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yellowdogintexas

(23,552 posts)

30. I am umpteen generations away from the first ancestors who arrived here.

Reply to electric_blue68 (Original post)

Mon Nov 24, 2025, 10:49 AM

Monday

Our language is Central Kentucky English, with all the hilarious idioms, so there is no special 'thank you' - just the accent.

My daughter married into a Persian family - Kurdish to be specific. Her inlaws speak English, Farsi, Arabic and two dialects of Kurdish. When his sisters and their mother get into mother/daughter/sister spats my daughter and I just duck and run! We have no clue what is going on. All the kids speak perfect English; the parents speak it fairly well and her mother in law has her own tailoring business. The big roadblock in talking to them is all the idioms in American English; I have had to explain a few of them from time to time.

Mr YD has a niece in law who emigrated from Mexico and a sister in law who is first generation born here Mexican. When we are all together the side conversations in Spanish get pretty wild. Makes me wish I had worked harder in Spanish back in the day.

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Highlight:

Deb's 'say thank you...' suddenly reminded me of...How many of Your Parents Spoke in their Other Language so you... [View all] electric_blue68 Sunday OP

My parents both spoke Slovenian, as did my grandparents and both of their extended families. So if they switched.... FadedMullet Sunday #1

Lots of Slovaks and Hungarians in Cleveland back then! Diamond_Dog Sunday #3

Yes there were. Drive a few blocks and you'd go from a Polish neighborhood, through a German one, then Italian. FadedMullet Sunday #5

So true. Diamond_Dog Sunday #6

Often true in NYC, too. Batches of majority ethnic neighborhoods... electric_blue68 Sunday #12

Ty.... electric_blue68 Sunday #10

When my sister and I were kids Diamond_Dog Sunday #2

TY. I guess...enough? electric_blue68 Sunday #11

My mother and grandmother would speak Polish in front of me MIButterfly Sunday #4

Ty. Hmmm, probably my mom and her mom occasionally spoke Greek in front of us. electric_blue68 Sunday #13

My mother and vrandmother sis the same with German. soldierant Sunday #17

Aha! electric_blue68 Sunday #20

My grandparents immigrated to America from Spain. My parents, aunts, and uncles spoke Spanish to one another. skylucy Sunday #7

TY. I took Spanish in HS. electric_blue68 Sunday #14

My mother could speak Polish with her sisters and parents. My dad could speak Italian. Srkdqltr Sunday #8

Ty. electric_blue68 Sunday #15

No secrets in my family. CrispyQ Sunday #9

TY. 😄 electric_blue68 Sunday #16

Wouldn't Have Worked ProfessorGAC Sunday #18

That's pretty funny. You probably had some natural ability. electric_blue68 Sunday #21

Don't Know ProfessorGAC Sunday #23

Still, natural ability. I was often hearing my mom, and her relatives speaking Greek but didn't catch it.... electric_blue68 Sunday #24

Yeah, I Don't Remember It Either ProfessorGAC Monday #25

My gradeparents did. But I spent alot of time with my grandparents and understood Ukrainian some Yiddish.The swear words debm55 Sunday #19

Good for you. Hahaha - tbe swear worlds... I only know one mild one in Greek... electric_blue68 Sunday #22

sometime around the teddy roosevelt administration rampartd Monday #26

My sister-in-law and my son-in-law COULD have done that DFW Monday #27

all my family has been here for generations so no other strange language besides my samnsara Monday #28

My mom spoke Polish to her sister over the phone & dad sure let the Serb swear word a fly SheltieLover Monday #29

I am umpteen generations away from the first ancestors who arrived here. yellowdogintexas Monday #30