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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Canderous and Cade's Crazy Cantina: a shiny new fanfiction social thread!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Commander-DWH, Aug 31, 2012.

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  1. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    I guess you didn't see my post about it. I had a guy named Huey from Alabama call and, just like something off of Notalwaysright.com, tell me that only a man could do my job. Since the man he was demanding to talk to wasn't there until Monday, I convinced him to tell me what was wrong. Turned out he'd misplaced the data for 12,123 family members. I found it for him, got it formatted the right way and he abruptly asked if I "got a hubban?" When I said no, he said, "Me an' you, we gotta fix that!" I politely said that I appreciated that, but no. I looked him up afterwards (there's only one person from his town in Alabama listed under his full name) and I found two things: 1) his 50th anniversary picture and 2) his wife's obituary. So, yeah, I've turned down the chance to be Huey's missus today..
     
  2. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    LMFAO!

    DarthIshtar: You definitely did the right thing. The nerve of some people!

    Anyway, as much as you ladies want to flee the sordid shores of America for the Emerald Isles, I being of English ancestry do rather wish for occasion and means to visit the old country. I'm particularly keen to get an impression of local accents, so that I might perfect my own imitation (fooled a number of British ex-pats with it, I have, as well as others from the Commonwealth). It's something I'm quite proud of, actually.

    By the way I don't want the Tigers to sweep Boston, because then they'll be sitting on their arses for a week while St. Louis and the Dodgers finish their grim battle to the death. The same thing happened last year, and look where that got'em.
     
  3. Iverna

    Iverna Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2008
    I know next to nothing about requirements; I'm an EU citizen so for us it was just a matter of "pack a bag and go". You can probably look it up on citizensinformation.ie, they should tell you.

    Good news though, in terms of marriage, you're not restricted to Irishmen. Any EU country will do. Tons of options. :D Also, I'd recommend trying it out for a while first because the Irish way of life takes some getting used to. Everyone loves it on holidays, but everyday life is very different.

    And alas, poor Huey. How carelessly you turned him down. You cruel woman. He's probably crying about it right now. Poor man.
     
  4. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    DarthIshtar. I think the old widower saying that to you was cute. At least he wasn't married and hitting on you.

    Talking about accents, when I lived in Europe I was surprised that many people could not tell if I had an English, American or Aussie accent. Now I wave trouble telling apart Aussie and English unless they use some distinctive phrases...but I doubt Aussie guys actually say, "Let's toss some shrimp on the barbie" or English guys say, "Cheerio, let's have some tea and crumpets with a side dish of spotted dick".

    I don't know, maybe they do.
     
  5. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Jedi_Lover: I've come to learn that there are certain variations in tone, pronunciation and general emphasis between the major subgroups of British Commonwealth accents, apart from the varied ones of the British Isles themselves, along with differences in common syntax and phraseology. For instance, Australian accents tend to be a bit more relaxed, to the point of a drawl, particularly in the vowels; they also tend to use schwas more frequently (for example, the city of Melbourne is pronounced "Melbun" in Australian English). Another example is the difference between a Cockney accent (London East End and other, lower-class sections of the City) and that common to Southeastern England (Kent, Surrey, etc.). A skilled observer can pick them out, but it takes a lot of practice to become familiar with the differences. Even I have quite a ways to go in that regard.

    I guess that's one reason why books written by more contemporary British authors are so appealing to me. Without knowing who she was at all, I had J. K. Rowling pegged as a Brit within the first two pages of reading the (Americanized) version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

    In any case, I would imagine that those you met in Europe were not necessarily native English speakers. While it is true that many school systems in the western part of that continent teach English as early as what we consider the fourth grade, that doesn't mean they'd be able to pick up on the variations in the way a native speaker would. In fact, the accent they eventually develop for our tongue (if they have cause to retain it) while learning can be directly influenced by their teacher. I used to know a woman from Denmark who spoke English with an almost Cockney flavour, and when I asked why she had that accent, she told me her teacher was from London.
     
  6. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    That is true. But I did realize that when I spoke German the germans could hear my horrible American accent but people who spoke german as a second language couldn't hear my American accent. I was down in Bavaria having lunch with my friends. The waitress came up and asked in German what we would have. We told her and she looked a little confused. We tried again, but obviously we were saying it wrong. So I turned to my friends and said in english, "Am I saying this wrong?" The waitress then said in a British accent, "Oh you speak English. I thought you were german. Just tell me in English." It turns out she was a student who took a summer job there. I just thought it was strange that her German sounded just like any other German to me and we sounded German to her...even though my German sucks really bad and my German friends would laugh at my accent.
     
  7. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    I've found that when I don't mean to, I can do a passable English accent, but when asked to demonstrate it, I invariably start doing the Scottish accent I learned in 9th grade. I had a friend recently be appalled at my facility with a New York accent. She thought it wasn't natural for a Bostonian.

    Goodwood, see, I want a rematch of St. Louis v. Boston for the World Series. The Sox swept the series in 2004, that famous year, and I'd like to see them do another win with a lot of hard work and maybe one or two more games to make it interesting. I wish your team luck and I wish us all a good time watching the playoffs.
     
  8. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
  9. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Oh, don't remind me of '07, DarthIshtar. That was embarrassing, that World Series was, almost as embarrassing as getting swept by the Giants after sweeping the Yankees last year. Both times the Tigers choked really badly, but in '07 they were playing a team that had no business being there in the first place (they only won what, eighty-three games!).

    Jedi_Lover: In my capacity as a 7-Eleven employee, I got to get reacquainted with my horribly lacking Spanish abilities and actually remember and learn more of it to the point where I could almost conduct a complete transaction in that language (of course, since I'm no longer working there, that doesn't matter anymore). No one commented on my accent, but they seemed to agree that my pronunciation was quite good.
     
  10. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    Goodwood It really didn't matter how bad my german was since most German's knew english. The thing is, if you didn't try to speak german they would pretend they didn't understand english. My husband said he was in line to buy some bratwurst from a vender. The American in front of him was speaking english and didn't even try to speak german. The german vender said in german that he didn't understand. After a few minutes the American walked away all irritated. My husband came up and in lousy german ordered a bratwurst and a beer. The German looked to him and said in perfect english, "Would you like mustard on that brat?" :p
     
  11. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Jedi_Lover And the point being that folks in other countries appreciate it when you at least try to blend in a bit. Unfortunately I don't see myself going to Spain or Mexico or any other Latin American nation (though Puerto Rico might be an interesting option). My French and German are both useless for traveling (I know more military terms than actual useful words in the latter language), so that means I'd have to have a native guide or go with someone who knows more of the language. Fortunately, my girlfriend knows more German than I do as she spoke it almost fluently as a kid, and together we could probably scrape up a decent pool if we worked together. ;)

    Of course, the places in the world outside of the U.S. that are tops on my bucket list are all English-speaking, so that grand tour of the stunning Bavarian Alps would have to wait a bit.
     
  12. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Germany sounds like Quebec (the French part of Canada) MOST people speak English, but if you don't attempt to
    speak French, they'll pretend they can't understand you.

    So, I did it, I survived my crazy week and my uncle's wedding. The wedding was fun for the most part. There was some behind the scenes drama, like one of my uncle's sons refused to come because his mother didn't want him to, but nothing I had to deal with. However, what sucked for me is some idiot shot a plastic cork from a champaign bottle across the room and hit me in the shoulder. I have a nasty bruise now.
     
  13. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Grats on surviving, Bri, though you do seem to be something of a flak magnet. At least you've got some Internet friends to vent to. :)
     
  14. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    Stang! You better stay out of Detroit during New Year's or Devil's Night. [face_laugh] They like shooting their guns off into the air.
     
  15. Iverna

    Iverna Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2008
    I'll be honest... if a German tourist came up to me here, in Ireland, and asked me something in German, I'd pretend not to understand them. If they tried to speak English but were clearly not good at it, I'd probably take pity and speak German with them. But I think it's kind of rude to go to another country and not even make an effort to speak the language, especially if it's a fairly well-known one like French or German or Spanish, and especially if you're there for more than a weekend. At least try to say like "hello" and "bye" and "thank you". People will usually appreciate it. The only place where that doesn't work, in my experience anyway, is France. Even if you speak passable French, if your pronunciation is off, they'll insist on speaking English with you even if they only speak it very badly themselves.
     
  16. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    We don't do that on Devil's Night, it's more like setting fire to buildings because BURNING! [face_devil]

    Actually, that's been a decreasing issue in the past fifteen years, though with the issues the city is going through and the government shutdown, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an explosion of arson cases this year (pun intended). The guns thing, however, is an enduring—and very, very asinine—tradition that extends well into the Metro area.
     
  17. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    That's right. Devil's Night is arson night. I can't remember where I was living when there was a rash of accidental shootings from guns shot in the air. It may have been Huntsville, Alabama or the DC area. I read that if you are hit from a bullet falling from the sky you have a 20% greater chance of dying then if you were shot straight on from a distance. The story said it was because bullets coming out of the sky usually hit your head or torso, whereas other shootings can get you in less lethal areas. I have no clue if the story is true or not. We had a person die in my town a few years back from a stray bullet. It was just before hunting season and the cops thinks somebody was zeroing his rifle when a shot went high or ricocheted off something. I think the man came forward after seeing the report in the newspaper. He wasn't charged.
     
  18. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Goodwood, that was a real fight. The Tigers were doing so well. And then Papi, who lives in my hometown, had that grand slam. Series tied 1-1. I'm happy right now.
     
  19. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    I learned many things today. My half-brother's church values me as a performance artist, as I've been volunteered for more of their productions. Not that I mind, it's nice to be recognized, even though I hardly go to that church! I also learned scales and Mary Had a Little Lamb on a fiddle. Quite an accomplishment for someone who has never touched a fiddle before.

    Then, I got my copy of Pokemon X and played it until my 3DS's battery died.
     
  20. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Right now I want to slap our bullpen silly.
     
  21. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    Right now I want to slap our bullpen silly.
     
  22. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004

    One of the funniest things to happen to me while traveling was attempting to buy saline solution in Germany without knowing any German. My ex had forgotten his and decided that instead of just asking on our cruise ship, he was going to buy some in port. Okay. Step one was to fine a pharmacy or drug store. I spotted an "apothecary" and thanks to Harry Potter, knew that was where we wanted to go. We asked the sales person if she spoke English; she did not and the other person there only spoke a little bit. I used a guidebook for some key words like eyes, and mimicked the rest. After a lot of gesturing back and forth, she understood what we were looking for and guided us toward the saline solution. That was his souvenir from the trip. :p
     
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  23. Iverna

    Iverna Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2008
    Oh wow, that's a tough one! They probably don't teach you that in phrase books. *lol* Offhand I don't even know the word for it, myself. I'd probably have to describe it.

    I kind of love that type of thing though. That trying to get by, figuring it out, communicating via gestures and random bits of vocab and lots of laughter. I had a lot of that when I was learning English; I'd describe the thing I meant using the words I knew, sometimes very weirdly. Same thing when I'm in Holland or France. It's kind of fun. It's always amazing to me how little people need to communicate, sometimes, and at other times you have people who speak exactly the same language and don't understand each other at all. One of those phenomena. I love it.
     
  24. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Well, we wanted to go teach the Red Sox how to swing a bat on Saturday. Luckily, Big Papi remembered quite well later on...
     
  25. Goodwood

    Goodwood Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2011
    My sixty-year-old roommate could've hit that pitch, Ish.
     
  26. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Goodwood, doesn't say much for your pitchers, does it? :p Okay, so, we're probably on the verge of being told by PM to stop pestering each other. Feel free to PM me if you want to banter about baseball.
     
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