I never took @sadpotato for a Finn.
It is, in fact, a mystery as to where he's from. Maybe he wishes to keep it that way, and if so, I'll respect that.
@sadpotato's English is flawless. It seems idiomatically and grammatically unfailingly correct. That fact would indicate English being his first language. But that is far from certain. I doubt, however, that he is British because, as far as I can remember, he has never once used any English or other British slang words like @gillianpearce has. @sadpotato could be American or Canadian. But he is usually quick to comment my posts, which would indicate living in the same time zone or close. His self-depreciating manner is also not characteristically American. Americans tend to be more upbeat or at least pretend to even if they are feeling blue.
My guess is that @sadpotato lives in Europe. He is likely to live somewhere in Northern Europe. I remember one B&W photo by him that showed the Peter and Paul Fortress in St.Petersburg, Russia. He likes to hang out with Finns. That and some weak signals would indicate to me that he could live in St. Petersburg like another one my regular commenters. But who knows. Potatoes are omnipresent, thanks to the Prussian king Frederick the Great.
Wow. Good analysis @markkujantunen.
And . . . you're very observant. I wasn't aware of using British slang words. 😊
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You used the word "naff" when describing ugly 1950's buildings where you live.
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Did you actually remember that? That's impressive!
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I pay very close attention to language.
Pronunciation, too. It's a fun game to try and guess where somebody's from based on their accent alone. You're from Norfolk, England? I've only once heard anyone speak in a thick East Anglian accent. That was a recording of two old men on YouTube. It was exotic. Most people have milder accents.
I try to follow British spelling rules and grammar in writing. I try to pronounce words the British way in an accent typical of a regular person (educated middle class) in the southeast of England. But with my Canadian relatives, I tend to switch to their dialect. I've been told my American accent isn't as good as my English accent. I stick to that and most English people tend to like the fact that I have made this choice.
There exist Americans in isolated fishing communities on the East Coast whose accent sounds English (Old East Anglian) or Irish or Scottish. It's fascinating stuff:
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Not sure I would recognise that dialect in the video as English. It sounds more Aussie to me!
I've actually got a west country accent. I'm a Bristolian. Opposite side from Norfolk.
My accent has moderated over the years since I lived there for less time than I have in all the other places I've lived. It's still pretty recognisable though, especially when I've had a couple of drinks!
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Interesting. I did notice it sounded somewhat Australian. But the world of exotic accents in England is foreign territory to me. Perhaps their accent shares traits with some old English regional accent that has died out in England. (In some areas of the South of the US, the word "police" is pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable. But I've read somewhere that they did not invent it. It was used by the original British settlers into those areas where it's used.)
I think you mentioned Howe in one of your comments. But I suppose it was a different Howe.
My birth family and I moved to Tampere when I was five years old. I've always had a mild Tampere accent since then. When my wife, our daughter and I moved to Lahti about four and a half years ago, I noticed my speech started to change. I started to drop word endings like they do in Lahti and my accent started to change gradually. The two cities are in the same broad Tavastian dialect zone but belong to different subgroups of it. The way they speak in Lahti is pretty much how they speak in Helsinki without the nasality and the local slang-based words that have their origin mainly in Swedish. Certain minor grammatical quirks are different, too. My readers knowledgeable in Finnish may have noticed the Southern Tavastian infinitive (for example, "voi makaa" = can lie down, which would be "voi maata" in Standard Finnish) that they use in the capital region but not in Lahti. Here in Lahti, older working class people in particular sometimes truncate noun+adjective structures like in the following "punain hevoin" = a red horse, which would be "punainen hevonen" in Standard Finnish.
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Yeah, I think he is from Russia too. He has a good grammar which implies that he is most likely quite young and that's also the reason why he is online a lot. Here are some "proof".
Definitely looks like a view from somewhere North. https://steemit.com/bwphotocontest/@sadpotato/seven-day-b-and-w-challenge-day-3
And he also finishes sentences with a ")" which is usual in Russian. There is no certainty where he comes from but I think that is okay.
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You mean Russians tend to use ")" as an emoticon?
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I don't even know what it means but I see it a lot when reading Russian texts
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