• 🎨 Elaine Cortez 🇨🇦 @lemm.ee
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    8 days ago

    My dialect is confusing to some people. I was speaking to a Californian friend over Discord and I pronounce the word “Southern” in a way that she didn’t realize what word I was saying until I clarified that to her, and she was like “yeah, that’s definitely a different way of saying it”. Another word that trips some people up is “decals”!

    • dingus@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      So I am from the northern US. I was speaking to someone from the southern US and they said the word “cement”. I had to do a double take and think hard about what they were saying. To me, it sounded like she was saying “semen”. I am basically a child and thought it was hilarious.

    • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOPM
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      8 days ago

      Same. Not that I am particularly known for talkativeness (the term “selectively mute” is often used to describe me, which many here think is facade-ish because they don’t realize is more associated with anxiety than autism), but I have Pacific heritage and it shows in what amounts to a Kiwi accent. People either…

      1. Think I’m Australian
      2. Think I’m Scottish
      3. Think I’m a Star Wars fangirl (because some people say they have only heard it from Jango Fett)
      4. Think I’m faking my voice and that this is why it sounds like it does
      5. Know it’s a real voice and what dialect it is but think I’ve ever been to New Zealand

      And then they will proceed to ask me to pronounce silly words for them. Apparently “should” is not pronounced like “shit”.

      Based on someone’s instruction, I once tried a kind of voiceover tech for fixing communication, and that only blew up in its own way, people thinking it felt “ungenuine”.

      • 🎨 Elaine Cortez 🇨🇦 @lemm.ee
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        8 days ago

        Aw yeah New Zealand! I often have trouble telling Australian and New Zealand accents apart though, they sound really similar to me. Love Australian and Kiwi accents!