My accent

After 7 years of living in the Northwest I am all but tone deaf to the comments about my accent. 

But what really gets me is that when I visit the USA or if friends and family come to stay, they say that I have a British accent.   

I give up.

i forget i have an accent until someone cuts me off in conversation to ask (usually, quite forcefully) "where you from?" - half are polite about it but the other half come across rude to me as they interrupt me, then dismiss where i'm from as if i was supposed to say narnia or something...

anyway, i sometimes respond to the rude people with "mars" or "my mother's womb"- throw them off as much as they did me! never be ashamed of who you are (unless you are a jerk ) and try not to let people see they are bothering or hurting you. it only feeds them...

a side thing that bugs me is that some act like i'm insane from having moved here from florida. um, love trumps geography. and most have no idea how freakin' hot the place is. two weeks in a/c cars and a/c hotels in between touring disney ain't a fair account, lol!

sometimes i wear a sweatshirt from canada and they assume that because i'm wearing that, i must be from there  (oh boy, do i miss the eye rolling smilie!)

oh and usually, people take me to be from canada because of my accent. i've even actually had people argue with me that i'm not from the states. um...think i know where i'm from, mate! i have been to canada (only for two months and some there thought i was from ireland, lol!)

yeah, it does get assumed often that i'm from (northern) ireland. i love that! 

actually, i do get a lot of people complimenting me for my accent. and i compliment them right back! it's a happy moment, lol

i have had a few imitate the accent- why do they always have to make it sound like a cowboy (or cowgirl, as the case may be!)?!?!? but then people with that person will tell them that they are being rude. nice one!

just completely ignore the rude ones. like, literally walk away from or hang up on them. for every jackoff there are 10 nice people. keep that in mind

watch this for a funny take on accents
so cockney it hurts

most have no idea how freakin' hot the place is.

Well you know.

I'll tell you, I worked with this nice lady and she announces that she is vacationing in the US in August. And I say, "Oh great! Where?". And she tells me that they are flying into Memphis and will drive down along the Mississippi and spend a week in New Orleans. I had to say something. I think it was, "Be sure and stay hydrated."

So when she returns she comes over and asks if it is always like that.

I always hated when people did the really horrible John Wayne impression to show me they could 'talk like an American'. I just looked at them with confusion until they would stop. Plus the whole 'are you Canadian?" thing. And the guesses of being Irish or even Australian. No idea where Indiana became Australian. Then once it was pinpointed as America, once they found out it was Indiana they would be disappointed it wasn't NYC, LA, Vegas or somewhere snazzy close to Disney in Florida. I would feel like apologizing for not being born somewhere awesome.

Now we are back in the States, hubby gets asked all the time if he is Scottish or Irish.Then when he says he is English, they most always say "I knew that!" with such pride. If they knew it, why didn't they say English instead of asking which of two other options he might be. People are just goofy.

Speaking of heat, every year my MIL worries that it isn't going to be hot enough when she visits. Even when we lived in the UK she would come visit my family with us. They all adore her, and she adores them. But every year she worries it won't be hot enough. It is currently 90f, and will be hotter and far more humid when she gets here in mid June. Even if it only got to 80, it would be hotter than she has at home in Blackburn.

I always hated when people did the really horrible John Wayne impression to show me they could 'talk like an American'.

Ah, John Wayne!  And I was thinking it was Forest Gump they were doing!  Either way, it sorta comes out almost the same.

At least I'm from Philadelphia and have Rocky to claim for the excitement factor.  The other day a customer in my shop asked me if I was from Indiana and I told him to go home and watch 'Rocky' again.

i have had a few imitate the accent- why do they always have to make it sound like a cowboy (or cowgirl, as the case may be!)?!?!?

Yeah, but have you heard Americans try to imitate a British accent? Because they do that as well, and equally badly. Think Dick Van Dyke but worse. 

Yeah, but have you heard Americans try to imitate a British accent? Because they do that as well, and equally badly. Think Dick Van Dyke but worse. 

I was thinking the same thing   

My neighbour does a very funny Buddy Hackett. Sometimes I will pretend to be Johnny Carson and he will do the Hackett bit...

Me (as Carson): "Buddy, I read recently where you fell off the stage at the Sands...really wild stuff..."

Neighbour (as Buddy Hackett): It shoir waz Johnny...Rickles waz dere...I landed in his cobb salad...."

Yeah, but have you heard Americans try to imitate a British accent? Because they do that as well, and equally badly. Think Dick Van Dyke but worse. 

I get a lot of that too, when people hear hubby is British. They want to impress me with how brilliant they are. They generally sound nowhere near ANY British accent I have ever heard. They usually get a look of confusion.

Ah, John Wayne!  And I was thinking it was Forest Gump they were doing!  Either way, it sorta comes out almost the same.

At least I'm from Philadelphia and have Rocky to claim for the excitement factor.  The other day a customer in my shop asked me if I was from Indiana and I told him to go home and watch 'Rocky' again.

Maybe it was Forrest Gump.    Having a claim to fame to make your hometown exciting must be great. Sure would be better than the suddenly bored expression and an 'Oh...' when you tell them where you are from. 

Seems Boston just produces yawns.  Not 'exotic' enough.  We have (British) friends who've gone on tours in the South and the West but wouldn't come to visit me because Boston would be too much like England  so a waste of time.  My friend also complains that I'm not an 'interesting' (i.e. loony) American.

Like many in this thread I am tired about the questions and comments about my accent and also the comments about America. I think I stopped talking in public about a year and a half ago. I only whisper to DH or talk in a normal voice when we are outside and no one is in range. The whispering at times drives him nuts but he understands.

A short back ground - I am brown west coaster who moved to the south when I was young. Very small town. Very racist town. I did not fit in at all. My life going to school there for six years was pure hell. I could not escape the comments about my accent, my appearance etc. Schoolmates would come over and ask me the most personal questions about me to get a laugh.

I have Brits come up after they hear my accent in the past and ask the most rude personal questions. Who are these people? I don't know, they never introduce themselves or offer any information about themselves. It's like an attack of 20 questions on a random stranger then they make their comments and walk off. It really really reminds me of my childhood. The comments about America get old. I just moved in with people and one of them cannot shut up about America. I like discussing differences like anyone else but we cannot discuss anything negative or Britain being similar to the US - only negative things about the US can be tolerated or else I get cut off and talked over. There is no two way street.

Example irritation from the other nite: DH is making a sandwich from some mystery meat we bought at a Polish deli. (Mystery because we can't read Polish and have not translated it yet.)

Roommate: Is that spam? Spam is great.
DH: No it's meat from a Polish deli. We aren't sure what it is, we can't read the label.
Roommate: (to me) You Americans love spam don't you?
Me: I don't think it's really popular in America.
Roommate: Oh, you Americans like fatty things don't you like twinkies and (something else mentioned, forget what).
Me: I'm not sure twinkies are really fattening. I don't know, I never really liked them. Maybe they are sugary if anything.
Roommate: Yeah you guys eat a ton of fatty and sugary things. That's why you eat so many twinkies it's because it's fatty and sugary. You just keep eating and eating. You know you can't just eat and eat just fatty things or just sugary things. Your body will get sick but if you combine the two your body wants more.

Sometimes I just want to say to the guy - "you British don't brush your teeth do you? (Guy is missing most of his teeth and the ones he has are almost pure black and rotting) I mean the Brits are notorious for having bad teeth right... the ones they still have left anyway..." But that would be pretty mean but again the same stereotypical bologna.

At this point I just walk off and leave DH to handle the conversation. Pretty much happens at least 3 days a week. Thankfully he works long shifts so I just try to avoid him.

What has always confused me is listening to all the 'Americans ONLY eat fast food', 'McDonald's on every corner' type comments, yet looking around it seemed there is a pasty shop on every corner. Any time while out and about people would be giving their kids a sausage roll or some other not so healthy on the go lunch, which seemed to me to be the equivalent of American kids eating fast food.

What has always confused me is listening to all the 'Americans ONLY eat fast food', 'McDonald's on every corner' type comments, yet looking around it seemed there is a pasty shop on every corner. Any time while out and about people would be giving their kids a sausage roll or some other not so healthy on the go lunch, which seemed to me to be the equivalent of American kids eating fast food.

Yup.

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Like many in this thread I am tired about the questions and comments about my accent and also the comments about America. I think I stopped talking in public about a year and a half ago. I only whisper to DH or talk in a normal voice when we are outside and no one is in range. The whispering at times drives him nuts but he understands.

Sorry, but I think that is a bit over-the-top. Stop whispering! Talk like a normal person! It would drive me nuts too. For every person you find to be insulting about your accent, you'll find a dozen who are generally interested in where you're from and like the way you speak. You need to get over this issue and just own it.

You're not alone in your vexation about your accent. I am asked often why I've not developed a Black Country accent as yet. Some hear my accent and will blatantly tell me they dislike (in colourful words) America and Americans, but to be honest, those people are so rare that they don't really matter. I'm more disheartened by the ones who either tell me they don't know why I'd choose England over the United States, get angry at the way I express myself or just correct my usage and spelling of words. I honestly didn't realize how different our countries are. I foolishly thought we spoke the same language.