DEM- May I give you a suggestion? The problem was that word for mushrooms is
gri-BY
However you want to transliterate it, the stress is on the end. To your credit, that second vowel sound is supposedly one of the most difficult ones for foreigners to make.
I can speak with an
Irish
English
Spanish
Mexican
French
Australian
Austrian
Scottish
Indian
Pakistani
Arabic
Southern
Minnesotan
New York
accent. There are also different levels to English accents, cockney, et al.
Anyways, when I’ve been watching a movie with an accent, I sometimes pick it up for the next few hours or so. After an extended bout with one, whether on purpose or not, it is tough to drop it again. And yes, when speaking to someone with an accent I can imitate, sometimes I unconciously start using it somewhat.
I also have a friend with a permanent lisp, because during the summer between 8th and 9th grade, she spoke with a stereotypical homosexual lisp, just for kicks. The lisp is now permanent.
–Tim
We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first “lost generation” nor today’s lost generation; in fact, we think we know just where we stand - or are discovering it as we speak.
Yes, but can you carry a tune?
So, is this now a contest to see who has the biggest list of accents they can mimic??
Civility costs nothing.
RE: gree BY,
I had a similar exchange with my friend Hao, from China.
MTS: Hi Hao
Hao: Actually it’s Hao
MTS: Hao
Hao: No, Hao
MTS: Hao?
Hao: Listen there are 4 words in chinese like Hao: Hao, Hao, Hao, and Hao
MTS: Uh, they all sounded alike
Hao: Hao will be fine.
Gri-BY? Oh well, at least it’s a word that doesn’t come up that often. Fortunate, as the only way I can even approximate the difficult “ee” sound is by pinching my nose.