What is Granfer Tom saying?

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/07/what-is-granfer-tom-saying.html

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…and that was just Donald Trump attempting to say Zimbabwe.

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He’s talking about the cows.

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Well, that explains where my family is probably from. Guy talks a lot like my dad does, and no one can understand him, either.

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it’s not impossible to understand…I have connections to the area as well. I could listen to Granfer reading the news, perhaps with interjected commentary (many variations on “what the bloody hell we on about, mate?”).

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Devonian here, translation: “What the bloody hell he be on about. They be Hereford heifers.”

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This is the first thing on TikTok that was worth my time to watch. I love her affection for her Granfer and his gently bewildered “whathehellyeronabumate?” responses to audience questions.

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And he corrects granddaughter: It b’ain’t Devon, it be Cornwall!

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Last video “What the hell be on about boy? I don’t come from visit… I don’t come from Devonshire, I come from down here in Cornwall”

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I wonder if Granfer Tom can speak Kernewek.

Kernow, Kernow y keryn Kernow!

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As an American, that seemed completely intelligible to me. But then again, I have less problems with Glaswegian accents than certain American ones, so…

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In Japan, Japanese TV solves this problem for old folks in rural areas of rural prefectures by subtitling them.

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What is Granfer Tom Saying? No idea. Is it just me … 'cos nothng from TikTok ever loads for me, on BB posts. Just white space and not even a link to TikTok itself.

Even wth Brave shields down (and lord, BB looks utterly crap to the point of unusability when I do that) still nothing.

Hey-ho. At least the Chinese communist party won’t be getting my details! :wink:

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i thought, “oh, sure, it’ll be some thick accent but i’ll be able to puzzle it out.” NOPE

i love that even her adoring nickname for him “Granfer” is sort of a lazy, slurred version of “Grandfather.”

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OMG. I could understand him. What does that mean?! Granfer Tom has a charming accent.

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Except for “mate” and “bugger”, I needed my headphones to pick out half the words. With some more time training my brain to hear the accent, I might be able to understand the other half.

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American here (although one who knows that the world doesn’t end at the US border), I was able to catch about half of it the first go around, I’m pretty certain I got it all the second time.

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I’m from the West Country meself (I think I’ve said before, but the OG Berkeley, which, BTW, is pronounced “Bark-lee” by locals), and I wish there was video online of my mate Ricky. A Ska-Skinhead-Punk-Taxidermist-Gamekeeper who speaks with a broad West Country accent at approximately 160 words per minute.

Interestingly, since moving to London, I could swear my accent’s gotten thicker, although that might just be me noticing it when compared to the melange of other accents I come across on a daily basis now.

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