Are you picking up the local accent?

When I say "roots" (more like ruts when I say it) or "mayonnaise" (man-aise), that always gets the husband laughing.  I'm from Minnesota and have the weird "a" and "o" sounds. 

I think the English pronunciation of yoghurt is hilarious.

I think the English pronunciation of yoghurt is hilarious.

Me, too.  In the north, anyway, it's "yuggurt".

When I say "roots" (more like ruts when I say it) or "mayonnaise" (man-aise), that always gets the husband laughing.  I'm from Minnesota and have the weird "a" and "o" sounds. 

My dad does that.  Apparently once when my mom was navigating for my dad, he kept telling her to look for the 'Rut River' so she looked for Rut River and never found it.  Finally, she figured out he was saying the Root River.  It's silly, because she is only from Iowa and he was from Minnesota. 

I'm one of those rare strange people who absorbs anything around me. To be honest I have no clue how I sound but people here are thoroughly convinced I'm English. In fact I was introduced to someone the other day by my lecturer who introduced me as "Andrew, who *purports* to be American." I've also been told this week that I sound like Boris Johnson and David Mitchell, which I don't really understand because they sound entirely different, apart from both being posh. I've also been asked if I attended Eton. However, a certain friend still does impressions of me using his best (read: worst) Napoleon Dynamite voice, so I really don't know. For what it's worth, I've been here for almost five years. I'm originally from Florida and my sister and I have no discernible regional accent. Actually, she sounds a bit like a valley girl. I never sounded like anything. I still remember one of my first days in high school when I said something, and the girl in front of me turned round and said, "Where are you from?" rather incredulously. At the time I was mortified but I've come to take it as a compliment 

I cant quite say schedule here...it sounds like shezual or something - I giggle

My favorite phrase said in an English accent is a sign we saw in Western Australia for a place called "Whale World", a visitor center about an old whaling station.  Said in a sloppy, generic Southern accent it comes out more like "way-o wouwd" and became the way my fellow would cheer me up if I was in a bad mood. 

I cant quite say schedule here...it sounds like shezual or something - I giggle

I'm British but I refuse to say 'shed-yule' (UK pronunciation), even though my parents pronounce it that way (it just sounds odd to me)... it's the US pronunciation, 'sked-yule', all the way for me .

I also can't say 'leverage' the British way either (i.e. leev-erage), I just automatically say it the US way, lev-erage (it's probably because I've mostly heard it being used US TV shows and films and not so much in the UK).

I also can't say 'leverage' the British way either (i.e. leev-erage), I just automatically say it the US way, lev-erage (it's probably because I've mostly heard it being used US TV shows and films and not so much in the UK).

Now I'm the other way about. I heard the word first of all in discussions about fulcrums, mechanical advantage, etc, (i.e. mechanics) and my Canadian teacher always pronounced it the British way. Later on I became aware of the US pronunciation, mainly in a financial context.

I was sick last week, but refused to use the term "poorly".  So everyone thought I meant I was throwing up, not just ill.  So I switched to "ill".  I used the terms "tea" (for dinner) and "telly" for the first time yesterday, but that was because I was paraphrasing someone.  Still, it felt weird.

I was sick last week, but refused to use the term "poorly".  So everyone thought I meant I was throwing up, not just ill.  So I switched to "ill". 

Its an ongoing process to say "ill" instead of "sick."  I just can't say "poorly." 

Being married to a fellow American means that there's been no accent pickup at all.  I'll switch out vocab to better make myself understood, but only rarely does it flow naturally without having to do mental translation in advance.  The only time I ever switch up pronunciation is if I haven't been understood the first time around.

I found out I've been saying "canae" and "dinae" wrong 

I was sick last week, but refused to use the term "poorly".  So everyone thought I meant I was throwing up, not just ill.  So I switched to "ill".  I used the terms "tea" (for dinner) and "telly" for the first time yesterday, but that was because I was paraphrasing someone.  Still, it felt weird.

Heh. When I was talking to the advice nurse to see if I needed to go to (the) hospital, she asked if I'd been sick and my first thought was "I still am sick! Why else would I be calling?" (un)Fortunately I was calling because I was having trouble breathing, and by extention speaking, so I didn't actually say that.

My family back in the US say I definitely sound more "English" nowadays, (after 20 months), in my cadence, enunciation, emphasis on words or syllables, and choice of words or phrases. To them, it is most pronounced and distinctive.

I hardly feel it myself, but sometimes when I say things to myself like "bloody hell!" I have to stop and giggle, because time was that those phrases just didn't trip swimmingly off my tongue.

New people I meet here usually think I'm Canadian (rather than American, late of Texas, born and raised in Georgia, educated in Indiana). Not sure why, but they're always surprised when I correct them. No idea what my long-time Brit friends think.

Oh, and my dry wit has definitely become drier. Funnily enough, my Brit friends think that's the Texan in me, rather than any influence of theirs. (Hmmm, I doubt I've become more Texan living in London.)

Its an ongoing process to say "ill" instead of "sick."  I just can't say "poorly." 

I used to think it was weird, but since I've been working in HR for a few months dealing with all the staff absences, I'm really used to the terms and now use them the same as everyone else.

In other news, the other day my boss actually said she was going to have a banana (US way) and I burst out laughing. I've never said the word to her that way, and she wasn't even taking the mickey out of me at the time, so I have no idea where she picked that pronunciation up since she's a proper Geordie. 

I recently heard myself dropping an H.  "We've got to book an 'otel tonight!"  And saying to DH "You allus tell me that."   

DH says tuna like "chuna".   

I took to saying 'poorly' pretty quickly!  I think because a friend of mine back in the US was a huge Blur fan & after hearing the song You're So Great soooo many times, I don't know, I just took to the term.  I might have even said it before I moved here.

Sad, drunk, and poorly
Sleeping really late
Sad, drunk, and poorly
Not feeling so great...