1 of 1- RadioActive
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Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
Normally, I don’t like spreading rumours here, although I have no problem with speculation. But this one has me so intrigued, I thought maybe someone here can tell me whether it’s true or not. But until they do, I won’t use any names.
An old and usually reliable acquaintance of mine told me that one of the newscasters at GNR 640 talks with a Scottish accent so thick, you could cut a haggis with it. But when he goes on air, he sounds totally North American.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, and if it’s who I think it is, it’s remarkable how totally he covers it on air. But is it true? Anyone know?
This is really not all that unusual, of course. IIRC, both Bill Carroll and the late John Michael admitted to having accents when they first arrived in Canada and worked hard to lose them.
And there are more Hollywood actors than you can count who are from Britain or elsewhere and sound totally American on screen. (Among them, “The Good Doctor’s” Freddie Highmore, “House” star Hugh Laurie, Oliver Stark, who plays a paramedic in the Fox hit “911,” and K.J. Apa, who stars as Archie Andrews, the all-American boy, on “Riverdale,” but actually boasts a strong New Zealand accent in real life.)
- Peter the K
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
Bill (Mc)Carroll will sometimes go into the Scottish Brogue for laughs but has admitted on air in the past that he had to work hard to "straightening out" the accent.
But sometimes, you just can't help it.
A number of years ago, when Bill was doing afternoons on AM640, he had two of his cousins on the phone from Scotland to talk about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence. One cousin was for and other against. All three of them promised to talk slowly and clearly so everyone could understand but there were a few times when the participants (Bill included) slipped into full Scots mode and had to stop and back up and repeat themselves using "proper" English phrases.
- betaylored
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
Very intriguing RadioActive, we'll have to keep our ears open during the reading of news reports on GNR am 640 over the next few days for careful diction, and a slightly unusual cadence, and see if we can't winkle out who you mean.
Peter the K, I remember hearing Bill (Mc)Carroll on 640 that afternoon, he had a lot of fun with the whole segment, and it's true, full Scots is ...a mouthful and Sassanach subtitles would have been helpful.
Methinks Briana Carnegie as the mystery accented news reporter may be a possibility?
Last edited by betaylored (April 3, 2019 1:23 am)
- splunge
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
imagine learning to speak american...
According to Howie Mandel..."'intes-tyne' instead of 'intest-tin,' or I said 'dra-ma' instead of 'draw-ma,"'
or
"The funny words that you watch out for are 'tomorrow' which sounds like 'tah-more-oh,' or 'about,"' adds twin brother/co-star Jonathan [Scott]. "The word 'been,' Americans say 'bin' but Canadians say 'bee-n."'
- 67GreenRambler
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
I caught a wee burr from a newsreader named Darryl. That could be your man.
- kevjo
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
67GreenRambler wrote:
I caught a wee burr from a newsreader named Darryl. That could be your man.
He is. I have worked with him and was always in awe as to how easily he could turn off the accent when needed. An acting career could be a natural progression.
- RadioActive
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Re: Great Scot! Is This Story About A 640 Newsman True?
Yes, I believe that's who my source was referring to (except I think his first name is Darrin.)
If it's true, I have to give him credit for being able to fake the Canadian/American speech so convincingly. I heard him on Saturday afternoon and if you listen very carefully, you can hear the real accent in certain phrases, especially at the end of sentences.
But without being redundant, if you didn't know, you'd never know.
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