It was 10pm on a Thursday night. What else was I going to do in New York but sit on my single bed and make a webcam video for the ol’ blog here?
This is a quick run-down of a few of the linguistic and behavioural differences between Australians and Americans, with an alcohol-related epiphany thrown in for kicks.
If you enjoy this video, I will make more in a similar style. If you think it’s rubbish, I’ll bury it somewhere in the archives and pretend it never happened. Either way, I regret nothing.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
i love you.
come home.
love paul
HI ELLA!
For a second at the beginning I thought you were talking directly to me and got all happy. Then I realised you weren’t and I don’t think I’ll ever be happy again.
Hugs!
Love the more off-the-cuff discussion in the video… more I say!
Hey Ella!
Loved the video! Definitely do more!
Lol at being articulate when drunk! I’m the same, it’s freaking weird.
“I don’t wish to perpetuate my home country’s binge drinking image.” Classic!
Missing you on Cnet Australia,
<3 James
Well, I don’t think we say SO that much. Maybe I do. I say WELL, a lot. It’s like starting your sentences with UHM, a lot of people do that, too. It’s just a bad grammatical habit.
Paul: You make me smile with the power of She-Ra! A Sydney Christmas is possible. Stay tuned. If it happens, there better be a metric shipload of Guitar Hero.
Morgan: I WAS talking directly to you. And others. But mostly you.
Jeb & James: Mega thanks for the encouragement. My cranial neurons are lighting up disco-style with more video topics. I’ll post the next installment in a few days!
Dale: I find the “so” thing more prevalent in the corporate realm, but your average civilian seems to say it a lot. Though it takes a while to get used to, it’s infinitely more tolerable than a lot of Australian verbal quirks — rising inflection, anyone?
You look so hot!
Loved the ‘giving directions’ bit.
miss you
x
Liar. You do drink frequently.
personally i love this type of access. you can’t help but have a reaction when you see someone up close and personal like this. it’s just another level of access that goes deeper than writing. (IMO) the more simple and raw, the better.
this being my first time to your site, i actually read a couple blog posts before watching the vid and (personally) it gave me context about you that words alone sometimes can’t. this is not a recommendation to go full on vlog, but drop one of these personal videos every once in a while and it makes me want to READ more, not just WATCH more.
good for you! thought it was super fun.
I really enjoyed the video, i think you are a very good orator and find your stuff so interesting and funny.
I Can’t wait for more
Thanks x
I totally enunciate everything and am more coherent when I’m drunk, so you’re not alone there. I guess it’s because I put a lot more thought into what I say in an effort to avoid sounding too drunk/stupid.
Anonymous: I’m intoxicated by life. There’s a difference, I swear.
davemeetsworld: Thank you! From now on I’m going to intersperse articles and stories with video posts, for variety is the spice of life. And ginger is a spice! And this is… Sprinkle of Ginger.
QED.
I enjoyed this. It made my early Sunday morning and put a smile on my face. I mainly gain awesome singing and dancing skills when I am drunk but speaking clearer in accents isn’t one unless there is a place called Gibberr or Bull
. Now listening to Kate Miller-Hiedke’s facebook song and could just imagine you singing this but now I can smell coffee need to track it and take is prisoner.
…with regards to the whole drunk-accent-change-thing:
Peter Van Vliet doesn’t drink, but I think if he did, he’d probably sound appropriately foppish!
…something to think about on those hot, restless, New York nights, no?
Loved the ’so’ thing! I don’t know if you noticed during your time here in the UK, but since watching this I’ve noticed that over here we tend to start every sentence with the word ‘well’/'well, I think…’
‘Well, I don’t suppose you…’
‘Well, I think I’m going to shoot off now’
‘Well, I think I’ll have a cup of tea now’.
Seriously, are we all just thinking about it or are we going to do it?!?
Babe,
You just literally made me laugh out loud with the reference to Americans starting everything with SO. One of my very close girl friends does it all the time, plus she ends everything with “ok?”. It always makes me feel as though she needs confirmation that she can continue into the next sentence and I find myself randomly nodding a lot when I talk to her! ha ha ha!
Face it, verbal regurgitational is THE format of the future. I think you may just have dipped your toe into the realms of ghetto fabulousness. Don’t get too scripted cause you are beautiful like this. Just do your hair next time! HA!
Love you and miss you.
Pen
xxx
P.s. Not so sure I agree with the binge drinking image. it could only be called binge drinking if we stopped in between…
Jessie: I find British civility so endearing! I delighted in the heightened social decency that seems to shroud your average London encounter. There’s something so deliciously Jane Austen about using phrases like “I’m terribly sorry” and “Do bear with me for a spell while I extract this bandsaw from the gaping wound in my torso”. Such considerate language denotes respect and a certain reserved approach that’s most alluring.
pdub: So I’m bringing back the bedhead, last seen on Meg Ryan in the late 90s. Okay?
luved the video… Good that I found your phunky self again… (was sad when couldn’t find you on CNET.com.au) Found this blog thanks to @natalidelconte twitter page. Big fan!!
So, here’s the thing, ok?
Nice vid. Keep ‘em coming. Hair looks great, nevermind pdub
Love to hear about your NYC experiences, your “NE US vs Aussie” observations of wierdness.