We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.
Oscar Wilde
“Why ahh uuu ringin’ me for?”I’m fairly certain that in “American” (henceforth, and forevermore to be considered the "colonies") this is a query as to why someone has just called ("telly'd'). But, I could definitely be mistaken.
Feeling very much like Henry Higgins (GB Shaw) I sat on the steps across from Primark this morning enjoying a late breakfast ("tea") of an egg and watercress sandwich from Pret a Manger following 9am Mass. Two young Oxfordian girls somewhere between the ages of 13 and 19 sat down behind me and began to answer their phones in a coordinated and complicated order, calling a friend, then hanging up, then calling a different friend who happened to be with the first friend, who would then return the call… and so on.
As a question of ethics, I am definitely not one to eavesdrop, but with their rising volume of conversation (at one point it was 4 entirely different conversations), it became difficult not to listen… yet understanding was of a different nature. It was as mystifying for me to guarantee their own proclivity for speaking the English language as it was for them to follow who they had put on hold.
And then the most egregious thing was shouted-
"Why ahh uuu ringin’ me for?”
Finally! ("Cor blimey!") A phrase I think I recognize, yes, they are speaking English!
No wait, there they go again. (“aiii-gane”) “uuu know they git thim billbards? Cuz I tink he just fancy, a’ight?” seriously? Was that English? In the words of Henry Higgins, what the devil are they saying?
Ah, and there it is, Rhianna’s Rude Boy screams from a cell phone, proclaiming a penchant for the colonies’ trends, if an avoidance of colonial grammar… although, if I learnt my grammar from California! and redneck/bronco music, I might leave participles dangling, split my infinitives, fail to conjugate my verbs and even end sentences with prepositions. Thus, I shall continue to enjoy learning new words and phrases ("aces!", "chuffed," "pudding")... and expanding my recognition of the English language.
After all, as Eliza Doolittle’s own creator once said, “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”
Pip Pip, cheerio and whatnot!
Afoot, the game remains,
ej
The corner of Cornmarket and High St
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