# He Thinks All Short Men Rest On Their Laurels: An Accents Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171 "2008-09-11T22:19:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/81 "2008-09-16T16:26:55Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#): > > For those of us with ADD who don’t have time to do all the pointing and clicking, I proudly present all Laurel quotes up to this point in order. > > [The Accent Thread Remix](http://www.box.net/shared/17kk7e1k85) > > Set to a light MIDI and Didgeridoo accompanyment for your listening pleasure. Let me know what you think. Cool! Did you play the didgeridoo? When are you coming out with the techno version? 😃 (Maybe we can turn this into an internet meme like the Loituma Girl…) And a question about this Box place… why do half the links not offer a Play button? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/82 "2008-09-16T16:41:40Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And a question about this Box place… why do half the links not offer a Play button? I was wondering this myself–I didn’t know how to put the “play” button on my link, even though I would have liked to do so. How is it done? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/83 "2008-09-16T16:46:37Z")
Okay, I’ve created a box account. If someone can help me figure out how I can record on my Mac, I’d be happy to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/84 "2008-09-16T16:55:06Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Okay, I’ve created a box account. If someone can help me figure out how I can record on my Mac, I’d be happy to contribute. I don’t know about the Box account, but I can say a few things about recording on the Mac. I used Audacity, which is a free download. My MacBook Pro has an internal microphone, but I also have a headset, and I used the microphone on the headset. The headset plugged into the line-in and line-out jacks on the side of the MB Pro. If you don’t have Audacity, download and install it from [http://audacity.sourceforge.net/](http://audacity.sourceforge.net/). To make MP3s, you have to download an additional piece of software, the LAME MP3 Encoder. Once Audacity is running, hit the Record button, speak, hit the square Stop button, then Export the audio file to your desired audio file format. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/85 "2008-09-16T17:21:13Z")
I recorded mine with my MP3 player, then plugged it into my computer. The file was there and I just uploaded it to Box. StG ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/86 "2008-09-16T19:33:31Z")
> [@PoorWarblingOne](#): > > Hope this works: here’s my version: [Box](http://www.box.net/shared/f1cj6k8d73) > > (pretty posh Scottish) You could be reading me my rights and I wouldn’t mind. You have a lovely accent. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/87 "2008-09-16T20:08:30Z")
wavs won’t play in box only mp3s. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/88 "2008-09-17T01:13:29Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Cool! Did you play the didgeridoo? > > When are you coming out with the techno version? 😃 > > (Maybe we can turn this into an internet meme like the Loituma Girl…) > > And a question about this Box place… why do half the links not offer a Play button? Yes I did, but I cheated a little. I’m not real adept at the circular breathing and it breaks down after a dozen or so cycles (you can hear a breath after **An Gadaí** ’s first sample) so I cloned the sample and spliced it into itself for the three minutes. I wish I could have held the tone for three minutes straight but I’m not there yet. On the file type issue, at the time of my sampling there were 12 mp3s and 10 wav files. I used FreeRIP to convert my audio files to mp3, mostly because I knew it would be a smaller file size. It was just dumb luck that it streams from [box.net](http://box.net) instead of requiring a download. FreeRIP is, well, free. The actual recording I did with cakewalk. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/89 "2008-09-17T01:35:15Z")
Excellent work **nd\_n8** , fair play to you! ---
**Author:** ![ShakWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@ShakWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShakWave)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/90 "2008-09-20T10:36:48Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > It’s puzzling that you sound so American rather than Ozzie. I heard my voice file and I don’t think I sound American at all. It may be due to the fact that the mike seems to ‘pop’ a lot when I speak into it (probably because of the subcontinent accent which stresses the consonants so much), so I think I subconsciously soften the words a lot more. Well thats my theory, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/91 "2008-09-20T11:59:47Z")
[This is me.](http://users.tpg.com.au/skogfish/Short.mp3) I think I may have been slightly influenced by hearing the OPs recording. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/92 "2008-09-20T12:23:25Z")
[Gettysburg Address.](http://users.tpg.com.au/skogfish/Getty.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/93 "2008-09-20T13:36:46Z")
> [@Pseudocode](#): > > Here is [mine](http://www.box.net/shared/vgd1nlt7l7). > > So what accent do I have? Well, you sound _exactly_ like an Arizona/Washington hybrid fellow I know, but other than that I’ve not a clue. Can we get a hint? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/94 "2008-09-20T14:05:20Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > … and [here’s the start of the Gettysburg address](http://www.box.net/shared/jyd5j51a8r), exactly as it may have sounded if Abraham Lincoln was Australian, and also a woman. You have a lovely voice! I’ll add myself to the Australian Lincoln Impersonators Troupe. [Conveniently contains both samples in one file.](http://www.box.net/shared/pk6sy8jhgm) _Y’know, I know it’s ‘rests’, not ‘sits’… but do you think I can say that? I’ve been corrupted by all the files I’ve listened to!_ ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/95 "2008-09-20T15:22:51Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > … and [here’s the start of the Gettysburg address](http://www.box.net/shared/jyd5j51a8r), exactly as it may have sounded if Abraham Lincoln was Australian, and also a woman. Did you slip and say “preposition” or is that the way Australians say “proposition”? I know you pronounce vowels differently from ours in the US (your vowels all kind of sound like short i (as in sit) to my ears :D), so I honestly don’t know - it’s not a word I remember hearing an Australian saying before. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/96 "2008-09-20T15:35:19Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > Did you slip and say “preposition” or is that the way Australians say “proposition”? I know you pronounce vowels differently from ours in the US (your vowels all kind of sound like short i (as in sit) to my ears :D), so I honestly don’t know - it’s not a word I remember hearing an Australian saying before. That’s definitely proposition. Funny what you say about short vowels, that’s exactly what Australian’s accuse New Zealanders of, mercilessly. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/97 "2008-09-20T15:48:29Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > Did you slip and say “preposition” or is that the way Australians say “proposition”? There is NO way that \*\*Cazzle \*\*sounds like she’s saying ‘preposition’… is there? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/98 "2008-09-20T16:06:09Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > There is NO way that \*\*Cazzle \*\*sounds like she’s saying ‘preposition’… is there? 😕 Well, to my New Jersey ears, yes. Sorry. ☹ It sounded exactly like preposition to me. I guess that answers my question. And yes, New Zealanders, to the extent I can hear a difference between them and Autralians (which is not that much - I’m sure you folks can hear much more of a difference yourselves), are very much the same way or more so - I just listened to all the commentary on the extended LotR, and I’ve never heard so many short i’s in my life! There were a few times when I honestly had to think for a few seconds about what word was being said. ETA: I kept having to remind myself that to these folks, it was all perfectly comprehensible and normal. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/99 "2008-09-20T17:20:02Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > Well, to my New Jersey ears, yes. Sorry. ☹ It sounded exactly like preposition to me. I guess that answers my question. Huh. Did I sound the same? (Post #94) What’s really weird about this is I have a number of American friends (admittedly, NW states not eastern) and I don’t recall ever encountering this particular problem. Plenty of other communication errors, but that’s a newie! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171/100 "2008-09-20T18:07:43Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Huh. Did I sound the same? (Post #94) What’s really weird about this is I have a number of American friends (admittedly, NW states not eastern) and I don’t recall ever encountering this particular problem. > > Plenty of other communication errors, but that’s a newie! No, yours sounds like proposition. And now **Cazzle** ’s does too. I’m losing my mind. [Emily Litella]Never mind.:o[/Emily Litella] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-thinks-all-short-men-rest-on-their-laurels-an-accents-thread/463171.md?page=6)