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The way we talk
gnomexxx
Member Posts: 2,920
I was watching some old movies the other day and I noticed something that I'm surprised I never really noticed before.
Watch an old movie or listen to an old radio broadcast. People talked different. I'm referring to broadcasts from the 20's, 30's, or even the 40's. It was not just their accent, there is something else that is different. It's hard to put my finger on what it is.
So, I got curious about it and called my grandmother and really paid attention to the way she was talking. And it's true. She was talking different than the younger people like myself talk. I don't know if my parents so much do it, but my grandmother definitely did.
BTW, my grandmother was born in 1921. So, she would fit in that range I am talking about.
I wonder why this is so. Has our dialect changed in America? Honestly, I like the way the older generation talked. Our generation sounds lazier and less colorful in our language. I would rather hear an old broadcaster tell a story over a newer one any day. They were able to make the stories really come to life.
Here, I found some examples of some broadcasts you can listen to to tell the difference. I wish I talked like they do, they sound so cool...
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Comments
Yeah I know what you mean, check the vid out showing exactly how people talked in those days. Here is a quote from the vid below.
Insult - "Well aren't you a pocket full of firecrackers!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_umKyhvqho
I've noticed that for a long time...I don't know what it is, it's like there's a slight twang in everyone's voice.
Your argument is like a two legged dog with an eating disorder...weak and unbalanced.
Absolutely!
Here, I found this video. Check it out. You can totally here it in his voice. I wish people still talked like that. They sound cooler than now. People nowadays sound lazy in their pronunciations. Like they're slurring their words together or something.
www.youtube.com/watch
**EDIT**
OMG, I just noticed her get on that car with her heels on. I would have beat the crud out of her for that. lol.
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No........ we used to "act" different. Obviously speech as changed from century to century and even decade to decade and I don't mean slang.
However what you are seeing and hearing is the way Actors on Radio and Movies were expected to talk. It is kind of with a short, quick, intensity. Almost like they yell everything but not exactly...
"Hey!, What's the big idea!" is a phrase that always sounded like that.
People still talked much slower and with less intensity in every day speech. That was back when acting did not mean being "real" so much as dramatic.
Differences in both tone and diversity in an accent or how you talk is nothing new. I mean people hear me and automatically say i have a "scottish accent" but only if they're from a different country. There are many variations of my accent. I don't understand anyone from as north as aberdeen or near the borders, such as Hawick.
Our accent even differs within a 5 miles scale, people in Lochgelly sound different to those in Kirkcaldy. Yep variations in speach have happened, and have always happened in History. Whether it's slang, culture, society or general generations changing.
check out the old WW2 movies, compared to a newer action movie. etc
You have no idea, how many arguments i've gotten into with americans when i say i like their "accent".... the general response has always been "we don't have an accent".
In which case i just reply "well if you don't have an accent to me, you must sound exactly the same as me". I can spot the differences from Minnisota accents to Seattle accents as well, as the different tones and sounds from someone from "tacoma" and someone from "federal way" or "kent". It's an evolving process... nothing to write home about.