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English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
English term or phrase:He's kind of a Kay
Hello everyone,
A woman is talking about her cat.
Oh, he's like a fourth child. He's a family member we take him on every vacation. He is a great addition to the, a compliment. He's kind of a Kay***, he's one of us.
Just replayed the video. In between, it looked like an edit, even though it was only the video player lagging on my side. When I replayed the video, I focused on the background and the same car was still driving there (or no longer driving). I guess one word could be done. However, considering that the other people interviewed did not have anything cut off their time, as it looks to me, I don't think we've been missing out on much.
There's certainly a very obvious edit just before 'complement', and I half suspect that there's another, more subtle edit between the 'a' and the 'Kay' — if so, that could explain the rather odd sound of the words at that point; it definitely does sound to me like a weak, indeterminate vowel, the kind of 'a' that almost errs towards 'uh'; but then it sounds almost like a glottal stop (for which there would be no phonetic justification at this point), which is what makes me wonder if there isn't maybe another hamfisted edit here too?
As this animal is " like a fourth child" and "a family member", presumably he takes part in family discussions, takes his turn to do the washing up and they have carefully planned his education at a suitable purrparatory school.
I didn't say it turned into a distinct 'a' sound, but that it becomes weak and indeterminate, rather in the same way that the indefinite article 'a' often does.
Although I don't have your extensive experience of travel throughout all the US regions, I have had enough exposure to US films to know that 'OK' gets pronounced all sorts of ways — to the extent that nowadays there is even a trend to make it just 'K, where the vowel has become SO weak as to be almost completely absent.
You have told us that the woman pauses after "He's kind of". So perhaps the "a Kay" or OK goes with "he's one of us" rather than with "He's kind of". As this is an off-the-cuff interview, she will be thinking on her feet, trying to find the right words to express what she means. So she may have started by saying, "He's kind of ...", then struggling to find exactly the right word, gives up and says "OK, he's one of us", as in, for example: "He's kind of ... oh, all right then, he's one of us" or "He's kind of ... oh, I don't know, he's [just] one of us". Compare earlier on when she presumably missed out the word "family" [He is a great addition to the, a compliment.]
Another possibility - could she be repeating her first comment "Oh, he's like a fourth child" by saying "He's kind of our kid?
O will be very round or less round but don't know of any US region were the O in Okay turns to an 'a' sound. However the Kay part can be diphthongized beyond recognition in certain regional accents. As for Jack's Philly coffee, if the 'o' was too short, them Philly ears might have missed it. Of course maybe the people serving weren't from the area or even the US. Yanks tend to say coooooooffe -elongating the o sound. The 'ah' sound in car-free would get closer to the US mark......
Even if it's written as "a Kay", I think it must be an error in the script, it doesn't make sense in that form. Talking of accents, when I was in Philadelphia a few years ago, I found that if I asked for a coffee they would always query it, but if I asked for a "car-fee" there was no problem.
Those are careful pronunciations of 'OK' — but if this is off-the-cuff speech, then certainly in some US regional accents will lead to a pronunciation that is not 'OH-kay' but rather 'a-KAY' — where the emphasis is slightly more on the second syllable 'kay' and the 'o' becomes a weak, almost swallowed, indeterminate vowel.
I agree: kind of okay doesn't fit with the rest of
09:10 Aug 7, 2014
the context: Oh, he's like a fourth child. He's a family member we take him on every vacation. He is a great addition to the, a compliment. I don't see the cat can be reduced to "kind of okay". Imo that doesn't make sense.
I have a video and a script - what I've written in the question is written in the script
Well, the woman says "He's kind of" then she makes a pause and says "a Kay". I'm not a native speaker and might well be wrong, but I don't think she says "OK" -- at least if compared to how "OK" is pronounced at the links below:
Well, this is a TV show titled What's the alternative.
And at the beginning, i.e. before the presenter begins to talk to her guests, some random people (people from the street, so to speak) give their opinion on having pets at home. The woman in question does not say anything else.
I wonder if Kay is the last name of the family? So, the cat would be "a Kay" as in "he's a Smith" or something? As the lady is saying he is one of "us" and imo "kind of ok" would be a little weak to describe a family member that goes everywhere and is one of the "clan".
Just thinking..
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
5 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
he's kind of a kay
he's kind of OK
Explanation: A guess - sounds like this may have been incorrectly transcribed from audio/video?
JaneD Sweden Local time: 09:09 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
peer agreement (net): +4
