r wrote:Reminds me of when I was on holiday in Florida a few years ago, we were at Sea World, me and my dad were in a queue to get a drink. We got chatting to this American guy and after a few minutes he said "Hey, your English is really good. Where you from? Germany?". He was genuinely surprised when we replied with "Er, no, we're from England"
I apologize on behalf of Americans everywhere.
THAT reminds me of a story. I used to do an English accent back in the day (meaning high school, meaning about five years ago) and it was just way to easy to convince people I was from England or thereabouts. Actually, I did that again about six months ago to a guy at work. People watch too many movies where Americans do crappy accents, then think that's how they actually sound.
My dad is Iranian so some funny things happen sometimes. His name is Hossein. So when we first moved Illinois, our neighbors had a small block party. So we were over and my dad introduced himself to this one guy. He said, "Hey, my name is Hossein" and then the conversation went on. My dad saw him a few days later and was like, "Hey, you were at the block party!" And the guy goes, "Oh ya! You're Sadam right?"
speaking of accents...
mine tends to confuse people. i speak english with a slight german accent, and german with an english accent.
also, my dancing teacher (from america) said i have a very "british" accent when i speak english. it's true, but we're still trying to figure out where it comes from - none of my family members speak like that may have picked it up off tv...
Nord wisdom:
You don't know a woman until you've had a strong drink and a fist fight with her.
the only reason you hear more about dumb Americans than British or anything else is because there are more of us!
and dont forget the fact that most people in America were not born here
myself included.
we dont all speak the same language
English is not my first yet i do pretty well but the point is some people just suck at it and dont say what they mean.
i hate shows that make fun of americans because most of the people they ask questions to are either immigrants or people who dont read much, they make immigrants look bad. i hate it
r wrote:Reminds me of when I was on holiday in Florida a few years ago, we were at Sea World, me and my dad were in a queue to get a drink. We got chatting to this American guy and after a few minutes he said "Hey, your English is really good. Where you from? Germany?". He was genuinely surprised when we replied with "Er, no, we're from England"
That's one of the funniest stories I've heard in a while.
Well it is one of the funniest things that's ever happened to me!
Something about myself? I bought a new harmonica today and have been busting out some mean blues harp over Seasick Steve's first album all day. I might get in touch with him and ask him if he needs a harp player, I seriously cannot think of a better job...
Thank you.
Took me all of 5 minutes to make yesterday. I try to keep it holiday oriented. I even made a big cactus/Christmas signature image. Maybe I'll whip that out again once Thanksgiving passes.
I am an american but i am originally from Honduras
i mean lets face it.
everyone in america is an immigrant(except the natives...........although if you go back far enough....................)
our families all came from europe.
or africa or asia
although only half of mine.
part spanish and part native.
If you really go back far enough, we are all from nowhere. Whether you believe in any of the numerous religions, or in the various scientific theories you know that at one point there was nothing.
But let's not talk about philosophy, it's dreadfully boring.
Well, I'm from Germany. I was born in Traben-Trarbach, a fairly small river city. And my ancestors are from germany [though most have lived in america for the past few hundred years], beyond that, who knows? I like to think I have phoenician descent, as the name is close to the famous fire-bird PHOENIX!
"In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood." -William Safire, moon landing failure speech (undelivered)
My uncle actually did a huge geneology study several years back and was able to trace my lineage wayyyy back to the very first person to ever step foot on American soil. It's because of this that I know that my great-great-etc uncle, Noah Webster, invented the American dictionary. But yeah, my ancestors originated from England on my mother's side. Can't tell on my father's because the family was adopted about 3 or 4 generations back.
Of Norwegian descent myself, very Norwegian, and then some Irish in there as well, my ancestors were among the men who conquered Normandy and found Iceland and Greenland, we have a whole bunch of tales of my ancestors that are way too long to type, they are pretty interesting though.
My favourite flavour of Powerthirst is Shocklate. It's like adding chocolate to an electrical storm!
"In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood." -William Safire, moon landing failure speech (undelivered)
1.When people assume that since I was born in Canada, i can speak "Canadian". You have no idea how much people ask me how to say some words.
2. When people assume that since I was born in Canada, I can speak French. I was not born in French Canada. I told my 6th grade science teacher that I was born in Canada, and he asked me something in French.
3. When people try to correct your pronounciation of your own country. You have no idea how much I get,
"My dad is from Iran (ee-rawn)"
"You mean Iran (aye-ran)
"No I mean Iran"
"It's pronounced Iran."
It seriously makes me crazy.
I'm not too excited about competitve sports probably because of the fact that I never was the type who was good at them, so the pressure of having a team or having to beat someone is stessful for me. I do like some sports though, just mostly non competitive ones. I love skiing and go to Vancouver all the time to go skiing. I like badminton because it's not so serious. I like volleyball because it's simple and there aren't so many rules about how you can't do this unless your over here while doing this at the same time that your opponent is doing this.
I love to draw. I want to do something art related when i get into college. I would like to take a course in graphic art.
When people ask if I can speak Canadian, I tell them "Of course. And I live in an ice palace with my pet polar bear in Canada where it snows 12 months a year. And I travel around on dogsleds, but I most of the time just keep the dogs in an igloo, because that's where all Canadians live, igloos and ice palaces. But when I'm bored I like to sit down and watch my oil powered tv.
It's most of the time something along the lines of that. 1 or 2 times someone has believed me, but it's mostly if I keep out the whole polar bear or ice palace thing. Sometimes they think I do own an ice palace and then I just walk away.
I hate when people stare at me for my hieght im 7'2'' and im 15 and im 275 pounds so im chuby no what else ticks me off when people find im russian( i cant pronounce certain words without my accent) get this some guy in a mall heard me speak i russain and came up to me and said my people are going to cause world war three gosh some people
(P.S. im mostly russian im other things iclandic scnadnavian danish and part scottish yeah im a white guy cocktail )
Daedricmudcrab wrote: good way to get money for sure
When people ask if I can speak Canadian, I tell them "Of course. And I live in an ice palace with my pet polar bear in Canada where it snows 12 months a year. And I travel around on dogsleds, but I most of the time just keep the dogs in an igloo, because that's where all Canadians live, igloos and ice palaces. But when I'm bored I like to sit down and watch my oil powered tv.
It's most of the time something along the lines of that. 1 or 2 times someone has believed me, but it's mostly if I keep out the whole polar bear or ice palace thing. Sometimes they think I do own an ice palace and then I just walk away.
My closest online friend is from Canada, and he routinely gets asked the same thing. Good one. ;P
I hadn't realized what a versatile thread I created, (I I I I I, Me Me Me Me Me.)
First it was what I expected, people telling things about themselves; then it went into cars, and after that it went into genealogy. Good job guys, you've done well. (You You You You You).
I can directly trace my father's side all the way back to the original first 3 Thayer brothers to set foot on U.S. soil, and somehow I can trace it back to Governor W.W. Thayer of Oregon. My family has had a tremendous presence in the military, which is fitting because the name "Thayer" means "Of his nation's army". I can trace my lineage all the way back to my several-times Great Uncle Sylvanus Thayer, The Father of West Point, and the person requesting the construction of the Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. Today, my family still carry on that tradition. My grandfather, George Vernon Thayer was a pilot of a Martin Marauder in WWII, my uncle, Terry Thayer, who died of a motorcycle accident when my dad was 12 was in Special Forces. My Father was in Special Forces, my brother, who is named after my uncle will be graduating from Marine Corps boot camp this month, and I myself have plans to go into the USAF. I'm immensely proud of my heritage and don't take it for granted. As for my mother's side, it turns out that I'm 1/16th black. My great great grandfather was full African American, and we believe he was named after his family that he worked for, the Birchett family. Somewhere along the line one of my ancestors broke off from the family and changed the pronunciation to the French "(ber SHAY)" as my family now pronounces it, but after the Birchett family meeting at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame whenever that was we learned that the pronuncation is actually the British originated "(BER chit)". So, from that information I gather that some of my mother's side is from England and some of it is from Africa. Somehow I turned out whiter than most of the people around me and can't even get a tan; I just get red. Though, a lot of the people around me are of Native American descent so maybe I'm not as white as I look here in the Bible Belt.
That's all I have to talk about for right now; I'll close with this: "God Bless America, and not America the country either! America, the idea that everyone in the world is created equal with natural born rights and have the freedom to do what they wish as long as it doesn't trounce on others' rights. In a sense, we are all Americans; we may not all live in America, but we all have that natural sense of right and wrong. We all know that wherever we came from, we are all of one body, mind, and soul."
- Some story I can't remember the name of (sometimes I think I read too much for my memory capacity)
The sharpest word may be uttered with the softest tongue.
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Well, I'm an RA here at Clemson, and I'm about to go on my last round for the night as I'm on duty this weekend. Hopefully I won't find any wild parties or anything like that
EDIT: never mind... it wasn't really the right place either.
As for stuff about me... I'm really prone to illness, viruses and the like always seem to have a bigger effect on me than anyone else I know (except maybe my mother)
Last edited by Dogmantra on Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dogmantra wrote:As for stuff about me... I'm really prone to illness, viruses and the like always seem to have a bigger effect on me than anyone else I know (except maybe my mother)
I spend 3 months with a runny nose and a constant tired feeling every year. Don't ya just love winter?
Kind of learned to live with it by now, it's as expected as rain in the summer.
People watch too many movies where Americans do crappy accents, then think that's how they actually sound. 
)
The Dragon's Moon.
