godfry n. glad

Not invisible...just pronouncing the letter you keep silent. It's pronounced "leng-th", with the "leng" sounding like "ling" in "ling cod". No "k" sound at all, just the "g" sounded. Out here, it's also pronounced the way you pronounce it, but it's predominately in the minority populations where I hear the usage.

The one which sets my teeth on edge is pronouncing "ask" like "ax". What's the deal with that?

godfry

godfry n. glad

Don't want to look like an American? How 'bout these easy tips:

1. Don't carry automatic weapons.

2. Don't wear camoflage as your holiday wear.

3. Leave the HUMV and armored personnel carrier at home.

4. Refuse the urge to "shock and awe" at the marketplace.

5. Don't nose around local neighborhoods asking questions about things like "anthrax" and/or "enriched uranium".

6. Don't refer to your friend and neighbor, formerly from Canada, as the next premier, especially if there are no elections.

7. Resist the urge to hand out candy and hosiery to the local children.

That should help...

godfry

Evangelion

*busy scribbling notes*

You know, these are very good ideas. And they make such good sense, too!

As an Australian, I certainly have a vested interest in not looking like an American when I go to Canada.

callmejay

How about just being yourself and letting people realize (as I'm sure they do already) that the US is friggin' enormous and incredibly diverse? Be a "good" American.

Late_Cretaceous

Godfry

When I was in Portland a few years ago on business I commented on how good the divers were there (as compared to Edmonton where our drivers are infamous). The reply that I got was ; "Well, our gun laws here are more lax so people are more careful, because you never know if someone has a gun in their glove compartment" (or something to that extent). So I guess there are advantages to the stereotypical gun-toting american.

PopeInTheWoods

My three guesses:

1. Sugar Island, MI
2. Grand Island, NY
3. Somewhere in Alaska

Sakpo

About "length." I understand the non K explanations, but they just don't seem to suffice. Many Canadians really do make a full fledged k ("kuh") noise when they say the word. It's not just the transition, it's like the sound of the letter is jammed in in addition.

Of course, my speech is a weird mix of northern and southern coast Californian (my dad), Vancouverite (where I grew up), and Midlands (village working class...my mum) accents, so everyone asks about my accent and why I say stuff the way I do .

FoE

Some English people i know pronounce length the way i do, so naturally that's the correct way to pronounce it

You should have heard my difficulties learning to say couch when i moved here. Back home all multiperson seating objects were called chesterfields. I still have trouble sometimes saying couch when i mean coach.

godfry n. glad

Really? Chesterfields? Man...That's a mouthful. We just used "sofa". Still do, for that matter.

godfry

godfry n. glad

Hey, Late_Cretaceous:

Hmmm... All I can say is that must have been _several_ years ago. Like before the SUV craze. In the interim, Portland has been flooded with out-o'-staters "makin' the green move". Consequently, there are more drivers from California and places like New England. The big thing now is RIF (Roadway Intimidation Factor), the bigger the pickup truck, the better...'least 'round town, that is. 'Course, in town, they gotta be clean and shiny. Once you get out away from the big shitty, the pickup truck age goes up, the gloss in the finish disappears, there are signs of rust in the chrome and they advertise that they don't take no crap with the "Easy Rider Rifle Rack", with not one, but two, easy-to-reach "varmint" rifles, clipped up in the pickup rear window.

I'm conflicted over the whole "right to bear arms" crap. Given the recent spate of governments that I trust less and less, I'm beginning to see the logic of allowing ordinary citizens to own firearms. The problem is, many end up using the firearms against family and friends, instead of the government. That's just not using the extended right in the manner our Founding Fathers expected. <sigh> I guess that's just the ol' "Law of Unintended Consequences" kickin' in again....

Portland used to be notorious continent-wide for issuing citations for jaywalking. That's now long gone, too. (I hear Seattlites moan about this now.)

Let me tell ya... Hope that your hometown or favorite city never, but _NEVER_, makes it to the top place in a "Most Liveable Cities" poll that is publicized nationwide. If it does, kiss that liveability goodbye. Portland has lost much of its charm in the past twenty years, thanks in part to such a dubious honor.

Last time I was to Edmonton, I was 16 years of age. This year I turn 50. I'll bet it's changed. It's kinda Canada's Houston, isn't it? A town full of wildcatters and other entrepeneurs trying to strike it rich? I suppose that's a skewed and stereotypic picture, huh? I just remember the stellar museum of natural history; one of the best, in my memory. Of course, I've been to Banff and Jasper thrice in that time.

godfry