For Carl (might keep Dillon awake too)

[moonshadow]

Yes, a plumber -- one with a speciality in refrigeration and process cooling. Every so often I get asked why I say that, and I tell them that it's actually quite simple -- refrigeration specialists usually don't have to keep constantly looking over their shoulders in expectation of the next layoff; they're unlikely to be replaced by an H1-B holder from India who's willing to work at half the going wage; and they're entirely likely to call a lot of the shots in their own job. A "STEM" (acronym: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professional winds up insanely deeply in debt to pick up a piece of paper that he'll need even before he sees a dime in income, faces a constant threat of getting his job "offshored", getting laid off, or replaced by an H1-B; typically has a Dilbert-style "pointy-haired boss", and has to foot continual bills for "education" to keep him "certified" in the latest "advances" in technology. It's a losing game for the individual; the only winners in this field are schools (increasingly for-profit), vendors, and the H1-B holders.

Well, why I can't say that I know what the pulse of the professional economy is in New England, and I really can't say I know much about it around here either, as I've never really ran around the "corporate" circuit much in my life (I've always been stocking groceries or turning wrenches.... never had a job where I had to wear a tie) but I can say that as for the company I work for, well I can't speak for them, but I would imagine that they would probably jump at the chance to get you on payroll Carl.

[moonshadow]

Yes my mood and outlook on life increases considerably after the holidays... so you'll pardon me if I'm a little overly optimistic today.

Which is saying a lot since I'm on call, and you all know how I feel about that!

[Reaper_Man]

or weigh a pound of meat.

why would you need to weigh a pound of meat, it's a pound of meat so it's going to weigh a pound lol

obviously you meant weigh a pound of meat before you actually knew that it weighed a pound, isn't it strange how we humans say some daft things, i often say "i'm going to put some toast under the grill".... if that was actually true my toast would be charcoal, what i actually mean is that i'm going to put some bread under the grill to make toast, .. you've just gotta love the English language

[moonshadow]

you've just gotta love the English language

And there's so many different dialects too. I'd bet if you put someone from the Appalachians in the same room with someone from the UK, they'd probably get a kick out of each other. Then add a New Englander (Carl) just for fun....

You should hear me in person. Don't let my occasional big words fool you... I have a southern/hick accent, or so I'm told. (I can't stand my voice on recording).

Yeah... I throw everyone around me off, when I cue up that old hillbilly Dixie accent... in a skirt... I think they expected something else!

What can I say... I can't help it. I can force myself to speak in other ways, but once I get comfortable it seems I always revert back to a hillbilly Moon.

[crfriend]

And there's so many different dialects [of English] too. I'd bet if you put someone from the Appalachians in the same room with someone from the UK, they'd probably get a kick out of each other. Then add a New Englander (Carl) just for fun....

You should hear me in person. Don't let my occasional big words fool you... I have a southern/hick accent, or so I'm told. (I can't stand my voice on recording).

In spite of the fact that when I'm writing I use UK English, I speak US English and have an "accent" which I term "Network American", which is to say that I don't really have any sort of dialect at all and nobody can successfully nail down where I'm from. This occasionally takes people by surprise, especially those who have read my writing.

Sadly, it seems that regional dialects are dying out in the US. One of the interesting things when travelling is to experience dialects other than your own, but really now save for the deep south, it's all pretty homogeneous -- which is quite unlike what was my father's experience when he was a youngster and he once related that on one road trip to visit relatives in Iowa that people got hard to understand once one got into upstate New York from Massachusetts. I regard this as a bit of a loss.

[moonshadow]

In spite of the fact that when I'm writing I use UK English, I speak US English and have an "accent" which I term "Network American", which is to say that I don't really have any sort of dialect at all and nobody can successfully nail down where I'm from. This occasionally takes people by surprise, especially those who have read my writing.

Sadly, it seems that regional dialects are dying out in the US. One of the interesting things when travelling is to experience dialects other than your own, but really now save for the deep south, it's all pretty homogeneous -- which is quite unlike what was my father's experience when he was a youngster and he once related that on one road trip to visit relatives in Iowa that people got hard to understand once one got into upstate New York from Massachusetts. I regard this as a bit of a loss.

My style of speech is really somewhat strange I suppose. As I said, I've been told I have somewhat of a southern accent. But I wouldn't call it "deep south"... more of a mix of southern and Appalachian, with a peppering of what I can only best describe as "ghetto". I have some what of a drawl, and I tend to slur a little. The kicker is my VOCABULARY tends to better align with what I type. So the words I use in the real world are the same as the words I use in places like this website. Frankly I use words that most southerner's don't frequent.

I'm also one of the only souls in these parts that calls a pepsi a "soda". Everyone else calls it pop. I guess it's just how my mother raised me, and she was from up north, and everyone in my northern family always called it "soda". However it's interesting that according to this map (linked to below), pop apparently travels well up north. Soda tends to be a New England thing, as well as a southwest thing. Southerner's apparently just call it "Coke". Virginia seems to be quite diverse in it's terminology. My home county of Bedford VA is somewhat of a "yellow" island, (leaning towards soda), which might also have something to do with how I say it.

It's interesting that while Coke is a southern thing, pop makes it's way down into the Appalachians. I would venture a guess that this is because around here coke has more to do with coal. But I could be wrong.

http://www.dula.tv/blog/wp-content/uplo ... odamap.gif

Speaking of beverages.... though I have seldom traveled your way Carl, and have never been to Massachusetts, my understanding is that virtually everyone just a little north of my location likes their tea unsweet! *blaaaahh* I remember traveling to Ohio on some business several years ago, and it was near impossible to find a restaurant that would serve sweet tea. They would offer you sugar packets to put in it.... but it's not the same! 'Round here, people take a lot of pride in their sweet iced tea. Myself included, we go through about a gallon every other day. Sometimes during hot weather, it's about a gallon per day.

which is to say that I don't really have any sort of dialect at all and nobody can successfully nail down where I'm from.

I'll have to be the judge of that if we ever meet. I've happened upon a few travelers along 81 from Boston way.... and lets just say they have quite an accent, that is strictly "Boston", even if they don't realize it.

[dillon]

Bostonian English; the word khakis. As in "Did anyone see where I left my cahkeys?" And take the word lama...we know that a one-L lama is a Bhuddist holy man. And a two-L llama is an Andean camelliad. But do you know what a three-L lllama is? It's a big fire in Boston. (Listens for the groans)

IMO, the most generic American speech is central Illinois. They don't have an accent.

As for writing in the Queen's English, I agree with Will Rogers. "Nothin' you can't spell will ever work..." And that explains French, too.

[Kirbstone]

Oh yes, they do. This side of the Pond, when one of them opens their mouth the 'accent' is immediately 'American', just like when I'm anywhere else and I open my mouth, I'm immediately 'Irish'.

Even though I lived and worked for years in Germany, whenever I opened my mouth (in German) there I was immediately percieved by them as 'Danish/Dutch/English. That conferred an advantage only relevant there......It absolved me from making nuance-mistakes in the Sie/Du forms of address. Even though I learned the ins & outs of it according to the directives and local customs, some of the finer points of it were much later explained to me by a sailing friend who happens to be an Austrian Prince, or 'Furst'. At his level the useage has all sorts of hidden meanings.

Tom

[skirted_in_SF]

Speaking of beverages.... though I have seldom traveled your way Carl, and have never been to Massachusetts, my understanding is that virtually everyone just a little north of my location likes their tea unsweet! *blaaaahh* I remember traveling to Ohio on some business several years ago, and it was near impossible to find a restaurant that would serve sweet tea. They would offer you sugar packets to put in it.... but it's not the same! 'Round here, people take a lot of pride in their sweet iced tea. Myself included, we go through about a gallon every other day. Sometimes during hot weather, it's about a gallon per day.

To each their own.
I was at a conference in Atlanta almost six years ago, had an evening on my own and found a Greek restaurant near my hotel. I ordered several small plates and iced tea. They were gracious enough to serve it unsweetened. I'm a bit if a purist about my loose leaf tea which I source from a firm in Carl's part of the world.

[moonshadow]

I was at a conference in Atlanta almost six years ago, had an evening on my own and found a Greek restaurant near my hotel. I ordered several small plates and iced tea. They were gracious enough to serve it unsweetened. I'm a bit if a purist about my loose leaf tea which I source from a firm in Carl's part of the world.

Isn't it amazing how something as simple as tea is so palatable/unpalatable depending on where you're from, and where you are?

And then the English probably look at us all crazy because we ice it.

Well, If you're ever a guest in my home SF, I will gladly brew a pitcher of unsweetened for you..... and you can take with you what is left over.
(it's not like we're going to drink it )

[crfriend]

Bostonian English; the word khakis. As in "Did anyone see where I left my cahkeys?" And take the word lama...we know that a one-L lama is a Bhuddist holy man. And a two-L llama is an Andean camelliad. But do you know what a three-L lllama is? It's a big fire in Boston. (Listens for the groans)

I like that last one. The prototypical "Boston accent" is one that attempts to ape what's called the "Brahmin" accent. That class of individual is now almost entirely extinct, and I don't believe that there's so much as a breeding pair in the wild any longer. There's a lesser accent that remains in use, but it, too, is slowly dying away as mass-market media (mainly television) continues to erode various regional dialects.

IMO, the most generic American speech is central Illinois. They don't have an accent.

One seldom "hears" his own accent or dialect unless he's listening to himself in a recording; this is one of the reasons that most folks do not like or enjoy the sound of their voice in recordings. What I tend to go by is that in all of the places I've travelled in the USA (and a little bit in Canada) nobody's been able to pin down where I'm from based on my speech patterns and dialect. Canadians knew I was from the US, of course, but nobody ever correctly guessed where -- and it's a big country.