accent /ˈakˌsent/

I remember travelling in Ohio when a waitress commented on our accents. My associate had a good laugh and said, “What are you talking about! We’re from Canada. We don’t have accents!” I immediately laughed at this silliness while realizing that he was sincere. How could he honestly think that any one locale could claim ownership of language in such a way? I couldn’t believe that someone could reach adulthood maintaining such a naïve perception. It is of course, impossible for any speaker in the world to be devoid of accent.

Today, when the ubiquitous layers and layers of tribal delusion have become transparent to me, I realize that my former associate’s flawed perception is probably not that rare, and given the constraints of instinct, understandable really.