I use a fake accent in awkward situations...

I can understand the need to fit in. When I was 21 I went to live in New Zealand with my then boyfriend. Within a year I'd picked up the accent. People had no idea I was English any more. I was working with the public and in a not very cosmopolitan area so an English accent stood out, was considered somewhat snobby and people kept saying they couldn't understand me. So for me it was partly conscious effort and partly a natural progression. Now having been back in the UK for over 10 years I still have the Kiwi accent although NZ friends think I have lost it somewhat. So maybe it is also partly an age thing.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad or a good thing but I do think it's sad if people feel like they have to do it because people around them react negatively to their natural accent.

(edited to replace text I inadvertently erased when posting)

No.

But I have muttered some pretty filthy things in Spanish or French in the presence of inconsiderate people.

Interesting to see how people take the original question to task, and then the more recent response from someone who lived in New Zealand. It seems that Australian/Kiwi accents are more easily imitated or absorbed by Brits and vice versa. Once an Australian woman told me that Australians adopt the English accent more easily than Americans do, as if I should feel bad for being unable to do this. I don't know if I am unable to do this, I just don't! Australia has a more direct relationship to the UK than the US does and the accents are much more similar. Anyway I sometimes want to do British accents just for fun but don't do it very often as I sound so awful when I do, and friends just accuse me of sounding like Dick Van Dyke. But I always say loo and queue and all that.

I pronounce things the British way - to-mah-to, for example, to make myself understood, and I pronounce my t's, but I didn't think that was what the OP was referring to.

When I say to-mah-to, I still sound like an American saying to-mah-to.

I thought the OP was talking about completely changing her intonation and the way she pronounces her vowels to sound like she was a local.

I do think it's sad if people feel like they have to do it because people around them react negatively to their natural accent.

Me too.

I don't think anyone's called it malicious! Not at all!

And as for judging ... well, Rynn started a thread about it. If you start a thread on a topic - any topic - people are going to comment about it. And some of those comments will be negative. That's just the nature of a forum.

Well, to be fair, one of the first comments was "it's childish and immature." I have learned how to say "sorry" and "cheers" with an English pronunciation. I find these useful in shops where I need to say these things and not stand out. I wouldn't ever even try to even say more than these two words (though I can do a nice imitation of Ali G's "Wot-eva." ) I would sound like I was faking for sure.

However, when I am in France (or Spain or whatever) speaking French, no one has ever questioned why I would try to sound French and not speak it with an American accent. Why is it such a problem for someone to do it England/UK? Is it only because I am a native English speaker? I mean, I guess a Mexican wouldn't start using the "theta" in Spain.... But, part of the reason I try to speak without an American accent in those places is I'd rather blend in as much as possible instead of stand out immediately as a tourist. Not a big deal if someone wants to try to speak to fit in. Plenty of folks here spell British/use British words in place of the American words. No one accuses them of being childish or fake. Just my 2 cents.

I do when i'm out in public and someone asks me something.. I don't think it's a conscious thing after 15 years here,... just a way of keeping anonymous.   I slip in and out all the time depending on my mood or who i'm talking to. But again, been here fifteen years. Sometimes i'll be watching a show and can't even make out if it's an American or British accent. The line seems to blur alot for me.

Me too!  And my kids tell me that when I'm out in public and really annoyed with someone I have a British accent.  I don't do it purposesly.  It just comes out.  In fact I have very little control over it.  I know that when I'm at work there are peope who I've waited on for years and never realized I'm American.  Whatever works is my motto.

I think we would really have to hear the OP to understand what she means by faking an accent.

There is a big difference between me saying a-loo-min-ee-um or hel-ee-cop-ter and me trying to pretend that I was born in London or Liverpool or Sheffield.

Interesting to see how people take the original question to task, and then the more recent response from someone who lived in New Zealand.

That's funny because I was recently mistaken for a Kiwi.

Well, to be fair, one of the first comments was "it's childish and immature." ...Plenty of folks here spell British/use British words in place of the American words. No one accuses them of being childish or fake.

There is a difference from using British words & spellings when someone is in Britian because, if you don't, it's considered incorrect in business settings. When I am wirting in this forum the spell check is set to American & British English so either is acceptable. But when I am wiritng a report or correspondence outside of this forum my PC is set to British English and auto corrects to that spelling hence I've started adopting British spellings.

I will also say lift instead of elevator and loo/toilet instead of bathroom because it's what people call it here, but I don't say it with a fake British accent. That is what the OP was saying is that they put on a fake British accent...not using British words or spellings, but completely faking an accent with the assumption that the people they were speaking with wouldn't notice.

There is a difference from using British words & spellings when someone is in Britian because, if you don't, it's considered incorrect in business settings. When I am wirting in this forum the spell check is set to American & British English so either is acceptable. But when I am wiritng a report or correspondence outside of this forum my PC is set to British English and auto corrects to that spelling hence I've started adopting British spellings.

I will also say lift instead of elevator and loo/toilet instead of bathroom because it's what people call it here, but I don't say it with a fake British accent. That is what the OP was saying is that they put on a fake British accent...not using British words or spellings, but completely faking an accent with the assumption that the people they were speaking with wouldn't notice.

Yes, I meant that they use those spellings here. I obviously understand why anyone would have to use them in work/official settings. And tbh, I have no problem with soemone using British words and spelling! I always do when I am talking exclusively to someone who is British in fact. But when posting in a majority American forum and using British words could be seen as "faking" things as well. Someone could argue "why not just say 'sidewalk'??" Even if it's natural now, there was a time where it was a conscious effort to integrate those words and spellings.

Just trying to point out that it's not as "wrong" as some might think.

I will also say lift instead of elevator and loo/toilet instead of bathroom because it's what people call it here, but I don't say it with a fake British accent. That is what the OP was saying is that they put on a fake British accent...not using British words or spellings, but completely faking an accent with the assumption that the people they were speaking with wouldn't notice.

You're free to express your opinion of course, but bluntly calling people childish and immature is quite rude.  I'm not surprised people were upset by that comment.  

Once an Australian woman told me that Australians adopt the English accent more easily than Americans do

She hasn't heard Russell Crowe, I daresay...

I have yet to meet an American in the UK who speaks with a British accent that sounds authentic. It always sounds forced and put on to me, and drives me up the wall. I lived there for 3 years and couldn't do a British accent if my life depended on it, my husband makes fun of me if I try. And while I agree that it is natural to pick up words, I certainly did, it is weird - TO ME - to put on the fake accent. Then again I never experienced any anti-americanism in London when I was there.

I have a good friend from California that I've known for twenty years.  Her accent sounds so natural that everytime my husband talks to her he is surprised when I remind him who she is.  You'd never know.   

Yes, I meant that they use those spellings here. I obviously understand why anyone would have to use them in work/official settings. And tbh, I have no problem with soemone using British words and spelling! I always do when I am talking exclusively to someone who is British in fact. But when posting in a majority American forum and using British words could be seen as "faking" things as well. Someone could argue "why not just say 'sidewalk'??" Even if it's natural now, there was a time where it was a conscious effort to integrate those words and spellings.

Just trying to point out that it's not as "wrong" as some might think.

But as WebyJ and I have said, there is a difference between using British words and spellings and deliberately faking a British accent.

If I ask someone where the "loo" is, I'm not using a British accent.

But as WebyJ and I have said, there is a difference between using British words and spellings and deliberately faking a British accent.

If I ask someone where the "loo" is, I'm not using a British accent.

I'm referring to using them HERE on the board. Not in "real life." Plus, I said that others might judge that as being fake, not that I do. As a linguist, I love playing with the use (and pronunciations, regionalisms, etc) of languages and encourage others to do so, too!