*twitch*

[shadesong]

I tend to take on the accent of the person that I'm talking to at any given moment. So I tend to spend my days cycling from Noo Yawk Jew to Tennessee to Georgia drawl....

I wince inwardly when I notice the shift. And it's weird, I totally don't know what I sound like when I'm not echoing someone else's voice.

Comments

[m0usegrrl.livejournal.com]

i do the same thing, with the same accents at present. then there's my Customer Service Phone Voice, which you heard when we were calling the Brownie troop parents... =)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that blew me away. :) Have you tried calling those other two moms again?

[m0usegrrl.livejournal.com]

haven't had a chance to -- i'll call tomorrow!

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

And it's weird, I totally don't know what I sound like when I'm not echoing someone else's voice.

This sounds like one of those things that sounds superficial at first, but Reveals Deep Things. Or maybe I'm delerious.

One of the things I'm looking forward to the most at D*C is finally having a voice for everyone. If you all don't match the voices in my head (with the exception of Mousie) then you'll just have to change your voice, sorry.

'song, you sound a bit breathy and young, with your pitch climbing when you're excited. (heh) Could you work on that, please?

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

You're actually fairly accurate there, I think. :)

[technomom]

I do the same thing without noticing it for the most part. sambear does, though, and he seems to find it amusing - especially when I'm speaking with his parents or someone else with a heavy Southern accent.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Do you catch yourself echoing their speech mannerisms, too? I do. The pauses and all.

[technomom]

Yep - even accents of people who don't speak English as their first language. I've worried at times that someone will think I'm mocking her!

[astrophysicat.livejournal.com]

Ohmygod, I'm not the only one! This is what LJ is for.

I can't stand it when I do that, and can't help it at all. I also slowly take on the accent of whomever I hang out with, and with time my impressions of people creep into my daily speech patterns. Wierdest of all, I never had a Chicago accent when I lived there, but I do now, 8 years later.

It drives me nuts because I remember when I didn't do these annoying, nasal, wierd NY, North-east and Chicago ticks. I remember when I had a smooth radio voice, and I don't anymore, it's so sad. I sound so vulgar.

Oh, well, I try to pretend it's an extension of my overdeveloped sense of empathy. :)

Re:

[technomom]

And I always thought it was the musical training :-)

Most people have no idea where I'm from unless I've spoken with them long enough to pick up their accent, them I'm from wherever home is. "Gadsden, Alabama" always comes as a surprise if they ask.

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

As I said in my own comment -- when I'm speaking with someone with a foreign accent, I always *warn* them that I pick up accents, and ask if they mind. I've never had someone be offended, and I've had to do it uncounted dozens of times. Usually they're quite amused, and often flattered.

[gwynraven.livejournal.com]

I do the exact opposite -- I take on an accent completely different from whomever I'm speaking to at the time. The Southern accent that has crept into my speech is never so strong as when I'm talking to my parents, and when I'm around people with *strong* Southern accents I go Irish.

[two-star.livejournal.com]

I did that when I was doing phone tech support. And in my Irish class I started picking up the instructor's accent in English. It's not an entirely conscious thing, and it's usually subtle. But I think it's kind of fun when I notice that I'm doing that.

[deza.livejournal.com]

I generally have to make an effort to do anything other than my not-quite-Deep-South drawl.

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

I didn't know which comment to chime in on, so I finally decided to just add one at the bottom -- YES, to all of the above.

Yes, I take on the accent I'm listening to.
Yes, I take on the speech patterns of whatever friend I'm hanging out with. (Chris could tell if I'd been hanging out with amberfox, if he didn't already know, just by recognizing the speech pattern.)

Not only that, I take on the speech patterns of characters I've been reading. Rhiannon makes me serious, deep, florid, and witty. Bujold makes me...hyper. I take on Miles' speech patterns and actions, usually, which makes me both florid and FAST. You don't want to know what I sound like when I've been reading Alyjude for a while.

I've always considered this a FUN thing. If I'm talking to someone with a foreign accent for any long period of time (say, more than 5 minutes), I have to stop and ask them if they mind if I start using their accent; I don't want it to slip in and them be offended. (I've never had someone say no, BTW; so far they've always been delighted.) My first husband absolutely LOVED my accents. I stayed in a British accent for weeks on end, because I enjoyed it, and he liked it.

Generally these days I have a mostly midwestern accent, with a slight Texas drawl, because that's what makes Chris the most comfortable. It makes him feel weird when I use accents. He thinks I'm being fake. (I don't think he notices that I have a slight Texas drawl, actually, given that he's a Texas boy...and I'm from Missouri, so that Texas drawl is still "fake".)

But, like you, I don't know what my "real" voice is. I don't know that I have one. I don't remember when my sisters and I started playing characters on the TV; I do remember picking different Tomorrow People characters, and each of us using the proper accents for them.

So stop wincing. Mimicry is a gift, a talent. If you want your own voice...then just decide what you want your own voice to sound like, and mimic *that*. :D

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

"Not only that, I take on the speech patterns of characters I've been reading."

I do that too! :)

"If you want your own voice...then just decide what you want your own voice to sound like, and mimic *that*. "

Concept! I'll give that a try...

[technomom]

If Sam and I have both been reading the same author, we're dreadful about picking up speech patterns. Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's Liaden stuff, especially. But there was one Steven Brust book that affected us, as well - I can't remember which it was right now.

[darkmattr.livejournal.com]

I totally do that, I wish I could do it on command more. I even had a bit of an english accent when I lived with the Brits at college.

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

I'll have to call you sometime and see if I can infect you with a newfie accent.. ;}

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Ooooyum!

Comments on accents...

[alphafem.livejournal.com]

Last year I went to a mini convention in Ohio to meet some other women from my online Horror Literature reading group. I was the only Canadian there. The ten of us sat around the hotel room talking and I could see them all looking at each other. Finally I said, "Okay, you all have five minutes to mock the Canadian and then we all move on with our lives." Even now, a year later, some of them say they can 'hear' my accent when they read my posts online. And mine isn't apparently *that* thick, according to people who've talked to both the hubby and myself. His is apparently WAY more pronounced.
At our Live Action game, two of the girls play characters with accents, one British and one Australian. They're very good friends out of game, but have to avoid each other in game because the accents will start to 'drift'. It's hilarious. They both end up speaking in this garbled Irish-like accent.

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

I totally don't know what I sound like when I'm not echoing someone else's voice.

You wouldn't sound like anything, as echoing voice is how everyone learnes to speak.

I go a step further... I pick up the mannerisms and the body language, too. It freaks people out.

I guess I'm just the Super-Adaptoid.

[teapot-farm.livejournal.com]

I do that too. Apart from the fictional characters bit. I once took a taxi with an Irish driver, and he was asking me what part of Northern Ireland I was from... I've never been to Ireland, or even spent time with any people with Irish accents. And I'm *sure* accents aren't hereditary...
Once spent about 30 mins talking in some sort of Irish accent to a friend, who *also* doesn't have an Irish accent - which seemed to come completely naturally and as far as I can tell, sounded convincing (not that I've got much to compare it with).

[aurora-lamour.livejournal.com]

I do that! When a friend of mine who has a heavy Texas twang calls me, I immediately hear myself say "hhiiiiiiiii".