Mishearing

MstrTal, I was thinking mainly of New England when I qualified my statement as "most parts of the US" instead of "throughout the US."

I know we have a lot of regional accents in the US, but with everyone moving west sooner or later, they all get mashed together into a west coast accent in California, Oregon, and Washington state, and even though we cover a large territory, we all tend to sound alike. Quite different from the eastern part of the country.
 
:)

Have yet to move that far west. Sadly I can only comment with any veracity on the extreme southern draw or the more um lackadaisically laid back New England accent and that which falls betwixt upon the east coast and heartland region.
 
So we're all going to record ourselves saying Chinchilla and Chin Chiller so we can compare? :)
 
MstrTal said:
Not necessarily. :p

Having lived in about 15 or 16 different states here in the US I can attest to the fact that regional accents can vary not only from one part of the state but from widely different parts of the country! For instance I have heard the R dropped all together in the word "Car" making it "Caa" pronounced with a soft drawn out a in parts of Maine. At the same time I have heard the R inserted into words that have no R whatsoever such as "Wash". In Indianapolis I have heard a "Car Wash" refereed to as a "Car Warsh" or a washing machine as a "Warshing machine" as in marsh.
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My parents add "r's" to words where they don't belong, like "warsh". My great grandmother used to say "winder" instead of "window". I don't know how I managed to escape the accent.
 
I'll be damned if I listen to a Brit tell me how to say my R's.
 
Accents are odd. Dialects are odder. Where I live it's not uncommon to hear "rinse" pronounced as "rainch" which someone might interpret as "wrench."
 
It has occurred to me that the first person in the chinchilla example would probably not realize the second person was pronouncing it wrong.

#1 -- I just bought a chin chiller.

#2 -- What's a chin chiller?

As far as #1 is concerned, #2 has just said it properly, because it sounded the same as when #1 says it. So he really doesn't know that the question is about a misheard word, and his answer would likely be "a furry little rodent" or whatever he thinks of the critters, rather than a scathing pronunciation correction. At this point, #2 would hopefully realize what the word actually was, and would say, "oh, a chinchilla, of course," or something equally enlightened.

To answer the question, I think if you had other dialectical pronunciations spelled out, it would make sense as above, but if you aren't pointing out the dialect anywhere else, you'd be better off with correct spelling. It seems to me that it works either way. And, of course, it depends on whether this exchange is necessary to something else.
 
This isn't a particularly serious point**, but....

One could argue that where the narrative is in the past tense, the correct spelling should be used (give or take deliberate misspellings for effect or the capture of dialect), because by the time the narrative was recorded (no earlier then the end of the scene), the narrator would know*** what the various characters meant in that exchange.

Not very controversial, I would hope. But what of present tense narration?

If the second character is the POV character, one might argue that, at the precise moment the first character spoke those words, they were captured as they were heard (i.e. chin chiller). But if the first character was the PoV character, goodness only knows how the "What's a chin chiller?" would be captured. ;):)



** - Okay, it's far from being a serious point.

*** - Assuming that the scene didn't end with the PoV character's death, which is a whole different can of worms (as it were :rolleyes:).
 
OK, I've now met some real-life Americans, and I can confirm that they do pronounce "chin chiller" differently from "chinchilla".

This thread has been very educational.
 
Well, I don't have any proof that any of you exist. In fact, my suspicions were heightened when neither of these Americans claimed to know any of you.
 
I thought everyone heard Dame Judy Dench when they read my posts!


To drag this thread back on topic (and I've been as guilty as anyone in derailing it): You bring up a good point, HareBrain. The accent we hear when we read other people's messages is rarely the same as the way they speak. With increasing use of the various means of electronic communication*, it may become more and more difficult to remember that such differences do exist.

*People sitting in the same room texting each other, for instance. We could meet at a convention and never hear each other's voices at all!**

**If we actually used text messaging, which I don't.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
To drag this thread back on topic (and I've been as guilty as anyone in derailing it): You bring up a good point, HareBrain. The accent we hear when we read other people's messages is rarely the same as the way they speak. With increasing use of the various means of electronic communication*, it may become more and more difficult to remember that such differences do exist.
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Good Points all.

As one of the derailers I will apologize.

Also From now on I will look to the location under each user name and attempt to read their posts in an appropriate accent. More than likely exaggerated of course. :p
 
Hey, I'm a Brit (although I hate that word) and I put all my Rs in the right places, thank you very much! So chinchilla and chin chiller would sound different if I said them. I also don't put the unnecessary Rs in words like 'bath' and 'path' like they posh folk do. No barths for me! Pah!

Anywho... I'd probably write the word properly and then have the other character repeat what they thought they heard. If I were to write it.
 
honestly I've said chinchilla at least 8 different way in the last four days and still don't hear a difference when I say it but my mom does.

I am also one whose know to friends to have dozens of accents with out trying. I just talk weird compared to other people I know.

I would write chin chiller. Just a personal preference.
 
MstrTal said:
Good Points all.

As one of the derailers I will apologize.

Also From now on I will look to the location under each user name and attempt to read their posts in an appropriate accent. More than likely exaggerated of course. :p
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Ze probléme wiz zat is zat ze Confederation Helvetique, my location, 'as four different languages, and an excess of local dialects and patois. 'Ow vill you be knowing hor to 'ear me?

I suspect that if I understood 'chin chiller' during a conversation I'd reply something like "Oh, like an ear warmer but for the summer; does it really get that hot?" and the conversation would go on at cross purposes for about fourteen replies, with one side believing that the other intended to convert his new pet into a furry hat… But that's real life. You can't get away with that much illogic in fiction.
 
Esfires said:
I'll be damned if I listen to a Brit tell me how to say my R's.
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Mouse said:
Hey, I'm a Brit... and I put all my Rs in the right places, thank you very much!
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It's a mishearing thread, Mouse. Say R and then add an s and think bottoms...


... apropos of which, and (very) vaguely connected to the topic of mishearing... On of my favourite gags -- in the Carry On film Don't Lose Your Head they're discussing the English aristocracy's magnificent houses, known as country seats. Joam Sims asks what they're called in town and the answer is Londonderry air... :p
 
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