RICH

My co worker from New England has a similar accent to me from Bristol, but she has more trouble understanding me than others from around the US

Wintersong

Yup! When I'm in the UK they tell me I sound very American, which comes as a surprise to my American friends.

As others have said, I think it's to do with word usage/phrasing.

Pulaski

As far as I can tell my accent has changed little, not just since I came to the US nearly 16 years ago but since I left Sheffield at the age of eight. I completed school in Glawster, and nothing of the local drawl rubbed off on me.

Neither did the years spent studying and working in Landan influence my accent either - in fact my accent was noticed and commented on handful of times when I lived there, either as from Yorkshire, or one occasion specifically "Sheffield". Another memorable occasion when I was on the phone to someone in Tennessee with an American accent asked how I came to be in London because she could tell I was from Yorkshire (she was in fact a British expat).

So all things considered I am not surprised that my accent has changed little. Contrary to some people's assertions above, my deliberate choice to use American words, and phrases, and use American pronunciation and cadance in words like gah-rhaj, wadder, tom-ay-toe, etc doesn't seem to have affected my accent either. I still get comments most weeks on my accent, and as many as three times a day on weekends isn't unusual, and people seem surprised when I tell them I have been here in NC for 14 years.

Oh, and it's a rare occasion when anyone asks if I am Australian - maybe a couple of times a year.

scot47

Outside Fife, where I grew up I am always identified as a Scot from my Sean Connery tones. When back n Fife I am accused of adopting g a phoney English accent !

ian-mstm

Sheila says that when we're watching Shetland, my Scottish accent kicks in again but then stops when the show goes off. Also weird.

Ian

Awesome Welles

I have to say that I find the 'mid-Atlantic' accents that some British expats adopt within months/few years of living here to be rather nauseating. I think it understandable for children, who may need to adjust to fit in - but adults doing it is just plain odd, in my view.

My daughter was born and raised in West Yorkshire and she was 19 when we moved here. 15 years later, she is a Sheriffs Deputy in Central FL with a very distinct British accent, with a northern flavor to it.

I did a ride-along with her a couple of years ago, where she'd arrested some low-life, who'd thumped his wife. This dirtbag said she had a cute accent and asked where she was from, her reply was, "It doesn't matter where I'm from, it's where you're going, that you need to worry about".

petitefrancaise

My daughter is amazing at accents. Within a couple of weeks of being in TX, she'd got the local accent down brilliantly. She wanted to audition for a part in a play at school that was a British character but was having problems switching back to her English accent so she called me and asked me to talk to her. Her friends were astonished.

She also speaks french with a Toulousain accent since she was born/brought up in France and her English is exactly mine even though she's never been in the UK for more than 3 weeks a year.

scrubbedexpat091

My mother in law has been in North America since the mid 1960's, originally from Austria and still has a thick Austrian accent, father in law who is Swiss has a very light accent, sounds more North American then Swiss now, he has been in Canada since the early 60's.

Pulaski

I don't know about "amazing", she sounds like my sister, who adopts the local accent apparently within minutes of arriving somewhere. I don't think it is voluntary or done conciously, so she is the polar opposite of me, because I don't think I could change my accent if my life depended on it, and the only accent I can mimic is South African.

petitefrancaise

well, your sister sounds amazing too!

you don't....

Made in Sheffield 1

As there are loads of languages and accents spoken in Dubai, I don't think my Sheffield accent has changed much apart from not using flat vowels and glottal stops when I talk to people who don't speak English as a first language.

I admit to using upward inflection to make myself understood sometimes. It's something I hate doing.

I also have to miss words out to speak to people who really struggle to understand me.
"There's a leak in our apartment, please can you send someone to fix it" becomes "leak in apartment. You send someone to fix?"

A lot of my British friends over here have started using the words:
Vacation (even my husband says this now)
Parking lot
Elevator
Trash/Garbage

They just sound wrong to me.

robin1234

My wife (she's from New York City) has always used the word "garbage" when she means "trash." I've spent 40+ years trying to correct her, but no effect yet.

Made in Sheffield 1

Nah, it'll always be rubbish or litter

tom169

To be honest I rarely heard the word "litter" in the UK.

Over here I just hear it in relation to cats.

Britexmom

Me too I have been in Texas for 19 years and am always being asked if I am Australian....occasionally South African is the guess.
I am from Suffolk, so not too far from yourself .