Ethelred_the_Unready

This is to fellow Brits who have been gone from home for more than circa 5 years...

Do you find yourself "forcing" British English words such as "bloke", "wanker" or "bloody hell"? I recently noticed myself doing this, even though such words seem to no longer come naturally and seem almost foreign to me. I don't know why I do this because I don't have any British friends or family over here and don't interact with British people regularly. I find myself forcing such words, even if they don't come naturally. These are not even words that I recall using that much when I lived in the UK.

Am I stark raving bonkers, or can anyone else relate?

Guindalf

No. You ARE, in fact, stark raving bonkers!

Ethelred_the_Unready

Guilty as charged.

Mummy in the foothills

I found myself forcing myself not to use those words for a long time. Now I've relaxed they have crept back into everyday speech. No forcing needed.

Brit3964

I still use some of the slang words when I'm over in UK even though I might not use them often over here but after 16+ yrs I do find when in the UK I'll have to force myself to say "zed" instead of "zee" and I'll pronounce aluminium as alum-in-um regardless. It just doesn't sound right the "proper" way anymore. Talking of proper, that's another word I rarely use now. It sounds so pompous

Speedwell

I'm not a fellow Brit, but I work for a multinational corporation and I pick up words from there and from my husband. I use "outwith", "wanker", and "bloody", have started to say "shop" for "store", and to my utter shock said "yer man" yesterday while referring casually to some random guy; my husband didn't seem to notice.

I do use, and have always used, "proper" (and "properly") without a second thought. It's half the effort of "appropriate", and I never thought of it as being posh... there's another one I've picked up

celticgrid

I find use of such words comes quite naturally still, particularly when I don't think about it.

thinbrit

Its becoming more and more of a blur. My US wife uses 'my' words (so much so she is often asked if she is from the UK), and I use 'hers'. We occasionally have a conversation along the lines "do you say that, or is it one of mine". We also make up words or phrases and try to get the other to use them in everyday sentences.

My colleagues think its cool/funny to interpose 'Brit' words in our conversations, and see if I notice. I rarely do.

The US vocabulary varies so much from region to region, that some 'Brit' words are in fact US words too. After spending years calling pop, soda, a colleague from MA flew in and asked for a can of pop

SultanOfSwing

I don't have to force them, they still come naturally to me. I've actually got to the point where my American contemporaries will start using them as well. The drummer of my band would always greet me at practices with "hello you bloody wanker"

Also, I've managed to corrupt my two year old. Whereas saying things like "'ello mate" are quite harmless, she can't seem to shake off "bollocks" and "bloody Nora" quite so easily

rallybug

My lovely wife is intent of me not dropping any English terms, in readiness for teaching the baby when it arrives

We passed someone in the supermarket the other day who had his son in the trolley and I heard him say (in an American accent) Oh, we need some bangers!" and went off to the sausages section

Ethelred_the_Unready

I lived in MA for a year and remember that well. It actually caught me off guard! That and many there even call rotaries 'roundabouts'. Add to that, Boston's rock/alternative stations play more British bands than I've heard outside of the UK, but don't do it in a cheesy Anglophile way.

Ethelred_the_Unready

You are a good father, teaching your child wisely

I think it also depends how often you interact with British people, whether here or back home. I seldom interact with fellow Brits, so over the years, my vocabulary, spelling and grammar have almost completely Americanised, except for emails and on this forum, where I try to use British English spelling, thanks to having a US and UK language set on my iPhone keyboard.

I do find myself "forcing" British words now. I fear that if I went back, I'd sound like a total idiot trying too hard to fit in!

Ethelred_the_Unready

See, I can't even say "zed" anymore. There's a 'Z' in my last name and I always say 'zee' automatically. Same goes for words like elevator, gas, (check the) mail, liquor store, intersection, chips (not crisps).

Weird how that all happens as I've generally rebelled against becoming American rather than embraced it.

The Englishster

I too am completely surrounded by Yanks (actually you can't call them that down here) and I've ended up treating English and American as two separate languages. In true British fashion I speak just the same now as I did back 'ome and it's their problem if they don't understand me If any of my mates detected a hint of an accent on the phone I would never hear the end of it. Ever.

I'm so proud of my 7yo who calls them trousers, not pants. I mean, pants? really? That's so wrong.

HarryTheSpider

They ARE two separate languages. English is, er, English. Anything else is, er, not!

Calling things that aren't pants, "pants", is just, well, pants!