The other day, my wife and I were discussing what we would be called by our grandchildren. She is German, so Oma and Opa are what she called her grandparents and also what our kids call her parents.
I don't want to be called the common Grandad or Pops.
It got me to thinking...what would be the affectionate term used for grandfather in Scots Gaelic? I like to be different.
There was a place in Dunoon called Anselmo's (no idea if I'm spelling that right) where I used to get fish and chips. It was my favorite place to eat when I was on the beach.
Even though I had been there a bunch of times, when my turn came and the woman behind the counter asked me the same question she'd just asked the guys ahead of me and that she had asked me a bunch of times before; when I knew exactly what she was going to say because she never asked differently, I always stumbled and had to get her to repeat herself when she asked "Salt and vinegar?" Argh!
In the later 1980s, there was a somewhat mediocre program on one of our public television stations that originated in Scotland - about police detectives in Glasgow. My ex and I liked that show just to listen to it.
I don't know about others but I have a friend who lives here now but used to live in Sussex. If I'm around him for too long I begin to mimic his speech patterns and understand him much better. Reading P1M's posts has gotten easier for, I suspect, similar reasons. Moose McLennan's posts are entirely different - must be the different accent.
I think that this world will be a much poorer place - and we here in the US are quickly headed into that form of poverty - if accents and regional dialects are homogenized into "common speak". If you've got an accent, hold on to it. I, for one, like listening to you.
Accents are great, they make us part of who we are. I have heard some funny stories about accents in Japanese, it seems they have trouble understanding each other sometimes as well.
In Scotland, there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes. - Billy Connolly
The report features Matthew Fitt talking about his book "The Eejits."
You should also be able to navigate to http://www.theworld.org/, then on the left under features select December 28, 2006. Finally, scroll down to the audio file for "Scot Language Report."
Originally Posted by GallowHill
Bookmarks