Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

Best Answerphone Message Ever: Just One of the Reasons to Love "Murphy's Law"

The Jekyll thing was exciting in that sick adrenaline-fueled way that leaves you feeling exhausted and a bit in need of a good brain bleaching afterward, but my real James Nesbitt love is reserved for him as Murphy .  Yet another reason you need---or should have had---BBC America.   That said, he should have had the Golden Globe for Jekyll.  I didn't care for it, but he was amazing.  I'd watch it again if I could stomach the violence.  Much as I love Jim Broadbent and liked Longford, that must have been a relatively easy task compared to what Nesbitt had to do, surely (?) 

Anyway, some favorite fragments from Murphy's Law:

Here's the website for the show.  There are plenty more clips on YouTube, but as it happens, the answering machine was exactly the bit I was looking for. 

What American woman doesn't love a Northern Irish accent? My husband can do a kickass Nesbitt imitation and for awhile we had this exact message on our answering machine, till my mother and a couple of my colleagues objected....

Spongebob: "Sailor Mouth" (the British parody)

CROSS-POSTED (ANGLO-SAXON ATTITUDES).  The British parody of "Spongebob" adds a whole new dimension to the cartoon.  Far from challenging this as "fair use"Viacom really need to get JokeComics4001 on board.  This Stephen is kind of a genius.  Here's my favorite one:  "Sailor Mouth", complete with British swear words.  (Not for faint-hearted Americans)

• "Sailor Mouth" Part 1
• "Sailor Mouth" Part 2

• "Jelly Fish" Part 1
• "Jelly Fish" Part 2

There are lots of others.  These are my favorites.

My only quibble is with the voice of "Squidward."  I think Stephen made a mistake making him American.  He's got that British thing of pronouncing "th" alternately as "v" or "f"  which is kind of a dead giveaway.  Besides, they lost that languid, Squidward-might-be-gay ennunciation that so exercises "Focus on the Family" and similar groups.  I was also a little sad that he got rid of the real Mr Crab's fake west-country accent (the American idea of one).   Still:  A genius genius.

And only 17, judging by this.  Blimey!

 

One American's British Education: 13 Valuable Lessons (at Jon Tillman.Com).

This is the most interesting entry I read in last week's meme game, the Thursday 13.  It's called "Thirteen Things I Have Learned About America from the British," and it's posted at Jon Tillman.Com ("Part of the Problem Since 1976"). 

Jon Tillman is living in London and many of his notes address his culture shock.  As he's hanging out with Essex people, he's probably getting a bit of a warped view, particularly about the accent.  (PS.  This is straight from Mr Rumcove, who is from Essex).   Cf. his item 8:

[quote begins from "13 Things I Have Learned About America from the British" at Jon Tillman.com]

8.  Americans Butcher “The Queen’s English”: For instance, did you know that there is no hard ‘A’ sound in the English language. Well, there certainly isn’t in the UK. Nor is the ‘TH’ sound pronounced as you do. It is more of a ‘VV’ sound, as in “I can’t be bovvered to learn to enunciate.

[quote]

As I'm on record as saying I prefer an estuary accent to any accent on the planet (to my husband's disgust, since he speaks only the finest Public School).   And I have to differ with Mr. Tillman about the  hard "A" sound;  just ask one of them to pronounce "taco." 

I have enjoyed reading his politely restrained exasperation with the British in their homeland.  As I'm in a mixed marriage with a Brit, and have a British stepdaughter in her twenties, I have long since adapted to the ways in which they are not at all---AT ALL---like you and me.  We are divided by more than a common language.

Estuary Englishman.

  [published on July 5, 2006 in "The Flatland Oracles"]

For Rumcove's amendment, click here.

1.  The Estuary Beat

As I have mentioned elsewhere, Mr. Rumcove and I met over the internet in 1997.  We didn't talk on the phone till after we'd been exchanging daily emails for a few months.  When we did speak, I was totally unprepared for the trouble I had understanding him.  "I have an estuary accent," he'd said in an email.  As he is very interested in accents, he went on to explain some of the characteristics of estuary English:  the glottal stops, the use of "w" in place of "r" for some words and "f" in place of "th" (e.g., "Orwite" = "All right"), and a highly arbitrary tendency to drop H's.   [For details, see the delightful Gary's Estuary Homepage by another native speaker].

He DIDN'T explain, because I imagine he and other English people don't notice, that another characteristic is talking at high speed  and often lowering rather than raising the voice for emphasis.  Though maybe that is just Mr R.