A little while ago MBC was commenting on the use of the word "random" by Utahns. Well, her post got me reminiscing about Northern Ireland and their use of the word "situation." It is used a lot in Northern Ireland and it doesn't even necessarily need to make any sense. Here is a little clip that talks about this strange phenomenon.
If you don't understand what the trolls are saying you will understand how I felt my first 2 weeks living in Belfast--early in my studies there I decided to stop in and get a bite to eat in town but knowing that I was having a difficult time with the language I thought I would go somewhere relatively safe: McDonalds. I figured I could walk up to the counter and say Big Mac Meal with a Coke and hand over some colorful money and all would be good. Well, the girl assisting me apparently didn't hear me say "with a Coke" and asked me at least 4 times what I wanted to drink but I couldn't understand a single word. It got better though and now I can understand really thick and horrible accents (I attempted to find an example on the Internet but I couldn't find one that didn't have rampant swear--a problem in Belfast--so you will just have to pretend to be impressed with my interpretation of tongues skills.)
5 comments:
Lexi and I were laughing so hard at the video clip!! I want to hang out with those trolls, they are hilarious. I would get so frustrated trying to talk or understand someone talking like that!
To be fair, most Irish speakers aren't trolls.
I remember when I was with a friend in Glasgow and we took a taxi. My friend and the driver were having a good ole conversation (he had spent 3 months in England studying) and when we got out of the taxi, I had to ask him to repeat what the driver had said. I didn't understand (not exaggerating) a SINGLE word. I was floored. Great, great place though.
I don't know how you survived! I guess you would get used to it. I thought it was really funny he said "freaking out" in the dialog. Pretty funny!
Kirk--the glasgow accent is a hard one. There are lots of Irish people there so you know a little of my pain.
Jen--you do get used to it--evenutally.
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