I use a fake accent in awkward situations...

Yeah, sort of. 

The schwa or the schwuh as we called it in my IPA classes is the most commonly used vowel in the English language.  One of the things that makes it different, is that is in an unaccented vowel.  For example- my name is Sarah.  The final sound of my name is a schwa.  However in the word update- the first vowel sound is not a schwa because it's accented.  But, I don't know if this has anything to do with this conversation- so I'll go back to hiding. 

I do understand what the OP was saying, it's more or less just saying a few words in order to not stand out.   I don't like having to tell my whole life story to whoever picks up on my American-ness.  People always want to know where I live/where I'm from, and I feel like it's rude for me to just ignore them.  

So, I normally would just say itty bitty things like "cheers" or "thanks" to avoid conversation when i'm not in the mood.  But if I'm ordering something, I try to enunciate better (especially my t's), and when I talk to my DB's 7 year old brother, I have to put on a little bit of an English accent in order for him to understand me.


Also, whenever I return to the US after spending time in England, I realize that my intonation is all sorts of crazy.  It causes a good laugh amongst friends, but it sort of comes about naturally for me....I'm not sure if it's just from spending so much time around British people, or subconsciously trying to "fit in" (or, "not stand out") while out in public in the UK.


But I will NEVER try to feign an English accent amongst my British friends...that would just be wrong!

I don't think I sound especially Southern & I'm from Kansas, not the South, but people often think I'm from the South.  Lol! 

You so do sound Southern! At least to me. And I love it. So did DH.  Though, he realised how mixed in you were when instead of saying it was raining you said "it was pissing down!" LOL! He said your accent was lovely. Sometimes I wish I could put on more of a Southern drawl, as I think it's really the best American accent to have!

Aren't y suppose change from the 'r's to pronounce the er as an 'a' as in apple?
example= rubba for rubber. butta for butter. lawya for lawyer and so on?

This isn't really what I meant. I think the R sound on the end has remained (like in year) but where the R sound is in the middle (like mark) then I think it has softened a bit. Not so much that it disappears or anything, just not quite as pronounced as it used to be. It's a subtle change, but one that I have noticed a bit. Though if I am speaking to another American, I think any trace of an accent I may have picked up has vanished. And I used to try to remember to say "cell phone" instead of mobile when speaking to my mom and stuff like that, but it was too hard, so I've just given up on that and embraced the English term.

I dont know.. I think the people who are afraid they are standing out may be thinking that people care more than they actually do.  If you are really just saying a few words at Iceland, no one is even going to notice.  Cashiers at Iceland do not pay that much attention, I am sure.  I have never faked an accent, although my speech pattern has changed unconsiously since I've moved here, but no one has ever stopped in mid-checkout or conversation to make a mention of my American accent.  The lesson I have learned is that people really dont care as much as you do.

I don't know.. I think the people who are afraid they are standing out may be thinking that people care more than they actually do. 

More or less, I think this is true in my experience, though I can understand the OP' s desire to avoid being noticeable - though I think it might do the opposite!  Maybe it is the start of the process of the shift, the beginning of the linguistic part of the expat journey, for some.

My accent is very mixed up. It has not been intentional and any changes in inflection seem to be out of my control, like others have mentioned, and shift depending on who I am talking to and where I am. When in Canada, my sister notes that around other Brits, I tend to have a more Northern or Southern accent, depending on the person I am talking to. It's not fake: it is my own accent and representative of living in the UK a long time. My hubby's accent is primarily Southern with Northern slang, even though he has lived equally in Yorkshire and Devon / Dorset, but sometimes, we can both sound like we have never been out of Yorkshire - like a Swedish friend of ours sounds in her English accent and more so than her Yorkshire full-time born and bred husband.

Last Wednesday at the charity shop where I work, I was behind the till and said, "Eh, I should just sound like me." I had two people ask if I was from the States, but, they were actually pretty chatty and nice.  I was grateful for it.

I've felt like the OP has-ever since I moved here. I do live in a smaller town, though, so, I figure I'm bound to stand out and be out of place. I mean, I'm a Filipino person that speaks with an American accent. I've given up trying not to stand out, and "fake" or "pretend",mainly because I've gotten lazy and the faking makes me tired. I just sort of roll with it now. I just say English/UK phrases, with a slight lilt that I've picked up listening and talking to DH and the in-laws. I do try not to say "like" too much, and "awesome" and "cool", because I know those words will make me stand out even more.

I don't really think twice about standing out when it comes to paying for something at a store or ordering food or the like, but I must admit that the other day I came very close to telling someone off who was standing behind us in line to get on the train and was muttering really rude and awful things directed towards us...and as I turned around to look at him, I closed my mouth and didn't say anything because it flashed through my head that my American accent would mean that I would be heard as a tourist and not a resident, and I suddenly felt like anything I said would make ALL Americans look bad. Though, maybe this hesitation will eventually teach me to not be bothered in situations like this, which could only be a good thing...

I couldn't sound less British if I tried.  I stick out in my house, but in general, at work, out and about, it doesn't really matter, London is a big old mess of accents.  I don't think (anymore, at least) that I'm mistaken for a tourist, despite the accent.

When I first arrived I walked into a small shop in Gravesend and asked directions while buying a paper. The women behind the counter turned beet red, threw her hand over her chest and stood there with her mouth open for a bit.
After what was an uncomfortable silence for me she exclaimed that I had the most beautiful accent she has heard and demanded to know where it was from.
I had never thought a Northern CA accent  could produce such a reaction.

The point is speak how you speak, you never know how someone will react anyway.

I'm English but I have spent most of my life in the San Francisco Bay area. I now imitate the English accent because I like it. I only do it sometimes because I find that if I always do it it distracts from the subject I'm talking about and I sometimes loose the person I'm talking to.

The one thing I'm trying to break myself from is when I have been waited on and I say "Thank you, dear", which is an English term. Same as 'thank you, luv' (British) or in the U.S. south, "Thank you, honey" (hate that). I will learn to just say "Thank you" or "Thank you very much" because it's like putting oil on a rusty wheel.

Another word I've got to stop using is "Cheers". I never used it when I was in England because it wasn't invented then

Another word I've got to stop using is "Cheers". I never used it when I was in England because it wasn't invented then

I first heard my English cousin says "cheers" for "thank you" in about 1962. It was certainly invented then!

I first heard my English cousin says "cheers" for "thank you" in about 1962. It was certainly invented then!

I believe Peaceful said in another post that she was in her "sixth decade" so I am guessing she may have been born pre-1962. 

I believe Peaceful said in another post that she was in her "sixth decade" so I am guessing she may have been born pre-1962. 

Yep, 1938 is pre-1962. So that makes me middle aged

Makes me think of my unfortunate....um...habit.  In a general situation, I sound very California-American.  But I have a very good ear for accents (as for music) and sometimes a random phrase will pop out in a completely different accent when I've been around someone with it and am half paying attention to what I say.  The funniest one was a few years ago when I was sharing accomodation for work with a friend from Newcastle and a sentence came out in broadest Geordie.  Her mouth dropped open and she gasped, "that sounded just like me!".  I'm glad it doesn't happen more often.  I wouldn't try and disguise yourself if I were you.  Part of being an American historically is a total refusal to toe the British line anyway, isn't it?   

Makes me think of my unfortunate....um...habit.  In a general situation, I sound very California-American.  But I have a very good ear for accents (as for music) and sometimes a random phrase will pop out in a completely different accent when I've been around someone with it and am half paying attention to what I say.  The funniest one was a few years ago when I was sharing accomodation for work with a friend from Newcastle and a sentence came out in broadest Geordie.  Her mouth dropped open and she gasped, "that sounded just like me!".

I do this too! I was just recently at a conference and sat next to an Irish woman the entire time.  She was quite chatty, so without really realizing it, I had started mimicking her accent. At one point she paused and said "Are you sure you're American?" Oops.