Parnell

Trump and 3 years it might well be soon

tom169

Just like an American shouldn't say "I want to buy a fanny pack" if they moved to the UK.

Given this is likely my country of residence for the forseeable future (if not indefinitely) I'm trying to make an effort to adjust.

Continuing to write British words won't help me in an office when writing a report.

Same way as asking for the nearest petrol station won't help me if I'm lost.

The only person it would appease right now is probably my new dental hygienist who loves all things British and Royal family.

I do wonder how screwed my Barnsley-Southern accent could end up though.

robin1234

Two words - Mishal Husain

Rete

MEDIC !!!!

livinginnyc

My understanding on this one was if you're in a store (which is where I've heard it the most), the staff are 'pressured' to say Happy Holidays irrelevant of their particular views, but if you (the customer) say Merry Christmas, they can respond with it.

Certainly every time I've said Merry Xmas, I've had an instant 'Merry... ' back.

In a Dunkin Donuts once, the guy said 'have a dunkalicious day'. I'm quite sure he was just insane though, but that was a far far worse crime than saying Happy Holidays IMHO

dc koop

I'm too old to knuckle down to the PC brigade. On the other hand if I know someone is Jewish i'll wish a Happy Hanukah. I'll also avoid saying Merry Christmas to a Muslim or a Hindu/Sikh etc

dc koop

How about Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey? Superb !

mrken30

There are English words that I just forget how they are pronounced sometimes or just sound strange. There are also some US pronunciations that I cannot hear the difference

Is it Pree-us or Pri-us?
Privacy

There are also some US pronunciations that I cannot hear the difference
Pastor and Pasta
Pawn and porn

robin1234

Americans are always banging on about the way JFK pronounced "Cuba." Cuba, cuber? Sounds exactly the same to me.

petitefrancaise

Interesting - that's what the glaswegians say. Where's hotscot when you need him?
What Pulaski said about accepting idioms/venacular and staying long term in a country... I can't be bothered to find it but there is actually research demonstrating exactly that. IIRC it was making the mental/emotional adjustment to your new abode as "home" which helped you switch on "assimilate" mode for the new language- especially when it's a completely different language.
I've noticed that I now say "sure" more frequently rather than "ok". My neighbours asked to help out on something whilst they were away, I said "ok" which lead to a whole load of " oh we don't really want to bother you, are you really ok with doing this?" type of thing. If I say "sure, no problem" it seems to be a lot more positive on my side, whereas for me they seem the same.

mrken30

What's funny is my 3 yo obviously watches TV too much. He talks about lorries and bungalows. This I assume has come from watching Sarah and Duck and Peppa Pig.

anotherlimey

Not quite the same, but I never thought I'd ever use "y'all", but it's so useful.

mrken30

Next you'll be listening to country on the radio.

dc koop

Something like how my Sheffield accent ended up as a cab driver in London summed up pretty well.

"you have a northern accent mate but you use words and phrases that the Yanks use all the time"

Believe me after so many years words like "petrol" and "lift" (elevator) will disappear entirely from your vocabulary along with many others.

Before I came here I lived in Canada for five years. By the time I left I was saying "eh" after every sentence. Fortunately that didn't last very long

Nutmegger

I've never understood why people get so bent out of shape about saying "Happy Holidays." In what way is it different from the equally neutral "Season's Greetings" that has been used in the UK on non-commital greetings cards since the fifties to my personal knowledge and most likely far longer.