corey flintoff on npr : "marijuana." he says it with such a sort of spanish flare. "mare-uh-hwwwhana!"
everyone on the bbc: "condoms." they pronounce it in a kind of uptight british way. "con-doms." an american pronunciation would be like "con-dums." oh, okay. i guess we say it wrong. they also have a tendency to pronounce our president's first name, "bare-uk," like the word "barracks."
this guy on one of those boring midday cityclub talking shows: "hybrid." he was talking about hybrid cars, and he said the word over and over again, pronouncing it thus: "hy-bred."
there is also funny pronunciation going on on my telervision, via baltimore locals on the wire (which i LOVE LOVE LOVE - i don't think there's an actor in the world who can "do" the authentic white baltimore accent correctly).
9 comments:
I think Baltimore accents are so absurd that they sound fake (which makes it harder to do). Did you see Stringer Bell on the Office...with his "real" accent!
i agree! every time i hear a real baltimorean speak on "the wire," it makes me giggle. and yes, we saw the office last night -- i think it's a slightly americanized version of his "real" accent. did you hear him on fresh air last week? it was a great interview, because terry gross LOVES him.
That's funny, because Terry interviewing Omar on Fresh Air is what got me renting "the wire" in the first place. I thought she LOVED Omar. I'm eagerly awaiting the second season. That show is excellent...once I figured out what the heck was going on. One more note on accents, though- McNulty? I guess the Baltimore accent is tough for Brits, too. Took me several episodes to get past it.
i totally agree, martha -- mcnulty's accent was the only thing on the show that didn't ring true to me (i just suspended disbelief, since everything else seemed so right). i knew right away he was british (unlike stringer bell! i was shocked when i learned that he is also british). we are just starting season 4. it just gets better and better. i am scared, though, because my mom said, "oh, season four? season four is HEARTBREAKING."
i love when terry gushes over a guest. i love omar, too.
Oh season four... so good...so sad.
Okay--but your pronunciation guide is missing audio for the all-important Baltimore O (and the word itself, Bal'mr). Needs revision. -Pop
you're right, dad! but if you listen to the definition of "downy," as in "we're goin downy ocean, hon," you can hear the baltimore o. AND i've always quibbled with "bawlmer," because to my ear, part of the funny thing about baltimore (and philadelphia) accents is that they don't really pronounce that "l" at all - so it's more like "baw'mer." my theory is that this is the source of ira glass's funny speech impediment (listen to the way he pronounces his "l"s).
Hey Liz,
If I listen to the Stringer interview with Terry, will it spoil anything for the seasons I haven't seen yet?
actually, i'm glad you asked that question, martha, cause when i think about it, the answer is YES. wait a while.
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