Thursday, May 07, 2009

Top Ten Things I Do That Annoy N

10. Groove to the music on his radio station pick when we’re in the car.
9. Make him wear pants rather than shorts if the high for the day is predicted to be below 70 F.
8. Watch Supernanny because he’s afraid I’ll get tips on childrearing.
7. Refuse to serve tortellini with pesto for every meal.
6. Root for the Chicago Cubs.
5. Hug him in front of his friends.
4. Pick him up too early or too late from after school care.
3. Don’t cheer enough at his games.
2. Cheer too much at his games.

And, the number one thing that I do that annoys N:
1. Talk with my Southern accent, particularly when I say “peach pie.”

It is an absolute sure thing that I will annoy N anytime I drop my out-in-public-put-on-the-façade-“normal” voice and let the Southern accent creep in. Sometimes I do it on purpose just to rile him up, but most of the time it happens when (1) I’m too tired to think about it and let my guard down, (2) I’m around others with a Southern accent, or (3) there are just certain words I struggle to say without the accent, like “pie” or “darlin’” or “sweet tea.”

2 comments:

Desmond Jones said...

I had a friend in college, who grew up his whole life in suburban Detroit - except his senior year of HS, his family moved to Kentucky, and even after only a year living among Southern accents, he sounded like a complete hillbilly. When we'd razz him about it, he said that he couldn't hear the difference between how he tawked, uh, talked, and the rest of us. . .

Then there was the girl from Connecticut, who went home for Christmas break freshman year (so, less than three months in Michigan), to have her mother say, with a 'tsk' - "You've picked up SUCH a TWANG!" I never thought of Michigan as having a 'twang', but there you have it. . .

An'. . . Paiss th' pah, y'all. . .

Trueself said...

I don't think of Michiganders as having much of an accent. Y'all sound pretty "normal" to me.

Southern accents seem to rub off easily onto people, and I find it takes no time at all for me to slip back into one when I'm in a group of those who talk that way.

And, in all seriousness, would there be a difference between "tawked" and "talked"? If so, how would they be different? I am truly curious.