It happens every where here, from fast food to fancy places, makes not much difference if it's a Brazilian joint, Italian, pizza, burger place. Only place it generally isn't a issue is at Chinese places.

Yeah, but it happens all the time. When you're standing face to face.

It's not a massive leap to figure out you're asking for water, when everyone else is also asking for water.

Also, everyone here has a accent.

I don't.

I'm afraid I lowered myself to a cross between water and wadder, I got sick of repeating myself! I say warter, it works, and saves the veins in my head exploding!!

This has never, not once in 11 years, ever happened to me. It's to the point where I'm not sitting at my desk whispering the word 'water' to myself to see if those of us from Norn Irn say the 't' as a 'd' now, I can't hear it though. I know I've picked up a slight accent but even in the beginning I never had trouble. It's either my accent, the WI/IL accent or a combination of both.

Now, try reading a number with '8' in it, or spelling a word with 'h' in it over the phone with an NI accent and the fun really begins

I think it's more of a Southern England accent problem

Makes sense that us salt-of-the-earth Northerners can communicate more readily with the colonials

Yes, you were further away from Buckingham Palace, it's an anti monarchy thing. Blame the King.

I've nothing against 'Is or 'Er Maj, but to be honest being far away from London doesn't always strike me as a bad thing ...

I was in the mob with 3 NI guys, there names were, Whittle, McConnell and Irwin, none of our training instructors could understand their names


I shall attempt to spell the way I heard..


Whuddle
M'Cuuuuunull
Urrrrrwun


Whuddle aka Frank (yeah original) was unintelligible when drunk!


I'm assuming 8 was in the region of eeeeyit, my favourite was always Dirty Tree

There are some pretty interesting accents back in NI. I was reasonably well spoken compared to everyone else. I lived just outside of Belfast so I had a mild 'generic' NI with a hint of Co. Antrim (which sounds slightly more Scottish). Sort of like a cross between Liam Neeson and that bloke who played the lead in The Fall.

You're right about 8. Same goes with 'h' - eeeeitch. 'Dirty Tree' might have been more arsing about though, since that's more of a Dublin accent than NI.

When this is the type of example we are setting for our children I'm not surprised the country is going to the dogs.

As opposed to...

Reminds me of the rugby player Billy Twelvetrees was given the nickname 36 by his Irish club captain.

Not usually a problem here in ATL

I had the same issue in a NYC diner, when asking for butter for pancakes (it took 3 people, including the supervisor/manager to ask what it was that I wanted). When I explained, the response: "OH! You mean buDDA" que much joy at having worked it out. As others have said, it's the cost of having to do business - like changing the pronunciation of your last name so that it's correctly spelled.

This is one of my favourites, reminds me of my time in NI. (Sultan may enjoy it):