Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Especially after the third beer, I suspect. Re Brampton, I find that young ethnic GTA is sounding less and less Canadian. It's not a new thing by any means, but to me the divergence is becoming more pronounced, so to speak.

Yeah, it may no longer be a good reference marker.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh, I wasn't talking about that video. I was talking about when Newfoundlanders travel to Ireland (or maybe the UK), if they maybe alter their accents - consciously or subconsciously.

It's kind of an issue here when our celebrities go to France and very audibly change their accents when they appear in the media over there.

Even worse when they come back home from France and keep on talking with a French accent here in Quebec!

Though, in fairness, a bit of accent drift is normal when you spend time abroad and there isn't necessarily anything pretentious about it.

When I was in my 20s I spent an extended period of time in Europe (including in France) and when I came back home my friends mocked my speech and told me I was talking like a pompous Parisian. In my mind I was speaking the exact same way as when I left home.

With the growing French colony, I wonder whether the biais against "Parisian French" won't decline in Quebec, or at least in Montreal? It is and isn't a thing in English Canada vis a vis the Brits. Somebody from Winnipeg or Perth affecting a British(ish) accent (I've known both) will come across as a proper twat, but some of our greatest stage actors take on a decidedly British tone over the years and they tend to be forgiven, or thought of as hugely sophisticated.

I was listening to old CBC broadcasts the other day and was struck by the fact that, as late as the 1970s, the Canadians speaking on CBC interview programs could sound very "mid-Atlantic" compared to todays standard accent.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh, I wasn't talking about that video. I was talking about when Newfoundlanders travel to Ireland (or maybe the UK), if they maybe alter their accents - consciously or subconsciously.

It's kind of an issue here when our celebrities go to France and very audibly change their accents when they appear in the media over there.

Even worse when they come back home from France and keep on talking with a French accent here in Quebec!

Though, in fairness, a bit of accent drift is normal when you spend time abroad and there isn't necessarily anything pretentious about it.

When I was in my 20s I spent an extended period of time in Europe (including in France) and when I came back home my friends mocked my speech and told me I was talking like a pompous Parisian. In my mind I was speaking the exact same way as when I left home.

Oh, I see. I don't think that happens, but others do. Paddy did a whole speech about it on Open Line how guys break out the Irish brogue on George Street just to impress the tourist girls and get them home.

I like to think their accents are that strong anyway. I MAY be delusional, but not as obviously as you might think. There's still a good chance it's in my court.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

With the growing French colony, I wonder whether the biais against "Parisian French" won't decline in Quebec, or at least in Montreal? .

The Parisian accent isn't so much of a despised thing anymore in Quebec. It's only when it's worn in a totally fake way by Jean-Guy Laplante from St-Glinglin PQ who's never been across the Atlantic.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Watching the fort mac fire coverage i'm blown away at the accent of everyone up there. The people of fort mac sound like stereotypical Canadians.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Watching the fort mac fire coverage i'm blown away at the accent of everyone up there. The people of fort mac sound like stereotypical Canadians.

And this is noteworthy because ....

[RueBulmer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh, I wasn't talking about that video. I was talking about when Newfoundlanders travel to Ireland (or maybe the UK), if they maybe alter their accents - consciously or subconsciously.

It's kind of an issue here when our celebrities go to France and very audibly change their accents when they appear in the media over there.

Even worse when they come back home from France and keep on talking with a French accent here in Quebec!

Though, in fairness, a bit of accent drift is normal when you spend time abroad and there isn't necessarily anything pretentious about it.

When I was in my 20s I spent an extended period of time in Europe (including in France) and when I came back home my friends mocked my speech and told me I was talking like a pompous Parisian. In my mind I was speaking the exact same way as when I left home.

my closest ex in-laws retained a more mid Atlantic accent in French, though it was often very Paisien, and my ex-wife would periodically chastise me for drifting into the French I had learned by osmosis.I had a hard time with it.

In English I tend to annoyingly pick up any accent my significant other is speaking, to the point that I've been accused of making fun of them. Happy with the Italian I'm seeing now. He only comments on my cooking.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by RueBulmer

my closest ex in-laws retained a more mid Atlantic accent in French, though it was often very Paisien, and my ex-wife would periodically chastise me for drifting into the French I had learned by osmosis.I had a hard time with it.

In English I tend to annoyingly pick up any accent my significant other is speaking, to the point that I've been accused of making fun of them. Happy with the Italian I'm seeing now. He only comments on my cooking.

What is a Mid-Atlantic French accent?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

What is a Mid-Atlantic French accent?

Like a Radio Canada newscaster?

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

What is a Mid-Atlantic French accent?

The accent of the La Rochelle area / Charente-Maritime? Though I don't think it's very distinguishable from mainstream non-southern French nowadays... (been more than a decade since I last went to that area)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

And this is noteworthy because ....

I'm genuinely interested in hearing what BCasey thinks the people in Fort Mac are supposed to sound like, given that he was surprised to observe that they "sounded like Canadians".

[lio45]

Do you guys consider "lil' shits" to be a standard semi-affectionate descriptor for turbulent kids?

I had never heard that previously... Our upstairs tenants in Lévis have two elementary school aged boys, who are generally pretty adorable, and lately my gf texted me that we'd have to put a lock on her shed (which didn't lock) because the lil shits went in there and messed with her stuff.

I thought she was pretty angry with them (in my mind, I had read that as "the little pieces of shit did XYZ") but apparently it's not that bad in terms of meaning.

Since then of course it's become a running gag between us... for example, since our tenants have stuff that's theirs in the shed, I was asked to explain to them that we had added a lock (I'm pretty much always the official translator) so of course I reported to my gf that I had informed them she had complained about their "little piece of shit kids" going in there, etc.

I'm just wondering if it's widespread, or just very regional... and as a non-native speaker, I'm surprised that there's apparently a pretty major difference between calling someone a lil' shit and calling someone a piece of shit.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by lio45

Do you guys consider "lil' shits" to be a standard semi-affectionate descriptor for turbulent kids?

No. It might suggest a sense of resignation about the inevitability of such behaviour at a certain age (which is definitely less present in your alternative formulation) but it's not semi-affectionate.

[Brizzy82]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Watching the fort mac fire coverage i'm blown away at the accent of everyone up there. The people of fort mac sound like stereotypical Canadians.

To be fair, I recall you posting a video of yourself talking & you had a very typical Canuck accent as well, so it is what it is.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The Parisian accent isn't so much of a despised thing anymore in Quebec. It's only when it's worn in a totally fake way by Jean-Guy Laplante from St-Glinglin PQ who's never been across the Atlantic.

People do that? I can't imagine somebody from Ganonoque affecting a British accent.

OTOH, the other night I went to an event the other night where one of the speakers was an academic who grew up in "Toron-toe". She made a point of emphasizing her consonants. She also prefaced her speech by talking about how she had overcome "adversity" as a woman and person of colour, despite the fact that her parents were both doctors and she had attended some kind of international school. It was barfworthy, really.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

And this is noteworthy because ....

The accent these people have is very pronounced and strong, something i'd expect out of an American comedy poking fun at Canadians. I always assumed that was mostly exaggerated but in fort mac the individuals there speak a very strong almost comical accent. Maybe it's the influence of newfoundland, I don't know.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

The accent these people have is very pronounced and strong, something i'd expect out of an American comedy poking fun at Canadians. I always assumed that was mostly exaggerated but in fort mac the individuals there speak a very strong almost comical accent. Maybe it's the influence of newfoundland, I don't know.

I can't say I've noticed it from the residents I've heard on the news, although one would expect some sort of small town/blue collar way of speaking, no? I expect that an unusually high percentage of residents are originally from elsewhere, including many from Newfoundland. I was struck by the fact that the fire chief sounds Australian(?).

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

People do that? I can't imagine somebody from Ganonoque affecting a British accent.

OTOH, the other night I went to an event the other night where one of the speakers was an academic who grew up in "Toron-toe". She made a point of emphasizing her consonants. She also prefaced her speech by talking about how she had overcome "adversity" as a woman and person of colour, despite the fact that her parents were both doctors and she had attended some kind of international school. It was barfworthy, really.

Do I detect a subtle note of derision directed toward, shall we say, modern-day academic PC culture?

How dare you. Please check your privilege.

Oh, and in case you're thinking about playing at oneupspersonship, I'm a spirit-fluid gender-fluid/queer anti-cisnormative anti-heteronormative anti-white-male-patriarchy womyn-ally of colour working in the field of pronoun tyranny studies, so there's absolutely no way you could have possibly experienced more identity-derived trauma than I have. I can link to an an online repository of my suffering listed in both chronological and topical order in an Excel file if need be.

Please be respectful and don't abuse the privilege though. It's one of my online safe spaces.

I also want you to know that I only use "you" and "I" on this forum as a courtesy to those still enslaved by present-day pronoun orthodoxy. In real life I only respond to "zoo" in the second person and "zar" in the third person (if I'm close enough to overhear and thus able to correct the mis-pronouning).

In the future my wish is that these new pronouns will be used universally in all languages. Until that day I will continue to suffer at the millions and billions of others carelessly using the misogynist and patriarchal pronouns of their respective orthodoxies (these latter traumas are not listed individually in that Excel file for practical reasons).

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Do I detect a subtle note of derision directed toward, shall we say, modern-day academic PC culture?

How dare you. Please check your privilege.

Oh, and in case you're thinking about playing at oneupspersonship, I'm a spirit-fluid gender-fluid/queer anti-cisnormative anti-heteronormative anti-white-male-patriarchy womyn-ally of colour working in the field of pronoun tyranny studies, so there's absolutely no way you could have possibly experienced more identity-derived trauma than I have. I can link to an an online repository of my suffering listed in both chronological and topical order in an Excel file if need be.

Please be respectful and don't abuse the privilege though. It's one of my online safe spaces.

I also want you to know that I only use "you" and "I" on this forum as a courtesy to those still enslaved by present-day pronoun orthodoxy. In real life I only respond to "zoo" in the second person and "zar" in the third person (if I'm close enough to overhear and thus able to correct the mis-pronouning).

In the future my wish is that these new pronouns will be used universally in all languages. Until that day I will continue to suffer at the millions and billions of others carelessly using the misogynist and patriarchal pronouns of their respective orthodoxies (these latter traumas are not listed individually in that Excel file for practical reasons).

well frankly i question your ability to check your privilege since you failed to acknowledge that you are typing from the unceded territory of the anish'naabe mississauga first nations and that you are their guest

secondly you will note that i have dispensed with conventions of grammar or capitalization since the english language is a tool of oppression and structures and privileges patriarchal white anglo saxon thinking

finally i question your use of an excel spreadsheet to catalog your offenders as we all know the spreadsheet is a modernist cartesian grid system of organization similar to the cadastral land map that was invented by white male settlers to erase indigenous cultures and ways of knowledge

[kwoldtimer]

Amazing the kinds of reactions that a well-educated, upper middle class woman of colour with good diction can elicit. People can be so insecure.