Half-inched from Blackadder, but grand for illustrating this tale of accent nuances.
This journey, not too long back, saw the need for a relatively short trip to the Saudi visa centre and posed no directional difficulties.
The journey there was an uneventful 15 minutes with only the need for an occasional glance at Google Maps, but the driver still managed to give up the ghost 5 minutes walk from the location. In fairness to him not many would expect the visa centre to be an offshoot of the Co-Op in some slightly less salubrious shopping centre.
Task completed it was “haste ye back” to the office, but the need arose for a call in the cab, not one of nature but of business. Speaking with a well-kent Polish colleague about a matter in Pakistan I naturally spoke fluidly and without a need to work out if anything was misunderstood. The call was wrapped up as the cab reached the office and a cracking inquisition started:
“Where are you from, sir?”
“Scotland. Have you heard of it?”
“Yes, farming country. They have their own language, yes?”
“Gaelic. Not too many speakers though, doubt you’ve heard it.”
“Amazing, this is the first time I have heard this language.”
“eh, no, pal, that was English!”
The lad was having none of it, bamboozled by the rapid-fire Teuchter tones, content to speed away thinking he had heard some rarely spoken tongue!
Memo to self : speak slowly but only if the occasion necessitates it. 😂
It could understand everything from this rarely spoken language 😂