Contractions

Language is a funny thing. During a conversation with a "secret service" type at the Northern Ireland Parliament the subject came up a number of times. During his unofficial tour of the Assembly Chambers, be asked if we had trouble understanding him. We didn't have any difficulty, but I did mention my amusement at the more lilting Irish speech more prominent in southern areas. I tactlessly refer to it as the Lucky Charms accent. You know what I mean - the little green guy in the cereal commercials? It just really tickles me when I hear it. Normally I'm not quite this immature about such things, but when I hear the sing-song accent I am really amused. Laughing with me, the security guy told a story of meeting his daughter-in-law for the first time and his observations of her being a native of Athens, Georgia. Of course I'm fully aware of my accent as a native of South Carolina, so was able to stay ahead of the sarcasm curve with that. Our "secret service" friend turned out to be a treasure trove of helpful information and funny stories. Toward the end he commented how good it was to speak with some Yanks with a sense of humor, a direct manner, and bit of sarcastic punch. I assured him there is plenty more where that came from.

On another language note we noticed the Irish often contract longer words to shorter easier to say nuggets. For example, one of our favorites so far is Newtownards Road contracts nicely to N'ards Road. That's officially on the map and everything. We're learning.