[HPforGrownups] SCHABB, US/UK/Oz Eng, happiness, morals in HP

[Rowena Grunnion-Ffitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 26577



--- Tabouli <tabouli at unite.com.au> wrote:

> Rowena (in reponse to my musings on US/UK 

> As for mistakes in slang going the other way across
> the Atlantic, yep, of course they do.  However, I
> have to insert my own nationalistic grimace here and
> say that efforts of most of the rest of the
> Anglophone world at reproducing Australian English
> are, with few exceptions, painfully inept.  

   I believe it. You people sure have a colorful
vernacular. 

> our accent is *not*
> identical to Cockney

   Definitely not identical but there is some
similarity to those of us for whom both are exotic
dialects. 

> Of course, given that most Australian TV comes from
> the US or UK, Australians are on average pretty
> savvy about the differences between the dialects,
> and can do at least recognisable attempts at
> standard Hollywood American and RP English accents.

    Heath Ledger certainly can.
 
> Americans, in particular, can find the
> way Australians communicate quite (!) disconcerting.

    You can say that again. An Australian co-worker
once put together a little dictionary of common Aussie
slang terms for our bemusement but he was always
careful to speak standard English since he was a very
nice guy and didn't want to confuse us clueless
Americans.

On Happiness:

> By this definition, Dumbledore, though put in sad
> moods by happening such as the Potters' murder,
> Cedric's death and so on, seems at peace with
> himself and his actions.  Self-sufficient, even. I
> can't remember him agonising or cursing himself over
> having done the wrong thing (even though he has on
> various occasions).  

   Well he *is* a hundred and fifty years old. I guess
he's learned not to second guess himself or waste
energy agonizing over things he can't change. 

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