# How Do Furriners Make Fun of Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 8, 2002, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925 "2002-05-08T16:53:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/61 "2002-05-10T00:34:21Z")
Like Wow! I took a look at the Valley Speak website and here is what happens when you translate the Straight Dope Home Page into Valley Speak: > [@](#): > > Today’s Question: Did Jimmy Carter totally see a UFO? Like, I am so sure! (By Cecil Adams) > Recent Additions: > What is totally the sound of one hand clapping? Like, I am so sure! (By Cecil Adams) > What did the census at the time of the birth of That Holy Dude accomplish? Like, I am so sure! (Staff Report by SDStaff Dex) > Do you know a guaranteed love charm recipe? Like, I am so sure! (By Cecil Adams) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/62 "2002-05-10T00:51:41Z")
I loved to hear all the Monty Python guys do American accents and come out sounding like John Wayne. Except John Cleese. He always did this weird, gruff, manly man voice. As for cockney rhyming slang, and not to perpetuate stereotypes, but an English friend of mine opined that most rhyming slang was invented by East London criminals in order to make a kind of code that the police wouldn’t be able to understand. Anyone ever heard this? Other cockney rhyming slang he taught me: Having a giraffe: Having a laugh Whistle (and flute): suit ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/63 "2002-05-10T00:53:39Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Exgineer \* > When will the rest of you people realize that the United States America is the final arbiter of everything._ > > \*[sup]The Canucks also seem to think that this is a typical attitude.[/sup] Except your own ridiculousness. That’s our job, and you’re heavily outnumbered by experts. Your job is to provide the evidence one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/64 "2002-05-10T01:31:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > “butchers” (hook) for “look” Oh, thank you! I knew “butchers” meant “have a look around,” but I never knew _why_. But I do know about raspberry tarts! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/65 "2002-05-10T02:19:28Z")
> [@](#): > > The California (and West coast in general) accent is generally characterized by a loss of vowels. Marry, merry, and Mary are generally pronounced the same way by Californians, but with three different vowels by Northeasterners. I, as a born-n-raised Californian, must agree. I have only one question: How the hell do you pronounce those three words _differently_? They, uh, all rhyme with bury, berry, and Barry, right? ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/66 "2002-05-10T02:34:13Z")
**everton** - ease up. It was a joke. In fact, I thought it was a joke about me and my fellow americans. We know we’re the young upstarts, but we get tired of being reminded every fifteen minutes. And, **iamthewalrus(:3=**, I don’t get it either. “Merry” is pronounced “mehry” (sort of), which is different from “Mary” or “marry” which sound exactly alike. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/67 "2002-05-10T11:43:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exgineer \* > **everton** - ease up. It was a joke. In fact, I thought it was a joke about me and my fellow americans. Yeah, s’cuse me - that sounded much harsher than intended after a re-read. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/68 "2002-05-10T14:13:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Martiju \* > \*\*Cockney is the term given to people born in the east end of London, within the sound of the Bow bells (an east end church). > \*\* [nitpick] Alas, no. St Mary-le-Bow is in the middle of the City of London. Not the East End at all. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/69 "2002-05-10T14:14:57Z")
Short of calling you and pronouncing them, I don’t know how to explain the difference without using the phonetic alphabet, which I’m assuming you’re not familiar with. It has to do with where the vowels are said in the mouth. If one makes the distinction, the vowel in “merry” is said as it is in the word “errand”. “Mary” and “marry” can have a distinct vowel difference. The vowel in the former is said as it is in “air”, and because nothing else is coming to mind the vowel in “marry” is pronounced similarly way that Brits say “Harry”. Go see the Harry Potter movie and listen to how it’s said- it’s ‘Arry’ without the “H” sound. The distinctions can be at best subtle- a lot of people won’t necessarily hear it, and it is true that a lot of people don’t make the distinction between the three anyway. But for those who do, (I do, and I’m from the East coast) that’s pretty much how it’s made. That’s the best way I can explain it without getting too technical. Any other ling dopers are invited to make corrections, as I’m not entirely sure how coherent this explanation is. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/70 "2002-05-11T12:31:26Z")
Thought I’d posted this already yesterday, but the board must have crashed: The A in ‘Mary’ is the A in “bear”. The A in ‘marry’ is the A in “hat”. The A in ‘merry’ is the A in “bed”. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/71 "2002-05-11T12:33:15Z")
Doh. The E in ‘merry’ is the E in “bed”. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/72 "2002-05-11T19:46:04Z")
For an example of Brits doing American accents, see the seen in _Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life_ where John Cleese is playing a waiter shilling off conversation tips to a couple of tourists (Eric Idle and Michael Palin) . All three are doing some rather… um … interesting American accents ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/73 "2002-05-11T19:48:41Z")
> [@](#): > > …see the **seen** … Now that’s interesting… maybe I should try paying attention when I hit preview, hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/74 "2002-05-11T20:45:40Z")
What I always wondered was, do non-English speaking people do “mock English”? You know, total gibberish that sounds like English if you’re not familiar with the language? Sort of like the Swedish chef on The Muppet Show, or this [article](http://www.theonion.com/onion3645/speak_spanish.html) from the Onion, where the author “can totally speak Spanish.” I always wondered what attempts at English would sound like. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/75 "2002-05-11T20:49:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*YOKEL: Cletus, Bubba. > BIMBO: Jo-Beth, Sue-Ellen. \*\* Quite accurate, really. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/76 "2002-05-11T20:57:49Z")
Actually, Jo-Beth and Sue-Ellen sound more like soccer moms to me. But this could be some sort of generational conflict between me and **Michale Ellis**. Yesterday’s bimbos are today’s PTA members. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/77 "2002-05-11T20:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*I always wondered what attempts at English would sound like. \*\* 133+, probably. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/78 "2002-05-11T23:26:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > **What I always wondered was, do non-English speaking people do “mock English”? You know, total gibberish that sounds like English if you’re not familiar with the language?** A friend from college who was from a totally Welsh-speaking part of Wales said her 5-year-old sister, who couldn’t yet speak English, mimiced English people with the following phrase: > [@](#): > > Shing shelana home on all a days. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/79 "2002-05-13T14:59:03Z")
In the NY Times this weekend there was an article about all the recent mass-gunnings-down in Europe. It was noted that the French “refer to high-crime areas with such phrases as ‘a real Bronx,’ or ‘a Chicago’” . . . “Chicago!” How quaint. I wonder if they know Prohibition was repealed? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925/80 "2002-05-13T15:30:44Z")
I generally just point at Dave and laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-furriners-make-fun-of-americans/107925.md?page=5)