Sir Denis Eaton-Hogg

I have to laugh.. just as i was reading this post I just had the pleasure of watching a news clip on the BBC website with some colleagues. They where interviewing an 'a typical' UK kid about a ride a Thorpe Park, complete with burberry hat and hoody... Ok I will say it, a Chav. I was trying to be nice.....

My US workmates are all horrified. They cannot understand why a suburban UK white kid spoke like a US Gangsta Rapper. When I advised them that there were plenty of kids like that the grim truth that Ali-G 's character (he was well know here) is actually a reality in our sceptered Isle seems to have really shocked them

I can only assume that they thought all kids in England were like extras from Oliver, or spent all their time swooning demurely into an handkerchief like something out of Jane Austen

Sir Denis Eaton-Hogg

Born in Oxford, I don't think I have an accent.. but the wife says I do. I will admit that whenever I want anything important or need to get anything done here I fake a thick 'BBC annoucers' fancy posh accent... works marvels

Absolutely no worries there let me assure you..... if in doubt throw in a few colourful anglo-saxon words

WTF!! have you not seen Sky TV lately.......?

Englishtart

you can't be serious? I haven't lived here too long that I forget the fascination with all things American in England! Things can't have changed that much surely

NC Penguin

I'd rather I was asked if I am English rather than an American saying, "are you Australian?":curse:

Once it's clear I am English/British, I've yet to be asked the infamous question, "have you met the Queen?"

Sir Denis Eaton-Hogg

When I was 5 I gave her Madge bunch of flowers when she came to my school.... Have I dined out on that story whilst in the USA? Damn right!

Even better HRH story. Years ago I was a show and tell subject at a fairly prestigious high school in GA. One kid puts his hand up and says 'So how does the queen decide who she's gonna kill?' Much confused I enquired further.... turns out the poor thing was convinced we still had public executions in the UK at the Monarch's request. He and many of the rest of the class where dissapointed to learn that they would not be able to watch a headsman do his thing 'live' on a trip to the Tower of London if they ever went.

Anna Clare

Are you Australian? - Multiple times. (My Australian friend is asked if she is British).

Are you German? - Once.

Have you met the royal family? Multiple times. Fortuitously I did once meet Princess Diana and I must say I have told that tale maybe ten times to Americans.

I find I have to repeat myself often. I have been here two years. I say "cart" and I say "sidewalk" and I say "have a good day" and I even say "awesome" (which I swore I wouldn't). I am happy to use American words in America.

My accent stands out in rural NW California - it is BBC with cockney-lite; think female Clive Owen. I get a lot of double-takes in stores. I find that when (rarely) I need to be authoritative it works wonders.

I find that Americans see us as both better mannered, and simultaneously more brutal (the sarcasm and the world wars) - as polite but underlying fkrs.

I love Britons but we (me included) can seem dour or grumpy (when we aren’t) to Americans because - you guessed it - they are UPBEAT. (As my American husband says – “they make you want to get up and beat them”.)

sime303

To which I usually reply "Oh yes, every Sunday I used to go to her house for tea and scones and to kick back and relax and watch Songs of Praise". Trouble is I do it a little to dryly and they can't figure out if I am serious or not, also they have no idea what Songs of Praise it.

Xebedee

"Get up and beat them" love it.
German?? I've had that one too.
Once.

Still have absolutely NO idea how even a Californian could confuse English with German. Mystified.

another bloody yank

Maybe it was the same guy?

dunroving

In the "old days" (showing my age), a news piece would be supported by an interview with some sort of expert. These days, the norm seems to be going out on the street, and asking the opinion of the person on the street. It seems that after getting back to the editing room, they select the one or two most uneducated, uncultured, uninformed, unintelligible people to air on the evening news. It mystifies me ... maybe this is a demonstration of how democratic the TV companies are?

Rete

You've been here a long time. Why have you not adapted your speech patterns accordingly so that you aren't considered as a young punk with a smart mouth?

Rete

Have you ever been in the United States? If not, you can't be judging our personalities, ethics, humour, etc. based on biased media stereotyping.

Just as I have never been to the UK and while I now have several British friends, I can honestly say that I found them to be caustic, unfunny and very rude. It took time and allowing each of ourselves to open to one another to find that the core of our humanity was a common ground and we could then interact with each other in a manner that we both found comfortable with to form a good friendship.

Only a child would judge something without having any notion of the thing they are judging, i.e. hating shellfish while never having tasted it. Leave your mind open to new experiences and don't look for differences in as much as you look for sameness. The unique of our cultures and languages will be there to mark the differences but it is the sameness that will allow us to perhaps become friends.

keira-2007

I'm fed up with being looked at like I've got 3 heads every time I speak. (Cos I haven't really... honest.) I have a very plain, boring middle English accent, no discernible dialect at all, but every time I speak people seem so taken aback. Almost as though I'm taking the mick out of them. Take the mick. Moi? The outrage!

I have, however, taken to belting out a corking Yankee drawl whenever I ask for water. They really don't get wawtah as us Brits would say. So now I really give it plenty of .... wadderrrrr. No-one bats an eye.... and I actually get what I asked for, which is always a plus.

Anna Clare

oh my goodness. . . the word "water" has been the bane of my life on drive thru coffee places - "cappucino" is fine, but "water" is a nightmare


I agree with the previous post that the betst bet is to go for broke with waaaaadderr

Anna Clare

The young woman who asked me (I am a Londoner) if I was German was from deepest rural Northern Cali. Hey we're all European!

On that note, before I moved here I thought Asia, Africa and Europe were large diverse multi-national continents, not generic terms liberally utilised by my new countrymen.

As a Brit we don't often see ourselves as European! Until now.

And have you noticed how "Asian" means Japanese, Chinese, Korean maybe . . . . never Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi?

As a corollary, in London we often ordered a "Chinky" from the "Chinky" - a Chinese takeaway from the Chinese takeaway. My husband nearly add a coronary in Sab Francisco Chinatown in a bakery when I used the word chinky as it is apparently pretty racist! Just shows there's two sides to every story . . .