Accents in the US

How we speak -- those accents -- do you want to 'get rid of' yours?

How we speak has so much to do with our emotional intelligence. The tone and pitch of our voice, the accent we do or do not have ... you might even call the accent part of the nonverbal aspect of language.

I moved around a lot as a kid and young adult. I remember when I moved to N. C., adopting that accent -- the long southern drawl -- and then when we moved to San Antonio, Tx, I consciously said "no more," and went back to my neutral non-accent. You know, like an anchor person.

One part of the video that's interesting is when the talk about the California accent, i.e., too hard to say "radical" so they say "rad." Dude. Whatever.

This is a great video. Enjoy!

A Gallimaufry for You Today

A gallimaufry for you today, of some new things I learned.

First, the word gallimaufry (gal-uh-MAW-free). Defined on m-w simply as a hodgepodge. But others add that it originally meant "a hash of various kinds of meats." From the French galimafrée (for stew). In Old French "galer" meant to rejoice or to make merry, like, doh, a GALA. In Old Englsih gala + mafrer = to eat much. And from Medieval Dutch maffelen "to open one's mouth wide."

Second, my friend told me they had spent Thanksgiving at Marfa, Texas, staying at the hotel where the stars stayed when filming GIANT (Rock Hudson, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor)but they didn't get to see the Marfa Lights. Something else to put on my "to do" list one day. Go see the Marfa Lights.

Third, I took the "what's your accent quiz" (Facebook) and found out that my accent resembles those in Western New England, New York and the Great Lakes. Isn't that interesting!! In my youth I lived in Chicago, Boston and New York. Quite an accurate little quiz, with just a few questions.

The StrengthsProfile is just that accurate. Have you taken it? If you want to know what your TRUE, INNATE "strengths" are, email me for the resource. This is not "good at writing" sort of stuff, it tests for things like Command (people who are naturally perceived to be leaders, that others look to to lead them), and WOO (for "winning other over") - those people who can effortlessly sell ice to an eskimo.

If you're stumbling around about a career or job right now, it's spot-on. Likewise for relationships. I've used this profile with many couples and it helps them understand one another better and how to work with the strenths for win-win outcomes.

OK, that's enough gallimaufry for now!


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