I laughed when I read this blog entry about sites for eavesdroppers and then followed the links… 😀
From Overheard in New York:
Vendor: I hate customers like you, with your big bills for a 95-cent drink.
Ghetto thug: I could always shoot your old ass, and have the soda for free if that makes making change any easier.
Then there was Overheard in the Office:
Test coordinator: You accidentally assigned the defect to the wrong application.
Tester: Okay, I’ll fix that. Sorry for the incontinence.
Yikes!
Overheard in Philly, Overheard in Law School, and Overheard in Pittsburgh are equally interesting. Check ’em out.
Why do I find these sites interesting? Like Kristen King, the entries can act as a catalyst to story ideas, plot twists, or interesting characters.
But for me, in particular, there’s the whole “I live in Sri Lanka” factor. Even when English is spoken here – which it isn’t by most people in most crowds – it’s spoken completely differently than in North America. Words have different meanings here, accents are thicker, sentences are spoken with different grammatical rules. There are so many cultural differences that are reflected in the way people speak. If my characters all spoke the way Sri Lankans do, it would be very confusing for a lot of people.
A dose of North American English helps. Tremendously.
But then even if I were still in Canada, these sites would still help. Then I could eavesdrop on interesting conversations without having to leave my house.
Ah, bliss. 😀
Side note: if any of you know of any other similar sites, please let me know. 🙂
