TheCorsair
Pēdicãbo ego võs et irrumäbo
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
Time passed. Slowly.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Professor Swift raged. "Your pronunciation is atrocious! You speak French like... like..." Words failed him.
"Lahk Ah'm a Tejas Senoritia what speaks Creole, an' not this snooty Pay-ree Fran-says?" Sam said, failing to hide the grin as she deliberately laid on her accent."
The Professor glowered at her. "Precisely. An accent is to be expected, as you will be passing yourself off as a debutante hailing from Dallas. But you must sound educated, and your accent must simply be an accessory to your role." With a sigh, he tamped tobacco into his pipe. "Not an accomplice."
Sam sighed as well. "All raht.." She bit the word off. "Ah mean... ahem... shall we try ah-gain, Professor?"
He nodded approvingly. "Yes. We shall indeed. Repeat after me. 'Betty bought a bit of butter...'"
"Betty baht a bit o'..." Gritting her teeth, Sam tried again. "Ah... thet... that is, 'Betty bought a bit of butter...'"
"'...but she found the butter bitter...'"
"'But she found th' bitter butter buta batta BLEAH!" She would have spat, but Madame LaMonte didn't keep spittoons in her home. So she settled for stomping a booted foot in frustration. "What'n th' name o' tarnation's all o' this nonsense got ta do wit' anything?"
"It has everything to do with learning to speak clearly," was the Professor's frosty reply.
"Yeah?" Sam folded her arms with a huff. "Cain't we jes' skip this, an if'n someone wants ta talk about butter, Ah reckon Ah'll jes' play sick an' talk about somethin' else!" She glared at the Professor. "Bloody stupid topic o' conversation, anyway. Ah'm supposed ta be an awl heiress!"
The Professor sighed. "Madame LaMonte? Your student, I believe."
"No, no, no, no, no!" Professor Swift raged. "Your pronunciation is atrocious! You speak French like... like..." Words failed him.
"Lahk Ah'm a Tejas Senoritia what speaks Creole, an' not this snooty Pay-ree Fran-says?" Sam said, failing to hide the grin as she deliberately laid on her accent."
The Professor glowered at her. "Precisely. An accent is to be expected, as you will be passing yourself off as a debutante hailing from Dallas. But you must sound educated, and your accent must simply be an accessory to your role." With a sigh, he tamped tobacco into his pipe. "Not an accomplice."
Sam sighed as well. "All raht.." She bit the word off. "Ah mean... ahem... shall we try ah-gain, Professor?"
He nodded approvingly. "Yes. We shall indeed. Repeat after me. 'Betty bought a bit of butter...'"
"Betty baht a bit o'..." Gritting her teeth, Sam tried again. "Ah... thet... that is, 'Betty bought a bit of butter...'"
"'...but she found the butter bitter...'"
"'But she found th' bitter butter buta batta BLEAH!" She would have spat, but Madame LaMonte didn't keep spittoons in her home. So she settled for stomping a booted foot in frustration. "What'n th' name o' tarnation's all o' this nonsense got ta do wit' anything?"
"It has everything to do with learning to speak clearly," was the Professor's frosty reply.
"Yeah?" Sam folded her arms with a huff. "Cain't we jes' skip this, an if'n someone wants ta talk about butter, Ah reckon Ah'll jes' play sick an' talk about somethin' else!" She glared at the Professor. "Bloody stupid topic o' conversation, anyway. Ah'm supposed ta be an awl heiress!"
The Professor sighed. "Madame LaMonte? Your student, I believe."