The brogue's tongue

Someone called my grandparents the other day asking for me.  This would not be odd in most cases except for the fact that I live seven hours away and have not lived in my hometown for 25 years.  I became aware of the incident during one of my weekly phone conversations with my dad.  Grandpa let dad know that the person had called.  Dad said that grandpa hadn't gotten the feller's name but that he asked for me or my wife using our nicknames and asked if he as talking to my grandfather.  It remains quite a riddle as to who it could have been and to be honest I am a bit uneasy about it.

 

A week or so later I was up home for our annual alumni dinner and dropped by grandma and grandpa's for a visit.  The topic of the mysterious caller came up and we tried to figure out who it could be.  At first my dad thought that it might have been a high school friend who expected me to be home for the dinner.  The only problem with this is that everyone I went to high school with knows my family and would have chatted with grandpa and further more would have called mom and dad to look for me.

 

I suggested that it may have been one of my college buddies who would not be quite so familiar with my family but know generally where to look for us.  We agreed that that could be it but grandpa then said that he thought the guy was a “foreigner” because he couldn't quite understand him.  Not understanding folks is not a give-a-way for someone being foreign since grandpa is 89 and is very hard of hearing.  I suggested that it was one of my past college students since I have had a number who were international.

 

At this point grandma said, “to grandpa it could have been anyone from a different part of the country.”  To this grandpa said, “yes it could have been an American from a different part of the country, all I know is that he didn't have the same brogue as we have.”  “Oh then”  I said, “it could be one of my roommates from Cleveland or the like.”  It is was the most likely explanation as to why the person would use both my wife and my nicknames and not remember my dad's name so the conversation turned to other subjects.

 

“The same brogue as we have” stuck in my head as I left for mom and dad's.  Now I am certainly familiar with the term brogue as a description of an Irish or Scottish accent but grandpa had used it as a general term.  I asked dad if he had heard grandpa use the term before.  His expression was one of slight disbelief, like the look he may have if I would have asked if grandpa had ever used the word “road” or some other common term.  Dad said that it was commonly used in the place of the word accent and that it didn't apply just to Irish or Scottish accents.  Mom who was standing near by also confirmed that my other grandparents had also used the term in such a way and that it was the common word for accent or dialect.

 

Certainly I had heard my family use this term in such a way in the past but I cannot recall it from memory.  As far as I know I had always used the term in the more limited way.

 

We know that brogue comes from the Gaelic for “shoe” although no one really knows how it became used as a term for accent or dialect.  The typical folk etymologies abound.    I am familiar with the related “brogan” which is a common Appalachian term for a work boot and which was also the name of the shoe worn by Civil War era soldiers on both sides but “brogue” as a general term for accent was something new.

 

Do any of you all who speak the same brogue as me have any knowledge of this?

 

 

Comments

[Cat]

Hmm, knew one on me. Never heard it used that way in my neck of the woods (WV, western side to middle). Only in reference to Irish or Scottish accents. Interesting use. Thanks for that.

[Judy(the Other)]

My maternal relatives all used the term. My mother still uses it to this day.And I've probably sed it myself-at least in family conversation.
I'm also familiar with brogan for shoes; they all used that term too.
BTW, I just returned from the area, after a short visit. Had great weather, visited all the dead relatives-who are still dead-as well as the living ones. Super WalMart is the talk of the town!

[anne johnson]

Never heard it used except in relation to Scottish accent. But I do wish I could listen to your grandpa talk for an afternoon, it would do my heart good.

Thanks for the stickers. I'm still driving the totalled car, waiting for the right replacement. I thought I'd have that 1994 Ford for at least another 3 years, it's hard to part with her.