Wednesday, December 20, 2006

GP - 'elp! 'elp! I've lost me hayches!

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copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
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Last week, Mrs. Kluges [aka Ms. Huis Herself] and I were out for the evening after having lined up our favorite [aka only] babysitter. It was a lovely evening out with dinner and some Christmas shopping. Upon returning, we sat and chatted with our baby sitter, which is not an uncommon occurrence. She's 19 or 20 and a second year college student so we do have a few things in common, certainly more than we would if she were your typical 14-year old.

Anyway, as we were sitting there chatting, she suddenly looked at me and said "You've picked up an Irish accent." I can't say that I was surprised, but still it got me thinking about how my speech has changed in the last year and a half. I know that my American "accent" softens considerably around other Irish so I actually listened carefully to myself at work.

I now spend a lot of time "tinkin about tings" (like the number "tirty tree"). If I see someone doing something stupid, I might say "Jaysus, what an eejit" and that "Maybe a good baitin' might knock some sense into 'em." And naturally when somebody does something wrong and I want to let them know it's OK, it's a quick "Nay bother t'all" or more likely "Ah sure, yer grand." [Note from MHH: Pumpkin will also say, "You're grand" on occasion.]

For those of you back home, be sure to talk to us as soon as we get back, because I'm sure the tiny brogue we've picked up will evaporate in weeks before the flat, clear Midwestern dialect.

Slainte.

5 comments:

Syl said...

Yay for picking up a brogue! My mere 2 1/2 months in London allowed me to think in a British accent, but never quite produce one.

The Dude said...

I'm still trying to wrap my head around Mr. Kluges advocating a good baitin'... :)

Jaysan said...

For a second, I thought that the Irish made a new saying after our visit....

Pusher said...

Awesome. :-)

(And I'm with The Dude on the "baitin'" thing. Have you been spending too much time with The Lads?)

Allknowingjen said...

Very cool! So jealous too- I think the Irish brouge is one of the hardest accents to do/learn.