Dear Mik-Chiks,
I have a lot of friends from far-away places (as I know many other readers do as well). Also like many of you, I'm fascinated with words and expressions and love to learn new ones. Which brings me to my difficulty: is it considered acceptable for an American to use expressions such as "cheers" and "ta", or would that be viewed as an affectation?
I have a lot of friends from far-away places (as I know many other readers do as well). Also like many of you, I'm fascinated with words and expressions and love to learn new ones. Which brings me to my difficulty: is it considered acceptable for an American to use expressions such as "cheers" and "ta", or would that be viewed as an affectation?
Regards,
Miss Cosmopolitan
Dear Miss C.
Dear Miss C.
Yes, we have many friends who are "out there," and can say with some
authority that there are oodles of minuscule factors that can make these things
okay or not okay. Mostly it has to do with your personality and your
inflection.
If you can keep it casual when you use these words, and blend them into your speech in such a way that it's normal for you, then it's fine. If you find ways to construct obscure sentences so that you can whip out something fancy, then you're being obnoxious.
Also, it's not okay to randomly assume the accent of whatever language the word is from. That's totally pretentious. Everybody knows when you're a Vanilla Wafer American, and you should own that birthright and slaughter other linguistic pronunciations with abandon. The only exception to this rule is if you're trying to make a joke of how horrible your accent is--by trying overly hard to get it right. then it's acceptable.
If you can keep it casual when you use these words, and blend them into your speech in such a way that it's normal for you, then it's fine. If you find ways to construct obscure sentences so that you can whip out something fancy, then you're being obnoxious.
Also, it's not okay to randomly assume the accent of whatever language the word is from. That's totally pretentious. Everybody knows when you're a Vanilla Wafer American, and you should own that birthright and slaughter other linguistic pronunciations with abandon. The only exception to this rule is if you're trying to make a joke of how horrible your accent is--by trying overly hard to get it right. then it's acceptable.
We are all about self-deprecation.
Readers!
Parlez vous foreign language etiquette?
Tchuss!
Maddie and Lisa
Readers!
Parlez vous foreign language etiquette?
Tchuss!
Maddie and Lisa
My darling husband has some lovely local lingo. When he is speaking with a Spanish person, he will invariably pull out his phrase - Yo soy platano cabeza = I am banana head.
ReplyDeleteThere are times when I must agree.
I struggled with the same issue while in London with Amira. Nah, I didn't struggle with it - I made it a point to embarrass her with my impeccable West End accent. Riiight-Ooo! I was chatting with a fellow over there about this and he said it sounded strange and out of place for Americans to say Cheers, since we try to make it a toast rather than more of an acknowledgement. Keep in mind, though that he was from South Africa. However, forget the foreign accents, I want to know why I sometimes slip into a deep southern accent, and usually while on the phone? I was raised in Switzerland - say it ain't so!
ReplyDeleteEric! What a step you've made! As far as your southern accent goes--well, I think it can be attributed to the altitude's effect on the speech center in the brain..
ReplyDeleteI have one of those, too, Sally.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your reasoning for Eric slipping into southern speech. Southern speech was the first original language from creation and we all retain vestiges of it in our DNA. It was the language of Eden. That is the story I tell my children anyway. :) (Hey! It sounds good! LOL)
ReplyDeleteoh, good point, Hanne!
ReplyDeleteMikChicks, your advice sounds spot on to me. I can't do a proper foreign accent of any kind, so I don't have to sound overly bad when I attempt one as I spout the occasional "Cheerio then!" or "G'day, mate!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I speak for all Southerners when I say you can't fake a southern accent. We can tell, believe me. And I've only been a Southerner for half my life. :)
Don't plan ahead. Pick up what you hear and use it naturally. Give it time; don't rush it or you will likely get the context wrong.
ReplyDeletePlay to your strength, accent-wise. Texan, for instance, is loved throughout a great deal of western Europe, at least. I have been known to exaggerate my Texan a bit in Paris and Albania.
Then again, I love Texan.
ReplyDeleteI believe you.
ReplyDeleteSo obviously your testimony is tainted.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Mik Chiks. (I most often do!) adios
ReplyDeletelol, thanks for taking this on. yes, it's natural for me... I tend to use whatever words (and sounds--sorry, that includes accents/partial accents) and speech patterns I hear and read, without thinking about it at all!
ReplyDeleteSo, "y'all" just slips out naturally and then I think, "did I say that? 'cuz I'm from the Great West and we aren't supposed to say that here--especially not when speaking to only two people!" Or I say, "g'day" (but not "g'day, mate;" that just wouldn't seem right coming from me) or "went to university" and all sorts of things that Americans don't generally say, without having tried to "say something foreign". (and here I am, putting the punctuation outside the quotation marks... shows you how mixed up I am these days! ;-) )
But when it comes to signing an email and "Cheers" comes to mind, I have generally already stopped to think about the complimentary closing anyway, so I hesitate on that one. And I haven't actually figured out the context of when one would say "Ta" as opposed to "Thanks" (I was sort of hoping you'd clear that up for me, but I suppose I wasn't clear in my request!).
hasta luego,
Miss Cosmopolitan