Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga., Tim Chitwood Column: Gecko's Accent Irks Chap

By Tim Chitwood, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Jul. 2--So easy a caveman can

do it, it's Monday

Mail.

Off the phone.

Jerry Luquire called about a May 28 Monday Mail in which he was quoted, and he said the next time he's quoted in this column, he would like his comments to appear above the fold of the newspaper.

I would do that now, but I accidentally deleted his voice-mail message.

Off the phone again.

Veterinarian Hank Hall called to offer congratulations on our Georgia Press Association awards:

Tim,

Just wanted to call and wish you congratulations on your first-place humor column -- well-deserved, and I always enjoy your column, and just wanted to say congratulations, man. Keep up the good work.

Dear Hank:

Thanks. I got a big heavy plaque that I've propped like a deadfall trap on my bar at home, to scare the roaches.

How about those Geico TV commercials? Are those funny or what?

Dear Tim,

I think I understand why Geico auto insurance uses a gecko as a mascot -- Geico and gecko are similar words -- but I do not understand why the gecko has an East London British accent. Geckos are native to warmer places like Brazil, southern France or Vietnam, so wouldn't he be more likely to have a Portuguese, French, or Vietnamese accent? After watching some of Michael Caine's movies, I sure wouldn't trust buying insurance from him! And what about Geico's other mascot, the caveman? Why doesn't HE have a British accent, too? It's all just too confusing.

Maybe TV advertising experts believe we Americans are more likely to believe people from England. That's why two of three "America's Got Talent!" judges are English, and the voices on many commercials are English. Even that evil, perverted, little psycho baby on the adult cartoon "Family Guy" is British!

I personally do not believe Brits are more intelligent, creative, or wise than Americans, but apparently someone does!

Andy.

Dear Andy:

Perhaps the Geico gecko's from a former British colony.

Speaking of Brits, I'll tell you what my wife told me once when we were "on holiday" back in the mother country, and I couldn't persuade a motel clerk to give us a light blanket or at least a sheet to go between us and the bedspread in our room:

"Go back and tell those people that without us, they NEVER would have won World War II!"

So, if not for us, that gecko might be talking with a German accent. ("Ich bin Geico? Nein!")

Can you believe the Geico cavemen are getting their own sitcom? Next thing you know, they'll want their own cable news channel, too, if they don't have one already.

-----

To see more of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ledger-enquirer.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.