We humans – even the most introverted of introverts, like me – are essentially herd-like. We may say and think we prize non-conformity, but our instincts tell us: fit in. Fit in or be shunned by the herd. Once upon a time, a failure to fit in spelled a cold, hungry, sexually-frustrated death for poor…
Tag: accents
Fatal Phonemes and Emphasis Disasters
The ability to imitate an accent without making mistakes is rare, even among people who are paid boatloads of money to do it. Only a near-superhuman can avoid falling into sticky phoneme and stress traps unique to their linguistic background. For some language-nerd schadenfreude, here are a few recent endearing slip-ups I’ve come across while trashy tv-watching (mostly native Anglophones trying to…
