Question for the #canadians (and any #linguists out there who can help, please chime in) ....
Are Newfoundlanders really that difficult to understand?
I've been watching #shorsey (and the one episode of #letterkenny where they show up) and, while I can't say I understand all of the talk completely, I think I get the basic gist.
It just sounds, to me, a lot like hearing the Irish dialect of English (I hope that makes sense).
And for the record, Hitch is my second favourite (after Shoresy obviously).
And it's kinda funny because his full name is Ted Hitchcock, but if you say it real fast....
@chaoskitty This is just my experience as a western Canadian, so your mileage may vary.
It varies, the accent can be pretty strong from some regions, but for the most part it's not so strong as to be hard to understand.
I've never had trouble understanding the individual words, but I have been stumped by some of the colloquialisms until I asked.
@dee_in_calgary That makes a lot of sense!
They make a bit of a deal of it on the shows about not being able to understand the Newfoundlanders (which I assume is a bit of an inside joke anyway).
So I was a little surprised at being able to understand any of it.
Especially when I was struggling with some of the other slang/hockey terms. Haha.
Thank you for the info!
@chaoskitty The fellow who plays him is from Mount Pearl, urban as far as Nfld goes. The accent is a bit hammed up. The sayings are also much the same, played up a bit. But, it is more or less accurate. The typ. dialect and accent of that area is predominately irish influenced, and easy enough to follow.
There is no one Newfoundland accent or dialect though, parts of the south shore and some more isolated communities elsewhere can be near unintelligable -- even to other Nfldrs.
@cowman I'd read he was actually from there! He's a great character. Absolute fave (after Shoresy, obviously, because he's the best one).
That's interesting to know about the rural/urban accent difference. We have a similar thing here in Aus. My "country accent" is a lot broader than my "city voice" (and I say things that the city lot don't understand every time, haha).
This is all very cool to learn about. Thank you!
@abrasrose It's such a good show! I think I've read it will be renewed for a second season.
My only complaint is that I live in Australia and have no way of meeting a Canadian hockey player who is exactly like Shoresy. Haha.
@abrasrose Oh, I don't have a team to support at the moment. I don't know enough about hockey to make a decision.
So far I've narrowed it down to "Canadian teams". Haha.
It's hard to find where to watch the games here (without needing to pay), so once I do, I'll feel better about choosing one.
@abrasrose Letterkenny and Shoresy really did light the fire for me (haha, maybe I should go for the Flames!). It's such an interesting mix of brute force, precision and sophistication.
Hockey isn't that big over here though, especially not ice hockey.
Last time I was this excited about it, was when I watched Mighty Ducks.
@chaoskitty You have to see Slap Shot and Goon. Great hockey movies. Super funny.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076723/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1456635/
Slap shot is a classic among hockey players and fans. So funny. I absolutely recommend it. I hope you can find it over there. It’s kind of an old movie. I’m going to be experiencing you pain soon. I’m moving to England and l’ll have to use a VPN to watch the games.
@abrasrose I wanted to update you (because this convo made me really motivated to find teams) I have my teams! Bruins for my American team, Flames for my Canadian.
Thank you for this chat. It was lovely and I've thought of it often, while watching the games (and then crying when Bruins got knocked out, haha).
Chaos
Dee In Calgary
🇨🇦 CowMan 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇲🇽
Abra
CrankyOldBugger 