Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)’s Comments (group member since Sep 20, 2013)

Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)’s comments from the Net Work Book Club group.

I was born and raised in the American Midwest, of a Chicago mother and an Arkansan father. I moved to Europe in college and have lived in Spain since I was 20.

I have what might best be classed as a "mid-Atlantic" accent unless I get very tired or frustrated. Then you can hear the old roots. Or like when I watch a Southern-fried movie...after I saw "Ray" my students couldn't understand me for about three days! LOL

(It's one AM here and I just realised I double-booked a class. Insomnia, anyone?)

A phrase leapt out of my mouth this morning that I haven't used for decades. "By cracky!" It certainly cracked DH up. He'd never heard it. I Googled to see if I could find its origin but remain unconvinced by their definition, though it was first seen in print in the 1840s or so. It was great to hear him giggle like that!

mrbooks wrote: "HRHDoxmatix even in England they have there accents, you have you brummy (sp) Scottish, Welsh just to name a few. As an American living over here I have problems with the Suffolk mumble, you can ha..."

London is credited with about 15 distinct accents alone, depending on the area. And that was back in the 1950s.

Gonna, wanna, gotta...yes. I hear my students use these all the time; they get them from pop music.

"Off of." Grrrr.

Ellie the Elephant packed her trunk, and said Goodbye to the circus...

No, she didn't. She was just a devious kid. Back when the Smiley buttons were first fashionable, somebody came out with alternative versions, kind of like the emoticons of today. They were on pins, about as big as your thumbnail, and my brother had quite a collection. This little kid (who was about six then) took a shine to a couple and asked for them. She was told "no", and a few minutes later she looked at me and said, "I think I'll just take them." "No, you won't, they're not yours!" I said. A couple of minutes pass. "I'll just take them." And she proceeded to palm them. I told my parents very loudly what she was up to--they were removed from her posession, and she was taken home.

I grew up around some very deceitful young children in my village; one angelic-looking little girl was an accomplished liar and sneak-theif by the age of five. Whenever she saw something small and portable that she wanted at another kid's house, she would ask for it and if the kid or parent said "no" she would just smile sweetly. After she had gone, it was usually discovered that the little object had gone with her.

mrbooks wrote: "Are you sure they are grown people, I mean the may be adult versions but have the actually grown mentally ?"

Everyone gets older; growing up would appear to be optional.

Oh, thank you for that--I needed a new song in my head. I've had "Spinning Wheel" on the brain for a couple of days now; "If you're going to S. F." is a much nicer bit of melody. ;)

And our world is fragile enough already.

That's not an accent...that's transposing syllables in a word. Look at it again: Nu-cle-ar. "Nucular" would have 2 distinct "u"s in it. I even heard Peter Jennings say it that way--and he was Canadian. So don't come that "accent" excuse with ME, missy! LOL

Have I mentioned yet, my pet hate of all time? People who pronounce "nuclear" as "nuke-you-lure." Look at the word: Nu-Clear. How hard is that?
I have even heard scientists do this, and yet none of them would ever pronounce the centre of a cell as a "nuke-you-luss."

They must pay him to scale...something really fishy there.

Again, in a published book! "They waited with baited breath." You mean they had worms in their mouths? If you mean "bated" (as in "abated"), say so! Granted "bated breath" is an archaism ("bated" meaning "held"), but it is an accepted turn of phrase. Or was.
Geez.

Deidrah wrote: "What's the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One is really heavy. The other's a little lighter."

Very good!!!

Frenchie wrote: "Spring is here at last but it is still cold in London..."

Hope you are well Frenchie, and don't catch a cold! Spring has started with rain here in my city, which is a good start!

Drives me mad when I'm reading a published book and find that yet another editor/proofreader doesn't know the difference between "reign" (as king or queen) and "rein in" (to control a horse). I've just come across it once again.

Thanks, Star, that's helpful!

I am definitely a no-rhymer as you know. I prefer to let the rhythm convey the message, as rhyme+metre often leads to the worst sort of greeting-card verse. And it's not just today. Some of the famous poets like Surrey and Wyatt et al were known for forcing rhymes, so you got things like "the wind" being rhymed with "find" and such as that.

Have you ever read e e cummings, Frenchie? With him it's not only no-rhyme, but how it looks on the page. Which made a blind person tell me that he thought blind people had a better experience of cummings' work (in braille) than sighted people.

Finished