davispigeon

Happened to me recently! I had a workmate ask me.
Me: Erm, well, it's not very polite. Um. Why don't you google it and see what it says?

Workmate, later on, post-google: oh. I see what it means now.

ed_san_diego

Two conversations I've had in bus stops in the last week:

Convo 1:
Girl: Where in England are you from?
Me: London
Girl: so are you old fashioned?
Me: No...
Girl: But Prince Charles' mother is old fashioned
Me: Yes, the royals are.
Girl: You know them??
Me: No.

Convo 2:

Guy: So why did you come here to study? I mean, you already know English.
Me:
Guy: But that's why people come here, to learn English.
Me: Well, your universities actually teach other things too ...

Ridski

Technically, that may be correct.

In some other countries, you have a trial before being found not guilty and set free...

smeg

Like most, I've had the usual "Are you Australian?" and other goodies.

I managed to convince a new hire that "piss off" was a greeting, which cracked up the other guys here who I have managed to teach "piss off" "wanker" and "bollocks" too, and their correct use.

One of my newest direct reports overstepped the line once and wrote "piss off" "bollocks" and "wanker" in the dirt on the back of my car with his finger (great career move, putting this on your bosses car!), which I cleaned up instantly, but rather than tell him this, I let him think I was driving around with it still there. When he finally cracked and "told me", I let him know I'd found it the night before when picking up my friends 10 year old kids, and did he understand what a difficult situation he had put me in, having to explain such rude things to a child?

He was mortified

mandpete

People have asked the usual ones - Are you... Irish, Scottish, Australian, even Swiss. I've also been told that I don't sound like the Queen.

The latest one was "I know that accent, you're from Kansas".

ed_san_diego

I've never been guessed as English, it's almost always "Australian?" Once Scottish, once Irish.

And I have been told I sound like the queen, then he changed to it to Maggie Thatcher
(He did then admit those are the only British women he's ever heard speak, so he didn't have much to compare me to, which was a relief as I was about to check myself in for voice coaching.)

uktoamerica

1) Do they speak English over in England?

2) Did you come over to America by bus?

Seriously. No joking.

blaze

I am now apparently from Missouri according to a patient at our practice!

BrandonBrit

I went into a tea shop here today, they had a little bakery bit at the front, sold butterfly cakes, which I've never seen over here, cornish pasites and sausage rolls to name a few Brit things. Bought a few bits and was talking with my daughter about the butterfly cakes and how I used to make them for her birthday parties back home, the girl behind the counter serving me said" we make them because the owner is English, she's from England" apparently she couldn't hear my accent... Glad she clarified to me that someone who is English is from England though

frrussre

Those darn English are from England, who knew?
I gotta remember that, may come in handy.
Reg. Frank R.

Tarkak9

"So, who came up with "Bath" for a name of a town?"
- That would be Trevor from Upper Uncton... story has it that back in 1959 while visiting the area, he was heard to say "blimey, what are all these Roman baths doing here?" and it sorta stuck from there as the locals decided to rename the town, back then it was called Shourton which doesn't quite sound very inviting. The change was a good thing too, ever since then the place has grown somewhat...

frrussre

Maybe they should have changed Shourton to Showertown, one persons bath is a another mans shower.
Reg

Haggerwood

A lady at my asked me today "Is there a place in England called London ? Or is it in Italy ?" Seriously. Also previously I had to explain to a colleague with a 4 year Business and HISTORY degree from the University of Florida that Spain was not in England. She thought it was on the basis that Christopher Columbus was from Spain and then the US was ruled by England.

Haggerwood

Actually my Grandad was over visting us when we lived in Alabama and somebody asked him "What do you call hot chocolate in England ?"

frrussre

Scary, ya can't make this stuff up.
Reg. Frank R.