Vacation in Scotland

**Iain Ruaidh** · 18th August 22, 03:54 PM

I grew up in Banbury, Oxfordshire and when I joined the Royal Air Force there were two guys there from Aberdeen. I could not understand a word they said purely on their accent.
Apparently they were speaking English…

**tripleblessed** · 19th August 22, 11:19 PM

My brother-in-law was a partner in a U.S. based world-wide firm whose clients were only U.S. companies. He somewhat accidentally gained several prominent European clients, and spent significant time there. Some years back, one of my brother-in-law's clients, an Atlanta developer, asked to tag along with him on vacation in Europe. Neither of them had a second language. My sister, more than fluent in French and quite capable in German, Dutch, and Italian learned entertaining the wives of clients, smoothly negotiated throughout the continent. On their return to Heathrow homeward bound, the client was first to encounter the Cockney customs officer. Clueless, he turned to my sister, who told him the questions and requests. She was muchly amused to realize halfway through that she was translating English into English.

**kilted2000** · 19th August 22, 11:30 PM

I can understand most British accents, but I have to admit when I spent a year in Chester in NW England, there where a couple of times it took me a few minutes to realize that someone was speaking english.

**Kiltedjohn** · 20th August 22, 10:06 AM

Many years ago, an English cousin visited me in Glasgow. He was under the (wrong) impression that, if he kept his ears open, he would hear people speaking Gaelic. Someone passed by (a mother with a small child) talking in the broadest of Glasgow accents.
My cousin asked excitedly, "Is that Gaelic?" I answered (truthfully) "No." I have thought ever since that I should have said "Yes." It would really have made his day!

**ThistleDown** · 20th August 22, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by LoE

Not "so surprised that the words and how they are used are different".

Rather, surprised at the sheer scale of it. I didn't expect to find it nearly completely incomprehensible.

https://dai.ly/x3v9z74

There's a wonderful book by Bill Bryson -- 'Mother Tongue' -- well worth a read.

**LoE** · 25th August 22, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by tripleblessed

muchly amused to realize halfway through that she was translating English into English.

That was my experience exactly.

**Iain Ruaidh** · 28th August 22, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by Kiltedjohn

Many years ago, an English cousin visited me in Glasgow. He was under the (wrong) impression that, if he kept his ears open, he would hear people speaking Gaelic. Someone passed by (a mother with a small child) talking in the broadest of Glasgow accents.
My cousin asked excitedly, "Is that Gaelic?" I answered (truthfully) "No." I have thought ever since that I should have said "Yes." It would really have made his day!

Partick (in Glasgow) is the largest gaidhaeltachd in Scotland. My wife's cousin was the free church minister there at Crow Road for some time. Featured on the BBC Alba Partick Program.
But gaidhlig is generally not spoken except when all present can understand it. Very polite but not spreading the language around. So it's very hard to find anyone speaking it.