So I'm reading A.M. Homes Music for Torching which is really depressing for a newlywed to read. More depressing than referring to yourself as a newlywed. Not that my marriage would ever turn into that pile of mess, not that I would equate my life to a piece of pop literature but still. Anyway I have to a point that I'm slowly driving at.
Last night I had another shocking realisation of our difference. Yes he speaks funny. I've established that a long time ago when he said 'yogurt' for the first time and I couldn't help but laugh at how silly he sounded. And there are lots of words that I get Chris to repeat over and over again: lobster, turtle (when he says that I think my heart is going to explode because it's absolutely adorable. The sound of the word is personified as the cute). But all in all, I can't hear his accent any longer and he can't hear mine. Except when I say silly words and apparently when I talk to my sister on the phone I sound 'really Canadian'. Blah blah blah it doesn't enter our lives on a daily basis.
There are of course the obvious cultural differences but I'm adjusting. I know way too much about Premier league football. So much that I can now have an intelligible conversation. Nightmare realised.
Here's last night shocker. We were watching Katie and Peter: Stateside. I love that we both drop whatever we're doing and pile up on top of each other on the sofa and watch intently. We love them both so much! Chris wants to, and I quote 'shoot the shit' with Peter. But I digress, (they are that wonderful though!). So advert break I start flicking and see Dr. Regan doing this show for BBC2 about medicine, fountain of youth, that kind of stuff versus reality. And she's in a homeopathic shop looking at herbal remedies. Then someone in the shop says (and this is tricky to type out so you may have to say it out loud): 'home-e-op-athy'. It just really startled me as we say 'home-e-o-pathy'. And I thought, maybe that person is just daft and said it wrong and I got Chris to say it and shock/horror he says it the former way.
It's one of those words that you don't hear for about 3 years and don't think it varies depending on where you live, it's just homeopathy, but I was startled. And Chris defended his weird country by saying they shorten the middle of words and lengthen the first syllable. Best example being Controversy: the weirdos here say 'con'trov'o'sy'. At least that's what it sounds like in my head, where I say 'con'tro'ver'sy (you know, as in the way it's spelt...)
I think I've last my train of thought through semantics and syllables but I think our relationship is always going to be on a learning curve. One day he's going to say a word and my head will literally explode because it's too shocking. But it's also refreshing. And maybe that's the essence of people lusting after foreign accents; there's always something fresh to unveil about them, a new word, new phrase, new intonation.
2 comments:
oh tova! i might have loved this post. i used to compare words with my british friends a lot. they'd poke fun at how i talk, apparently i speak very 'canadian' which, i don't think i do really, i have a weird language of my own. but oh well.
still we'd argue many times over the way things are said.
I kinda think this is adorable haha
At least you both say things differently because you come from different countries-
I get thrown off when people who live in the same country play that game.
Post a Comment