Accents. I just love a good accent, just like how I love a good curry or a good red wine. Certain accents are pretty sexy, some of them sound just so damn hot! I'm living in Europe, now and I'm fortunate that there is an abundance of these sexy accents right at my doorstep. But then again, some other accents can sound like fingernails on a blackboard. I won't name them in case I might offend my parents, hahaha! Oh well, you probably guessed which one I'm referring to.
It just so happened that when I was growing up in New Zealand I thought the Kiwi accent didn't exist at all. Out of all the English speaking countries in the world, the Kiwi accent just sounded ordinary, for want of a better word. It was as if you couldn't distinguish it from other English speaking countries, like you had to use a process of elimination to narrow it down. So I can just imagine someone from a non-English speaking nation using this particular line of reasoning:
(Again I'm doing a piss take, so please put your sarcasm filters on and take my comments with the required grain of salt.)
The reason why I love accents is because they are great for distinguishing different groups of people. They're great for stereotyping, making jokes, and generally taking the piss out on different races. That's the reason why I enjoy listening to them and trying to imitate them. Years ago, I was intrigued by the South African accent, courtesy of Lethal Weapon 2. Pretty soon I was trying to talk like a South African, which led me to impersonate a manager who was a South African. I called up one of the workers, pretended to be him and told him he got laid off. A very stupid thing to do, yes I regret it very much, but luckily it did not go out of control. However he totally fell for it. I didn't sound like my manager at all, but I employed a very convincing South African accent, and to the untrained listener it just sounds the same irrespective of who is speaking.
But I couldn't put my finger on the New Zealand accent. I always thought it was a neutral sounding accent. It wasn't strong like the Australian accent, and it didn't have a distinguishing characteristic that sets it apart from other native English-speaking countries.
Boy, was I wrong!
When I started living in England, I couldn't help notice that I sounded so much different to the locals. Of course it's obvious. Sometimes I got a few quizzical looks when I have a conversation with other people, wondering what I was saying. For example, my office manager confused my sentence "I'm getting a watch today", with "I'm getting a wash today".
But it wasn't just the sound. It was also the style of speaking as well. Kiwis tend to employ certain Kiwi mannerisms in their conversations, unique to other English-speaking groups. In particular, using the word "eh" after every sentence. It seems that this is a Kiwi habit to end a sentence with a question word, such as "eh", designed to give the other person a chance to speak. And it seems that I'm also in that category, and have been for a long time, way before I learned about this unique mannerism. Imagine this simple conversation I had with a pommie lady in the kitchen last week. Firstly, the non-Kiwi version.
A: So what did you do in the weekend?
B: Oh, I went to Paris.
A: Really? What was the weather like?
B: It was very good. Lots of sun.
Now imagine that person B is me.
A: So what did you do in the weekend?
B: Oh, I went to Paris, eh.
A: Really? What was the weather like?
B: It was awesome, eh. Lots of sun.
And it was through living here in a foreign country that I finally got an understanding of the Kiwi accent. Of course I also googled the Kiwi accent, and watched a few NZ videos on YouTube, just to hear what it sounds like, and quietly laughed when I heard something being said Kiwi style, thinking "yep that's how we speak in Aotearoa!" Even New Zealanders in the office reckon that I have a Kiwi accent, in fact a riul thuck one.
So, will I conform to the masses and try to speak differently? Adopt the Queen's English? No way! Learning about the Kiwi accent, and the way that we speak, has only made me more prouder to be a Kiwi. So while I'm here, I'll be spilling out my words and flaunting my strong Kiwi accent, much to the annoyance of others around me!
Fush 'n Chups, ini wun? Sweet as, bro!
It just so happened that when I was growing up in New Zealand I thought the Kiwi accent didn't exist at all. Out of all the English speaking countries in the world, the Kiwi accent just sounded ordinary, for want of a better word. It was as if you couldn't distinguish it from other English speaking countries, like you had to use a process of elimination to narrow it down. So I can just imagine someone from a non-English speaking nation using this particular line of reasoning:
okay so it can't be the Aussie accent because the "e" sound doesn't sound so strong, and it can't be the Yankee accent because it doesn't sound annoying at all, and it can't be the Pommy accent because it doesn't sound pompous and camp. Yep, it's gotta be a New Zealand accent.
(Again I'm doing a piss take, so please put your sarcasm filters on and take my comments with the required grain of salt.)
The reason why I love accents is because they are great for distinguishing different groups of people. They're great for stereotyping, making jokes, and generally taking the piss out on different races. That's the reason why I enjoy listening to them and trying to imitate them. Years ago, I was intrigued by the South African accent, courtesy of Lethal Weapon 2. Pretty soon I was trying to talk like a South African, which led me to impersonate a manager who was a South African. I called up one of the workers, pretended to be him and told him he got laid off. A very stupid thing to do, yes I regret it very much, but luckily it did not go out of control. However he totally fell for it. I didn't sound like my manager at all, but I employed a very convincing South African accent, and to the untrained listener it just sounds the same irrespective of who is speaking.
But I couldn't put my finger on the New Zealand accent. I always thought it was a neutral sounding accent. It wasn't strong like the Australian accent, and it didn't have a distinguishing characteristic that sets it apart from other native English-speaking countries.
Boy, was I wrong!
When I started living in England, I couldn't help notice that I sounded so much different to the locals. Of course it's obvious. Sometimes I got a few quizzical looks when I have a conversation with other people, wondering what I was saying. For example, my office manager confused my sentence "I'm getting a watch today", with "I'm getting a wash today".
But it wasn't just the sound. It was also the style of speaking as well. Kiwis tend to employ certain Kiwi mannerisms in their conversations, unique to other English-speaking groups. In particular, using the word "eh" after every sentence. It seems that this is a Kiwi habit to end a sentence with a question word, such as "eh", designed to give the other person a chance to speak. And it seems that I'm also in that category, and have been for a long time, way before I learned about this unique mannerism. Imagine this simple conversation I had with a pommie lady in the kitchen last week. Firstly, the non-Kiwi version.
A: So what did you do in the weekend?
B: Oh, I went to Paris.
A: Really? What was the weather like?
B: It was very good. Lots of sun.
Now imagine that person B is me.
A: So what did you do in the weekend?
B: Oh, I went to Paris, eh.
A: Really? What was the weather like?
B: It was awesome, eh. Lots of sun.
And it was through living here in a foreign country that I finally got an understanding of the Kiwi accent. Of course I also googled the Kiwi accent, and watched a few NZ videos on YouTube, just to hear what it sounds like, and quietly laughed when I heard something being said Kiwi style, thinking "yep that's how we speak in Aotearoa!" Even New Zealanders in the office reckon that I have a Kiwi accent, in fact a riul thuck one.
So, will I conform to the masses and try to speak differently? Adopt the Queen's English? No way! Learning about the Kiwi accent, and the way that we speak, has only made me more prouder to be a Kiwi. So while I'm here, I'll be spilling out my words and flaunting my strong Kiwi accent, much to the annoyance of others around me!
Fush 'n Chups, ini wun? Sweet as, bro!
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