It was a random IM and the guy said he was from Nepal. It seemed like a scam, so I just said hello and some pleasantries. He told me there was no way I was from the USA since I didn't use the language like an American...
Huh?
I was born and raised in the USA and my family has been here since the 1600's, so I don't get it...
2007-07-04 05:48:49 · 11 answers · asked by Lisa the Pooh 7 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Polls & Surveys
I will admit to being overeducated! I've also travelled alot so I try to be "proper" just for ease of being understood. And, to top it off, I teach English as a Second Language, so I work at not using a lot of slang.
Yes, I was born and raised in Southern California and regain my Valley Girl accent when I am tired. :)
2007-07-04 06:04:58 · update #1
It's a difficult language to fake....
The only things I could see in your paragraph above was that you said "the language" when normally, an American might just say "language"---also would normally leave off the "A" in "USA" :
"He told me there was no way I was from the US since I didn't use language like an American.." Just subtle differences...but probably he was really trying to figure out if you were truly an American.
It's hard to believe that a Nepalese could really notice these subtle differences, when I had to really TRY, as an American to figure them out...
Also, as Intelectual (or is it Intellectual?) pointed out above, you sound a little "proper." Could be that you just have a good grasp of proper English, or are you British?
I disagree HEARTILY with the use of "lol" and "omg."
All those acronyms do is make people know either that you are a teenager, or in the midst of a prolonged adolescence.
2007-07-04 05:56:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think your original aassessment of "like a scam" was spot-on. (/"on the money" / "on target" / "hit the nail on the head" /
"walks like a duck" / "right on" / "yada - yada yada ...")
OMG
If not a scam, it was a psyche-gambit of roping you into the "assertion - denial" assumption of "control-reaction" in terms of psychological one-up-manship
trick to assume 'power'-position in an interaction.
"rude" if nothing else, since *IF* speaker possessed sufficient fluency to distinguish selectively the geo-positions of linguistic variation, then knowledge of converstaional ettiquette would almsot certainly exist as well.
shine it on
lolol
all this slang-stuff is temporal, territorial, age-set, socio-economic class-marker crap ... "secret-handshake", code-word in the hood
"what shirt shall I wear today?"
yow!
after rambling a bit, just came up with a generality:
"when you 'don't get it' feeling comes along, a lot of the time, yer falling victim to a game-trap"
"An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it." B Dylan
/*** too good a song to simply briefly cite ... it's poetry too **/
And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
ps: "yes" you sound like a American :) .. one of the 1/3 billion different voices 'mercans have
2007-07-04 07:24:21 · answer #2 · answered by atheistforthebirthofjesus 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
nonetheless i'm not conscious of British warning signs, international places do have diverse words in sign Language. in case you opt for for American sign Language learn it in usa. And as to the ASL it fairly relies upon on who you intend to chat to. some deaf use English sign (SEE-sign)and others use Pidgin Signed English(PSE). wish this enables.
2016-09-29 01:44:44 · answer #3 · answered by hughart 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't sound American. You sound more British. I mean come one you did say "pleasantries". Other than those kind of words, you are American. O and if you really want to sound more American, perhaps you should say "omg" and "lol" more often. Other than that, does it really matter. I think you're ok as how it is.
2007-07-04 05:52:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
if he was from Nepal, how would he know how to use the language "like an American"? dont worry about him, cuz u sound american to me.
2007-07-04 05:52:36 · answer #5 · answered by ♥Abby♥ 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you can tell by someone's language through IMS that you are American. Don't get upset about it its just a person on an IM no one you know....
2007-07-04 06:01:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Friggin people from Nepal.
2007-07-04 05:51:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
who cares what that guy says. u sound american. some people have accents and some people make fun of that!
2007-07-04 05:52:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you're just using proper english. most people don't anymore. no affense but especially teenagers (i'm a teenage myself). let me use an example:
Proper English - "Hello! How are you doing? I'm just relaxing here. I just love to sit on the patio and have my cat on my lap, don't you?"
un-proper english???-hey. just chillin' here with my cute little kitty. it likes to sit on my lap.
it's not like people don't say the "Proper English" no more. elders still use it. i'm not saying you're old tho.
2007-07-04 06:15:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Did you realise he didn't sound like he was from Nepal?
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aq7mK0FUttgi2S82ZzT2xCXg5gt.?qid=20070704085140AAMD4Ix
2007-07-04 05:54:28 · answer #10 · answered by Noona 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋