John, I had to laugh at your difficulty understanding Americans in films. My husband and I long ago resorted to using closed captions on British programs on US TV. My worst experience with communicating with people speaking a common language (English) was on a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland with my hard-of-hearing brother. Since this was my third visit I was fairly proficient in understanding what was being said to me but I couldn't honestly say I understood every word but I'd usually understand the intent of what was being said. My brother, even when he could hear what was said, couldn't decipher the accent. So he'd turn to me and say, "WHAT DID THEY SAY?", and expect me to repeat it verbatim which, of course, I often couldn't do. Talk about embarrassing! Sara On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:39 AM, scotch-irish-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: DNA Made Simple (john.hume) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:39:05 -0000 > From: "john.hume" <john.hume@ntlworld.com> > Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Made Simple > To: <scotch-irish@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <8ABED21AA179428687D830F272431AE5@GRUMPYPC> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > Hi Linda, > > Sorry I didn't send my condolences over your father's death, I must > have > missed that message. I lost my own father 3 years this Christmas > Eve, he was > 92 and as he served 12 years in the army and was in the Burmese jungle > fighting the Japanese, I suppose we are lucky to have had him that > long. > As for cats, what can I say, our six month old moggie, jumped off > the hedge, > cracked her jaw straight in halve as she landed on a brick edge. > Result over > ?1,000 in vets fees. She was too young and too nice to be put down, > now I've > taken out pet insurance. > Going back to WDYTYA, our programme is 1 hour long, and as on the > BBC there > are no commercial adverts. The USA ones are shown on the BBC > channels and no > adverts either but still only 30 minutes long, so I don't think the > people > over there are getting their money's worth. Do you have the voice of > Mark > Strong as the narrator. ?. Last week's 'celebrity' was an American > comedienne, her family had originated from County Kildare in > Ireland, a > great shame they only spent about 5 minutes in that country before > she and > her brother retired to the pub. I certainly agree with the words OMG > and > WOW, my problem of late is trying to decipher what some Americans are > actually saying.Films in particular are becoming very difficult to > understand, and there was silly me thinking that we all spoke English. > > I've had some interesting e-mails from over your way regarding the > family > of Conway and Hume in and around the 1650's. So it's always nice to > keep > plodding away, hoping eventually something comes up. > 2013 is a big year, 500 years since the Battle of Flodden, quite an > event > for the HUME family. I hope that you or someone, has this event in > mind > ready to publish details when they become available > > Thanks for your time > regards > John Hume

This problem isn't limited just to English speakers from other countries! My husband and I traveled the U.S.in a motor home for four years after we retired. When we were in Bar Harbor, Maine and needed to refill our propane tanks (every state has a different law about storing and selling this product) we went into a gas station to enquire where it was sold. After the attendant explained where we could find it, we turned to one another almost simultaneously and asked "What did she say?" She laughed and wrote down the address for us! We had almost equal difficulty understanding many people in the deep south. That was in the mid-1980s; I have noticed during recent trips to Louisiana and Mississippi that those heavy southern accents are no longer so prevalent except among the elderly. I attribute the change largely to television which, for so many years, has exposed nearly all U.S. children, almost from birth, to a standard, unaccented (at least to the American ear) pronunciation. I haven't been back to New England however, so don't know if that distinctive regional accent still prevails. Virginia -----Original Message----- From: scotch-irish-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:scotch-irish-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of S. B. Mason Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 9:54 AM To: scotch-irish@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Made Simple John, I had to laugh at your difficulty understanding Americans in films. My husband and I long ago resorted to using closed captions on British programs on US TV. My worst experience with communicating with people speaking a common language (English) was on a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland with my hard-of-hearing brother. Since this was my third visit I was fairly proficient in understanding what was being said to me but I couldn't honestly say I understood every word but I'd usually understand the intent of what was being said. My brother, even when he could hear what was said, couldn't decipher the accent. So he'd turn to me and say, "WHAT DID THEY SAY?", and expect me to repeat it verbatim which, of course, I often couldn't do. Talk about embarrassing! Sara On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:39 AM, scotch-irish-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: DNA Made Simple (john.hume) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:39:05 -0000 > From: "john.hume" <john.hume@ntlworld.com> > Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Made Simple > To: <scotch-irish@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: <8ABED21AA179428687D830F272431AE5@GRUMPYPC> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > Hi Linda, > > Sorry I didn't send my condolences over your father's death, I must > have missed that message. I lost my own father 3 years this Christmas > Eve, he was > 92 and as he served 12 years in the army and was in the Burmese jungle > fighting the Japanese, I suppose we are lucky to have had him that > long. > As for cats, what can I say, our six month old moggie, jumped off the > hedge, cracked her jaw straight in halve as she landed on a brick > edge. > Result over > ?1,000 in vets fees. She was too young and too nice to be put down, > now I've taken out pet insurance. > Going back to WDYTYA, our programme is 1 hour long, and as on the BBC > there are no commercial adverts. The USA ones are shown on the BBC > channels and no adverts either but still only 30 minutes long, so I > don't think the people over there are getting their money's worth. Do > you have the voice of Mark Strong as the narrator. ?. Last week's > 'celebrity' was an American comedienne, her family had originated from > County Kildare in Ireland, a great shame they only spent about 5 > minutes in that country before she and her brother retired to the pub. > I certainly agree with the words OMG and WOW, my problem of late is > trying to decipher what some Americans are actually saying.Films in > particular are becoming very difficult to understand, and there was > silly me thinking that we all spoke English. > > I've had some interesting e-mails from over your way regarding the > family of Conway and Hume in and around the 1650's. So it's always > nice to keep plodding away, hoping eventually something comes up. > 2013 is a big year, 500 years since the Battle of Flodden, quite an > event for the HUME family. I hope that you or someone, has this event > in mind ready to publish details when they become available > > Thanks for your time > regards > John Hume ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCOTCH-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thank you Sara, glad I made someone smile today. I understand what you are saying about the Irish accent it really is difficult to understand. But for a real challenge you want to read the Yorkshire Bible. Now that is an education. But on a serious note, accents must have played a part in peoples names being entered on census sheets incorrectly. One of my cousins,has the surname TWEEDDALE, couldn't understand why he couldn't find his grandfather in the 1881 census. It was entered as TWIDALE, understandable of course John ----- Original Message ----- From: "S. B. Mason" <sbmasonaz@cox.net> To: <scotch-irish@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 5:54 PM Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Made Simple > John, > > I had to laugh at your difficulty understanding Americans in films. My > husband and I long ago resorted to using closed captions on British > programs on US TV. My worst experience with communicating with people > speaking a common language (English) was on a trip to Ireland and > Northern Ireland with my hard-of-hearing brother. Since this was my > third visit I was fairly proficient in understanding what was being > said to me but I couldn't honestly say I understood every word but I'd > usually understand the intent of what was being said. My brother, even > when he could hear what was said, couldn't decipher the accent. So > he'd turn to me and say, "WHAT DID THEY SAY?", and expect me to repeat > it verbatim which, of course, I often couldn't do. Talk about > embarrassing! > > Sara > > On Dec 12, 2011, at 9:39 AM, scotch-irish-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. Re: DNA Made Simple (john.hume) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:39:05 -0000 >> From: "john.hume" <john.hume@ntlworld.com> >> Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Made Simple >> To: <scotch-irish@rootsweb.com> >> Message-ID: <8ABED21AA179428687D830F272431AE5@GRUMPYPC> >> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; >> reply-type=original >> >> Hi Linda, >> >> Sorry I didn't send my condolences over your father's death, I must >> have >> missed that message. I lost my own father 3 years this Christmas >> Eve, he was >> 92 and as he served 12 years in the army and was in the Burmese jungle >> fighting the Japanese, I suppose we are lucky to have had him that >> long. >> As for cats, what can I say, our six month old moggie, jumped off >> the hedge, >> cracked her jaw straight in halve as she landed on a brick edge. >> Result over >> ?1,000 in vets fees. She was too young and too nice to be put down, >> now I've >> taken out pet insurance. >> Going back to WDYTYA, our programme is 1 hour long, and as on the >> BBC there >> are no commercial adverts. The USA ones are shown on the BBC >> channels and no >> adverts either but still only 30 minutes long, so I don't think the >> people >> over there are getting their money's worth. Do you have the voice of >> Mark >> Strong as the narrator. ?. Last week's 'celebrity' was an American >> comedienne, her family had originated from County Kildare in >> Ireland, a >> great shame they only spent about 5 minutes in that country before >> she and >> her brother retired to the pub. I certainly agree with the words OMG >> and >> WOW, my problem of late is trying to decipher what some Americans are >> actually saying.Films in particular are becoming very difficult to >> understand, and there was silly me thinking that we all spoke English. >> >> I've had some interesting e-mails from over your way regarding the >> family >> of Conway and Hume in and around the 1650's. So it's always nice to >> keep >> plodding away, hoping eventually something comes up. >> 2013 is a big year, 500 years since the Battle of Flodden, quite an >> event >> for the HUME family. I hope that you or someone, has this event in >> mind >> ready to publish details when they become available >> >> Thanks for your time >> regards >> John Hume > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCOTCH-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message