That what I'd like to know

Please forgive me if this has been brought up in the past, but the forum has gotten away from me a bit recently.

Has anyone else noticed after being here a while that they are picking up the local speach patterns?  I don't mean the accent, but the acutal sentence structure.  

I live and work on the Nottingham/Lincolnshire border.  One of the main duties of my job is to take school children around a medieval manor house and educated them about the tudors.  I can do this up to 3-4 times a week with another member of staff.  I think because we hear each other saying the same things day after day we have started to rub off on each other.  I found myself saying the other day

"The tudors what came here...."

And now no matter how hard I try, that 'what,' keeps coming out of my mouth at the most inapproprate times!  

Don't get me wrong, I think all the dialects are valid and really help to shape a region, but I have to draw the line when I am trying to educate a child!  

Anyone else?  Anyone?  Bueler?

Please forgive me if this has been brought up in the past, but the forum has gotten away from me a bit recently.

Has anyone else noticed after being here a while that they are picking up the local speach patterns?  I don't mean the accent, but the acutal sentence structure.  

I live and work on the Nottingham/Lincolnshire border.  One of the main duties of my job is to take school children around a medieval manor house and educated them about the tudors.  I can do this up to 3-4 times a week with another member of staff.  I think because we hear each other saying the same things day after day we have started to rub off on each other.  I found myself saying the other day

"The tudors what came here...."

And now no matter how hard I try, that 'what,' keeps coming out of my mouth at the most inapproprate times!  

Don't get me wrong, I think all the dialects are valid and really help to shape a region, but I have to draw the line when I am trying to educate a child!  

Anyone else?  Anyone?  Bueler?

Yeah, I've noticed it.  I have to work really hard to keep my American accent.

On my last trip to America, my sisters asked me "why do you keep saying as well at the end of your sentences" i was like - WHAT i dont say that but then afterwards i would catch myself saying..i picked it up from my hubby just like he always says hun now...he got that from me...he he

I was going through one of our loan boxes yesterday, which we hand out to the schools in the area, dictating  to someone what was inside. It was during out tea break, so most of the staff was in the room.  I said there is a wooden bowl with some 'erbs' or h-erbs if you prefer (I do tend to say h-erbs now, escpically when speaking to the children since that is what they are familiar with) and when asked what is inside I said basil or baa-sil.  Someone from the table then shouted 'You've become bilingual!'

I really do think that British English is a lot richer than American English, I used words now that I forget that we don't used in the states and can't translate without a lengthy discussion of what the word or phrase means.  The down side is that I have come to a point that I sometimes can't think of the name of the simplest thing!

Working as a nurse on a hospital ward I found that I picked up the "flow" and "lilt" to the speech here in London really quickly.  I dont think I have an accent - its more the pattern and inflection.  I just found that for my patients its comforting for them to be spoken to in a familiar sing/song way- esp the little old ladies.

a funny story on this subject:

During my first few weeks on the hospital ward I was assisting a lady up to her shower/bath.  She asked me to bring her a flannel from her bedside.  I walked back to her bed- my mind racing- what the heck was she talking about?  I looked around - I was looking for something- a robe or gown perhaps made of flannel fabric- and finally I had to ask the lady in the next bed what a "flannel" was!

The lady told me- and that's when I learned the British call wash cloths flannels!!  That lady gave me the strangest look and I think it worried her that her nurse didnt know such a simple thing!!

oh well!!
Mary

I really do think that British English is a lot richer than American English, I used words now that I forget that we don't used in the states and can't translate without a lengthy discussion of what the word or phrase means.  The down side is that I have come to a point that I sometimes can't think of the name of the simplest thing!

I don't think it's richer...it's just different.  We use a lot of words that the British don't use, and Americans have actually added a lot of words to English that are in everyday use in Britain...besides embarrassments like "diss" and "bling-bling."