I Am A Prose Chameleon
I am predisposed toward unconscious mimicry. I first noticed it years ago when, working as a consultant in England, I spontaneously began using the word “twig” instead of “understand” and pronouncing “strawberry” as “strawbry.”
If I am in Canada for a long period (say, three days), my voice rises at the end of sentences. In Italy I exaggerate gestures. I don’t even need to be in a foreign country. Last year, during a visit to Minnesota and North Dakota, I said, “You betcha.” I said it twice. This from a guy who grew up in Philadelphia.
