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Australian Broad-A
Queensland (wikimedia) Speaking of Shane Jenek/Courtney Act (the Australian drag queen that served as the topic of my last post), I noticed that he uses a “short-a” in words like dance, France, and...
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“Fargo” Redux: Dialect Work in TV’s Renaissance
When Fargo was released in 1996, “Minnesota speech” was largely unknown to the majority of the American populace. With a handful of exceptions, the dialect had little representation in popular culture....
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Iggy Azalea and Ethnolect Appropriation
Influential Blues Singer Leadbelly A few years back, I was talking to an Irish musician about the American blues. I found it strange that British and Irish musicians, particularly those honing their...
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John Oliver and Contemporary Brumminess
Like many HBO subscribers, I’ve become a fan of John Oliver, a British comedian who brings journalistic rigor to the “news parody” genre. He particularly excels at trans-Atlantic humor, injecting...
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Scotland, Borders, Secession and Language
Scotland voted against independence last week, an event which got me thinking about how I, as an American, distinguish the UK’s component parts. For me, when I envision Scotland (or Wales, or England),...
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Accent Prejudice Isn’t “Prejudice Lite”
Pittsburgh, 1920 (Public Domain/Wikimedia) I’m hesitant to respond to Gawker‘s “Ugliest Accent” tournament. For those who haven’t read it, the piece is a “March-Madness-style” competition to determine...
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Subtitled For American Consumption
I’ve recently discussed the work of filmmaker Ken Loach with longtime commenter Ed. Loach is one of the few filmmakers I recall who commits to featuring local accents in all his films. He often casts...
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Irish Linguistic Diversity
A few weeks back, Stan Carey responded to a “most attractive accent” survey which crowned Southern Ireland the most irresistible English. Anyone with a modest familiarity with Irish accents will...
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“Fillum” in England
Two commenters recently pointed out that fillum (i.e. fɪləm), a quintessentially Irish pronunciation of film, can also be heard in England. Many assume fillum‘s origins to be Irish–along with similar...
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Break
Apologies for the light activity around here for the past year. I’ve been extremely busy for some time, and as such, my posting rate has slowed greatly. In lieu of going long stretches without...
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