to the first set (lots and lots of disclosure statements!), so she didn’t have to go over all of them in the same detail. But when we got to the actual loan paperwork, my eyes focused on two words that made me nearly pop a vein in my head: BALLOON PAYMENT. . . . I had brought copies of all the paperwork for the loan and there was NOTHING about balloon payment."
Or how about Madame X's Closing: More Funds Availability Panic. "But then, less than 48 hours before the closing, my lawyer called, saying that he'd gotten a statement of funds due to the seller and that there was an extra $3500 mortgage tax credit something-or-other on there that he had forgotten about!" Sounds like a scam, doesn't it? But no.
By the time the closing date rolls around, one is quite invested, but if someone sprung a balloon payment on me or sprung an extra $3500 in closing costs on me, I'd like to be in a position to just walk away.
And then there's the remodeling after you move in.
Check out J.D.'s Remodeling a Home, part one: Little Surprises. "'Are you the owner?' asked a young man, tattooed and sweaty. 'We have a bit of a Problem,' he said. He led me into the house, through the kitchen, to the dining room. He pointed at the wainscoting. The beautiful wainscoting, the focal point of the dining room, sported nineteen two-inch diameter holes evenly spaced around the perimeter of the room."
Unbelievable. And that's from someone who came highly recommended. Makes me want to learn how to do everything myself. Or at least be watching over people's shoulders the whole time, which probably doesn't help with the worker morale.
**
And now for your giggles. Read Sneed's Can You Sell a Dog on E-bay? Here are my three favorite quotes (maybe): "Lock Brittney Spears in the library for the next 100 years and when you let her out, the only resemblance she will have to Carl Sagan is that she will be dead too." "I had to take time away from my busy work schedule today for a trip to the dentist. As I often say, any reason to leave work early is a good reason, even the dentist." "In another revolting bit of dental-related news, the weasels at [dental insurance company], where the corporate motto is, If we knew you had teeth, we wouldn't have sold you the insurance, only paid $566 of the $1820 of charges to get the two crowns installed and another tooth repaired."
And speaking of mottoes, remember how my office came up with a new motto? Not that I remember it anymore. Something like Accuracy, Integrity, Caring. I saw a sign in one our back offices that added an extra line to the motto: "Two out of three ain't bad." Cracked me up.
Accents
on 2006-11-03 03:21 pm (UTC)The test tells me I have a "Midland accent" (the bar is over 13/14 filled by my ruler), which they point out is another way to say that I "don't have an accent." I grew up in OK, but my parents and 3 grandparents are from Nebraska/Iowa. (That includes the grandmother whose accent sounds Canadian to Tam and makes Tam crazy when she says "about." My own recent accent annoyance issue is that I've been talking at work to a woman from NY named Dawn and I am put on edge by the way she pronounces her own name. This follows on the heels of how I saw an HP ad in which the person pronounced “technology” in that same particularly grating way and have been unable to get over how much I dislike it.)
As far as I can recall, the only person to tell me that I have an accent is an Ohioan who thought I sounded vaguely southern. I’m sure I would hear this more if I actually went to the Midwest.
One weird aspect of my accent is that I, like my family and unlike anybody else I know, pronounce the state Colorado like "Caw-luh-ra-do.” I found this totally perplexing, because my parents, sister, 2 grandparents, and I all have actually lived in Colorado and it never occurred to me that you would pronounce it another way. Later, reading the regional variation pages of my dictionary, I discovered that my pronunciation of Colorado is particular to native Coloradans and is a defining element of a certain sub-regional accent. It was amusing to me that Tam doesn’t run into this pronunciation in Denver, but since it appears that 99.4% of the Denver population is from other states, particularly California and Texas, I guess that makes sense.
When we first moved to OK, when I was in first grade, on one of my first days of school, I heard a bunch of kids talking about “wrassling” and didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. When I got home and asked my parents what this was, they explained it was “wrestling.” All right, wrestling, I know. My dad wrestled for the U. of Nebraska and was a high school wrestling coach in NE and CO. I have seen the photographic evidence of myself dressed in a little outfit with the school mascot on it at games. This wrassling/wrestling issue was the second indication that I was in a totally different world. (Indication #1 being that it was the beginning of September and it was unbelievably hot.)
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-05 02:11 am (UTC)I've never heard the real pronunciation of Colorado before. I have heard the real pronunciations of OR-uh-gun. And I think Missouri ends in "uh," not "ee." And I've cringed at people pronouncing the "s" in Illinois and, worst of all, the Texan pronunciation, MASS-uh-TWO-shits. Yeesh.
When I first moved to Texas, the words I noticed were lunchkit instead of lunchbox and fixin' instead of getting ready.
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-06 08:56 pm (UTC)I think I pronounce Oregon that way. I'm having trouble coming up with an alternative. or-uh-GONE?
I heard somebody (not in OK) pronounce the final "s" in Arkansas once - pretty bizarre.
I've heard Missour-uh as well, though in Oklahoma they like to call it the state of Misery. (e.g. "This weekend I am visiting my in-laws in the state of Misery.")
The first Texanism I heard when I went to Rice was a person asking me if I wanted a Coke, and then asking what kind, and clarifying that my options included Dr Pepper and root beer. I am now so used it, though, that it sounds old-fashioned somehow when I go home to my parents' house and hear somebody refer to these beverages as "pop."
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-19 07:09 am (UTC)My mom calls Louisiana "Lousy-anna" because she had bad experiences there.
I'd always called sodas cokes and thought it was a midwestern thing. But I decided I don't like calling them cokes so now I call them sodas.
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-06 08:48 pm (UTC)In New Orleans, people pronounce words like "huge" or "Houston" without the "h" - sorta like people from New York. Yuge! Youston!
Is it a bai-yo or a bai-you? I can't even remember which place says which now.
Medians are called "neutral grounds" in New Orleans.
I had never heard the word "cussing" before I moved to Houston. Or "cuss words."
I'm not sure what's really standard in New Orleans, but I always called carbonated beverages "soft drinks." In Texas, they are called "cokes." Here in Colorado they are "sodas" for most people.
****
It's not clear to me from the way she spells it, but what Sally means is that the third vowel of Colorado is pronounced with a short a sound like "rad", not like "rod", but native Coloradans. It's true that most Denverites have the more national pronunciation.
What Sally's grandma does that really bugs me (though it shouldn't) is that she says "it" like "ut", which is a really midwestern feature to my ears.
(Tam, of course)
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-06 09:13 pm (UTC)Yeah, I meant for "ra" to contast with the "caw" sound at the beginning in exactly the way Tam states. (I don't remember the symbols for these sounds and I wouldn't know how to make them show up on this page if I did.)
I have never noticed the it/ut thing in Esther's speech; I'll have to listen for that next time I see her.
In general, it was kind of funny to realize that like Okies, Texans often sound like hicks, but in a distinctly different way. I can admit this now, but I was momentarily afraid the first time Robert spoke to a rural Texas convenience store clerk in my presence and addressed the person with the word "Howdy." (Robert's accent can change a lot depending on who he's talking to and it reaches a particularly interesting equilibrium when he is with his upstate NY raised grandmother, his Fort Worth-accented mother, and me.)
Speaking of rural Texas, at the Parks & Wildlife Expo last month, I interviewed visitors and one of the questions was whether they lived in an urban or rural area. Every rural resident pronounced this word as basically one, maybe one and half, syllable and several people actually made a point after saying "rual" or "rurl" (light to nonexistent second "r") to say it again, trying to follow my three-syllable example. One guy was clearly embarrassed but I told him that his pronunciation totally beat mine in terms of authenticity.
Re: Accents
on 2006-11-19 07:14 am (UTC)I call medians "median strips."
I can imagine pronouncing "rural" in one syllable by making it rhyme with "Earl." But a three-syllable version?