I was standing outside a city-centre bar that gets a lot of the international crowd with Silvia, talking to a Derry man who'd picked up on her Espanish accent but was trying to convince her that she had a noticeable Derry twang to it. After making what was probably my second reply to the guy (the first being "no, I'm from Derry") he suddenly shifted into a look of extreme suspicion and yelled, "That's not a Derry accent!"
I can only assume that my dude wtf expression, combined with Silvia's immediate collapse into giggles, made him think he'd found me out.
"Where're ye from? Ye're like, from, America or somethin'!"
... Well, if you're going to lead me on like that, I can't be held responsible for seeing how far I can push the bullshit, can I? Engage fake accent:
"Aw man, but I thought my Derry accent was going so well..."
"AH-HAH! I knew it! Where're ye really from? [glow of smug]"
"I'm from Toronto - in Canada?"
"Aye, I know where Toronto is! [smugsmugsmug]"
Unfortunately, at that point the absolute sincere belief was a bit too much. Silvia and I made the mistake of making eye contact, and the ensuing mad cackling might have given it away. Probably for the best - I've really no idea what I would have said next.
However, the day still stands in infamy for being the first time I can remember that my actual accent has been even more unconvincing than a hastily-contrived fake one. Just... damn.
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