When I was an undergraduate, one of our academics gave lectures in a German accent. He wasn't actually German, of course. Had he been, this wouldn't be much of an anecdote. As it is, it's not the most riveting story. But bear with me. I've been in meetings all day and my judgment is impaired.
Anyway, the fake German accent kept our attention in what was an otherwise dull lecture series. Part of that attention was devoted to trying to work out WTF he was saying because a fake accent is never as clear as a real one but once we were over that we were mightily entertained.
And this made me wonder whether I should give next semester's lectures in a fake accent. But here's the problem — my talent for accents has gone the same way as my vocabulary, memory and restraint. It's declined to such an extent that I can only manage two with any degree of accuracy. So in the next few staff meetings, during with the fate of our School will be decided, I'll be making an equally momentous decision: Which accent — West Country or South African?
