In the Ear of the Behearer

I came out into the kitchen this morning to find L playing with a little talking toy.  It was one of those little figurines of the Star Trek character "Scotty" that she'd evidently gotten in a Happy Meal^® or something.  It had a little button on the back and when you pushed it he screamed his famous Star Trek line in full brogue:  "I've given her all she's got, captain!"

"Daddy," L approached me, "I don't understand this.  I think he's talking in a foreign language."

"He's Scottish," I explained.  "It's English, but he's got a Scottish accent that makes it hard to understand."

I walked back to where Stacy was working on the computer to tell her about L's linguistic lesson.  "L was playing with that little Scotty doll and couldn't figure out what he was saying."

"It is tough," she said, "It took me forever to realize he's saying 'McGilligan's lost his dog, captain!'"