Monday, November 27, 2006

Dear Caspers,

I do NOT say aboot!

9 comments:

Gwen said...

I can vouch for that!

Actually, that's interesting because there is a distinctive Canadian (some of them, not all by any means, just as in any culture) way of pronouncing the "OU" in such words as "about". I've heard quite a pronounced "aboot" from a few people I've met, and I'm currently WoWing with a group that has a large Canadian contingent and although I wouldn't say that they say "aboot" and such, it's still noticible. What I find interesting is that it's very subtle; so subtle that I can't manage to make the right sound when I try to describe it to them (it has come up when a few people tried to tease them about it).

I learned my lesson about teasing people about stereotypical accents and the like many years ago when I found that they were so cliched that not only did they annoy the person I was trying to tease (that's an understatement) but they truly didn't make me sound witty. Just the opposite.

So now I try to be more creative about my teasing, so that even if it is annoying, at least I don't sound like a hick who can't do anything besides parrot so-called "common wisdom".

Sarah J M said...

I do say 'eh' though. Eh is probably one of my favorite words, it is so useful!

Kara said...

Is Caspers giving you a hard time? I am "aboot" to kick his butt if he is. You just let me know!

Sarah J M said...

Caspers is always giving me a hard time Chino. Some nights I just break down and cry...

Just kidding! Actually Caspers can bug me all he wants, but if you wanted to kick his ass anyway I say go for it!

Anonymous said...

Doesn't sound like "aboot" to me... sounds more like "aboat".

Sarah J M said...

George is getting frustrated!!

Anonymous said...

CASPERS THE ALMIGHTY IS THE MOST PERFECT BEING ALIVE. HE IS NEVER WRONG SO IF HE SAYS ABOOT ITS ABOOT!
J/K I feel so special I made it to your blog i think i just wet myself :o)

Nick S said...

What I find funny is the use of the word "Hey" which is commonly used among Canadians as an alternative to "Eh" . I have some friends who employ this method alot .

Here are 2 examples :

"How about that game hey "

"Check out those hooters eh"

Of course this is not REALLY on topic, as we are really talking about the pronounciation of the word about as 'aboot'. I regularly hear it spoken as 'aboat' too ! Still, what do I know - I'm a pretentious Limey bastard :-)

Sarah J M said...

Yeah I say 'hey' a lot. Like "Wow it's cold hey?"

I'd probably have alternatively said, "Wow it's cold out eh?"

You shouldn't complain though, because you say stuff like "water bottle" but you leave out all the t's and replace them with voids so it comes out like "wa-er baw-le".