this is a good post-- but unless you have traveled-- you don't realize that something is a regionalism!
a local radio commercial has been mocking the way most NYer's? (any one else?) say caramel--
cara mel has a "boston a" for the first A(cara as in cara mia-) - but most NYer's say car mel with a much "harder" a .. I have traveled-- but never went looking for caramels... how do you all say it?
Funny you should mention it, OT! Just heard a commercial today (same one?) where it was pronounced "kair-a-mel." I've always said "car-ml" for the candy - like the city in California but with the accent on the 1st syllable. Unless we're ordering creme caramel - yum! - that's a whole 'nother pronunciation. Whoops - are we slipping into a food thread here?
re: how do I say, "caramel"? Just like "camel", with an r and a schwa thrown in.
so you have an the first a soft (as in camel), an r, and an other vowel before the mel-- not quite Kair a mel or Cara mel but not car mel.(with no hint of a vowel between the r and m) ---and while this is sweet talk--no, not a food thread!
When in Hawai'i : the locals' greeting is "Howzit?" for "How is it,' "How is it going?" "How are you?" etc. Don't hear it much anywhere else but it's a dead give away for who is local or Kama'aina and who is not. In New England : "How's it goin'?" is common. Which ties it nicely as the early missionaries to Hawai'i were New Englanders.
He has both eyes in bean fat. Ooo...that suffers in the translation. It means that the person is all moon eyed, love struck over somebody.
One very useful expression to use when you have guests that just won't leave. You know the ones, it's two in the morning, your kids are asleep on the sofa, you have your P.J.s on, the coldcream is on your face and the curlers are in your hair, and still they're not getting the hint..."one last hit of coffee before you leave?"
bel offers: allo, ma choupette! Y'a les deux yeux dans graisse de binnes.
He has both eyes in bean fat.
yuck. and *ouch*. brings new meaning to the concept of love being blind.
i love your gentle reminder to your guests... in our house, it's a bit different. see, when my husband tires of our company, he simply leaves. seriously. then i have to make excuses for him, and beg off on my own.
wow, that was the most completely nonword post i've ever offered.
How do I (and many other USA Southerners) pronounce "caramel"? "Cara" as in "CARAdea" and "mel" as "mul". Many persons who say "Car" (as in "automobile") "mel" are thus often identified as having linguistic roots elsewhere. Others may not agree with my impression in this matter.
One of the many Pennsylvania Dutch expressions in use here in Berks County is "the root beer [or whatever] is all." This means, of course, that the root beer is all GONE, but we just don't bother with the last word. We get all kinds of flack from non-PA Dutchies over this-- my brother has had to endure countless talkings-to from his fiancée, a New Jersey native. I have to admit that this expression never struck me as incorrect or odd until Vicki (aforementioned fiancée) pointed it out. It was just something we said, and everyone understood it.
Rapunzel, thanks for mentioning the use of "all". I'm so used to it that it never occurred to me. I'll never forget being in a diner on Rte. 30 outside Lancaster (near Intercourse) when the couple at the next table asked the waitress (in a Southern accent) for shoo-fly pie, and she said, "The shoo-fly is all." The expression of bafflement on their faces was hilarious and I'm afraid I made a spectacle of myself.
In case anyone wants to think about it first: there's a prawn behind the stone means he/she has an ulterior motive. Helen was pretty near so perhaps its less opaque than I thought.
Around these parts (Lancashire, UK), there are many odd dialect expressions, but my favourite has to be the phrase used when people give the exact right money for something and tell the cashier, "It's nobut just." (pronounced "knob-but joost".)
Rhu is Now't (naught still used?) As in It's now't to do with me! { It's nothing to do with me- or it not my doing..} My parent said naught as Nah't the aught sounding like -- "you really aughta try it.."
i have seen several films set in Lancashire-- most in this country come complete with subtitles.. but i find they are not needed. Kestrel for Knave was a favorite from long, long ago..
Yes, Helen, both now't and ow't are in use round here - pronounced as they are spelt here. It isn't quite so common among the youngsters - but even they do use it a bit. The older folk use the expression exclusively, especially in the villages.
Incidentally, I knew that I was accepted in my village, even though I'm an off-comer, when one or two of the locals, perhaps some ten years younger than I, called me, "fayther!" - an ironic, but affectionate term.
Yes, Max, the Pennsylvania Dutch language which is still spoken (by fewer people every year) is a low-German dialect. There is also the peculiar form of English spoken in Dutch areas of Pennsylvania (chiefly Lancaster and Berks Counties) which is heavily influenced by Germanic word order and other syntactical features, also peculiar words deriving from German. Perhaps the best known example of PA Dutch-English is a line from a Broadway show, "Throw Mama from the train a kiss." In our family, the example usually given is "Throw the cow over the fence some hay," and "Outen the light."
Not certain where "anyroad" originates, except that it is definitely a Northern expression - Yorks and Lancs, rather than Scouse or Geordie, I think. But I've heard it in all parts of the land and in every conceivable accent over the past few years. In my youth, it was the stereotypical sort of speech from a "stage northerner."
I found myself using another odd dialect phrase the other day to describe a neighbours son who has a very high opinion of his own abilities which is, unfortunately, not borne out by his actual performance. When my wife retailed the latest assininity of this young man, I retorted, "Oh, well, what do you expect - he's all mouth and trousers."
Now, I have not the slightest idea of its provenance, but this was a common expression in the part of London where I grew up. I've never heard it used outside the Metropolis. Is anyone else familiar with it?
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and "mel" as "mul". Many persons who say "Car" (as in "automobile") "mel" are thus often identified as having linguistic roots elsewhere. Others may not agree with my impression in this matter.
