bugman

my accent is still pretty thick (lancs) after 5 years but i do find myself saying some words yank and thinking thats how ive always said it, well i think so anyway, the transition is insidious and inevitable i suppose. eg a migraine headache, i used to say My-grain, and not me-grain, i think.....therein lies the problem, im not sure anymore, i saw flippin rosemary and thyme and one of the actors said me-grain, im thinking 'she said it like a yank'...now im confused.

I also say 'twenny' for twent-ti (20) like a yank now, its very frustrating but at least people can understand me. i did talk to a long term expat a few months back and he had a hybrid UK/US accent, i couldnt even tell where he was originally from.

how well have you kept your accent/pronunciation?

Bluegrass Lass

Just to help confuse you more, as a native USC myself, I can say I've never heard migraine pronounced "me-graine"..it's always been "MY-graine"

My OH's family seem to think he's developed a Southern twang after almost 6.5 years here, but I don't hear it. He does say a few things more like a Yank, but most of the time he doesn't.

taffie77

I think both version of migraine are used in the UK, though for some reason I have always thought of Me-graine as 'posh' I'm sure the advert for exderil (sp?) migraine is pronounce My-graine.
I don't think I've been here long enough for US influence, but my accent is all over the place after being raised in Wales, and then living in various parts of the West Country from 18 to 32. I have had to stop and think a few times, usually when being asked
I've been generally going with the flow so far, but the aparant insertion of a J into Parmasan really bugs me (probably unreasonably )

bevinva

I can't imagine how many things I say the wrong way now, the only way to find out is get it wrong in the UK and be laughed at. It used to depress me, now it really really depresses me.

kimilseung

My wfie pointed out to me the other day that I had said Home Dee-po, I said whats wrong with that, then she told thats how Americans say it, "no its not" I replied, anyway Home Depot was on my list of words and phrases that I had claimed I would never adopt, and now I, apparently, dont know which ones which.

Steerpike

I'm also from Lancs and started out with a very strong 'eh, bah, gum' accent. I went to London and found a) no one could understand me, and b) everyone thought I was a blithering idiot because I was from 'up north'. I found that I could very easily pick up the local way of speaking, and life got a whole lot better once I did that.

Then I came to the US; without trying, I found that I was picking up the local accent/pronunciation and lingo. At this point - 25 years on - people say ... 'do I detect a slight accent from somewhere...'? They can hardly tell any longer. But when my mom (mum) visits, after a couple of weeks, people comment that my accent has changed. So I think I'm a natural chameleon when it comes to accent/pronunciation/etc. I really don't care either way - I have ZERO desire to be identified as 'from' Lancs, 'some' desire to be identified as from UK in general, but there are more important things to worry about !

The 'class' thing in UK really did make having a Lancashire accent a big negative, though!

Steerpike

Why on EARTH would this be depressing .. ?! It's not 'right' and 'wrong', it's just two ways of doing something ...

bevinva

Mine can come and go, I've been here a long time too. When I watch something from the UK I can "feel" an increase in my accent right afterwards. I'm also told it is still strong when I'm mad at someone. Some people realise right away I'm foreign and some don't notice atall.

bevinva

It's depressing to realise I've lost the accent and way of speaking I used to have. I'm very proud to be British but time and distance have rendered me incapable of sounding like I am all the time.

Sally Redux

My Mum's family were always saying things like, "Ooh what an awful pattern, it's giving me a my-graine", so I also assumed me-graine was the 'posh' way in the UK. It seems to be my-graine here, though.

My husband's name is Martin, which I pronounce with a 't' in it, but he has come full circle as it's pronounced 'Marden' both here and and by his Geordie family.

dunroving

I've stopped trying to figure out what word I should use - I just use whatever word or colloquialism pops into my head first.

I figure that people will ask what I mean if I'm using a UK or US colloquialism they haven't heard. Besides, I've realise/realized that a lot of US expressions are now common use in the UK, period. (that was an example). Math/maths, who cares, if you can't figure it out then you're really not trying. I even see the term "jock" used frequently here to mean a sporty type/athlete ... and there was me being REALLY careful not to use it here for fear of being labelled an English bigot.

I used the term "uptake" (as in the uptake of a goevrnment-sponsored school program/programme) in an email to a US colleague and he said he wasn't sure what I meant by uptake (I suppose "adoption" was the term more commonly used there iif I remmeber correctly). But in biology, the term "uptake" is understood, and he's a scientist, so I reckon in context he should have been able to guess what I meant.

I can't lose sleep over being word-perfect any more as it is a losing battle.

Having said that, it surprises me how many Scots (including my well-educated colleagues) don't realise that the term "outwith" is not in common use in the rest of the English-speaking world.

cindyabs

Well folks I've got news for you. Today is INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!!!!!! Got my annual email to this effect-


As Big Ben be chimin' midnight, an' this sceptred isle be reachin' th' shores o' Sunday, it be givin' be great pleasure t'say that today, 19th September, be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

"I be knowin' o' pirate events happenin' around th' country, in Avoncroft, Bath, Exeter, Kirkcaldy, Leicester, Matlock, Nottingham, Newquay, London an' Whitstable - an' that be in addition t'the many that already be takin' place on Sat'day. All the details, as ever, be at http://www.yarr.org.uk/events/

Be havin' a great, grand Pirate Day, me hearties! Fair winds t'ye all!"


HAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

tonrob

Well, shiver me sprouts etc.

tonrob

I got told off on my last trip to the UK for saying something was 'neat'.

An additional insult was that the lady chastising me was Finnish.

bugman

i kept saying 'sure'. I just have to get used to saying 'you aw right?' (ie 'are you all right?') instead of 'hows it going' on my next trip back.