After just one night in Jersey, the "aw" in talk, walk and call snuck back into my speech.
And after spending a week with my mother, yesterday, when I entered a bathroom and saw myself in a mirror, I caught myself walking like her. My laugh also sounded similar and my hands gestured like hers.
I didn't realize I'd been picking up on that stuff and I was surprised when I noticed.
Who have you found yourself emulating lately?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
I often start picking up accents when I'm around people. Doesn't matter if it's Brit, Southern, NY. It just happens.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I moved from NY to Ohio and kids would stand around me in a circle, saying, "Talk. Talk." I guess they found my accent amusing.
I, like you, see more and more of my mother creeping in. It started with the multiple pairs of glasses (and of course I can never find the right ones), and now some of her speech mannerisms seem permanently ingrained in my behavior. And I swore up and down that I'd never turn into my mother!!
ReplyDeleteParticularly since my mother died I have "felt" in my body and face the way I remember her looking; the set of her mouth, the way she used her hands. It's a wonderfully odd and delightful feeling.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happens to me Suzanne! Every time I return to L.A. from a visit home in Chicago, people tell me that I've got a big Chicago accent. Not quite "da beerz" but words like mom sounds like "maahm", etc....and I get shit for it!
ReplyDeleteI usually pick up buzz words from people I spend a bit of time with, such as "woot, huzzah, ladyfriend, b'y." All traceable to other people. :)
ReplyDeleteWhenever my brother picks up some new slang from his friends at school, I start saying it around my friends--no matter how stupid it sounds!
ReplyDeleteI love to say "brilliant," like I'm British. But I'm not.
ReplyDeleteI think we all find ourselves becoming our parents as we get older. At first we fight it...but eventually we're glad for it!
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter, S. Next week I'll probably be repeating K's phrases :)
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