From: kehoea@parhasard.net   
      
    Ar an t-ochtú lá déag de mí Feabhra, scríobh Stefan Ram:   
      
    > >[...] 01:10:06,427 but his flat A's and his hard R's betray a background of   
    > >the Middle West.   
    >   
    >   "Flat A" means a lower, more centered version of the short "a" sound   
    >   (/æ/ like in "cat," "trap," or "dance"). It's different from the more   
    >   raised or tense /æ/ you hear in places like New York or up North.   
    >   
    >   "Hard R" means the strong American-style /r/ sound, where you still   
    >   pronounce the "r" after a vowel, like in "car" [kɑɹ] or "hard" [hɑɹd].   
      
   Movie was set in Los Angeles but this thinking seems to be New York oriented,   
   at a point when New York was still non-rhotic.   
      
   --   
   ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /   
   How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’   
   (C. Moore)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)