Tales of Repatriation

America 101 - A Global Accent

I have acquired a very strange accent living overseas.

This has been confirmed by several strangers, family and friends with whom I have Zoom'd, seen from a distance, or been with over the past few weeks. (This is officially week 5 of repatriation.)

And I just wanted to let you all know – I can't help it. I HEAR it, but I can't stop it. Maybe it will stop one day – but I kind of doubt it.

My accent is a blend of SoCal native, Kenyan English (which is itself a blend of Colonial UK English and today's UK English), Singapore English (which is UK English but and varies just a little from Kenya), and oddly enough, some South African stuff thrown in for good measure.

I promise you that I am not speaking in tongues and I am not throwing words, phrases and an accent around to sound odd, feel "international", or pretend I'm from another part of the planet. My brain has always had a thing for language and I pick up on these things fairly quickly and they stick – forever.

Some of my favorite phrases from South Africa are:

"...is it?" (When being told something fairly serious and you want to sound concerned)

Howzit (A universal greeting, a short-form version of "How is it going?")

Sharp Sharp (A sign-off signaling an agreement as well as farewell, often said twice.)

(Ag) shame (An expression of sympathy or annoyance)

Eish! (An exclamation expressing exasperation)

Lekker (An Afrikaans word meaning superb or fantastic which is applied equally to a person, object or event)

Some of my favorite Kenyan phrases/words are listed below, but really, there are just too many to list:

Alight – One "alights" at the bus station – to get out of the bus

You People – I would have never said that in the USA as it was always a bit aggressive. In Kenya, it isn't.

Pole – sorry

Pole pole – slowly

We have reached – we have arrived

She got a baby – she is pregnant

Hi, fine – when you say to a Kenyan, "Hi" – they will almost immediately reply "Hi, fine" – I think it's because the traditional greeting in Swahili is "What's your news?" and that's what they hear instead of "Hi".

Quite – this is one of my all-time favorites and I use it quite a bit

Tomato – tow-mah-tow NOT tow-may-toh you heathens

Wooertah – water to the rest of you – and this one, trust me – is so engrained in my brain it will never shift

Gar-agh (garage) – emphasis on the gar vs. the agh in American English

Taps- faucet

Geyser – hot water heater

Bin – trash can

Loo – restroom

Boot – car trunk

Queue – line (as in – please stand in the queue and wait your turn)

Kesho – tomorrow

Hapo/hapa – here/there

Piki piki – motorcycle taxi

Mzungu – today it's used to refer to any "white foreigner" – originally, it meant "someone who roams around" or "wanderer." The term was first used in the African Great Lakes region to describe European explorers in the 18th century, apparently because they moved around aimlessly.

Knackered – worn out

Cheeky – playful/mischievous

Chuffed – very pleased

Bloody – Very

Lovely – beautiful/attractive

Pissed – drunk

Rubbish – (garbage) – but also "that's crap"

Sorted – figure it out or "it's sorted" (I figured it out)

I throw these little gems around often all with a mangled accent and that's either charming and amusing or just annoying depending on who is around. I regularly ask, "where is the loo?" in restaurants, etc. and am met with amusement, confusion or the occasional reply.

I learned a decent amount of Arabic in Egypt (and also working in the region over the years) but have managed to forget most of it EXCEPT when I am very tired. I have been on more than one film set where my Arabic just sort of leaked out around 2AM. I still use:

Inshallah – God willing – I use this word every day

Alhamdulillah – thank God – useful at moments – like when my container showed up at the port and didn't slip off the side of the ship while crossing the Pacific

Shukran – literally means "I thank you a lot" (very common to hear in Kenya and Tanzania where Arabic blends with Swahili

Bokra- tomorrow

I wasn't in Singapore long enough to pick up the "lah". When chatting with just about anyone in Singapore, you'll inevitably hear "lah" at the end of a sentence. For example, "There's something here for everyone, lah."

I did manage to learn a bit of Mandarin.

Ni hao – Chinese greeting "hello"

Xiè xiè (shièh shièh) – "shay shay" – thank you

And I stole a few phrases from my Northern England bestie--

Kicking up – getting angry

Never – a lovely expression I borrowed from a friend – said in shock and awe

Language is fascinating, frustrating and fun. When I went to Argentina on my way to Antarctica, I was in a local store and needed help to fix a jacket zipper before boarding my cruise. I spoke mangled, Dolores Garcia, 10th grade Spanish—and it worked! At one point I was apologizing to the clerk for my "miserable Spanish" and he said, "No, it's good, I understand what you're saying". I got directions to the zipper lady (in Spanish) and found her – thanks Dolores.

I'd love to conquer French. I've tried about 7 times. Every time I think I might be making headway, Arabic creeps in. Arabic doesn't want French and the two will not reconcile.

My best language moment – ever – was in Italy. I was with incredible friends and we were a party of four in a café and I was rehearsing a phrase in my head. I had studied Italian for 2 months before the trip and it was my big moment.

As the waitress walked by our table, I said, "Mi scusi, quattro bicchiere por el agua per favore" (Excuse me, 4 glasses for water, please).

Voila!