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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Musings – On the Pleasant Tones of a Foreign Accent; Even in Children


Why does overhearing usually intolerable conversations become quite endearing when spoken in a foreign accent?  There must be a word for this, maybe SP will think one up before long.   (Or please, comment with some suggestions—I imagine I will need to use it quite often from now on.)  For me, having to listen to conversations between small children and their mothers is tied for first in the Just Shoot Me Now category with having to listen to one side of a cell-phone conversation that starts with, “OK, now we are through security.”  However, the conversation I overheard last night, spoken with tiny voices in their high-class English accents, had me laughing out loud.

I had gone to the shower block (shower room) to get ready for our night at the local pub when I overheard the following conversation between a mother and her two daughters.  It was clear that before coming in the mother had spent some time talking to the girls about what to expect and the steps to take in order to accomplish their task.  The girls were young (3 and 5 maybe) and clearly excited about their new adventure.  The mother set the older one up in her own cubicle before starting with the younger one in a cubicle next door.  

The water starts and the elder daughter speaks;

“Mummy, I believe I have done something wrong.”
“What is it Lovey?”
“I have entered the shower with my shoes on.”
(A beat of silence.)
“Which shoes are they Lovey?”
“My runners.”
(Another beat of silence.) And the daughter continues, “Will they dry, Mummy?”
“Not as long as you are standing in the shower Lovey.”

Ahh, these unflappable English!

-K

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