Mrs. Cole was born and raised in a certain part of London, but has lived in the US nearly all of her adult life. Still, she has her accent -- when she says her name her lips make a perfect round O -- and I love to see her. Not only for the accent, but because she is A Character.
The first time I met her she came in absolutely ranting about the village's quarterly charge for refuse collection.
"Why, I never! In LONDON we never 'ad to pay a PENNY to have the trash collected. We putTit out and it wenTaway!"
Her jaw was dropped and her blue eyes were wide. Her thick brown and silver hair vibrated in a fat bun. Despite her outrage I could see that some of her bombast was simply for the fun of having her say. I went to the counter, stood to one side of Phyllis, who was taking the begrudged payment. I just wanted to watch. I love accents and I love characters, and I was delighted with this particular show. The third or fourth time she said something about how much better the London system was, I couldn't help myself . . . I offered: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but y'came 'EEEAH, DI'N'Tya?"
Her head whipped toward me, her face agape. I do believe she thought I was another import. If I had thought I would be able to maintain the dialect, I would've continued, but I couldn't do it.
She was in the other day to pay the same kind of bill. She had her pug dog with her and we had a lovely long chat about how wonderful dogs are.
"I wouldn' say this to EV'rybuddy, you know . . . but there ARE times when I like him BET'a' than I like the kids!" and she . . . chortled.
I do love to see Mrs. Cole. I replay our conversations for days afterward, trying to mimic her vowel sounds.
"I 'ad decided I wouldn' getTanother dog, because . . . after all . . . I'm AYTEE years old. But I saw him and I 'ad 'im named within thirty seconds!"
A woman after my own heart.
About Me
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- June
- I live in my dream place with Husband, one beloved rescued cat and one beloved rescued dog, and the warm memories of many other treasured pets. I rarely sleep for more than four hours at a time and would happily nap/wake/nap/wake all day and night. I am undisciplined, a classic underachiever. I believe that inevitable tragedy is a fork in the road, offering lessons in emotional and spiritual growth. One of my coping skills is a quick and wicked wit and I often crack me up. I avoid people who talk neverendingly about nothing. I cannot bear unrelieved humorless negativity. I like people who are comfortable with silence. I like listening to people who learn from Life. I have received a few Blogger Awards, and while I find them momentarily gratifying, they're just too much like chain emails and I gratefully decline to receive any more of them.
My Blog List
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Hello darkness my old friend,4 months ago
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It's TIme7 months ago
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This feed has moved and will be deleted soon. Please update your subscription now.3 years ago
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The Netherlands5 years ago
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Frost from Fire6 years ago
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16 comments:
Oh, what fun! You wrote this perfectly, and you've given me the desire to try something like this, too. Well done, June! :-)
I telling vignette about a woman we'd probably all enjoy meeting. I was reminded of my Irish friend when I read this - also a woman of great character who can speak her mind!
:) Thanks so much for the smile this morning...I can just see her, and hear her. You do quite well at mimicking the accent in written form! Well done old chap, well done!!
She does sound like a Character. I love accents, too and you've done an excellent job of portraying her. I'll bet she has a few good stories to tell.
How I love this. You wrote it so well. It came across as a scene from All Creatures Great and Small. What fun. I hope we hear more about Mrs. Cole in future blog posts.
Long live Mrs Cole! Haha, give an Aussie twang a try - that'll try ya lovey.
x
I know two English women--one from London and one from northern parts. Their accents are so different--not unlike a New Englander and a Southerner. This was a fun post,
So, whassis name then?
And we think Americans are funny with their accents!
Not that they get the character bit right, mind. Not a lot of that around.
Come to think of it, the one American in Valley’s End is a bit of a character. She’s Californian, which might account for it.
Very nice! And so true about names. Once you name them you are lost and sometimes it is impossible not too. Great post.
I have read that one should never write in dialect but I like it, so thank you all who said I did it well.
Friko, what? No Brooklynites?
A Californian might well qualify as A Character nearly anywhere but California.
A fun friend to have.
Congrats on your well-deserved POTW.
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