Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: Overheard on a Bus

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  • Rob Hosking,

    1.

    Love the clips from Youtube. The clipped RAF accent saying 'that is so disrespecting of your trousers...'

    2.
    Aussie bloke I met some years ago reckoned at one point there was graffiti on a bridge in Bondi which said "NZ Sucks".

    Someone - presumably a Kiwi - had written underneath "Australia nil".

    3.

    Tramping trip up Tapaonuku some years ago. German woman in the group. We were talking about the difficulty we were having seeing the cairns which marked the route and she eventually asked who this guy Ken was.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Jessica S,

    I'm a 25 year old and I definately make a distinction between 'near' and 'square', as I do between 'bare' and 'beer' etc.. But then I did have years of Speech and Drama lessons and, as a result got laughed at at school either for sounding posh or having 'an Auckland accent'?! whatever the hell that was supposed to mean

    Since Feb 2008 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Jessica S,

    I grew up in Wellington btw

    Since Feb 2008 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    LOL, glad to hear Auckland accents are considered posh down the line.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    I grew up in Wellington btw

    Huh, me too - Wellington thing, maybe? I've never had someone comment on my accent, but I do recall that several of my friends who also make those speech distinctions (also Wellington kids) are frequently asked where they come from, because they don't sound like they were born here.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Jonty,

    I'm always amused to hear that paragon of success in NZ, Bob Jones, always refer to the country as Noo Zulland. Never allowed success to blunt his native brogue.
    But another curiosity is the word 'our'. The Scots of course say 'oor' with a rolling R on the end and I and most Poms say 'ower'. But I hear many NZers say 'ow' and wondered at the origin.
    Bruce Chatwin in 'The Songlines' discusses how Aboriginal use of English has infiltrated the common pronunciation of certain words, as well as te vernacular.
    I'm certain the Maori, in their attempt to get their tongues around English, have also bequeathed us certain pronunciations, and the word 'ow', which seems to be universal among Maori, is one of them.

    Katikati • Since Mar 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Jessica S,

    Also my father can be quite pedantic in correcting me. I say 'paradise'
    rhymes with 'mice', he would say it rhymes with 'lies'.

    Since Feb 2008 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Jessica S- you may have Coleridge on your side:

    That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
    And all who heard should see them there,
    And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
    Weave a circle round him thrice,
    And close your eyes with holy dread,
    For he on honey-dew hath fed,
    And drunk the milk of Paradise.

    Samuel T wasn't exactly aiming for strict rhymes or metre, but worth trying that on yr dad!

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    *The cursed afterthought or post-posting doubt (pps)*
    Unless paradise is an internal rhyme with "eyes"?

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    I don't think there's an Auckland accent as such, but there are a few markers. Auckland kids play a game called tiggy or tig (I forget which), whereas Wellingtonian kids play tag.

    It's fun when you've learned a bit of Maori to spot where the announcers on Te Kaea come from. A lot of them have Tuhoe accents - the ng sounds a lot more like n. There's tribal variation on the wh sound too.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • David Hamilton,

    How does everyone pronounce Subaru?

    When I was young I only heard "Sue-bar-ru'. Now everyone seems to call it 'Sooba-roo'. Is one more correct from the Japanese?

    Not having seen the Japanese version I would say that the name written in hiragana or katakana consists of the Japanese characters "su", "ba" and "ru". Su is as in "suit", Ba as in "Bart", and Ru as "rue" without the e. All are short sounds though, and the r in Ru is more like a cross between "l" and "r", similar to Maori.

    So...something like Sue ba roo but with really short vowel sounds.

    Someone who is actually fluent in Japanese feel free to correct me.

    Hamiltron • Since Nov 2006 • 111 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    I was about to say that, although I suspect that I distinguish between the pronunciation of more words than your average New Zealander, I don't think anyone's pointed it out to me.

    Then I remembered someone who congratulated me while I undergoing professional legal studies for pronouncing women correctly (they'd been pedantified by a partner in the law firm they'd been working at the previous summer).

    As to whether there's a class distinction, a friend who went to a decile 10 school (not Auckland) had never heard of "three" being pronounced "free"...

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Re __SU__baru: I think it's the American influence. That's how most Americans say it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    a friend who went to a decile 10 school (not Auckland) had never heard of "three" being pronounced "free"...

    Odd... seeing that "th" is one of the very last sounds that children get under control. Have they never listened to a class of 5 year olds counting: "One, two, free, four..."

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Tony Kennedy,

    I don't think there's an Auckland accent as such, but there are a few markers. Auckland kids play a game called tiggy or tig (I forget which), whereas Wellingtonian kids play tag.

    TIG, I believe is the name of an old Gaelic children’s game - a game of chases where the person who is "het" (it !) tries to "tig" (touch) the others. Just to add to the confusion, Tigh pronounced "tig” is also Gaelic for house.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 225 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    We called it tiggy or tigz in Hamilton in the 70s.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    We called it tiggy or tigz in Hamilton in the 70s.

    According to my partner, tag was the form used in 90s Christchurch and Blenheim, "apart from one kid, but I don't remember what he called it because I knew he was wrong and I told him so."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Then I remembered someone who congratulated me while I undergoing professional legal studies for pronouncing women correctly

    I wonder why it is that woman and women have come to be pronounced the same by so many New Zealanders.

    Years ago I remember hearing some guy saying that the "wimmin" pronunciation was the politically correct way that some lesbians had made up because it didn't pronounce "men". But I'm sure that's bollocks.

    The thing is, it can actually lead to ambiguity. One of my workmates once said something that sounded like this: "He's standing over there by the woman - uh, the group of woman."

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    A young mother and son had climbed aboard at a childcare centre called Caring and Sharing...........that shearing is being taught at kindergartens

    Since we're all being a weeny bit pedantic here, and since you have a wee person, David, who will maybe end up in some sort of preschool educational facility, and since I am a dyed in the wool fiercely proud PUBLIC (ie I work in the public sector) kindergarten teacher, I'm allowing myself to be a little wanky. May I correct you? (please read this with tongue in cheek - sort of). Daycare centres (those that are privately run, be they sessional or all day) and kindergartens are not the same thing. I know most people don't care, and when you're a parent, one thing is much like the other, I would imagine. But since I have to have a degree and be a registered teacher, and I am paid on a par with the Primary sector, and no-one profits from the money that parents give us, and my employer is a registered not-for-profit organisation but the children - the difference is quite significant to me, and to my colleagues in the public sector. No part of Kiddicorp or ABC or Kindercare or other spuriously insulting named organisation are we. So if you could keep those two concepts different please? Cheers :)

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • samuel walker,

    I know most people don't care, and when you're a parent, one thing is much like the other, I would imagine.

    Speaking as a parent I certainly do know the difference. there is probably vast difference between some kindies, and some childcare centres are probably awesome. however if kindies cost MORE than childcare I would still still have my kids there.

    I have to be able to trust them to help guide those brains to be ready to learn. gently and openly. and that does not mean making my kids be able to read earlier, or be more advanced, thats way short sighted.

    :)

    im just trying to say: your type are appreciated Jackie. truly.

    Since Nov 2006 • 203 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Llewellyn,

    Jackie, for what its worth, I for one am very grateful of the benefits my daughters have had from the kindergarten system, not least the fact that several years on we've (adults and kids) made some good friends from there.

    And the day that Voom and Jan Hellreigel played at the kindy fundraiser was a huge bonus ..

    Mt Albert • Since Nov 2006 • 399 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    My partner (a Kiwi) has just made me do all of these in my best BBC just to see if I could do it. She made me do bear bare several times amidst peals (as opposed to peels) of laughter.

    Although I'm a fair mimic I've never bothered aping the local dialect figuring that it would get me biffed. I do however sometimes hide the BBC in M25 or Yorkshire.

    My favourite from the North of England around Manchester was
    pillow-pillar....

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    Jessica S wrote:

    ... my father can be quite pedantic in correcting me. I say 'paradise' rhymes with 'mice', he would say it rhymes with 'lies'.

    I've just checked the RP pronunciation of 'paradise' in the both the 2002 and 1932 OEDs. In both cases the OED says that 'paradise' rhymes with 'mice', and DOES NOT rhyme with 'lies'.

    Unless your father is currently living in a year substantially before 1932 (for example, the seventeenth century or earlier), I'd say that he's well wrong -- and that you're well right. You can annoy him by suggesting that his pronunciation is a case of hypercorrection.

    Jackie Clark wrote:

    ... the difference is quite significant to me, and to my colleagues in the public sector. No part of Kiddicorp or ABC or Kindercare or other spuriously insulting named organisation are we. So if you could keep those two concepts different please?

    Apologies for the error, Jackie. I haven't had anything to do with kindergarten and/or playcentre for 30 years or so, and have obviously become confused about the terminology. It was an honest mistake, I swear! Certainly no offence intended to you or your colleagues, who do very valuable work (my sister's just begun training as a kindy teacher, so I'm sure she'll have something to say on the subject, as well.)

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Judi Lapsley Miller,

    B Jones said:

    I don't think there's an Auckland accent as such, but there are a few markers. Auckland kids play a game called tiggy or tig (I forget which), whereas Wellingtonian kids play tag.

    In Hawke's Bay in the 70's, we played tag. In playing handstands, we also used to say "Handstands cement" - was years until I realised it should have been "Handstands commence!"

    Judi

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 106 posts Report Reply

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