Things you were shockingly old when you learned

xp Yes, exactly--they are almost always nibbling.

aiui humans can contract leprosy from armadillos only by eating their under-cooked flesh (so always use a meat thermometer when preparing armadillo)

xp to gyac, to be fair, this Irish babysitter cared for
me from the age of 6 months to about a year— I have no memory of her

I am sad that despite going to California pretty much every year from 2003-2015 that I never saw a raccoon.

here in Oakland, we actually have a family of blonde raccoons living by the lake... not true albinos, just some kind of mutation.. I see them fairly often, they're prolific swimmers

I'm given to understand that firefly larvae are especially badass predators - they can numb and liquefy their prey.

When I lived in Brooklyn I was regularly delighted by the chipmunks in Prospect Park, which in themselves are I suppose no more remarkable than squirrels, but we don't get them in the UK.

Americans say squirrel funny ime

I suppose it's just that they emphasise the u and we emphasise the i

skwirl

My daughter's girlfriend called them squiggles one time and now that's what we call them

I suppose it's just that they emphasise the u and we emphasise the i

Eh?

You can't spell TEAM with either of those letters though.

Eh?

I don't know, that's roughly how it sounds to me. I see skwi-rel and they say skwu-rel (apologies to IPA). There is more to it than that though, I realise – Americans tend to almost say the whole thing as one syllable whereas I stress the skwi.

Skwurl

* I say skwi-rel, not I see skwi-rel, though quite often I do see skwi-rel

xpost

Yes, I think the main difference is Americans tend to not to pronounce the -rel part.

... or not very strongly.

I dunno, if you listen to Google's US and English pronunciation (controversially labelled as "British pronunciation") the rel is pretty clear

https://www.google.com/search?q=pronounce+squirrel&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB976GB977&oq=pronounce+squirrel

Sounds like skwurl to me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P6B2JRU4Rk

Whereas...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGyWifMrDsA

There was a thread many years ago that I can’t find but sarahell and a few other people were riffing on the “change girl to squirrel” in a song lyric fun. i still sing “hey little squirrel, i wanna be yr boyfriend” when i have a notable interaction with one

Yes that wouldn't work in England - but it would in Scotland because "girl" is pronounced "gir-rel"!

In America it’s one syllable - here it’s 2. I hate it.

shockingly old to learn that 'squirrel' in an international tongue twister, had no idea

Hate GRA-HAM too. Gram. Sounds better and easier.

Hike up your skirt a little more
Show your squirrel to me

The French can't pronounce it either.

It’s a horrible word! it’s tough for everyone involved.

I'm not entirely sure Americans consider it one syllable, hmmm

Hate GRA-HAM too. Gram. Sounds better and easier.

Oh God no, that's horrible. Also I'm not aware of anyone every calling Billy Graham Billy Gram so what's up there?

Compared to the way it’s said here? Also the us is huge bit I’ve only ever heard “skwrul”. It’s prob 2 syllables somewhere in the south.

People in the southern U.S. very definitely say "Billy Gram" (or maybe sometimes "Billy Graym").

I would say Billy Gram! Gram crackers. Billy Gram. I can’t say it as 2 syllables it sounds weird.

OMG that is so weird!

haha yeah I am team gram all the way

Billuh Graym

I reckon that's yet another example of Americans using French pronunciation of names - Graham is apparently Anglo-French.

americans saying Craig as Creg always sounds weird to me

There's also "melk," "pellow" "warsh your hands", all kinds of regional differences

The "country" Southern accent is very confusing sometimes

"pin" (meaning "pen")
"hills" (meaning "heels")
"lah" (meaning "lie")

Gram Coxon, kind of works

Gram Garden

(xps) Yes, Creg, that's as bad as Gram!

I always hear it as 'Crag' like a cumbersome rock.

That's a name a Southerner could turn into nearly two syllables

"Cray-ugh"

I honestly had never heard anyone pronounce Billy Graham as Billy Gram but I just watched some youtubes and it sounds totally weird. However as many (Americnan) people were pronouncing Graham the "British way" as the "American way".

where I'm from in the hills of NorCal, 'dude' might be pronounced 'deed'.. as in "Awww, deed.." was something I heard multiple times a day in high school

Sort of a hillbilly/stoner/surfer dialectic.. "seen" often replaced "saw", as in "I seen a sweet Camaro this morning"

Craig and Greg DO NOT RHYME. I have very strong feelings about that. Also can't stand Gram for Graham (Gram as a nickname is fine, using it as standard pronunciation is bad) but I do like skwurl for squirrel (but not more than squirrel for squirrel, I just like them both).

One of the many things that fascinate me is the idea that the modern U.S. Southern accent somehow evolved from the accents of the early European settlers of the area, most of whom were Scots (along with Africans, of course).

"melk," "pellow"

Wasn't he the singer for Wet Wet Wet?

Hey little squirrel is your daddy home
Did he go and leave you all alone

#onethread