Your Accent

What exit indeed...LOL...I grew up in Bergen County, which is why I have an aversion to shopping malls and a deep appreciation for left turn lanes. I got the same line about not being a real Jersey girl, and the same promise to visit "the real Jersey"! LMAO

[hijacks thread] hehehehehe. I HATE route 31 and all the stupid circles on it! I hope you get to see "the real Jersey" too, but we both know which is the real one [/hijack]

I've been here a little less than 2 years.

Has my accent changed? I don't think so. My inflection of words has changed and the vocab/slang I use has changed slightly. I've found myself using these words/phrases more:
"You alright"
"I'm alright"
"Right"
"Might do"
"Will do"
"mind you" etc.
"quid"
"tube"
 

Words I haven't said very often as of yet:
"Cheers"
"Mate"

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

Since I'm from Northern California I think I had one of the more subtle American accents from the start, but it's become even more so over the years. But most Brits still say I sound either American or Canadian but always comment that my accent isn't as strong as most they've heard.

But for the first time on our last trip home everyone was telling me I had an English accent. It was weird!

I'm starting to use a lot of words and expressions here as well.

I've been saying that following a lot lately:
"Bloke"
"mate"
"cheers"
putting "x" in my messages
"quid"
"wynos"
"chavs"

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

 

My husbands Southern accent has definitely softened a bit since he has been here, but it's still very much there.  He also uses local slang a lot which is quite amusing considering I rarely use it myself.

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

Are you watching a lot of "Neighbours"?? 

Hooray!   someone who actually WANTS generalisations!   

Maybe somebody should start a "generalizations only" thread.   

My family say that I have the same Iowa accent I've always had. I moved away from Iowa to the SF Bay Area when I was 23.  Nobody in California commented on my Iowa accent.

After a couple years there I moved to Atlanta where I lived for 15 years.  Everyone in Atlanta noticed my accent wasn't Southern but they couldn't place it, and had little idea of where Iowa was anyway, often confusing it for Idaho or Ohio.

I've lived in England for 3 years.  I've been occasionally mistaken for British or Irish, but mostly people don't know what my accent is and they ask me where I'm from.  I'm often told here that I don't have a "typical" American accent.  I wonder what the typical accent is?  Most US newscasters have a midwestern accent so I would have thought I was fairly typical.

My family tease me when I use British expressions but they say my accent hasn't changed.

I've been here a little less than 2 years.

Has my accent changed? I don't think so. My inflection of words has changed and the vocab/slang I use has changed slightly. I've found myself using these words/phrases more:
"You alright"
"I'm alright"
"Right"
"Might do"
"Will do"
"mind you" etc.
"quid"
"tube"
 

Words I haven't said very often as of yet:
"Cheers"
"Mate"

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

Same as me!!    Although add in 'boot' and 'bonnet'.
I said 'trunk' the other day and thought 'well that felt strange!'

Maybe somebody should start a "generalizations only" thread.   

that could prove very popular!

I landed in Glasgow 3 years ago and understood *most* weegie nearly right away. My grandfather was born here, moved to the States in his teens and had a heavy hand in raising me so I was use to the accent.

I began using the Scottish words quickly to blend in some more. However I'm from Jersey (Soprano's land not the island) and so that pops up every so often, especially after a trip home... most people here find the Jersey accent adorable... which is not the first word that springs to mind when you are from Jersey 

What I really hate is waiting in the airports to fly home surrounded by Americans on holiday and suddenly you start hearing the US accents again and thing "good god! did I sound that annoying when I first came over here???" 

This question puzzles me. I can't properly "do" an English accent however hard I try, and
I've been in London for four years. Actually, I'm visiting New York for the whole summer,
and did have a reverse culture shock for a few days in which I used the word "takeaway" instead of "to go" and couldn't get over how "mind the gap" has come here in the form of "watch the gap" on the Long Island Railroad (yes, I'm from L.I.). I also asked a gent where the toilet was instead of the bathroom, and he made a face. So, yes, a little British vocabulary has crept in, but that's about it. I should say that when I first came to England I had a lot of trouble understanding people, and now I don't. So my receptive skills for Sarf London accents have improved, but it has not made a dent in how I speak.

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

Or you have spent a lot of your life around Canadians?   

I mostly get asked if I am Irish, if at all. My accent is a mish mash of where I've lived in England and my original accent toned down, so maybemy accent is not as obvious as when I first arrived. I have lost a lot of Canadian vocabulary after a decade here.

And I'm now turning everything into question. Haha.

Are you watching a lot of "Neighbours"?? 

Or have you converted to Judaism?

I don't understand what is British about turning everything into a question.

I do this more than my husband, due to my growing up in a Yiddish-speaking household.

Or have you converted to Judaism?

I don't understand what is British about turning everything into a question.

I do this more than my husband, due to my growing up in a Yiddish-speaking household.

I do this a lot in a "so nu" sort of way, it makes me laugh, but others don't always get it.