[Wikipedia-l] Re: Conference report from South Africa

[Jimmy Wales]

Andy Rabagliati wrote:
> I assure you, this problem is very real. Have you travelled to the North
> of England ? You may be suprised - sometimes you will have /absolutely
> no idea/ what they are talking about.

Although I'm on record (2 minutes ago) as saying I don't think that the
accent problem is a very big deal, I should also add that when I was
consulting at the BBC (with Angela), I often found myself in meetings
struggling to catch up if people started speaking very fast.  Angela
thought this was funny.

And of course the Brits have their own secret (ha ha) words for many
ordinary things, thus leaving outsiders quite perplexed at times.

> I lived for 10 years in the USA. Do you think an Indian would have any
> idea what a native of Brooklyn was talking about ? 

This point is well taken, but in general both the Indian and the
Brooklyn native would know how to slow down their speech and switch as
well as they could to a more universally recognized accent in order to
make themselves understood to each other.

> I have had to ask someone from Huntsville, Alabama, to repeat themselves
> three times - and they were only spelling their name.

Once Angela said to me something like that we should meet at "half
Eleven".  When I didn't know what this meant, I think she thought I must
be from another planet, and of course a way I am, since I'm from
Huntsville, Alabama.  (Where else could I get such a ridiculous nickname
as Jimbo?)

:-)

But as a native of Huntsville, Alabama, but one who is educated and
watched too much television as a child ;-), I think you'd find it very
very easy to understand me, and I'd find it very very easy to understand
you.   (Although I might get frustrated if you didn't show up at 5:30
when you clearly said you'd be there at half-Eleven ;-))

--Jimbo