Foreign Exchange
When I am concerned about sounding intelligent I put on a phony British accent. One of the
things which delighted me most about being in England during my husband's sabbatical was that
I could speak in a clipped and proper way without sounding as completely ridiculous as I do here
in upstate New York. My darkest confession about these six months is that my speech caused
genuine English people to ask if I were Canadian. This delighted me. I didn't want to sound
completely British and thereby risk being asked pointed questions concerning my provenance,
nor did I want to be mistaken for my boorish fellow countrymen. Sounding vaguely Canadian
was perfect!
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