BUT TELL MUH SOMETHING, where Bajans does get these accents from, doh? Who or what does make dem talk so?
Look, Bajans is the best copiers in the world; not a boy cahn match dem when it comes tuh copying.
Duh does copy fashions, trends, slang, and hairstyles. Dat is not all. Dey does copy offa people books in schools and copy homework, attitudes, especially the worst kind, and duh does copy evahbody accent purty, purty, purty.
Now doan get me wrong, I ain’t saying dat all copying is wrong because you and I know dat there are some things in life dat a person could copy tuh enhance duhselves, but dat should be someting positive.
Now I doan mind a little softening of our accent at times, especially when we speaking tuh people who ain’t from ’bout here who might not be too familiar wid our accent. But duh got people who from the time duh start talking tuh a person wid a different accent, especially the Canadians and Americans – “Lord have mercy”, accent fuh days.
Duh Bajans does sound like more American than the very Americans. The people who come from the very projects, who make the very slang, duh Bajans does put tuh shame. Look, I know wha’ I talking ’bout. I used tuh work in the hotel industry fuh a good few years and I gine tell you it used tuh annoy me like you could never imagine.
You would think dat only people who don’t have much learning would be the ones tuh be talking so; but no soul, even the big-up managers and bartenders and people who you think would have a lil common sense does be skinning duh teet and talking wid an American twang. I ain’t gine tell ya nuh lie, I feel dat the tourist does be barely laughing at some o’ dem.
Another set o’ people who does have real serious accent problems is the people who does work in offices and who got a phone pon duh desk wid voicemail facilities. I ain’t know if duh like tuh hear demselves, or maybe duh want tuh impress the people who calling dem but when ya hear the message, you does swear dat you miss and mek a long distance call tuh somewhere up in the States and get connected tuh a receptionist wid the same name as the body you call. Ting, I ain’t telling ya nuh lie, it does jump ya – seriously.
I think I talk ’bout this already but I hate answering machines, especially in some business places. I think dat some people really abuse dem; they like they use dem tuh impress. But impress what – as far as I am concerned, it is very depressing.
Duh got some businesses ’bout here dat whenever ya call, nuh matter wha’ time ya call, ya gine butt up pon a voicemail message and some kinda purty voice wid a false accent.
You see places like LIME, CBC Multi-Choice, the Water Works and COB so? Dem is some o’ the places dat ya does have tuh have a certain amount o’ patience wid; dem is places dat evahtime you call one extension ya does hear a purty foreign voice telling ya dat the body ain’t there and dat duh gine call ya back as soon as possible, which hardly evah happens. So if it really important, ya does have tuh call again and again and go through the same experience all ovah again.
Look, we is masters at accents. We does leave Barbados, get on pon a plane and go up tuh the States fuh a couple o’ weeks and by the time we get back, we does talking wid a twang. But as I said, ya doan even have tuh go nowhere nowadays – ya just have tuh have a phone pon ya desk, record a message pon it wid your own voice, copy or make up some kinda accent and ya got it made. But doan miss and be wid dem same people in a normal setting at all hear? Duh does talk wid the rank Bajan accent; dem does be more street savvy than the very paros.
Mavis Beckles was born and raised in The Orleans. She has an opinion on everything.