NationStates Jolt Archive


Films That Have Screwed Over Your Language

Neo Kervoskia
27-12-2006, 03:30
What film, book, etc. has seriously fucked over your mother tongue. For example, Mary Poppins made a generation of yanks think that all British people spoke like low-class flower vendors.
Gataway_Driver
27-12-2006, 03:32
Borat. Now loads of people have tried to imitate him. But blame Yoda to this he well is
The Vuhifellian States
27-12-2006, 03:36
Every movie about "thuggin'". There's actually a few Brits in my high schools. Only one of them can pronounce English so good that they make you feel stupid, though.
Minskia
27-12-2006, 03:38
yeah. i dont speak english. i speak american.
Dryks Legacy
27-12-2006, 03:40
yeah. i dont speak english. i speak american.

Now if you can get everyone else to admit that, I'll be happy.
Theoretical Physicists
27-12-2006, 03:42
Any movie that has a Canadian pronounce about as "aboot".
Rejistania
27-12-2006, 03:43
Major League in German translation... "Kiek ma' op Dein Zeiteisen, dat Ding is' jelaufen!"
DHomme
27-12-2006, 03:43
Bruce Willis is a ****.
Gataway_Driver
27-12-2006, 03:43
Now if you can get everyone else to admit that, I'll be happy.

to be fair the aussies arn't that much better
Neo Kervoskia
27-12-2006, 03:44
Bruce Willis is a ****.

Yes!
Wallonochia
27-12-2006, 03:45
Jeff Daniel's Escanaba in Da Moonlight (http://www.escanabathemovie.com/index2.php?location=trailer) (video)

The reason it screws Michiganders over is because some of us actually do talk like this.
Pepe Dominguez
27-12-2006, 03:46
What film, book, etc. has seriously fucked over your mother tongue. For example, My Fair Lady made a generation of yanks think that all British people spoke like low-class flower vendors.

I kinda doubt that "My Fair Lady" really did that. In any case, Hepburn was the only person in that movie with that accent, so no one could come away thinking "all" British people sounded like her.

Anyhow, being from Chicago originally, I'd say the Blues Brothers movies and certain Saturday Night Live characters probably form the streotype of the local accent. In reality, there's an accent, but it's not that noticable, I don't think, and it's sporadically thick in some people and light in others.

As for California, I suppose Keanu Reeves should be shot for his Bill & Ted antics.. I've basically never heard an accent that thick out here.
DHomme
27-12-2006, 03:48
Yes!

Well somebody had to say it.
Dryks Legacy
27-12-2006, 03:48
to be fair the aussies arn't that much better

I can't speak for everyone else, but I will admit that a speak Australian English (which is itself a bastard language) partially corrupted by proper English English and American English. Everyone else doesn't care and a lot of them are too stupid or too ignorant to know that they are speaking a weird hybrid English.
Gataway_Driver
27-12-2006, 03:58
I can't speak for everyone else, but I will admit that a speak Australian English (which is itself a bastard language) partially corrupted by proper English English and American English. Everyone else doesn't care and a lot of them are too stupid or too ignorant to know that they are speaking a weird hybrid English.

I have nothing to say but :)

you my friend are the exception to the rule of criminals, I'm sorry aussies. J/K
Nadkor
27-12-2006, 04:00
What does Neo-A have to do with anything? Did she not leave here like...last year?
Potarius
27-12-2006, 04:00
What does Neo-A have to do with anything? Did she not leave here like...last year?

Yeah, I think so. What the hell happened to her?
Nadkor
27-12-2006, 04:01
Yeah, I think so. What the hell happened to her?

Don't know, think she just stopped posting. Don't remember her being banned or anything.
West Spartiala
27-12-2006, 04:43
As for California, I suppose Keanu Reeves should be shot for his Bill & Ted antics.. I've basically never heard an accent that thick out here.

There may be many reasons why Keanu Reeves ought to be shot. Bill and Ted is not one of them.
Bodies Without Organs
27-12-2006, 04:48
Bruce Willis is a ****.

Bruce Willis is a gay icon.
Ergo a **** is a gay icon?
The Nazz
27-12-2006, 06:17
Not really a llanguage, but what Adam Sandler et al did to the Cajun accent in The Waterboy is criminal. Especially Kathy Bates.
Ladamesansmerci
27-12-2006, 06:21
Any Kung Fu movie with horrific dubbings, and anything in western culture with a pretension of Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese) in it, really. They all sound horribly off and make no sense whatsoever. Though I must admit the Cantonese mocking is quite funny.
Dobbsworld
27-12-2006, 06:23
Any movie that has a Canadian pronounce about as "aboot".

Hear, hear.

I don't really know just who started that myth, but seeing as it's patently false, hearing it endlessly parroted back as truth is particularly galling.
Ladamesansmerci
27-12-2006, 06:24
Hear, hear.

I don't really know just who started that myth, but seeing as it's patently false, hearing it endlessly parroted back as truth is particularly galling.
Newfies. Blame it ALL on the newfies.
Dobbsworld
27-12-2006, 06:28
Newfies. Blame it ALL on the newfies.

But that's just - man, that's DUMB. We can't all sound like Newfs. That'd be like having a movie set in... I dunno, set in Texas where everybody happened to sound like they were from Boston.
Ladamesansmerci
27-12-2006, 06:34
But that's just - man, that's DUMB. We can't all sound like Newfs. That'd be like having a movie set in... I dunno, set in Texas where everybody happened to sound like they were from Boston.

Well, to Americans, all of us sound like Newfies and live in igloos. To us, all Americans sound like Texans and live in NYC. It's a fair trade, really. I'd rather live in an igloo than NYC.
Imperial isa
27-12-2006, 06:35
film's were poeple try to be Australian
Terrorist Cakes
27-12-2006, 07:15
Strange Brew. I have never met anyone who talks like that (although, it can be noted that I live on the west coast).
Wallonochia
27-12-2006, 07:18
Well, to Americans, all of us sound like Newfies and live in igloos. To us, all Americans sound like Texans and live in NYC. It's a fair trade, really. I'd rather live in an igloo than NYC.

Funnily enough, when I was in the Army I was asked from time to time if I was Canadian, due to my accent.
Neesika
27-12-2006, 07:27
Newfies. Blame it ALL on the newfies.

Na, that's getting old anyway :D

Well, maybe I'm too biased to really take a side on that...Fort McMurray, Alberta, IS the capital of Newfoundland after all...they really are invading with their 'I'll tell you what' and other assorted bizarre Newfie sayings...
Neesika
27-12-2006, 07:29
But that's just - man, that's DUMB. We can't all sound like Newfs. That'd be like having a movie set in... I dunno, set in Texas where everybody happened to sound like they were from Boston.

What DOES the Boston accent sound like anyway? I've been wondering...
Free Soviets
27-12-2006, 07:29
Jeff Daniel's Escanaba in Da Moonlight (http://www.escanabathemovie.com/index2.php?location=trailer) (video)

The reason it screws Michiganders over is because some of us actually do talk like this.

also, as far as i can tell, hunting in the northwoods really is exactly like that
Wallonochia
27-12-2006, 07:36
also, as far as i can tell, hunting in the northwoods really is exactly like that

I plead the Fifth.
Dobbsworld
27-12-2006, 10:33
What DOES the Boston accent sound like anyway? I've been wondering...
Think of the Kennedys or uh... erm, think of Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons!
Keljustan
27-12-2006, 13:36
Any movie that has a Canadian pronounce about as "aboot".

Heheh. One of my English teachers was originally from Canada and said that she was teased when she was little for pronouncing 'about' just like that.
Nodinia
27-12-2006, 13:42
Now if you can get everyone else to admit that, I'll be happy.

Eh?
Nodinia
27-12-2006, 13:45
What film, book, etc. has seriously fucked over your mother tongue. For example, Mary Poppins made a generation of yanks think that all British people spoke like low-class flower vendors.

"Far and away" featuring Operating Thetan Cruise. The "language coach" wasflown in from NYC - he was apparently of Italian descent.
Atopiana
27-12-2006, 13:50
What DOES the Boston accent sound like anyway? I've been wondering...

Sexy.
Eve Online
27-12-2006, 13:58
Some movies about certain people in Britain seem to be fairly accurate.

I thought Billy Elliot was pretty accurate about the language in a coal mining town. Every other word was "fook".
PedroTheDonkey
27-12-2006, 14:00
Now if you can get everyone else to admit that, I'll be happy.

I freely admit to speaking American.
Markreich
27-12-2006, 14:07
Any movie that has a Canadian pronounce about as "aboot".

But you *do* speak that way! Eh! :D
Armistria
27-12-2006, 14:14
"Far and away" featuring Operating Thetan Cruise. The "language coach" wasflown in from NYC - he was apparently of Italian descent.
Ugh, his Irish accent was horrible in that. But he's not the only one. Sean Connery (although I've never heard him try any new accent) Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc. cannot do the Irish accent justice. I admit that it can be a fairly tricky accent; even I can't imitate some of the more rural dialects even though i'm used to them, but if you're going to try the "Top of the mornin' to you, laddie" approach, then I'm afraid it just won't be convincing.

I've noticed many American television programs where they supposedly mock the Irish, but most of the time they sound far more Scottish. I'm sure that the same is true in reverse. Is it so hard to learn the differences between Ireland and Scotland? Apparently yes... Ignorant American actors/scriptwriters...
Pepe Dominguez
27-12-2006, 14:28
Ugh, his Irish accent was horrible in that. But he's not the only one. Sean Connery (although I've never heard him try any new accent) Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc. cannot do the Irish accent justice. I admit that it can be a fairly tricky accent; even I can't imitate some of the more rural dialects even though i'm used to them, but if you're going to try the "Top of the mornin' to you, laddie" approach, then I'm afraid it just won't be convincing.

I've noticed many American television programs where they supposedly mock the Irish, but most of the time they sound far more Scottish. I'm sure that the same is true in reverse. Is it so hard to learn the differences between Ireland and Scotland? Apparently yes... Ignorant American actors/scriptwriters...

Irish isn't that difficult for some. A friend of mine who practices accents can get by with a good many accents online (yahoo voice-chat, Skype, etc.), and according to him, Irish was one of the easier ones. Of course, this guy does have a gift of some kind, and perfect musical pitch, etc. I probably couldn't do an impression of my own accent to save my life. I was born with a dead ear apparently. :p
Nodinia
27-12-2006, 14:38
Ugh, his Irish accent was horrible in that. But he's not the only one. Sean Connery (although I've never heard him try any new accent) Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, etc. cannot do the Irish accent justice. I admit that it can be a fairly tricky accent; even I can't imitate some of the more rural dialects even though i'm used to them, but if you're going to try the "Top of the mornin' to you, laddie" approach, then I'm afraid it just won't be convincing.

I've noticed many American television programs where they supposedly mock the Irish, but most of the time they sound far more Scottish. I'm sure that the same is true in reverse. Is it so hard to learn the differences between Ireland and Scotland? Apparently yes... Ignorant American actors/scriptwriters...


Its not only the "accent" but the phrasing....its worse than "Playboy of the Western world". Fair enough when they're taking the piss, but fer fucks sake...And they leave out the vital Irishism of liberal profanity and blasphemy.
Armistria
27-12-2006, 15:10
Irish isn't that difficult for some. A friend of mine who practices accents can get by with a good many accents online (yahoo voice-chat, Skype, etc.), and according to him, Irish was one of the easier ones. Of course, this guy does have a gift of some kind, and perfect musical pitch, etc. I probably couldn't do an impression of my own accent to save my life. I was born with a dead ear apparently. :p

Oh, I'm not saying that nobody can do a decent Irish accent; a few actors have nailed it. Cate Blanchett was very good in "Veronica Guerin", Robert Carlyle wasn also fairly good in "Angela's Ashes", Samantha Morton was convincing in "In America". There have been plenty of guest appearances on Irish shows in which people imitated Irish accents well. I just tend to find that on film and television, people get it wrong more often than not. But aside from the world of the media, I know a few people who can imitate almost any accent perfectly, so it can very often be done.
LiberationFrequency
27-12-2006, 15:22
I told a guy once that he needed to work on his irish accent, he called me a **** then rolled up his sleeve to show a tatoo of the flag of ulster
The blessed Chris
27-12-2006, 15:36
Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.
Armistria
27-12-2006, 15:40
Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.
And it's getting worse. Thanks to the glorification of rap music, culture, etc. Not that English people can have apalling grammar/dialects, but the percentage of poor American speech is probably larger than poor English grammar/pronounciation.
Dododecapod
27-12-2006, 16:10
Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.

Heh. You do know that East Coast US accents are the closest to the original upper class English, right? They didn't change while the actual English adopted the rather odd "plummy" accent for their upper classes (the one the UMC try for in British comedies, without realising that the actual upper classes have more or less discarded it...). As for the "modern" English accent, you can entirely blame that on the BBC, which created the accent out of whole cloth in an attempt to render their speakers easily understood by all, an attempt at which they were quite successful.

If American English is the "Aberration", then I hate to think what you'd call Scottish.
Rubiconic Crossings
27-12-2006, 16:24
Heh. You do know that East Coast US accents are the closest to the original upper class English, right? They didn't change while the actual English adopted the rather odd "plummy" accent for their upper classes (the one the UMC try for in British comedies, without realising that the actual upper classes have more or less discarded it...). As for the "modern" English accent, you can entirely blame that on the BBC, which created the accent out of whole cloth in an attempt to render their speakers easily understood by all, an attempt at which they were quite successful.

If American English is the "Aberration", then I hate to think what you'd call Scottish.

ahhh yes...the Received Pronunciation 'fad'....

pity the buggers with regional accents...never get a job wiv the beeb....thankfully things have changed!

Funnily enough Alf Ramsey used to have elocution lessons....
Potarius
27-12-2006, 16:31
Heh. You do know that East Coast US accents are the closest to the original upper class English, right? They didn't change while the actual English adopted the rather odd "plummy" accent for their upper classes (the one the UMC try for in British comedies, without realising that the actual upper classes have more or less discarded it...). As for the "modern" English accent, you can entirely blame that on the BBC, which created the accent out of whole cloth in an attempt to render their speakers easily understood by all, an attempt at which they were quite successful.

If American English is the "Aberration", then I hate to think what you'd call Scottish.

Northeastern accents rock (as I happen to have one, myself). Even at their most eloquent, they still have a gritty edge to them that I really like.

As for myself, I've been asked if I was from Canada three times this year, thanks to my accent and how well I pronounce words...
Farnhamia
27-12-2006, 16:32
I'm surprised no one's posted this ... :p

Oh, why can't the English learn to set
A good example to people whose
English is painful to your ears?
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.
There even are places where English completely
disappears. In America, they haven't used it for years!
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak?
Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks are taught their
Greek. In France every Frenchman knows
his language from "A" to "Zed" ...
The French never care what they do, actually,
as long as they pronounce it properly.
Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning.
And Hebrews learn it backwards,
which is absolutely frightening.
But use proper English you're regarded as a freak.
Why can't the English,
Why can't the English learn to speak?
Glorious Heathengrad
27-12-2006, 16:33
Uh, I don't think trying to homogenize the vernacular, dialects, accents, etc. of all the world's english speakers is very realistic.
Potarius
27-12-2006, 16:34
That's a bit contradictory of itself, since it's full if misspellings...
Proggresica
27-12-2006, 16:36
I'm Australian... 'nuff said.
CanuckHeaven
27-12-2006, 16:37
What film, book, etc. has seriously fucked over your mother tongue. For example, Mary Poppins made a generation of yanks think that all British people spoke like low-class flower vendors.
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain. :p

Wouldn't it be loverly!!
Potarius
27-12-2006, 16:38
The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain. :p

Wouldn't it be loverly!!

*cringes and begins choking on spit*
CanuckHeaven
27-12-2006, 16:38
I'm Australian... 'nuff said.
I guess that to you, barbie is not a plastic doll.
CanuckHeaven
27-12-2006, 16:39
*cringes and begins choking on spit*
I know CPR....can I help? Or should I just call 911?
Potarius
27-12-2006, 16:40
I know CPR....can I help? Or should I just call 911?

No no, that's okay... I swallowed it in the end.

*shakes fist at Dick Van Dyke's god-awful depiction of an Englishman*
The Nazz
27-12-2006, 16:41
Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.
It's a drift in pronunciation, something that's been happening since the beginning of spoken language and will continue for as long as there are humans speaking to each other. Get over yourself.
Glorious Heathengrad
27-12-2006, 16:46
It's a drift in pronunciation, something that's been happening since the beginning of spoken language and will continue for as long as there are humans speaking to each other. Get over yourself.

Well said.
CanuckHeaven
27-12-2006, 16:50
No no, that's okay... I swallowed it in the end.

*shakes fist at Dick Van Dyke's god-awful depiction of an Englishman*
Actually, the one I was quoting was from My Fair Lady, not Mary Poppins.
Potarius
27-12-2006, 16:51
Actually, the one I was quoting was from My Fair Lady, not Mary Poppins.

Either way, they're both hideous.
Verkya
27-12-2006, 16:52
Fargo was fun...
Farnhamia
27-12-2006, 16:57
It's a drift in pronunciation, something that's been happening since the beginning of spoken language and will continue for as long as there are humans speaking to each other. Get over yourself.

Just so. In English we had the Great Vowel Shift. Here's Wiki's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift) summary:

This means that the vowel in the English word make was originally pronounced similar to Modern English father, of Received Pronunciation; the vowel in feet was originally a long Latin-like "e" sound; the vowel in mice was originally what the vowel in feet is now; the vowel in boot was originally a long Latin-like o sound; and the vowel in mouse was originally what the vowel in moose is now.
Annwfyn
27-12-2006, 17:00
It's a drift in pronunciation, something that's been happening since the beginning of spoken language and will continue for as long as there are humans speaking to each other. Get over yourself.

Actually, American English accents are closer to what the Brits sounded like 200 years ago. Drift occurs more in the original land of the language than in its offshoots. so in reality British English has changed more than American English has. Not to mention than languages never deteriorate over time, nor do they evolve to become better. From a linguistic standpoint all languages do what they need to do for the people who speak them and always change with every passing generation to meet the needs of that generation.
Farnhamia
27-12-2006, 17:14
Actually, American English accents are closer to what the Brits sounded like 200 years ago. Drift occurs more in the original land of the language than in its offshoots. so in reality British English has changed more than American English has. Not to mention than languages never deteriorate over time, nor do they evolve to become better. From a linguistic standpoint all languages do what they need to do for the people who speak them and always change with every passing generation to meet the needs of that generation.

Good points. Languages evolve to become different. "Better" doesn't come into it, though you could make a case for English becoming "better" by the influence of Norman French on Anglo-Saxon, the increase in vocabulary. Of course, the Romance languages are just bad provincial Latin. :p
Free Soviets
27-12-2006, 18:28
Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.

as opposed to the various nigh-on mutually incomprehensible dialects they've got on those little islands over there?

what the fuck is up with people who think various dialects are better than others?
German Nightmare
27-12-2006, 18:58
I vouldn't even know vhere to start ze complaints...

That said (and after reading through the thread)

Major League in German translation... "Kiek ma' op Dein Zeiteisen, dat Ding is' jelaufen!"
I hate what they did to the 2nd one. The 1st one might have a bad translation, but to think of the other one... *shudders*

Most of the time you're watching a different movie when it's dubbed, even though the translators do a great job. That's why I usually watch the original when available (all hail DVDs!).

Not really a llanguage, but what Adam Sandler et al did to the Cajun accent in The Waterboy is criminal. Especially Kathy Bates.
Gah. You should listen to what they've managed to "achieve" in the German version - they got a comedian to screw it up big time.

And Adam Sandler is so funny, especially when talking gibberish.

As for German in movies - it's really not that hard to find native German speakers, and yet ze movie makers seem not to care vhat zey make out of ze German language...
Intangelon
27-12-2006, 19:55
Movies depicting the US Southeast has all having the same accent. Anyone who's ever been there knows that the Tenessee twang is different from the Texas drawl, the Mississippi lilt, the Cajun patois or the South Carolina slur. Point is, in a culture and world in which boundaries are evaporating, it's difficult to tell where anyone's from anymore.

And all you complaining Canadians? I teach at a college in Bismarck, North Dakota. Not only is the Fargo accent virtually non-existent there, but I've heard both "about" and "aboot" from my Winnipeg contingency. Then again, The 'Peg has a sizeable French quarter, which may go some way toward explaining that.

Point is, anyone can sound like anything, geography notwithstanding. I used to go into public buildings and shopping malls in places I'd never been before and spoke in a Russian accent, just to see how I'd be treated. It was by turns amusing and appalling.
The blessed Chris
27-12-2006, 21:26
Heh. You do know that East Coast US accents are the closest to the original upper class English, right? They didn't change while the actual English adopted the rather odd "plummy" accent for their upper classes (the one the UMC try for in British comedies, without realising that the actual upper classes have more or less discarded it...). As for the "modern" English accent, you can entirely blame that on the BBC, which created the accent out of whole cloth in an attempt to render their speakers easily understood by all, an attempt at which they were quite successful.

If American English is the "Aberration", then I hate to think what you'd call Scottish.

Firstly, the argument is false.

Secondly, Scottish is a DIRTY HEATHEN ACCENT. I see no point in bothering with proper grammar, diction and elocution when the accent makes them unintelligible.
The blessed Chris
27-12-2006, 21:28
as opposed to the various nigh-on mutually incomprehensible dialects they've got on those little islands over there?

what the fuck is up with people who think various dialects are better than others?

Oddly, for many moons real Englishmen, Scotsmen and Welshmen/sheep have comprehended each other with relative ease. In any case, at least even the most broad scouser pronounces words with correct emphasis.
Dododecapod
27-12-2006, 21:33
Firstly, the argument is false.

Secondly, Scottish is a DIRTY HEATHEN ACCENT. I see no point in bothering with proper grammar, diction and elocution when the accent makes them unintelligible.

Ah, but if you wish to prove the argument false, argue not with me - but with the Oxford researchers who did the proof in the 1980s. A combination of the History and Literature departments, I understand...:p
The blessed Chris
27-12-2006, 21:34
Ah, but if you wish to prove the argument false, argue not with me - but with the Oxford researchers who did the proof in the 1980s. A combination of the History and Literature departments, I understand...:p

Given the Oxford lecturers I've met and know, they may well have in some sort of incapacitated state when writing....
Swilatia
27-12-2006, 21:34
I don't know of many films that screw over the Polish language.
The blessed Chris
27-12-2006, 21:35
I don't know of many films that screw over the Polish language.

I think Russia and Germany have screwed Poland over enough....:p
Farnhamia
27-12-2006, 21:35
I don't know of many films that screw over the Polish language.

It wasn't in a film, but there was that amateur translator President Carter used on a trip there once ...
The Judas Panda
27-12-2006, 21:38
Firstly, the argument is false.

Secondly, Scottish is a DIRTY HEATHEN ACCENT. I see no point in bothering with proper grammar, diction and elocution when the accent makes them unintelligible.

To which I invite you to stick yer heid up yer arse :D . There are a plethora of regional Scottish accents most of which I can understand fine but the Liverpool one can confuse the hell out of me.
Ifreann
27-12-2006, 21:49
The only accurate Irish accents I've heard in a film were in Man About Dog, an Irish film full of Irish actors. Other than that it's mostly a shambles.
Nodinia
27-12-2006, 22:58
The only accurate Irish accents I've heard in a film were in Man About Dog, an Irish film full of Irish actors. Other than that it's mostly a shambles.

"I went down". Trust me.
Eve Online
27-12-2006, 22:59
"I went down". Trust me.

Was that movie "The Committments" accurate?
Sarkhaan
27-12-2006, 23:05
What DOES the Boston accent sound like anyway? I've been wondering...
We drop our "r"'s alot, as well as draw out long vowels (the common saying is pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd, despite the fact that you cannot park a car in harvard yard). Oddly enough, we also throw "r"'s into words that don't otherwise have them, as in "idear". There is also still a difference in high and low vowels, making "cot" and "caught" pronounced very differently, while they are very similar (or even homophones) in other dialects. We also say "wicked" alot, as in "That was a wicked good night" or "I did wicked bad on that test"

Any American film that roundly disregards the English language, pronunciation and grammar. I do apologise for appearing a little snobbish, but Amerian English is an aberration.
Just as bad as the dialect that spawned it. Amazingly, an American film will use American dialects. To say it should be otherwise is as intelligent as saying a British film or a film set in London should use American pronounciations. English in general is an aberration. Pronunciation, spelling, and grammar are not static, nor should someone think so highly of themselves as to think they speak the "right" version of a language. Unless the language is dead, it will constantly change. Also, New England (specifically Boston) accents are the accents of England, with the partial shift in "R" pronunciation. By insulting us, you insult your own language history.

as for my answer, basically any movie set in Boston...even Good Will Hunting, filled with native Bostonians, just don't get it right.
CthulhuFhtagn
27-12-2006, 23:09
We drop our "r"'s alot, as well as draw out long vowels (the common saying is pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd, despite the fact that you cannot park a car in harvard yard). Oddly enough, we also throw "r"'s into words that don't otherwise have them, as in "idear". There is also still a difference in high and low vowels, making "cot" and "caught" pronounced very differently, while they are very similar (or even homophones) in other dialects. We also say "wicked" alot, as in "That was a wicked good night" or "I did wicked bad on that test"

And wicked is pronounced "wickit". Or it is in RI, which has a similar accent to Boston.
Nodinia
27-12-2006, 23:11
Was that movie "The Committments" accurate?


Never seen it, tbh.
Orlzenheimerness
27-12-2006, 23:18
Any Film that makes Irish people sound RIDICULOUSLY irish...

I've NEVER in all my life heard ANYONE From Ireland speak like "Top 'o' the marnin' te ye!!"*

It makes me soo ANGRY...:mad:

*Apart from people from Cork (A city in Eire)
Sarkhaan
27-12-2006, 23:40
And wicked is pronounced "wickit". Or it is in RI, which has a similar accent to Boston.

That is one of the only ways I can pick out people from Providence and Eastern CT in Boston...dropping "d"'s for "t"'s...I do the opposite and drop T's for D's.

Boston, it tends to just blend together, so "wicked nice" would be said "wickednice", same as "how are you" becomes "howreya"
The Pictish Revival
28-12-2006, 00:06
Also, New England (specifically Boston) accents are the accents of England, with the partial shift in "R" pronunciation. By insulting us, you insult your own language history.

You were making a lot of sense until you came up with that claim. There is no single British English accent any more than there is one single American English accent.
Potarius
28-12-2006, 00:31
You were making a lot of sense until you came up with that claim. There is no single British English accent any more than there is one single American English accent.

Quite true. I can tell what East Enders are saying (Cockneys to some of you guys), but I have kind of a tough time even listening to some Yorkshire people. Anybody remember The Full Monty, eh?
Accrammia
28-12-2006, 00:41
Austin Powers - Goldmember

Goldmember's accent is so incredibly shitty and unDutch it's near embarrasing. Most Dutch people's accents in English are also terrible, but in another way.
Angry Swedish Monkeys
28-12-2006, 01:49
Austin Powers - Goldmember

Goldmember's accent is so incredibly shitty and unDutch it's near embarrasing. Most Dutch people's accents in English are also terrible, but in another way.

dude, that movie was a comedy that is meant to be ridiculous. I seriously doubt that the accent was supposed to be incredibly accurate.
Anti-Social Darwinism
28-12-2006, 02:28
Bad Japanese SciFi translated into Anglo-American. Hysterically funny, though.
Bekerro
28-12-2006, 04:14
Nearly every Irish-American film destroy the Irish language. The most recent I can think of is how they pronounce 'sláinte' in The Departed. I also remember Irish misspellings in Clint Eastwood's film about the female boxer. The name of it escapes me at the moment.
Fassigen
28-12-2006, 04:20
"Jag är döden. Jag har redan länge gått vid din sida." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anvRFJFUnRE)

Yes, we all have casual chats with death that way.
Markreich
28-12-2006, 04:20
I don't know of many films that screw over the Polish language.

Pokolenie (1955)
English Title: A Generation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048500/

...an example of the Sovietization of the Polish language. :(
Sarkhaan
28-12-2006, 06:38
You were making a lot of sense until you came up with that claim. There is no single British English accent any more than there is one single American English accent.

K...American dialects and accents are a decendent of certain British accents. Happy?

I would think most people could figure that out without me having to explicitally saying it.
IL Ruffino
28-12-2006, 06:43
Clueless.
Fassigen
28-12-2006, 07:18
Clueless.

As if!
Posi
28-12-2006, 07:27
As if!
Totally!
Fassigen
28-12-2006, 07:34
Totally!

Posi agrees with me because we both know what it's like to have people be jealous of us.
Desperate Measures
28-12-2006, 08:03
I still say "shite" sometimes and I last saw Trainspotting close to a decade ago. Things which start out as slightly humorous...
Pepe Dominguez
28-12-2006, 08:59
As for German in movies - it's really not that hard to find native German speakers, and yet ze movie makers seem not to care vhat zey make out of ze German language...

It's also possible that directors cast Germans with thicker accents, subconsciously or intentionally. A lot of famous German actors really did talk like that in interviews and radio. A rare few had almost no accent. Erich von Stroheim comes to mind as someone with a light accent, the anti-Otto Preminger. :p

Edit: Here's Erich von Stroheim from Gabbo, for everyone's enjoyment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fVZoHUF0k

From 1929, with a voice actor providing Otto's Hollywood-ized German accent. :)
Akai Oni
28-12-2006, 10:20
Meryl Streep in Evil Angels. Australians just don't talk like that. It hurt my ears.
Orlzenheimerness
28-12-2006, 10:33
The only accurate Irish accents I've heard in a film were in Man About Dog, an Irish film full of Irish actors. Other than that it's mostly a shambles.

It's not Irish, it's NORTHERN IRISH.
Ireland and Northern Ireland are different countries.
They have VERY different accents.

Though I do enjoy that film. :D
Intangelon
28-12-2006, 11:01
Think about Star Wars for a moment.

Sir Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels...all "veddy" British. Ever wonder why everyone Vader dealth with in the Empire sounded like the cast of Howard's End? It reminds me of the bit Eddie Izzard did (from Dress to Kill, I think) on the English period drama being converted to a coversation about the Rebels attacking the Death Star.

So: Death Star occupant officers, in fact, most officers, British. Stormtroopers, indistinct American. Jawas, some odd cross between Italian and Bantu. Sand People, cross between donkey and pig. Yoda, cross between Gandhi and Grover. Now look at the prequel trilogy. Trade Federation, vaguely Japanese/Asian. Watto, Italian Jew. Jar-Jar, cross between Jamaican and Barney.

Does anyone ever notice that Carrie Fisher starts the film with a shabby off-British accent and loses it about a third of the way through the film? I believe Kevin Costner's turn in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was an homage to Fisher's Princess Leia (he, too, blew his accent and redacted it a third of the way into that film).
Akai Oni
28-12-2006, 11:07
I believe Kevin Costner's turn in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was an homage to Fisher's Princess Leia (he, too, blew his accent and redacted it a third of the way into that film).

I didn't know Costner even was meant to have an English accent in that film. Thought it was American all the way through. :eek:
Intangelon
28-12-2006, 11:35
I didn't know Costner even was meant to have an English accent in that film. Thought it was American all the way through. :eek:

Listen closely in about the first third of the film, then fast forward toward the end and compare. Hell, in some of his monologue/speech scenes, his Bull Durham twang makes brief appearances.
Akai Oni
28-12-2006, 11:38
Listen closely in about the first third of the film, then fast forward toward the end and compare. Hell, in some of his monologue/speech scenes, his Bull Durham twang makes brief appearances.

Eh, I don't have that much interest in seeing the trash again. I'll take your esteemed word for it, Intangelon.
Nadkor
28-12-2006, 17:50
The worst example I can think of is Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own.

Ok, fair enough, have an American actor who can do a Northern Irish accent if you have to. But Brad Pitt can't. At all.
Forsakia
28-12-2006, 17:56
Just as bad as the dialect that spawned it. Amazingly, an American film will use American dialects. To say it should be otherwise is as intelligent as saying a British film or a film set in London should use American pronounciations. English in general is an aberration. Pronunciation, spelling, and grammar are not static, nor should someone think so highly of themselves as to think they speak the "right" version of a language. Unless the language is dead, it will constantly change. Also, New England (specifically Boston) accents are the accents of England, with the partial shift in "R" pronunciation. By insulting us, you insult your own language history.

What annoys me is when they Americanise British books, set in Britain. Eg, the constant use of "candy" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, remake.
The Pictish Revival
28-12-2006, 19:55
K...American dialects and accents are a decendent of certain British accents. Happy?

I would think most people could figure that out without me having to explicitally saying it.

Really? If you re-read your previous post, I'm sure you will understand how I came to misinterpret it.
In particular, the bit where you said: "Also, New England (specifically Boston) accents are the accents of England,"
The Pictish Revival
28-12-2006, 20:01
What annoys me is when they Americanise British books, set in Britain. Eg, the constant use of "candy" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, remake.

Quite. And what the hell were they thinking of with 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad'?
The uniquely British eccentricity of books like these is what makes them work.
Intangelon
29-12-2006, 08:38
Eh, I don't have that much interest in seeing the trash again. I'll take your esteemed word for it, Intangelon.

A wise choice. Not because I'm ever hugely right or anything, but because watching that movie again is a leading cause of taste cancer.
Oeck
29-12-2006, 13:16
[..]Oddly enough, we also throw "r"'s into words that don't otherwise have them, as in "idear". [...]
Would you, by any chance, happen to know whether other (regional) accents do the same? Quite a few of my profs and tutors do that (their favorites are 'idea(r)' and 'ye(r)s', which both annoy the hell out of me), and I'm positive none of them is even remotely connected to Boston.


As for my own mother tongue.. I was about to third GN's comment about the horrible "German" accents people seem to love to throw in in every appropriate and non-appropriate scene, but then.. then I remembered my father telling me last night how amused he was about "the fact that the English language doesn't phonetically distinguish between the words 'sing' and 'think'" (FYI, his pronunciation of both is what you'd transcribe as 'sink'), and I remember that he didn't believe me when I told him that well, actually, native speaker do distinguish them, and, to be all too honest, I did, too..

Sometimes, you need a painful reminder that there are people who even outdo the cliché.