As you may already know, I am Canadian. I am proud to be Canadian.
But lately, I have noticed that when I talk to myself, (yes, I talk to myself – don’t you?) the voice in my head sounds American.
How can I tell that my inner voice is American, you may ask. I mean, our two great countries both have large English-speaking populations. We both have the same rules of grammar. And, with a few exceptions, our words have the same spellings. So how would I know?
My inner voice keeps saying ‘y’all.’ So I guess that means my inner voice is specifically southern American.
It’s crazy, y’all.
See?!
A while back I wrote a post and said: ‘parenting is hard, y’all.’
I went on to say that as a Canadian, we don’t generally say y’all, but that statement felt like a y’all moment.
I have since been having lots of y’all moments.
As a Canadian, typically I would punctuate many sentences with eh. (Pronounced like the letter ‘A’)
I seem to have lost my eh. And I have replaced it with y’all.
Before I write a blog post at the computer, I write a bit in my head first. Lately it sounds like this inside my head when I am thinking about a post: “Guess what, y’all? The other day…”
I’ve never been to the southern United States. I have rarely had the chance to speak to someone from there - except online, of course.
I add the ‘u’ to words like colour, flavour and favourite – even if WordPress wants to correct me. I love Canada’s ‘u.’
I pronounce the letter Z “zed” instead of “zee.”
I drink “pop” instead of “soda.”
I love poutine. (OK – maybe everyone loves poutine.)
Oh Canada! Our home and native land…
With all of the wintery-ness around here lately, I haven’t been getting out much. I haven’t been actually talking to a lot of people – because that would mean going outside.
I have been reading a lot of blogs. And as it turns out, some of the blogs I read are written by southern US mamas. I think I hear their voice and I am picking up on it. I read their words with their charming ‘y’alls’ and it is becoming part of my internal dialog, too.
The same thing happens to me when I go on a Jane Austen kick. My inner voice starts sounding a lot like Jennifer Ehle’s Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.
So yes, I am Canadian. And yes, I most likely have a unique accent of my own. Maybe my inner snowbird is flying south for a while during this long Canadian winter.
Y’all, that’s alright, eh?
(See what I did there? Maybe my inner voice can have dual citizenship.)
Does your inner voice ever have an accent? No? Just me?
Love it! Mostly because I am a HUGE fan of the word y’all!
I like to think my inner voice is British. 
thedoseofreality recently posted..The Most Shameful Parenting Moment I Have Ever Faced
I didn’t realize it until recently, but y’all is a fun word! I think my inner voice also has a British alter-ego.
Y’all is an oddly compelling word. For me it’s kind of like “wicked” or “hella” (Thank you, Bostonians). If I spend an extended period of time or even e-time around people who say those words I pick them up like a parrot. It’s wicked true, y’all.
Larks (@LarksNotesThis) recently posted..Guns don’t save people, people save people.
Yes – I go through a ‘wicked’ phase when I hear someone saying that, too! Funny how some words just stick with us.
Ashley wrote that earlier comment, but I had to leave one too (so I didn’t want you to think the same person left two comments like we’d gone insane) because….THAT VERSION OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is what is in my head FOREVAH! I love that you just dropped that reference. LOVE IT!! I read that book at least once a year and it’s those actors fill my mind! (and every time I see Jennifer Ehle on any movie screen —which is a lot lately, actually—I whisper to whomever is sitting next to me…” Squee!! Elizabeth Bennett!!” —Lisa
Ps. I don’t say y’all in actual speech, but it works so well in writing when you need that plural you!!
The Dose of Reality recently posted..The Most Shameful Parenting Moment I Have Ever Faced
I read Pride and Prejudice every year, too – it is one of my all-time favourite books. And that screen adaptation is my absolute favourite! I quote it all the time.
I recently discovered the web series ‘The Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ and am enjoying it. Have you seen it?
So funny! I say and write “y’all” all the time, but I’m from the northern states!
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I am glad I am not the only one drawn to that word! ‘Y’all’ is just sticking with me; I wouldn’t be surprised if I say it out loud one of these days.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
I’m MALAYSIAN and my inner voice says y’all ALL THE TIME.
I learned to spell words with a ‘u’ too, but because I’m tired of WP trying to correct me, I just go with the American spelling. I think I’m an online American!
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I love that – an online American! My inner voice American is glad that I am glad I am not the only one that finds y’all catchy!
I’m half Canadian, and I have lived most of my life in the south, so I like to mix my y’all’s and eh’s.
But I definitively find my inner voice being effected by books I read and people I hang out with. I have one friend who makes my inner voice go all “like” and “chick” and “dude” after an afternoon spent together.
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A mixture of y’alls and ehs sounds fun. I relate to what you say about having other people influence your inner voice – I think that is true for me, as well
Too funny! I used to have a coworker from Texas, I loved her ‘y’all’ and ‘fixin’ to do something. What rubbed off on me though was growing up with pen pals from around the UK, watching a lot of British TV and movies, and living in a rather British-influenced city. I think my inner voice is sometimes Irish, from all the Maeve Binchy books I’ve read, or it sounds like Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones. By the way, I’m Canadian too, eh? I also insist on correcting WordPress when it tries to remove the ‘u’s! (and you’re right, who doesn’t love poutine?).
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Hello, fellow Canadian! My inner voice is British at times, as well, depending on what I am reading or watching at the time.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
OMG! This post is so funny and relateable! It’s my life!
I recently moved to Texas from Michigan (we used to be neighbors) and it trips me out that they say and include the word “yall” in formal letters. My children and I say ” you all”. Being Michiganders we, too, say pop and not soda (even though the sign over that aisle in the market reads, soda).
Very recently, I’ve been including an “eh” in my tweets! I had no clue where I picked that up from! LOL
I love giving your inner voice a dual citizenship! Hehehe
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It sounds like your inner voice may be speaking Canadian with “eh” in your tweets!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from the SITS Saturday Sharefest.
“Y’all, that’s alright, eh?” Hahaha! So funny. And btw I think having an inner voice is a female thing. Every man I’ve ever spoken to about this says they don’t talk to themselves in their head. When they’re thinking of nothing? They’re really thinking of nothing. Incontheivable!
Anyway, thanks for posting this. If you’ve never visited yet, I hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi…
That is very interesting about men’s inner voices!
Thank you so much for stopping by and I look forward to visiting your blog soon!
Y’all is a fun word. That’s why you like it! And that part about reading all those southern blogs. It’s a word that rubs off on you.
I’m not from the south, though. I’m from the Midwest. We don’t say y’all.
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It is a fun word! That must be why it is so catchy.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
As a Southern Mama I can tell you ya’ll is not just down south it is everywhere. I have friends from New York who even say it.Now if you start craving sweet tea in glass mason jars and biscuits and white gravy you might consider relocation.. We’d love to have you’uns
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If I recall, sweet tea is sweetened iced tea – which I love. and I have never met a biscuit I didn’t like. So I think I would enjoy the south. Maybe I’ll make it there for a visit someday!
Thank you so much for visiting!
I’m from Canada too! My friends are always giving me a hard time about sounding “so American”… I guess it just happens! I still get “outed” all the time with my “outs”
.
There are many regional accents in Canada, too, so that sounding Canadian can mean different things, right? I have heard that ‘out’ is a giveaway, for sure!
That you so much for stopping by, fellow Canadian!
Haha.. I work across the river from Windsor and have a couple friends and relatives over the border, so understand the Canadian/American subtle differences. We say pop here, too.. but our “pop” is what “ya’ll” make fun of as us says “pap”. lol.
I don’t have a foreign inner voice, but sounds like it keeps things interesting
Happy SITS Sharefest day!
A foreign inner voice is good company, for sure. Thank you so much for stopping by!
My inner voice is, all of a sudden, from Yorkshire when I’ve watched too many episodes of Downton Abbey.
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I haven’t seen Downton Abbey – although I really want to. But the same thing happens to me when I watch British TV or movies.
Whenever I read Jane Austen, my inner voice gets like that, too. I didn’t know that happened to everyone, I thought that was just a charming thing about me.
Robin Jingjit recently posted..10 little things that bring me joy
Happy to find another Austen-esque inner voice.
My inner voice seems to be easily influenced by what I hear and read.
You sing anywhere, you’re a fan of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice, and I think I noticed somewhere you’re a Trekkie? We’d totally get along! No matter what accent you’re using that day.
And I have no idea what poutine is.
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Glad to hear I am not alone in my singing, Austen-appreciating, Star Trek-loving-ness!
Poutine is a dish that is famous all over Canada; it is French fries and cheese curds covered in gravy. (And it is delicious!)
Everybody can use a good y’all in their vocabulary. Disclaimer: I’m a Texas mom.
Nicole Robinson @TheBookWormMama recently posted..5 Ways Parents Can Banish College Savings Anxiety
I agree – a little y’all is good for everyone!
I’m a New England girl, so y’all isn’t a part of my vocabulary. It feels funny to say! With that said, I totally think my inner voice is in an English accent.
Happy SITS Day!
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My inner voice definitely has British days, as well.
Thank you for visiting on my SITS Day!
Hahaha!! This cracked me up! I’m from the great state of Georgia where sweet iced tea and hot lazy summer days are a staple but my inner voice is more New York Mobster than Scarlet O’Hara! Oh, and I’ve never been to New York…ever. So how in the world I came up with the accent in my head I have no idea. lol.
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That is awesome! So glad you can relate!
Thank you for stopping by on my SITS Day!
Happy SITS DAY! That’s hilarious.
My inner voice is definitely British. I even read books in the accent and i don’t know why.I’m just obsessed with the way they words sound – so much more interesting! lol
xoxo,
Khloe
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I love the British accent as well. My inner voice definitely shifts nationalities from time to time.
I love the British accent as well. My inner voice definitely shifts nationalities from time to time.
Happy SITS day! I loved reading your blog already! I live in the Northeast but I’m from out West and a lot of things we call by different names. Its funny how people from the east and west say “aunt” differently and “Nevada”…all those times my uncle told me I was saying it wrong…hello I lived there!!! My husband’s sister’s family lives down South and they all have that southern accent…and y’all…there’s just something about a southern accent that is soothing I think! Have a great day!!
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Thank you, Michelle! I did have a lovely day!
I think there are just some moments in life that call for a “y’all!”
I totally agree!
Happy SITS! I love your blog! I spent a semester in Canada during college and loved all the differences my Canadian roommates liked to point out – especially since I tend to have a California Surfer slant to my English.
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Thank you so much! It is funny – the differences from region to region in North America – when we are all technically speak the same language.
Thank you for stopping by on my SITS Day!
Bizarrely enough, my inner voice occasionally has a southern accent as well. Which is weird, because I’m not southern. And sometimes it’s West Indian. Which I am kind of… but not really.
Classic NYer recently posted..On laryngitis
I am a total Yankee but LOVE saying ya’ll so I can relate
Happy SITS Day!
It is such a great word, isn’t it?
Thank you so much for stopping by on my SITS Day!