Monthly Archives: July 2013

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Ben

Hi, All! I’ve been extremely swamped with work and a few other obligations recently, so posting has been pretty light around these parts. Although many blogs I admire post big, juicy posts every couple weeks, I find shorter pieces to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Light Posting

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Ben

When people discuss “accent discrimination,” they usually refer to everyday injustices: being passed up for promotions, denied loans, or scolded in school. Contemporary history, however, suggests more severe examples. In the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?, … Continue reading →

Posted in Irish English | Tagged Dublin Accents, Northern Irish Accents | 10 Comments

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Ben

Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks details the real life of a poor woman from rural Virginia whose cancer cells became an important tool for medical innovation. The titular woman hailed from a tiny, impoverished Southern town, which prompts … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged African American Vernacular English (AAVE), American Southern Accents, pin-pen merger | 26 Comments

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Ben

I’ve recently been watching Orphan Black, BBC America’s sci-fi mystery about human clones. For reference, here is the guns-sex-and-intrigue-laden preview: The show admittedly has its silly moments, but its lead actor makes up for these. Not only does one woman (Tatiana Maslany) … Continue reading →

Posted in American English | Tagged Canadian Accents, celebrity accents, cot-caught merger, dialects in TV, Estuary English, Received Pronunciation (RP) | 20 Comments