Comments on: SAME WORDS, DIFFERENT LANGUAGE

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:22:30 +0000

Same thing happened to me speaking Spanish in Barcelona. Nobody heard me speak until I dropped an octave and started talking like a local.

By: Anca

Anca — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:18:34 +0000

http://ex-blank-page.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-reply-to-daves-great-posts-58.html

By: dave

dave — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:31:10 +0000

Ian,
That’s because to English ears, when you say ‘Humour’ it sounds like ‘Yumah’.
Like when you say ‘Herbs’ it sounds like ‘Erbs’.
Which is strange because, as you know, over here it’s only cockneys that don’t pronounce the ‘H’.
What they call the Glottal-Stop(or in cockney Glo-al Stop).

By: Ian David

Ian David — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:25:13 +0000

Dave,
As a British writer who’s been working in the States for over 10 years now I can totally related to your tale. To this day I still have to check myself for “Britishisms” when writing copy, whether in individual words or subtle turns of phrase.
I had a similar experience to your appointment story in a local book store. I was trying to locate the Humor section and approached the Information Desk for a little guidance. The encounter went something like this:
ME: “Excuse me, could you tell me where the humor section is, please?
SALES GUY: I’m sorry?
ME: The humor section.
SALES GUY: Oomah?
ME: No, Hu-mor.
SALES GUY: Ooo-mah?
ME: Hu-mor!
SALES GUY: I’m sorry, I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.
ME: You know, humor - laughs, jokes, funny ha, ha - that sort of thing.
SALES GUY: Oh, humor! It’s over there by the back wall.

No word of a lie.

By: ben

ben — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:04:08 +0000

Jack mate, really cool website. I think I’ll buy a mug when I get the time.

By: ben

ben — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:52:59 +0000

I suppose this is true, but “ideas” are also universal, and a great copywriter as you’ve noted before is really hired for his clarity of thinking and not necessarily his finesse with language.

Definitely true about the whole accent thing though, it’s even more important to have a mastery of the American accent whilst on the phone.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:03:29 +0000

That’s in West London near Windsor Castle
Where they don’t say ‘assle they say hassle
We had a lad with us he worked hard but he was a rascal
Says he originally came from Glasgow

http://thebasildonbloggerstrikesagain.com/

I don’t know why you’re talking about foreign countries.
Try talking to someone from Southend

By: dave

dave — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:35:25 +0000

Hi Rick,
You’ve reminded me that years ago, when I first went to NYC, there were lots of language problems.
I saw one of the other students smoking a cigarette.
I said to him, “Do you mind if I bum a fag?”
He said, “Do what you like buddy.” and walked away.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:19:41 +0000

This reminds me of the Berlitz commercial from a few years back with the German Coast Guard ham radio operator and the sinking American ship. Here’s a link if you are not familiar:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=431d9254-82bc-4a2d-8e81-5472e86ce4fb

By: robin

robin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:25:10 +0000

I’m Asian Dave and before I went to London for the D&AD Workshop, I made sure I learnt rhyming slang and other English colloquialisms.
So I knew what folks were talking about.
In fact, it was kind of fun to join in on conversations folks thought I couldn’t understand.
But the biggest problem was asking for directions.
I was trying to get to Malcolm Gaskin’s then agency on Greek Street.
When I asked for directions, somehow, not a passerby could make out that I was asking for “Greek Street”.
So I had to write out in a Magic Marker on A3 pads where I wanted to go.
But there was no way out on the phone.
Directory Assistance just couldn’t get me when I tried getting the number to “Royal Brunei”.
And when I showed my long copy ads (to CDs, not men in the street) folks were amazed I could write properly.
Oh, what fun.