regional dialect meme

word nerd alert.

this meme has been around the blogosphere for quite awhile, but better late than never, yeah?

here's a bit of background: everybody sounds different. this linguistic exercise is an attempt to share with your online friends how you say what you say. i was born in ohio and my parents are from the north, but i've lived in texas for thirty years. can you tell?

and now i'm going to go hide under the covers because i can't believe i actually did a video. or that i am sharing it with the internets. what's gotten into me?

here's a list of words and questions if you want to participate!

words: 

aunt, route, wash, oil, theater, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, new orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught

questions:

• what is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
• what is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
• what is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
• what do you call gym shoes?
• what do you say to address a group of people?
• what do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
• what do you call your grandparents?
• what do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
• what do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
• what is the thing you change the TV channel with?

if you've made a meme video, please leave a link - i'd love to see it! (yes, that was thunder in the background. the weather in texas is crazy right now)

language, design, and when harry met sally

there are few things i love more than discussing language. my undergraduate degree was in english language and composition with a concentration in linguistics and, though i did not particularly use my degree well, i love everything i learned about how people communicate.

so, a video about language plus rad whiteboard animation? perfect. but it gets better. there's a significant amount of time spent analyzing one of my favorite movies, when harry met sally.

can you spot the only fools and horses character reference? my eternal admiration if you can.

(via doobybrain)