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Why was Grandma's accent 'Old World' - meaning Northern European?

posted 12 years ago by nycruise-1
6 replies | jump to latest

Supposedly they were mostly an Irish family. No one had a brogue - but Grandma talked like a refugee from a Communist country or a cousin of Dracula.

And if so, why didn't they ever lapse into speaking her native language on occasion? All the grandmas I've known - mine included - from wherever they came from, if they had an accent, it was because English was not their first language, and so the kids invariably grew up in the U.S. bilingual.

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

[–] tmaj48 12 years ago

Francie's maternal grandparents were immigrants from Austria. Katie's father was a
nasty character who could understand English, but refused to speak it unless
absolutely necessary. Katie's mother insisted that her daughters (there were
four of them in the book) speak only English at home and not become bilingual,
as she wanted as little communication as necessary between them and their hateful, foul-mouthed father--according to the book, "He never spoke to them except to curse them." She even went to
her daughters' school and "in halting English told the teacher that the children
must be encouraged to speak only English; they were not to use a German word
or phrase ever. In that way, she protected them from their father."

Officer McShane was an Irish immigrant, so he had a brogue, but Johnny Nolan
was born in Brooklyn.

I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

[–] FANatic-10 12 years ago

Thanks for the explanation, as its been so long since I've read the book I'd forgotten. I must say it rather surprised me when the actress appeared in the movie, as I'd assumed Katie was Irish-American, and her Old World, Eastern European accent and demeanor didn't feel quite right. Still loved the movie!

[–] Siriry 11 years ago

Katie was Not Irish and neither was her mother. Katie was Austrian-American and Johnny was Irish-American.

Siri

Don't Make Me Have to Release the Flying Monkeys!

[–] Miinerva 11 years ago

It's an easy mistake to make. The chances that Austrian ex-pats would name their daughter Katie is extremely unlikely.

[–] LPurch6636 11 years ago

Katie's name could have originally been Catarina, Catherine,Kaitlyn, or Trina etc.
All non-Irish. Since Johnny was Irish, he could have dubbed his wife the affectionate name of "Katie." My Mom's name was Louise but my Dad always called her "Irish." (This was a case where she was Irish.)

Flanagan

[–] tmaj48 11 years ago

Betty Smith named the Nolans after her real-life parents, both of whom came from German immigrant families. Her mother was named Catherine, and often nicknamed Katey.

I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.