Buster Scruggs film - do native speakers understand all?

[Bonobo]

My latest fascination is western film anthology by Cohen brothers. One of the short films is Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Extremely funny though brutal, too.
Buster is very amusing with his peculiarly inflated way of speaking. However, the pronunciation, accentuation and intonation are sometimes so twisted I can barely figure out what he says.

E.g. check this scene - below the link is the transcript.



Buster: I'd like me a splash of whiskey to wash the trail dust off my gullet and keep my singing voice in fettle.

Cantina Bartender: Whiskey's illegal. This is a dry county.

Buster Scruggs: [points to the other customers] Well, what are they drinking?

Cantina Bartender: ...whiskey. They's outlaws.

Oh!

Well, don't let my white duds and pleasant demeanor fool ya.

I too have been known to violate the statutes of man, and not a few of the laws of the Almighty.

You ain't no outlaw. And we don't drink with tinhorns.

Sir, it seems that you are no better a judge of human beings than you are a specimen of one.

Just on a brief inventory, I'd say that you could use yourself a shave and a brighter disposition.

And lastly, if you don't mind me aspersin' your friends, a better class of drinking buddy.

Your shootin' iron work?

Appears to do. Yes.

Huh.

It appears that the vitals of this lucky son-of-a-gun remain unpunctured. Sloppy shootin' on my part.

Here now, I'll get that for you, partner.

A coup de grâce I'll leave to the wolves and gila monsters.

Adios, amigo.

[jeanne]

To answer your question whether native English speakers understand everything, I can answer from my own perspective: regarding this video I do understand it all, but only because I have been exposed to this "dialect" during much of my life from watching TV in my earlier years, as well as from a couple of people I have come in contact with. Though it is funny, the manner of speaking does grate on my sensibilities after awhile, but that's mainly because I like everything, especially speech and grammar, to be correct whereas some people would not be bothered by it, but would only see the humor in it.

I can understand why you are having trouble understanding it, and I hope you will not try too hard to master it, lest you find yourself taking on this manner of speaking. The parents of your students would not be amused!

[naukowiec]

Love the Coen brothers! I don't know this film though.
Yes, I understand everything, but I had to really concentrate in a couple of places. Having said that, I did have to look up the meaning of 'tinhorn' as it's not a word I've encountered before. We get a lot of American films/shows in the UK, so I'm quite used to accents/dialects. I can imagine if you haven't watched too much American TV that understanding it might present a problem though!

[Bonobo]

Jan 2, 2022 2:22:16 GMT 1 jeanne said:

I can understand why you are having trouble understanding it,

Now that I have a look at the transcript again it turns out I simply didn`t know a lot of words. E.g,

gullet - throat
in fettle - in good shape
aspersing - critisizing
shooting iron or just iron - guns. In Polish there are the same colloquial expressions e.g, pukawka - knocker for a gun.
vitals mean internal organs.
Amazing I had never met them before.

I also checked what a dry county means - PROHIBITION!!! Still functioning in some US states. Amazing!

So, it isn`t only his manner of peculiar intonation or pronunciation which I had a problem with but also vocabulary. But now I will bear it in mind!

Jan 2, 2022 16:01:59 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

but I had to really concentrate in a couple of places.

Even maximum concentration didn`t help me when I heard "cowny" instead of county or "statue to mayen" instead of statues of man. My facial expression must have been really stupid then. hahaha

Jan 2, 2022 16:01:59 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

I don't know this film though.

There are 6 short films of varying themes altogether, available on youtube or elsewhere for free coz they are from 2018.

This full singing cowboy Buster Scruggs episode is below though bad quality and poor subtitles. Very funny - I love everything in it - soundtrack, acting, etc.



And there are seperate scenes of better quality, too. Here the one when he kills an unpleasant guy and sings about him. BTW, this song also gave me a lot of headache with figuring out its meaning.



Lyrics:

Surly Joe, the gambler

He will gamble nevermore

His days of stud and hold 'em

They are done

It was long about last April

He stepped into this saloon

But he never really took to anyone

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Oh, wherever he's gambling now I don’t know

We don't know

He was slick, but I was slicker

He drew quick, but I was quicker

And the table stopped his ticker

Surly Joe

Yee-haw!

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Won't be missed by anyone

Will Surly Joe

Surly Joe

Humankind he frowned upon

But not now, his face is gone

Guess your frowning days are done

Oh, Surly Joe

Yee-haw!

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

A cedilla on the C of Curly Joe

Surly Joe!

He was mean in days of yore

Now they're mopping up the floor

Oh, Surly Joe

Yee-haw!

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Surly Joe ♪

Where the rest his face has got to

We don't know

We don't know

He was never any fun

Now his grumpy race has run

Kisser blown to kingdom come

Oh, Surly Joe...

[naukowiec]

Jan 3, 2022 12:14:49 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Very funny

It is indeed

[Bonobo]

Jan 4, 2022 16:15:43 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

It is indeed

We are horrible. People get brutally killed and we are laughing. It is really improper.

[naukowiec]

You are right. I must cultivate a better sense of decorum 😂

[Bonobo]

Jan 9, 2022 9:38:49 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

I must cultivate a better sense of decorum 😂

If you expect that your newly adopted white duds and pleasant demeanor will fool us in the future, then you are gravely mistaken!!! Ha!



Another case of my flabbergasted reception of English was with Kate Bush`s songs. I have loved her and them since I heard her first time as a boy. However, I could only understand half or even less of some lyrics.

E.g, Wuthering Heights. I read the novel at uni but it still didn`t improve my understanding.



Out on the wily, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you, too
Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine a lot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back love
Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream
My only master
Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side, to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
Ooh, let me have it
Let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold
Let me in your window
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy
I've come home, I'm so cold

[naukowiec]

Jan 9, 2022 18:29:42 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Kate Bush`s songs

I absolutely love Kate Bush. Amazing singer songwriter!

Jan 9, 2022 18:29:42 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Wuthering Heights. I read the novel at uni but it still didn`t improve my understanding.

Have a look at this, especially under the 'writing' section, it may help when you look back at the lyrics:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights_(song)


Some of my favourite Kate Bush songs:

Running up that hill:


Army Dreamers:



Babooshka:



Hammer Horror:



Sat in your lap:



The man with the child in his eyes which Bush wrote when she was only 13:

[Bonobo]

Jan 16, 2022 21:31:49 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

I absolutely love Kate Bush. Amazing singer songwriter!

Since 1970s like me?

Jan 16, 2022 21:31:49 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

Have a look at this, especially under the 'writing' section, it may help when you look back at the lyrics:

Yes, today I know it all. But I didn`t when I was reading the book and listened to her song as a student.
I wonder her the problem is - probably her poor articulation of words - she doesn`t pronounce them as clearly as people educated in elite British schools.

[naukowiec]

Jan 18, 2022 18:57:52 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Since 1970s like me?

That's a leading question.....

Jan 18, 2022 18:57:52 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

probably her poor articulation of words - she doesn`t pronounce them as clearly as people educated in elite British schools.

I think she speaks quite clearly although I can detect her London roots :



You don't have to be educated in an elite school to speak clearly. I think what you really mean is accentless speech. It's harder to understand someone with a regional dialect, and generally speaking, it tends to be knocked out of you in what you term elite British schools.

[Bonobo]

Jan 29, 2022 20:17:17 GMT 1 naukowiec said:

I think she speaks quite clearly although I can detect her London roots :

So it is not her accent but music which obscures the lyrics plus poetic language. This interview is fully comprehensible when she speaks prose.

[naukowiec]

Jan 30, 2022 15:23:49 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

So it is not her accent but music which obscures the lyrics plus poetic language

I guess so!