American speech

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This quote I just read by Welsh nautical writer Tristan Jones:

"Americans communicate more by the sound of their words than the content."

Absurd or astute? I almost think I know what he means. Please comment.

― andy --, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

If you could only see what I hear.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

You mean inflection?

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:30 (twenty years ago)

Is there any particular reason why we should consider a WELSH NAUTICAL WRITER an expert on how Americans speak?

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)

Twangy twang twang

― a real bear behind the microphone (nordicskilla), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

y'all

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Dude?
DUDE!
Doooode.

― Another Allnighter (sexyDancer), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

actually i would trust a welsh person to describe how americans speak, because americans are used to how americans speak and don't notice. also americans are stupid.

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:34 (twenty years ago)

bro

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:34 (twenty years ago)

bra. BRA.

― andy --, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

Absurd cos it's meaningless. Why say this of Americans and not anyone else? In every language (or its regional variant) there is both language as content, and language as inference.

― paulhw (paulhw), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I don't understand what he means at all.

― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

Unlike the Welsh, we do use vowels.

― Another Allnighter (sexyDancer), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

Cah!

― Ian Riese-Moraine eats nation-states for breakfast! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

Gwywhrfrthgymcwmygwym

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

Canadians, meanwhile, communicate more by the soond of their words than the content.

― Huk-L, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

I thought they communicated by blowing over the tops of beer bottles.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:45 (twenty years ago)

Stop knocking us Welsh :)

Maybe a Welsh person would notice the sound of another language because they are attuned to speaking a very sing-song and lilting one of their own. Or not. Twll dîn pob Sais. I don't know, actually.

― C J (C J), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

"Americans communicate more by the sound of their words than the content."

This is what is known as "speaking." It is different from "writing."

Absurd or astute?

It's just dumb.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

Perhaps he means we have no content. Of the English speaking peoples, Americans have the thinnest vocabularies. The Irish are #1, with over 50,000 words in common usage. Americans use about 60 words, with 'dude' and 'fuck' being the most essential.

― andy --, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

and "like," of course.

― andy --, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)

DUDE! LIKE, FUCK YOU!

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

I like hubcaps, I like laundry, I like waffles, I like antfarms
I like recess, picnics, and eatin' pork and beans
I like tinfoil and bowties
I like cardboard and moon pies
When I'm soaking in the bathtub, I like shootin' submarines
Shootin' submarines
I like Snoopy, I like Droopy, I like Charles Nelson Reilly
I like Hee-Haw, Fat Albert, and I also like corn
I like cornflakes, corndogs
I like corn bread and cornstarch
I like the band Korn and popcorn, I like all kinds of corn
ALL KINDS OF CORN!

He likes this and he likes that
He likes that and he likes this
Oogedy boogedy life is sweet
Oogedy boogedy tell 'em girls
When Brak has troubles he likes to think of just how lucky he is
Because of all the things that I like....
What was that? (My bad.)

I like eggrolls and crab rolls, crab legs, but not frog legs
I like duck sauce with duct tape and jumping on the bed
I like Popeye, Pipeye, Pupeye, Poopeye, Peepeye
Olive Oyl and Bluto, and falling on my head
Falling on my head
I like throwing pasgetti at Bigfoot and Yeti
I like Veronica and Betty, don't call me Jughead!
I like gumballs and rumballs, I like cheeseballs and cheesecake
I like pineapple upside-down cake, why's it upside-down?
WHY'S IT UPSIDE-DOWN?

He likes this and he likes that
He likes that and he likes this
Oogedy Boogedy you know what I mean
Oogedy Boogedy tell 'em Franz
When Brak has troubles he likes to think of just how lucky he is
Cause all of the things that I, liiiiiiiiiiiike

― Huk-L, Friday, 24 June 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

you mean dude and fuck are the most dudefuckular.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

That is likely what he meant. But why did he say it so unclearly? Is that a Welsh thing? "The Welsh communicate more by reductive phrases that border on nonsense than by having anything to say."

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Friday, 24 June 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

Huk-L OTM

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 24 June 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

I thought they communicated by blowing over the tops of beer bottles.

http://www.setel.com/~ccprek/fapt/mvc-709f.jpg

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 24 June 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

OMG YR HEAD IS MADE OF SILLY PUTTY!

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 June 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

DON'T LEAN ON ANY NEWSPAPER!

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 24 June 2005 19:35 (twenty years ago)

I think he's saying "Need more beer."

― Tinman: Set to Self-Destruct (cprek), Friday, 24 June 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

self hating Amerikkkans are the worstest.

― dudest, Friday, 24 June 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

I is a American and that ain't me, no way, no how.

I am the master of semantics, the wizard of vocabulary, the diva of fine distinctions and the pasha of punctuation. The Queen's English rolls from my mouth like the waters of the Thames discharging its load of waste materials into the sea.

― Aimless (Aimless), Saturday, 25 June 2005 03:22 (twenty years ago)

Astute, esp in the South. Tone is very impt.

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 25 June 2005 03:24 (twenty years ago)

Isn't this common to all English speakers? Part of the reason it's a difficult language to learn is the contextuality - 'excuse me' means 'please step aside' or 'get the fuck out of my way' based purely on tone and situation, where other languages might be more explicit.

If it's a swipe at the American vocabulary, that's even worse as it doesn't really come out and insult us, it just reads as gibberish.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 25 June 2005 03:26 (twenty years ago)

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