Craig1987

There's a town a few miles outside of the one I grew up in called Kilncadzow. Anyone want to take a guess how to pronounce that one?

"Kiln-cad-zow"? Sounds simple... But wrong... It's pronounced "Kil-Kay-Gay"...

Still don't understand that one...

Ridski

I had the same issue with the Adirondacks. It's Addy-RON-dacks, but of course I went with A-DIE-rondacks, which still causes much amusement to my US wife.

Lothianlad

Not in Manchester it won't, apparently - the one in England I mean, not the one in New Hampshire. I believe it is a Mancunian expression and apparently it was use by the character Bet Lynch (played by Julie Goodyear) in Corrie (aka Coronation Street) quite often but seemingly in a pejorative way, invariably directed at a male character, and one who had been audacious enough to cross her in some way - not a difficult thing to achieve by all accounts.

When I first arrived in Leeds to attend uni there I was surprised to be addressed as "luv" (Tykespeak for "love") by a male bus driver fairly soon after my arrival (my first time ever in Yorkshire itself let alone Leeds). He may have been in his 30s or so I would guess and as it was 2000 I was just 19, and the guy was not at all bad looking, and I must have thought it was my lucky day as I was really apprehensive about things in general at the time. I subsequently discovered that the term of address "luv" knew no gender boundaries in that part of England. I felt quite let down at first on realising that.

meauxna

THAT is your best post evah.
(I had the same problem with 'pet'.. I thought 'how sweet, they really like me!')

jimandtina2008

I have the same problem with the "oh" sound in John and the 'aw' in Dawn......we have friends whose names are John and Dawn and most Americans seem to think I'm saying Jane and Don!!!! When I try and say Don, they think I'm saying Dawn.........we English just pronounce the o sound much shorter perhaps, the Americans much longer......

jimandtina2008

Another thing I find funny is, now that I've setlled in at work and no longer really pay attention to making sure I'm understood, all the local colloquialisms and sayings are coming out. I get some really strange looks when I say knackered, away with the fairies, sandwich short of a picnic, six of one half a dozen of the other, you Plonker!! or you Numpty!!! among many many others. Still thankfully the girls I work with think it's great and a lot of them have had me do the recorded message on their mobile phones.

Yes, I have to use the correct words and for the most part pronounce them the right way like ga-rarge, trash can, vacuum (not Hoover), tomayto etc but who cares.......I had to do it when I moved from England to Scotland - you learn to adapt, but I still kept the English accent.

One other thing, most of the girls when they first hear me say 'Bloody Hell' think I'm being really naughty....for some reason they think it's worse in Britain to say than the 'F' word.

Malashaan

Went to a sugar house (where they make maple syrup) yesterday and the guy in the store said to me "so I can tell from your accent you grew up round here in Vermont" and grinned; thought that was a really nice way of asking me where I was from

anne55

That happens to me a lot, makes for some pleasant conversation when I tell them no I am from Alabama

Once went into a Woolworth's years ago somewhere in one of the southern states? I wanted a Map, had the hardest time! they thought I was asking for a Mop and the assistant directed me to the cleaning section

Redwing

I used to ride the train that went to Milngavie. I think that was pronounced "Mullguy". At least that's what they told me.

Bob

The missus, one her uncles just built a new sap house because since the grandfather died, the uncle who got the house/grounds has been charging people for maple syrup and it's not very good.

So the new stuff, it's quite lovely, but about 50-60 gallons of sap to make a gallon of good syrup for the first year. Depending on the winter, can get better yields down to 30-40 gallons of sap for a gallon, but not this winter.

S Folinsky

Just out of curiosity, what does this phrase mean in the UK? In American slang it is used in the sense of "there is no difference" or "either choice is fine." For example "Should I pay by debit card or credit card?" "Six one, half dozen the other."

I do like "sandwich short of a picnic." I can see it is the equivalent "one short of a six-pack" or "not firing on all cylinders."

steve100100

Same thing.

S Folinsky

Oh, six one half dozen the other, then? [Sorry my inner child could not resist. ]

Yorkieabroad

We use "six and two threes" which is six of one and half a dozen of the other but a bit less of a mouthful!

Craig1987

That's correct. Never been to Milngavie, but I used to get that train. The last stop in the other direction is Lanark... Which is near Kilncadzow. Small world.

Oh, and in Scotland, we just say "it's six and half a dozen".