Silly Voices

[jducoeur]

I'm very fond of the Teaching Company courses, really I am. But in the interests of truth in advertising, I have to admit that they're sometimes an oddly mixed bag.

I'm currently in the middle of Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, which is a mammoth course, taught by a tag-team of something like a dozen professors. (This is the only course I have that mixes so many people.) One of them, who is teaching much of the Age of Reason, has a style that can best be described as a mix of:

• Pedantry worthy of a Silverwing (making every point several times, to make sure you get it);


• The speaking style of William Shatner (well, not quite, but Emphasizing... Every... Word... Clearly... and with Force!);


• and the voice of Fran Dressher (you know, that intense nasality that even I, a native New Joiseyan, fortunately can't emulate).

He's not a bad teacher, but it's just a little difficult to take him seriously, since his speaking style is almost Pythonesque in how odd it is...

Comments

[cellio]

You're a native New Joiseyan? I didn't know that. I guess I just assumed that you were a product of Boston.

[jducoeur]

Nope -- I come from Central Jersey originally. The clarification is important, since north, central and south Jersey are three completely different places culturally. Central Jersey -- specifically Princeton -- was a pleasant, if somewhat boring suburban region. Moved to Boston for college and found myself utterly enamored with the attitudes and culture, not to mention being a much more convenient drive to a real city. (Not to mention finding a real home in Carolingia.)

Anyway, I spent most of my youth overcoming the horrific "New Jersey twang" that gets bred in your bones there, and moving myself towards a more neutral accent. The nasality still pops out occasionally, though..

[johno.livejournal.com]

I once attended a wedding where an old family friend was the pastor performing the ceremony.

When he got to the sermon and opened with:

"Mawwage..."

The entire back row fell about laughing, as we had just seen "The Princess Bride" the week before.