Many of the British-isms we were aware of before we came, having encountered them in Brit Lit or on British television. Terms like biscuit, nappy, jumper, jelly, and pronunciations such as ‘clare-et’, ‘fill-et’, and (our favourite) ‘al-loo-MEN-ee-um’ are still uncommon to our American ears, but don’t result in misunderstandings.
There have been some new and confusing words, though: clerk pronounced ‘clark’, getting used to going upstairs to be on the ‘first floor‘, ‘garden’ for ‘yard’ (as opposed to a plot of earth specifically for planting), ‘beaks’ for ‘teachers’, ‘bumpf’ for ‘paper’, ‘chuffed’ for ‘pleased’ (to my ear, it still sounds like ‘being chuffed’ would not be a pleasant sensation!), etc.
And then there’s the infamous Geordie dialect. Not just the extremely heavy accent, but the actual dialect, with its unique vocabulary, such as ‘lugs’ for ‘ears’… Although we rarely actually encounter it, our boys do hear it some at their nursery (from the local employees). We’re wondering if, over time, our boys will come to have something of a Geordie accent. Perhaps it will be there for them to ‘turn on’ when with their mates, but less in force when they’re just at home with mum and dad.
Have others here with small children found that the kids acclimate and acquire the accent?
~ Mark
