Carry on talking

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"The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech.

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Francois de la Rochefoucauld.

After a year and a half as an expat, I am happy to say that I have not succumbed to the voices around me and acquired a US accent. I have steadfastly fought against gaining one of those Aussie/American concoctions sported by likes of Nicole Kidman and her celebrity expat friends. It just sounds so peculiar. Australian accents don't lend well to hybridisation.

Most people I encounter in the USA think I am British when they hear my dulcet tones, or should that be cacophanous prattle? It seems that the Crocodile Hunter is their reference for how Australians should sound. If anything, puzzling as this is, my accent has become more ENGLISH sounding since being here. It seems a silly affectation indeed, but truly it's not.

Perhaps it is due to the fact that I really don't like American television, as referenced in a previous and rather cantankerous post. I have always much prefered British film and television and continue to watch it over here instead of the indigenous productions.

English Literature is also a favourite. I did a semester of American Literature at University and found it a complete bore, and have since tended to avoid American authors.

I had to read Henry James, 'Portrait of a Lady' and 'Washington Square' at University and considered going the way of Sylvia Plath with my head in the oven, just to escape the drawn out suffering of actually finishing the books. On the other hand, when I read 'Catcher in the Rye', I was hoping Holden Caulfied would make good on his suicidal longings and top himself quick smart because he was such a frightful deadhead, particularly of note considering he was constantly ranting about everyone and everything else being a bore.

Another factor could be that in fighting the battle against sounding American and short of being surrounded by Australian accents, I am accentuating one that I hear more frequently, on the telly anyway, and one that is familiar. The remedy it seems could be to watch more Australian productions. I wonder if viewing 'Chopper' will cause more of that Aussie accent to surface, or just scare the neighbourhood kids, especially when I accost them in the street with a kooky wave and by saying...'hello, hello kiddies, say hello to your Auntie Chop chop'. I might start spouting memorable Chopper quotes like, ' I'm just a bloody normal bloke. A normal bloke who likes a bit of torture', which will not keep me in good standing with neighbours. Perhaps I should stick to the 'Carry on' films, 'Carry on Matron' is my favourite, Hattie Jacques was brilliant as Matron.

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Carry on Matron!

Eric Bana as Chopper, A most unsavoury character indeed.

My mother was very much a Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), 'If you have to perspire, I wish you'd go into the back garden, so as not to disturb the people who respect us socially', type of person and told us children to watch the ABC when growing up so we could listen to BBC English being modelled with the hope we would sound like that instead of the grubby little bogans we really were.

Hyacinth.

I have one Australian friend here who speaks with an Aussie twang and we sound nothing alike, but when I am around her I find that the inner Aussie accent within starts to rear it's true blue head. Once, after eating Tim Tams, the Colonel said I sounded more Australian. What is it about Tim Tams, aside from their delicious chocolatey goodness, that can conjure up one's Aussieness?

Despite my best efforts, some words are dissolving into the turbid whirlpool of multi-accented confusion. I sometimes forget how a word is pronounced back home. I'm not always sure if my way of saying the word is correct in Australia, or if I have just got it wrong. In my ADHD addled mind I tend to get a lot of things wrong.

Over here the word Mauve is pronounced 'Maw ve.' I had to spell the word to my Aussie friend and ask her how she said it. Fortunately she said 'Mow ve' so I then knew that my way was indeed correct, as I had become confused and wondered if my pronunciation was just a product of my imaginings.

I have been saying the word OMEGA, 'Ohm ay ga' instead of 'Om ee ga' and caught myself out on that one. The Home Depot store is pronounced 'dee poh' instead of 'dep oh'. I had been saying it the American way and quickly corrected it, but sometimes it's just easier to say it their way, so they can understand me.

Oh weird and peculiar accent of mine, how long before you change into something even more nauseating.