Hi! Questions from an American trying to write a Dubliner

tampopo

I've never heard tobler used, though have heard hang sangwich.

I just had a quick look at www.overheardindublin.com and the latest post is below. Had to laugh!

Anyway, sift through it and it might give you an idea. Steer clear of Erins, Colleens, Shannons, Kellys et al. What's wrong with Mary, typical Irish name!

"My little brother went to visit our American cousins, who live in the Bible Belt, Republican, Gun loving, Bush loving, part of the US, and was amazed that in America the word W£?KER does not exist. None of our cousins or their friends (all aged 12-14) had ever heard of it. So while he was there they made up a new ball game and called it W£?KER. During the course of the game the kids had to repeatedly call out things like "I just got a W£?K" "Thats five W£?KS for our team" "We're the best W£?KERS" my lil bro thought it was hilarious and my Mam could only laugh. Classic... "

_blank_

I'm from Dublin, but I'm not a girl.

If you like, I can come over to the U S and A for research purposes.

You can pay for the ticket.:D

Gran Hermano

Well if we're going with stereotypes.......
You could always read Roddy Doyle for the Northside accent
and Ross O'Caroll-Kelly for the Southside
{Amazon.co.UK should have both in stock}

Brooklyn74

Do you mean "middle class" the way the term is used in America, or the way it's used in Dublin? In Dublin, it implies a certain poshness.

Shogar

poshness as in well-spoken, refined?

Mr. Presentable

Seriously, just write your dialog(ue) for the character. Worry after about local authenticity.

Hey, you're in a pretty good place on Boards to read how people here speak, so the debate is futile, all you'l get is a bunch of opinions based on where posters are from - the "tobler" thing is typical "new slang" and is really just pretentious shoite - and won't give you a feel.

Brooklyn74

Shogar wrote:

poshness as in well-spoken, refined?

Well, a middle class Dubliner wouldn't speak with a typical 'Dub' accent.

Degsy

Brooklyn74 wrote:

Well, a middle class Dubliner wouldn't speak with a typical 'Dub' accent.

There's no such thing as a typical Dub accent anymore.The Moore Street "get yir bannanas" typ of commoner accent has been replaced by the slurry "whaaaats de stooory" suburban-would-be-junkie-accent,with a lot of bastardisations all over the place.Where i grew up people with two culchie parents,desperate to fit in the sorrounding area would ham up thier "dub" accent untill it was inrecognisable,now they have children who speak thier own weird dialect,you'd never be able to pin it down anymore.

Shogar

Wow. Dublin sounds like it has an entire country's worth of accents.

Guess I really will have to visit.

GhostInTheRuins

Like has been mentioned before, The best thing you can do without coming here is listen to a few Irish radio stations, newstalk and Radio one should do the job.