Marilyn

dln, there was a period in the '20's I believe when it was quite the fashion for the trendy English upper class to drop their "g's." Dorothy Sayers' aristocratic sleuth Peter Whimsey does it frequently.

Croque_Madame

So THAT'S where my chewin' tabacky went!

Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, Scarlett, while under nearly continuous attack from the demented Lilliputians here.

Dreamer2

I've always heard it's the teeth. (At least that's what my Europeans coworkers always said.) With our high priority on orthodontistry, most Americans have those big straight white toothy smiles. And also, I think we tend to smile a lot, at strangers and service workers.

kswl

Has anyone noticed that our Praline troll has changed affects/personas at least 5 or 6 times during the past few days? Skip and I just finished a play and the director kept having to remind everyone--in almost every scene (too close to Christmas)---to stay in character. Praline, take notes! If you're going to be an effective troll, each one of your screen names must stay true to its initially-defined character.

taggie

Ouch rockhopper. Pretty harsh. There were NO attempts at humour in my post.

Hey Mary_Fran, thanks for coming to my defence.
I don't think I was the one who said Canadians have no accent. Sure we do - just not always obvious to the many Americans I've encountered in Europe who think I'm a compatriot. That's the point I was trying to make, anyway. Guess I wasn't successful.
Yeah, the folks in Blaine do drawl, but I think people in Seattle do too, and people in Spokane and Yakima as well. I'd also say that the MacKenzie Bros.- soundalikes you're running into have a rural Canadian accent!! So there you go... lots of us North Americans think we speak unaccented English and it's always the "other guy" that sounds weird.
I totally agree with you about keeping one's voice down - a good lesson for people travelling anywhere. Like you said, it can invite trouble.