Chebucto Regional Softball Club

"Why does she sound like a cabby? No one we know talks like that!"

Except. You do. You just can't hear it.

3/3

I don't think I can rule out the water or gravitational fields, or just something about the architecture that does things to a child... but more seriously. I have a theory about what's really going on.

The toddlers are picking up the NYC accent from their parents who "don't have one" --because we are talking about people who have lived in the city for a decade or more.

The real question is WHY do parents notice it when their child says it.

"over here" is a phrase they *really* notice.

2/

I know many people who grew up in the midwest but who now live in NYC and are raising kids.

On occasion they will say "my toddler has a NYC accent where did she get it from?"

Because most of my friends are communist nerds their kids don't watch TV much. Most of their language exposure is their parents in person interactions around the city, and as they get older school.

But this is true of toddlers who are not in school. My brother is convinced "it's something in the water"

1/

@ersatzmaus

The mastery this guy has over his voice is amazing.

"people don't have accents anymore"

is a lot like

"kids these days don't know what good music is"

Widely believed, often said, but the moment you get perspective? Totally false.

"The accent is disappearing" no... it's becoming more similar to the way that *you* talk. So you can't hear it anymore. This is fascinating to me since obviously I'm not immune.

From the right perspective everyone has a heavy accent. From yet another perspective everyone has no accent at all.

@ersatzmaus

Maybe? Though the most extreme example of people saying "robit" for "robot" I can think of tend to be old radio recordings of guys with a schooled "mid Atlantic" radio voice of the 30s or 40s

Asimov is a great example for my "collection of accents" spreadsheet since I don't notice he has an accent unless I'm trying to notice such things. (Not true of, say Bernie Sanders who I notice right away.)

Watching the NYC inauguration was fascinating for accents.

@u0421793

This is just making me more interested.

It was this conversation about how (to me) it sounds like Issac Asimov says "robit" rather than "robot"

But, several people responded that he says it normally, or that he's saying "robut" or something else. Because obviously none of us have the same idea of what would be correct OR how far Asimov deviates from that.

No one is "wrong" we need better tools!

myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)

@darkling@mstdn.social @catmisgivings@stranger.social I like the way both of them say "robits" ... this seems to be going away. But it was common in US English a generation ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMZxNmWoko

Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)

@brad

Most phone flash card apps will let you paste in audio or photos. Very handy.

How does one "learn IPA" ? I'm interested enough in language and accents in a hobby kind of way that I don't think I can avoid it anymore.

But I find it extraordinarily intimidating. All those backwards letters and little embellishments...

What would one do? Make some flash cards?

IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet
It's stuff like this: ˈlaŋɡuad͡ziz

@funkula

Every Victorian Recipe:

A simple recipe that saves much time:

Make the roast tilly in the usual manner at least one hale tun. Pat it all round and add some scrups of mace and no more of the crying match girl's dust than needed. Wrap in sensible cloth and let it laze on the hop bunting for a fortnight.

Serve without warning on a bed of jollybee.

@waitworry

I remember one way of looking at it that had:

beasts: large animals
bugs: creeping things

This is why I call #picaTheCat a bug.

@waitworry

Was it a bird, an owl, a bug or an animal?

@waitworry

I still get into these arguments. LOL.

@owl

User icon checks out.

"Is an owl a bird?"
"If it were not a bird what on earth would it be?"
"Just... it's own thing."
"Are you an owl? or are you a bird?"

Maybe you have made the AI script passable enough that no one comments to complain, but that doesn't mean that no one notices.

It's just impolite to make accusations unless it's pretty bad. People still notice and think a little less of your work.

Living car free isn't easy. Or inexpensive.

But run the numbers?

@apLundell

Media report on famous people using social media, and "big accounts" seem like the main thing.

But the real main thing are little conversations, it's like a cafeteria at space camp here.

Twitter was like a prison cafeteria.