polenta

Yes, separated by the same language as Puzzler says. Imagine foreign people learning English!!!It's so good to read about all these differences.
I feel RELIEVED!!!!
What English accent would be considered the fanciest or more educated in US?

Qsilv

marg... that whole northern US - Canadian border area is full of Swedes and Norwegians... scandinavians all have that lilt upwards.

In older swedes it's almost a cooing sound... soooo sweet. A strangely strong memory I can call up inside my mind as if it were mere seconds old is of one of my great-great-aunts looking up to see my mom walk in, and saying "Oh älskling... I'm so glad to see you!" but it took many more syllables than that!

"oooooohhh ehhhhlskellinnng... ayyymmm sooo glaaad to seeee youuuuu!"
That "linnng" all by itself covers a range in musical notes of almost a full octave! high/low/high

Dragon

I never thought about where our tendency to lift at the end of a sentence came from. Actually I never realized we did it until my sister married an American and moved to Oregon, when whe came back for visits she said she really noticed it. I've never particularly noticed a difference in the way we speak as compared to Americans who I've met or those in TV. There are very strong swedish and dutch communities in my area and even more so as you head north, though marg idea of the french influencing is interesting too and I would think the french influence has been around longer, though there are very few people in the western provinces who speak french fluently (or really at all) I think accents is all about how you learn to speak from your family and those around you and those are things that change very slowly.
One thing I'm always amused at is how Americans often fixate on our use of eh. I heard a comedian say the diffence between a New Yorker and a Canadian is if they came upon you leaning on their car the New Yorker would say "EH! Get off my car!!" and the Canadian would say "Get off my car eh"

Qsilv

polenta... I think the trend it toward what is called "universal" speech, and any more regional accent is considered less educated. Universal is what you hear news commentators speaking on tv.

One thing worth mentioning is that some accents are remarkably contagious. I know when I go to visit friends in the South, in the half hour it takes to get from the airport to the farm I've picked up a drawl so thick you could spread it like honey on bread... but it takes me nearly a week t'shuck th'durn thayang whun ah leeyave agin!

Qsilv

- it, + is

Dragon

My friends moved to Australia several years ago, when they come back I can't discern any Aussie accent at all in their speech. They say they are often asked how long they're visiting Sydney for. I guess an Aussie accent doesn't stick (at least to Albertans)
My cousin moved to Newfoundland for a year or so and when she came back her Newfie accent was so thick we could barely understand her. Though in that case I think it's because she's always had a very 'look at me, look at me' kind of personality and the accent got her the attention she craved. I wonder if she realized that we all thought she was a big old phoney.

matthew

I always loved listening to a southern "lady"... It always sounded so prim and proper to me compared to your typical southern "drawl" we red necks wield...

Robindcr8l

Dragon, is your cousin's name maddyjean? LOL

Dragon

Not in real life, but now I'm starting to wonder if she has an online personality.

polenta

Please, go on discussing eh
Eh, write more things
Do me a favor. Don't stop eh
Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh...............................................................

Login

In UK English, 'eh' is an exclamation which almost asks a question ... sometimes said when you don't understand (or didn't hear properly) what was said.

polenta

eh!?
eh!?

Just kidding Login
Your water effect is terrific!!!!!!!!!!!

Normal

Normal still recalls as a child hearing young cousins who lived for a couple of years in Louisville, Kentucky. (Or LOOVUL, as the natives would say.)
I can just hear the 4-yr-old saying, "Mammy, Ah cain't pull up mah paints!" Cracked up all our Illinois ears. But typical of that age, what Montessori so rightly calls "the absorbent mind."

Normal

Also the NY City boy, husband during the Germany years. Comng home from the Consulate he announced he "had my lettuce." I said I just bought lettuce, why would you do that? Then realized he was waving the APO mail at me. He had my LETTERS!

holidays

I foreign English. I just, my is good.

Normal

Polenta, I was a little uneasy with "helm," so looked it up. Sure enough that means the whole steering gear of a ship. The thing you drew is called "tiller" or (surprise!) "wheel."
If it's a small motor boat that you steer with a big attached paddle at the rear, that's a "rudder." (My only personal know-how is paddling a canoe and not too skilled at that!)

polenta

helm, rudder, tiller, wheel.............it's all the same to me. I haven't ever even touched one... LOL
Normal, I promise that when I buy a yacht I'll invite you to sail with me and my 24 butlers.

Arw65

lol, Living in the southwest we often use what is termed 'Spanglish' - which is a mix of English and Mexican Spanish- you hear Spanish words being used in place of the english word they sound like- Carpeta ( folder in spanish) is used in place of carpet etc. also we tend to merge words from both languages to make new words that don't really fit in either. it is quite confusing if you're not used to it!

holidays

Arw, that cool, I not that.

Baldur

Polenta, how would you wish someone a happy new year in Uruguay?
Does it literally translate as 'Happy?'