It only took 2 years!
 

I have lived here a little over two years and the other night was the very first time I lost it with someone taking the piss out of my accent. I said something to a girl I work with a couple of weeks ago and she thought I said something completely different and she has taken the piss ever since. I am all for a laugh but sometimes I can totally sick of people taking the piss... not to mention the morons that try to speak with an english accent.

OK end of rant... stepping down off my soap box.

Ash :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

hehe...well i know how that goes...just tell 'em to kiss your chuddies...that'll leave them with a great WTF look :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Bob,are you Scottish?

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

nope....well on the other end of the land there :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I know that feeling Ash!
Yeah they can't do a british accent to save their lives, but they do a good aussie accent tho.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

what did you say?

did you do the north of England proud and swear like a welder?

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I find swearing in Welsh gets the best blank stare! :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

and that's from the Welsh

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Have to sympathise with you. It was my son's birthday party last week and one of the things I commented on to my husband was that fact that it was sooo nice that not one of the parents mentioned my accent. Some of them looked a bit surprised when I spoke to them (you know that look!) But it was just so nice that nobody mentioned it. I almost felt normal.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Actually, it doesn't bother me at all. Maybe I'm just used to it after all these years. It's never going to stop, so I figure why let it piss me off?

Some of the reactions are actually quite amusing.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Yep, I know what you mean - I'm working as a teller in a drive through at a bank at the moment while I wait to get into Nursing School, and half the
f$%#ng time the customers don't understand me !!
One old bat customer even told me to speak English !!!! :mad:
They never understand me when I go through a drive through for fast food either - I end up having to put on an 'American' accent to get my food order filled correctly.
If someone asks me if I'm Australian (which happens ALL the time) I just say "No, but don't worry - I get all you Canadians mixed up too !!"
The Americans hate it !!! :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I'm so glad I'm not the only person in this country that has trouble making themselves undeerstood going through a drive through :) When my kids were little I went through a Burger King and asked for a 'junior whopper and fries' and they thought I said 'two senior doctor peppers'!

Then the woman got all nasty with me and told me to pull round to the window as I couldn't speak English, therefore, she couldn't understand me! It's all very frustrating, now when I have to go through one, I make sure I have a person with an American accent in the car with me, make them lean over me and yell the order... :p

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

ordering fish and chips is frustrating two...anyone have much luck with "two fish and chips please"?...

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

nope ;) i basically said it was not funny anymore, infact I told her it was boring which did please her too much.

the original conversation went... 'I didn't realise you worked up here' and she thought I said 'I didn't realise you worked on the pier' how you derive that from up here is beyond me. In all fairness it was really all her... she just coped it for everyone that has been taking the piss lately.

A few months back I had to take my daughter to the docs office (just for a routine checkup) When I called in to make the appointment I had made it for her to be seen by the family doc... When I arrived at the office the receptionist told me I was seeing the doctors PA... I asked why and she told me that was who I had set my appointment up with and that I would have been told on the phone that I would be seeing the PA... I explained that I had set the appointment up to see the doctor not the PA and she argued that I had set it up with the PA but I 'wouldn't have understood who the PA was' (I know she meant because I was not american). I really wanted to slap that stupid bitich's face :mad:

And yes that is another thing that bugs me... americans that think I am stupid just because I am forgein.

Ash :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Well, did you enjoy your two senior dr peppers? :D


You should straighten those poor bastards out and inform them that your stupidity has nothing to do with the fact that your forgein. That'll learn' em. :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

LOL

A while back a woman at work at me if we speak dutch in england and in the last month I have been asked twice if I am German... and they think I am the stupid one :rolleyes:

Ash :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I've been here a long time, and I still can't ask for a bottle of water without people saying "what?", "you want what?", "what?".

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Yes, funny how in the South here they're so into politeness, but if they don't understand you they say "WHAT NOW?????" (usually with a cross look on their faces). Don't think saying "What?" is seen as being rude - I'd get a right look from the grown-ups if I said that in my day.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I asked for a packet of marlboro reds in a petrol station once and the woman looked at me as if i was mad! 3 times i asked and pointed to what i wanted and she still didn't understand!
Another time i was talking to a women she looked at me blankly and i turned to my partner and said " she didn't understand a word i said did she? In the end i had to speak very very slowly like some sort of idiot.
You can say anything you like to them sometimes and they haven't got a clue :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

That's the one that I always get stuck with. Even when I pronounce it "wadder" they just don't get it.

The Dunkin Donuts drive through, sorry thru, is hell trying to get my latte in the morning. If I'm out with Mr Sibsie and try to order something, or ask for something in a shop, or really do any sort of talking, I just get greeted with blank stares, then they look to him and he translates it for me.

I get told to "talk English" all the time. I always tell them that the clue is in the fact that it's called English and when they start calling their language American, then they can come back to me and start having a go.

It does have its advantages though. You can happily call someone a total wanking git faced tosser and they have no idea if you've just insulted or complimented them.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I just get told to keep on talking because' it is so cute' or 'love to hear that accent'. The only person who has trouble understanding me is my wife. I recently had to explain what a brew up was. Oh well,----

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

total minging slapper 'ho works wonders too....said with a smile at a bar :)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

"Hey girl, can I get an umbrella and no ice in that ?"

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Have you seen the price of a pack of Marlboro's lately? She probably understood exactly what you were asking for. :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Try going into the local video store and asking for the film Reservoir Dogs .. took at least 10 attempts before the prat understood me. I get it all the time! My kid's school wanted to put my children through speech therapy because they said they wasn't pronouncing their words correctly! Flipping cheek, so if a child doesn't talk with an American accent, hey they must need therapy right? Crazy!

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

He he he. Reading these reminds me of why I want to move back to the UK.

I quite often get "I love your accent are you from Aus?" Grrrr! Why oh why do these Yanks confuse a London Brit accent for Aus? Nothing alike if you ask me.

I too get those who try to copy the accent. I just go into the Cockney London slang, and they have no idea what I am saying.

I also get those who feel that there is still a war between the England and Americans..... We kicked your butts with the Indepentance, and oh, don't forget the tea in the harbour. Apart from the fact they don't even know their own history, what they have of it, they have no idea on the Brits, and the majority of those I have met, don't even plan on travelling outside of the state, but out of the country.... Never.

Thanks for the laugh, and letting me rant too.
Colin.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

I got a telemarketing call today (even though we're supposed to be on the no-call list!), and the bloke on the other end somehow got it into his head that I was Mexican. He went into his whole speech in mexican, and made it impossible for me to get a word in. When he finished, I informed him that I'm English and didn't speak mexican, and then promptly hung the phone up. :D

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

can make a complaint about that then and might be able to get some compensation if you've been on the do not call list for at least 3 months...

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Cheap compared to uk prices!
Must admit that most of them do like my accent whenever i get introduced to new people i get asked to say something?? I've been asked if i'm French and australian.
Had i bit of a shock tho when someone asked me if i was russian???? :confused: Hehe!

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Does all this not make any of you want to go back home to some normality.

Is it really worth taking this for the rest of your life.

I come from an area of Scotland that has a high population of Americans working in the oil industry and I can never remember them getting treated the way they treat us here. I certainly don't remember anyone making fun of what they said as is so often the case here.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

He was speaking Mexican? Oh, the irony.

~ Jenney

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

He he he ha ha ha. Oh have we have two countries separated by a common (not so common) language.

In my company we brought in quite a few Brit contractors for some software we purchased, and guess what happenned. Yes, one of them went to the supply room and asked the girl for a rubber. Can you imagine the reaction! She was bright red when I walked in, and he didn't even know what the problem was. Once I explained things to him, boy was that gezzer embarassed?

Yep. Wadder from me seems to work about 60% of the time. Water is not in their vocabulary.

One of my sons was send to Speech Therapy too as they said he had a lisp. But some of the Mexicans in his class can hardly speek, period, but they don't get therapy. Is this discrimination? Perhaps I should sue, then I may be able to afford to go back to Blighty.

Sometimes, I think that if I was single and the say some of the women say "I really love your accent" I think I could have some "fun" here. But no, I am not single.

Gotta laugh though!

You should see their reactions with cockney slang "Need to talk to a chap on the dog n bone, then go up the apples". They haven't got a clue! That's the fun part. As someone else mentioned, you could almost call them anything.

Had a girl at work come up to be after watching a Brit Movie and wanted me to explain what "wanker" meant. After the hand gesture of the meaning, she was more than embarassed. But before hand I did ask that she didn't go running to HR! She didn't.

Have fun guys.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Haha, I can't believe it when they do this - I can never understand what the bloody hell those drive through people say either. It goes something like this:

You pull up to the drive thru: (Box) BaabababapabaBurger Kingbababpababa

(Me) Ill have a whopper meal please.
(Box) Bbababbbaapaba
(Me) Err yes, thats correct
(Box) bbaapababba
(Me) OK

Funnily enough, 9 out of 10 times I get the right stuff, at the right price. I just cannot be arsed arguing with those things! ;)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Yes, I think those boxes are designed to be confusing on the customer end, but the other end is probably fairly clear. It is probably on that they have the volume turned up full and it becomes distorted.

We seem to be ok with Burger Sling (King), but Wendy's seem to get it wrong 90% of the time. They either leave things out that we pay for, or give us the wrong stuff.

I complained to Wendy's corporate office once, via email, and they sent me vouchers to get more wrong food. Still at least we didn't have to pay for it.

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Yes, I think the trick is to keep it simple - when my wife starts on about holding the onions, a little bit of mayo etc etc etc, I won't say it, and make her do the order! I've tried before, but I just end up getting frustrated talking to the stupid box, and like I said, I just really can't be arsed! It helps that Im not picky and can generally eat what they give me :) Its not exactly gourmet food at those places ;)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Very true. I am not even sure you can call it food sometimes. ;-)

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

Bizarrely my American husband finds it almost impossible to get the right order at DD but they always get it right when I order. :confused:

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

My husband needs to learn that trick! He went into Arby's and ordered a BLT, "light on the mayo please" The server gave him a blank look, so he said it again... and again, then finally got the message through by asking for "just a little bit of mayo please" "Oh, right" she said, then turned around and shouted the order through to the kitchen "BLT, light on the mayo" WTF!!! :rolleyes:

Re: It only took 2 years!
 

LOL, I was thinking the same exact thing ;)