So, for some reason folks have frequently asked Mrs. Grouch what country (besides the U.S. of A.) she hails from. She and I are from Pittsburgh PA which some might think is a different country but those would be people from Brentwood or Beverly Hills or Malibu and they don't count for a single whit, so there. Anyway soon after we were married someone asked the Mrs. "Are you Dutch?" which busted us both up. That became a catch-phrase for us. Since then people will occasionally accuse her of being Dutch or sometimes German, except for when we lived in Germany. They knew she was American despite her talent for the German language. It must have been her Pittsburgh accent that gave her away. Last night the mother of Young Son's girl friend stopped by the house when returning Young Son from her place. I think he has moved in with them and is only humoring us that he is still living at Grouch Estates. She met the Mrs. for the first time and exclaimed "What a lovely Irish lilt you have!" I was upstairs resting in bed and heard this and almost fell out of bed in amazement. I finally figured out what has happened. She and I are both of German/Irish heritage as are many people in our part of Pennsylvania. The 'Dutch' and now 'Irish' accents are merely her heritage struggling to burst free and express itself in this age of diversity and multiculturalism. I on the other hand have not displayed any sudden urge to sound like an extra on 'Combat' or Paddy from the auld sod. My heritage instead displays itself in unreasonable German stubbornness (but without the engineering prowess of my Deutchland ancestors) and an Irish temper (but sadly without the mellow singing voice of an Irish tenor). I think Mrs Grouch got the better deal if you ask me.
P.S. Young Daughter told me that people ask her if she is English even though she was born in Maryland. She did visit the UK with the Air Force but I don't think that counts for absorbing an accent so I don't know what is going on with all of this foreign sounding talk but as a Grouch I don't like it!
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I also had someone who claimed to never guess an accent wrong guess I was Australian! Wrong! I was reading an article that said the English accent mostly comes from dropping Rs and the Eastern accent comes from the English accent. So that makes some sense in my case. I don't think I would recognize a Dutch accent if I heard a Dutch person speaking! Some people are just strange...
ReplyDeleteWell no one every thinks I have an accent, boo for me. I seem to have also inherited the stubbornness and temper but not the red hair that I really wanted. I keep monitoring Laura to ensure that she doesn't pick up a southern accent. That would be worst of all.
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