I have to add another one from yesterday.
Three ladies came in looking at notebook mice. They all had accents that let me know English wasn't their first language. (It sounded like Portugese when they spoke to each other.) The one who was buying the notebook mouse had to come talk to me because she couldn't find one she wanted. She took about ten minutes explaining to me that she wanted a wired mouse because she didn't want to change batteries. She didn't like the Microsoft mouse she found on one of our Back2School displays and wondered if I had others.
Most of her words came out as well-pronounced as could be expected. But one word was her kryptonite, and it was the one word around which the whole conversation centered: mouse. Whenever she said mouse, she pronounced it so that it sounded like a bizarre cross between "muse" and "moose." Her voice was high and nasally to begin with, but her use of "mouse" increased the effect, especially as she gave the whole word a rising crescendo, apparently coping with the strain she endured speaking it. I think in text it would look like this: "myooOOOSss." The other ladies with her had no problem with it.
"You have other myooOOOSss?"
"Microsoft no make good myooOOOSss. I need other myooOOOSss with cord."
"This myooOOOSss work with notebooks?"
Somehow managing to hide my cringes, I finally found her a satisfactory myooOOOSss in an off-brand, and they left happily.
Three ladies came in looking at notebook mice. They all had accents that let me know English wasn't their first language. (It sounded like Portugese when they spoke to each other.) The one who was buying the notebook mouse had to come talk to me because she couldn't find one she wanted. She took about ten minutes explaining to me that she wanted a wired mouse because she didn't want to change batteries. She didn't like the Microsoft mouse she found on one of our Back2School displays and wondered if I had others.
Most of her words came out as well-pronounced as could be expected. But one word was her kryptonite, and it was the one word around which the whole conversation centered: mouse. Whenever she said mouse, she pronounced it so that it sounded like a bizarre cross between "muse" and "moose." Her voice was high and nasally to begin with, but her use of "mouse" increased the effect, especially as she gave the whole word a rising crescendo, apparently coping with the strain she endured speaking it. I think in text it would look like this: "myooOOOSss." The other ladies with her had no problem with it.
"You have other myooOOOSss?"
"Microsoft no make good myooOOOSss. I need other myooOOOSss with cord."
"This myooOOOSss work with notebooks?"
Somehow managing to hide my cringes, I finally found her a satisfactory myooOOOSss in an off-brand, and they left happily.
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