Why The British Are Undefeated World War Champions

[DuncaninFrance]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRSUx-LXOKw

[Niner]

I bet that guy was funny.... just didn't understand about two thirds of what he was saying. Maybe if there were subtitles.

[DuncaninFrance]

He is very funny Robert, and no fool either. Very knowledgeable on WWII.

[Niner]

Duncan, it's just the word inflections of British English being different from American English and coupled with jargon not used in America it's hard to follow.....particularly when he speaks quickly running the words together. You probably have the same kind of problem following French....or American.

Come to think of it Americans in Amercia have a hard time understanding different ethnic types and people from different parts of the country. Ever try to understand Rap Music?

[Aughnanure]

Niner,

Many years ago a friend of mine who worked for Smith's Sports Store in Sydney (Mick Smith, the proprietor, was a gun dealer in a big way) went on a buying trip to the US.
He was at Navy Arms, I think it was, and they were having trouble understanding his Aussie English, so, in desperation (and hoping that they wouldn't be offended) he switched to his Gomer Pile impersonation and the result was.......

"Why'ant ye speak lark thet all the time, Pete'er, so's we kin unnerstan' yeh" (or words to that effect!!).

[DuncaninFrance]

Eoin.
How are you and these terrible fires, are they affecting you in any way?

[Niner]

Very good example Eoin.

Like what Duncan asked.... are you safe from the fires?

[Aughnanure]

Duncan and Niner

Just browsed back to this thread, thanks for asking.
Fortunately, we were not directly affected by the fires although the town was a centre for the crews fighting the local fires, we didn't even get much smoke.
On dialects,
I had a similar experience to Peter's when living in Connaught, in the West of Ireland.
At the local hardware store, I was having some difficulty making myself understood so bunged on my Irish accent and the bloke behind the counter said: "Why'nt ye speak proper all the time?"

[Niner]

In my working days I had a couple of friends from South Africa. I'm not sure if they actually spoke pure non adulterated English or they just adjusted to the generic American accent. The only differences that showed they weren't from around here were what they called things occasionally. For instance, one of them in particular, called traffic lights "robots". I looked it up and it seems the name for traffic light stuck from when South Africa used to have "robot policemen" at traffic intervals. In the US, the locals have different names for things depending on how old they are. My mother and father, for instance, used to call a refrigerator an ice box. A left over from when they were growing up and they had an actual ice box.

[DuncaninFrance]

My Grandmother had an Icebox. She brought it back from Portugal when my Grandfather died. It was lead lined!! She never had a fridge .