Canadianisms.

I'm feeling kinda stuck.

I'm one of two Canadians on my team here; the majority of the other expats are American. Not all from the same place, of course, so there is some diversity in accent.

And I love it.

There's just something ... fascinating about how other people speak English.  The little - and not so little - variations are fantastic!

Let me say it before you do: yes, I am a geek. Not as much fun if I beat you to the punch, eh?

I love accents.  And much to my chagrin, I cannot for the life of me imitate an accent for any length of time.  And this, despite having known my parents - my parents - for 30 years.  

Sidenote: if there's one accent that makes me feel like I'm about to explode out of my skin for joy and happiness, it's hearing a French Canadian speak English.  A. May. Zing.  

A couple months ago, I was able to pinpoint that a guy spoke French and had a French background, even though he'd spent the majority of his life in an English-speaking city and barely had an accent. 

I was so proud of myself.

Yep. I'm weird.  Still not as much fun when I say it first, eh?

 

Another side note: I know what you're thinking, and stop right there; he's married.  Moving on ...

Anyway, despite having known my parents for 3 decades, and having heard their voices, intonations, and pronunciations almost every single day for about 25 years of my life, I cannot imitate them.

Which, come to think of it, really makes me wonder why people confused me with my mother on the phone ... hello, people? Get your hearing checked!!

Back to the topic at hand which was ... hang on, let me scroll up. Right. Got it.

Despite all of this accent action that goes on around me day after day, I'm feeling kinda stuck.

Though I may not be able to imitate entire accents, I've definitely picked up on different ways of pronouncing things since I've been here. 

My "about" and "house," for example, no longer come out as "aboot" and "hoose" (Really, Canadians aren't all that bay- ad ... oh, wait. There's another one I've picked up!). I've started droppin' my g's at the end of sentences. And then there's the fact that my "sorry" (sew-ree) has become a piece of Indian clothing (saw-ree, or sari).

Yet another sidenote: When I first moved here, I said "sorry" the Canadian way in two different contexts, within earshot of two different guys.  I kid you not, both of them looked right at me and said, "I'm sorry, Anne, I'm sorry!" (that was an allusion to Anne of Green Gables, just in case you didn't catch that).  My jaw dropped.  Two guys.  No, make that two AMERICAN guys are familiar with one of Canada's most well-loved book series turned into a movie.  A. May. Zing.  I was immensely impressed and proud.

Then I found out they both have sisters, and it all made sense.

End of Side note

 

Alright, so there have been changes in my pronunciation.  I've also dropped the infamous "Eh?" because it draws far too much attention.

Though when I was doing some research on the origins of that exclamation, I discovered a few interesting things.  

Did you know, for instance, that English is one of a few languages that uses "Eh" in similar contexts? 

Armenian, Japanese, French, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Persian, Portuguese and Catalan apparently all have a similar interjection.

Being a French speaker, I can really only vouch for that one; we most definitely use the "eh?"  Oh, and I can honestly say that Italian also has the "eh".  How do I know?  You tell me; what did Fonzie say all the time on Happy Days?  

Yep, I know you can hear it in your head right now.

Side note: Ya know, I could probably make a killing doing mind reading ... 

Please do not misunderstand me. I love, love, LOVE accents.  (Did I mention that already?) and I appreciate the diversity and the sounds and the voices and the ways of talking that exist around here.  If I could, I would just sit around and listen to people talk all day, it's just that fascinating.  

But am I losing myself in the midst of it all? I ask because when I talk with my sister as she hangs aboot her hoose, and she laughs at me when I say things like "Dang!" because she thinks it's American.  And then I'll come talk with co-workers who will chuckle good-naturedly when I say "eh?" because it's Canadian.

And this same ... dilemma also applies to spelling, terminology, the weather and measurements.  If I hang on too tightly to some of these, communication can get interesting to say the least! So something's gotta give somewhere, and since I'm the minority ... it's probably me.

Which I am okay with. Sort of. I guess?

Topic to be revisited at a later date, I'm sure. In the meantime, I will leave you with a story explaining how Canada might have gotten its name ...

"How did they name Canada? The letters were thrown in a bag, and the first one to be picked was 'C' eh?, then 'N' eh? and finally 'D' eh?"