Accidental Accent

My way of speaking has changed over time, though I would not necessarily attribute it to my accent (or, more specifically, accent isn't the only factor).

I certainly have adopted British words.  Rubbish, trousers, shops, cinema, etc.  I have also adopted a British inflection or intonation.  So like ne-ces-sary as three distint syllables becomes nec-essry.  In both of these, I certainly keep some Americanisms.  Pants still slips out from time to time and I will never say con-tro-versy.  I have adopted less actual British pronounciations.  While I say pro-cess with a long o and herbs with a hard h, I don't say ba-SIL for BA-sil or to-mah-to.

What this leaves me with is a much softer American accent that has a distinct British influence.  If I talk to Europeans, they usually know straightaway that I have lived in Britain.  If I talk to Americans, they think I am any combination of Irish, South African, Australian, etc.

I didn't really think my way of speaking would change.  However, when I first moved to the UK, I spent a lot of my working day on the phone with Europeans and they really struggled to understand me sometimes.  Once my intonation changed, it was like I was speaking a common language again!!! 

I would have thought my accent would Americanise again, now that I am back in the US but it hasn't.  The reason for that is now I really can't tell the difference between American and British anymore.  For me, being in the UK, I just started to associate my own American accent with the British people around me.  It all just sounded "normal" to my ear so my brain associates my way of speaking with being just like those around me.  Add to that, my British husband, I again can't tell the differences between our speech, even though we sound differently.  Shifting my speech one way or another seems like a lost cause now when I can't really tell how I sound differently anymore.  My British husband is noticing the same thing now that he is surrounded by Americans (and also me). 

I do have people comment on my accent ALL THE TIME.  On both sides of the pond -- literally every time I meet someone new.  Like others, I worried that I would be thought of like Madonna (and now that my accent changed, I feel maybe I have been unfair to Madonna myself!!!!  ).  Pretty much everyone is just interested though and complementary, not being judgmental.  And if people are judgmental it means they really don't understand how this is perfectly normal and I don't really have much time for them anyway.

Pretty much everyone is just interested though and complementary, not being judgmental.  And if people are judgmental it means they really don't understand how this is perfectly normal and I don't really have much time for them anyway.

This is a good way to look at a lot of things, I think.  :3

Also, wow!  Irish, South African, AND Australian?  That's a pretty big margin of error, haha.  Funny how people interpret the exact same things so differently.

When I was around friends and family members from, say, Georgia or North Carolina long enough, or when I lived in West Virginia, I picked up some stuff from them too.  Just how I am, even though it embarrasses me.  I'm very stubborn about pronunciation even if my mouth doesn't always agree with my brain.  I know it's probably silly to be so staunch about how I say stuff, but I never claimed to make sense.

I don't think there is any need to be embarrassed at all! Having the ability to adapt is a great skill. I think that all of us living in the UK have had to adapt on some level (otherwise we would never know what our spouses mean when they say 'chuffed' or wouldn't know where to get zucchini at the grocery store!).

I agree with SaraSmile, it is natural for some things to change. Many people that I know who comment in the States on my 'changing' accent (I honestly think) are just jealous! 

I actually felt quite a lot of pressure when I first moved over to assimilate my speech and start adopting as many of the new phrases and words as possible. I had a few coworkers who were so brutal with the piss-taking that, for me, it was just easier to change the words than not.

Regarding the accent, I never thought it was very strong, but the in-laws notice it change when I'm around them. I think I sound like me, not like an American who's putting on an accent. I rather like the turn my everyday speech has taken, like a linguistic road map of where I've been... anyone who has a problem with the fact that I say some sentences with a particular cadence and now pronounce the "h" in herbs can suck it.

a linguistic road map of where I've been...

I love this!

anyone who has a problem with the fact that I say some sentences with a particular cadence and now pronounce the "h" in herbs can suck it.

Haha, you've picked up an H while I'm apparently dropping some.    I don't know how to deal with "herbs."  I try to avoid saying it altogether, because my way gets me laughed at, but the other way sounds too awkward coming from me!  I've got a lot of anxiety though, so I tend to think I look/sound stupid anyway.  Not that I'd think that of someone else, but we're our own worst critics, you know?  I imagine that's why I get embarrassed when something slips.  People notice or comment or laugh, and I do not like attention to be on me. I know it's dumb, but I can't help it.

But yeah, I definitely get the people who just change it rather than be mocked.  I just cannot bring myself to say hhhhhhhhHHHHerbs, though.    Feels weird somehow.  It'd take some serious mocking to force it from my lips.  (That'll probably prove to be an open invite for the universe to send a bunch of people to relentlessly mock my pronunciation of "herbs.")

I always argue that 1) I'm a French teacher and so that's just how it's said and 2) are they going to start saying HHHHonesty and Hhhhhono(u)r  (and countless more words) with aspirated H now, too? Don't give me "but it's spelled with an H!" carp.

I also think it's ironic that they pronounce aubergine and courgette the French way (since they are French words), but insist on saying herb with an H!

I always argue that 1) I'm a French teacher and so that's just how it's said

But "herb" isn't a French word!

I also think it's ironic that they pronounce aubergine and courgette the French way (since they are French words), but insist on saying herb with an H!

But Americans mispronounce other words of French origin, don't they? And I'm sure people in all countries have a tendency to adopt and change the pronunciation of words in other languages. I mean, I don't speak Japanese, but they take English words and do funny things with them. It's just one of those quirks of language, right?

Ya know, in my house, it goes both ways... My hubby now uses "Oy Vey."
When we met, he did not even know what it meant. He first said, after I gave him some good news, "Oy Vey Baby!" (cute, but soo wrong!) and then, "The cats are being Oy Vey's!" (even cuter, and more wrong!).
Now, he not only uses it, but he uses it correctly!
And, when he comes home, he says to the cats, "Yo homeslice! Whut up!?"
My 7 yr old niece began saying, "Awesome!" all of the time, and taught all of her friends at school to use it!
My 5 year old twin nephews call me "Dude" all of the time! I walk in and they both say, "Hey dude!" to me and it is adorable. We all laugh.
Last week, my mother in law said, "Pfff... That ain't right" (we were talking about my having to take the Life in the UK test, and the stats in it being really old, and that I had to memorise stats that were not even true anymore) and we all cracked up and almost choked on our food!

My silly 'New York' sayings have seeped into usage in my new homeland.

It even happens with other things like food. My mother in law now makes picadillo! I make coronation chicken!
 
My hubby can now pronounce Spanish foods correctly! And he even corrects his English family and friends! He can say quesadilla, picadillo, and jalapeno!

So, sometimes, for some of us, we affect a change on the people we meet here, just as much as they affect a change on us.

And, I think that is a beautiful thing.

And, the people in my life might notice my accent changes, or that I use jumper instead of sweater, and once in a while they do comment on it, but it is more in a "Oh, look, how interesting, you have been influenced" way.
They would never think badly of me, or think I am being fake, because they know me, and they know I am not fake at all, and they know I live here, and they know it is just natural. They are not resistant to my growth as a person, no matter what form that growth might take, and I am not resistant to theirs either. We are just not like that.

Everyone grows and changes based on their experiences. It is just part of being a human. We are all just a work in progress.

But "herb" isn't a French word!

Sure it is! Came into English directly from French.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English herbe  < Old French erbe, herbe  < Latin herba

But Americans mispronounce other words of French origin, don't they? And I'm sure people in all countries have a tendency to adopt and change the pronunciation of words in other languages. I mean, I don't speak Japanese, but they take English words and do funny things with them. It's just one of those quirks of language, right?

Sure, Americans mispronounce all sorts of stuff! But does that make it ok for the UK to do so?

And yes, I see your point, of course. I understand that languages do all sorts of crazy things, especially when adopting foreign words. My comment was only half serious.

Sure it is! Came into English directly from French.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English herbe  < Old French erbe, herbe  < Latin herba

I know the origin is French, but the French word is herbe and the English word is herb. All of our words came from somewhere originally - we don't use Latin pronunciation (whatever that might be), for instance.   

Ya know, in my house, it goes both ways... My hubby now uses "Oy Vey."
When we met, he did not even know what it meant. He first said, after I gave him some good news, "Oy Vey Baby!" (cute, but soo wrong!) and then, "The cats are being Oy Vey's!" (even cuter, and more wrong!).
Now, he not only uses it, but he uses it correctly!
And, when he comes home, he says to the cats, "Yo homeslice! Whut up!?"
My 7 yr old niece began saying, "Awesome!" all of the time, and taught all of her friends at school to use it!
My 5 year old twin nephews call me "Dude" all of the time! I walk in and they both say, "Hey dude!" to me and it is adorable. We all laugh.
Last week, my mother in law said, "Pfff... That ain't right" (we were talking about my having to take the Life in the UK test, and the stats in it being really old, and that I had to memorise stats that were not even true anymore) and we all cracked up and almost choked on our food!

My silly 'New York' sayings have seeped into usage in my new homeland.

It even happens with other things like food. My mother in law now makes picadillo! I make coronation chicken!
 
My hubby can now pronounce Spanish foods correctly! And he even corrects his English family and friends! He can say quesadilla, picadillo, and jalapeno!

These are amazing.  The cats being "oy veys" is one of the best things I've heard in a while!  And homeslice?  Daaayum, you've done well.    My husband says "awesome" and "dude" more than I do.  It made me chuckle to hear him and his former flatmate crooning out that siren song of "duuuude" to each other across different rooms.  I don't think I'll ever get used to him saying, "It's just how I roll," though.  Haha.  Sadly, he has yet to pick up on my occasional use of "yo."  (Courtesy of Italian family in Buffalo, NY!)

I have to say, I'm all for educating them on how to pronounce "quesadilla" and such.  Kwazeedela?    Oy vey, indeed!

After living in the UK for 2 years, I definitely picked up the accent.  Don't know if it's more of an accent or just pronunciation that I do differently. 

I am from the south and after moving back here recently, everyone here in GA said I sounded British. 

Kind of annoyed me as they thought I was "putting it on".  After a while of speaking, people would realize I wasn't trying...it was just there.  Having been back in the states for a few months, it has worn off.

I think for some people its easier than others to pick up on a local accent.  I think its a subconscious way to fit in.  I worked with the public and in a job where I spoke to lots of people every day.   I rarely spoke to any other Americans on a daily basis.  I think I picked up on the accent as a way to be better understood and stick out less.  Didn't try but it just happened. 

My mum-in-law gets a kick out of it when an American asks if I am british - she hears my southern accent only.

For the rest of my life, when I remember my super posh accented, Hobbs attired, pearl wearing, perfectly quaffed, Oxford educated mother in law saying, quite dramatically, with hands on hips, "That ain't right!" I am going to laugh.

THAT is NEVER going to STOP being hysterical to me!

My father in law almost choked to death. He was stunned.

We were all in tears of hysterics.

Just like we all were the very first time I asked them if they had any herb tea....  

I just cannot bring myself to say hhhhhhhhHHHHerbs, though.    Feels weird somehow. 

Lol. And I feel like a giant dork saying to-mah-to. But every once in a while it slips out whether I like it or not.