Life, Love, Long Hair, Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth, and other mysteries

All this and more, from a semi-Serbian, slightly sane, former editor for physicians and surgeons, who is the mother of seven kids.


Wednesday 15 February 2012

Serbian Accent

Originally I thought of this while staring off into space at the library and noticing there was a magazine called "O", for Oprah Winfrey.

I thought, "I should start a magazine called 'S' - for Steenybopper."  (Not my real name. Duh.)

I could model my Srpska shirt.
I told my 17-year-old daughter about it, whose name starts with the same letter as mine, and she wanted in.

We came up with what I thought were some pretty good random ideas, such as centerfold photos of a sombrero, for example, and the conclusion was that we could hire all kinds of staff and produce a lovely magazine that nobody would buy, and we'd die in debt.

Not all breros make it to the top - only "som".

Then I told my 19-year-old daughter about the idea, and she suggested we make it about my dad instead and call it "G".

My dad is from Serbia (which was still Yugoslavia in his day) and lived there until the early 1950s, when he emigrated to Canada, long before I was born.

He has the accent to prove it.

My kids and I imitate his accent even in the name we call him, which is "G'dampa".

All of the articles would be written with a Serbian accent, which, if you are not familiar with it, is similar to a Russian accent, but different.

I'm sadly aware that there are not a lot of videos on Youtube that exemplify the Serbian accent in an English-speaking person.

And I have never seen anything in print that is written in a Serbian accent, other than from myself.

So, to preserve the beauty of the Serbian accent when spoken in English, we need the help of a magazine.

I did a quick Google search to see if there already exists a publication called "G".

Apparently, there is one, on another continent, but it is nothing to do with Serbian accents.

It is of subject matter that I will not mention, lest people trying to find that kind of thing on a search engine end up here.

So, back to the drawing board.  I supposed we could call it "G'd", and leave people to wonder how it is pronounced.  It might pique enough curiosity for at least one or two people to purchase a copy.

If it started to take off here in Canada, why, I could see us making dozens of dollars!

We could have pictures of Serbo-Canadians in their natural settings, which, for example, would involve a huge green bottle of homemade wine nearby... no, wait, "vino"... a cigarette smouldering in an ashtray with smoke billowing all around their head while cleaning a gun, wearing a purple Mack jacket,  on their back porch, muttering incoherent cuss words in Serbian in hopes that their children don't understand what they are saying even though those children can imitate those strings of swearing syllable for syllable regardless of comprehension of meaning.

Come on, don't all Serbo-Canadians fit that stereotype?

Eventually I hope to have a video to share, complete with the accent about which I speak.   Subscribe to my blog by clicking "follow" at the top left of this page so you don't miss a beat.

For now, here is one made by a couple of my kids in 2009, mixing a few different stories I've shared with them over the years concerning my dad.  (Long stories, which I might try to explain another time.)




With love,



PS:  This was a very silly blog entry.  If you would like to read something more serious, like, say, the story of how my oldest daughter went from drug addiction to clean living, check out this post.

Or for something a little more romantic, read about the love between me 'n' my man:  here.

And, of course, you can click through the archives at the top right column of this blog for more.

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