British accents and vice versa

[pokerfan]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/minor_differences4

[lunatica]

1. Except for the 'bald eagles and shit'

They're both saying the same things!!

I'm bilingual

[pokerfan]

2. Steve Martin

"So this couple came up to me after the show and said, "Hey, are you bi?" And I thought to myself, "Well, I speak a little Spanish, but not really enough to be bi..." But I didn't want to look stupid, so I said, "Sure, I'm bi." And they said, "Great, so we're having some S&M people over, after the show why don't you come on over?" So, I thought, "Great, Spaniards and Mexicans! That'll be fun to go over there and speak a little Spanish... "

[pink-o]

3. As Oscar Wilde said....

British and Americans: Two peoples separated by a common language.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. Or maybe it was George Bernard Shaw.

Expert opinion is divided on this burning issue.

[elleng]

5. The google says Shaw, twice:

http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/quotes/famous/george_bernard_shaw/two_peoples_separated_by_a_common_1468

http://kellblog.com/2008/12/03/two-peoples-separated-by-a-common-language/

[pokerfan]

6. wiki

I know that wiki is not an authoritative source but it does provide references:

It is a misfortune for Anglo-American friendship that the two countries are supposed to have a common language. A Frenchman in America is not expected to talk like an American, but an Englishman speaking his mother tongue is thought to be affected and giving himself airs. Or else he is taken for a German or a Dutchman, and is complemented on his grammatical mastery of the language of another nation.
Bertrand Russell, "Can Americans and Britons Be Friends?", Saturday Evening Post, 3 June 1944

The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.
George Bernard Shaw, widely attributed beginning in the 1940s, e.g. Reader’s Digest (November 1942). Not found in his published works.
Variant: The English and the Americans are two peoples divided by a common language.

We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.
Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost (1887)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/English_language#British_vs._American_English

[elleng]

8. Thanks. I certainly don't object to wiki!

and enjoy tremendously PBS' Masterpiece series, which enable me/us to learn about and appreciate both the similarities and differences. (ALSO enjoy Antiques Roadshow, for same reason.)

[pokerfan]

7. I started listening to BBC years ago

When I found myself in Saudi Arabia for a few months back in 1990 listening to World Service was pretty much my lifeline to western news. At first it was like, 'they talk funny.' Now I can't really tell the difference.

[elleng]

9. Lived 'over there,'

Nottingham and London, for about a year, and I can tell the difference and love it! As to BBC World Service, love it more than almost anything, for what I/we learn about the world.

[pokerfan]

10. oh, I don't mean I can no longer tell the difference

It's not just automatic anymore. When I turn on the radio, it takes me a second or two to realize I'm listening to the BBC. I adapt to and pick up dialects fairly easily. Whenever I'm in Canada I after a few days I find myself adopting their accent, which I have to check lest someone think I'm mocking them.

But I loved my portable shortwave radio when I was in Saudi. Still have it, even. A little C Crane unit with digital tuning that ran on a couple of AAs. Fortunatley the Saudi government didn't consider a SW radio to be contraband. It gets AM/FM/NOAA/shortwave and used to pull in TV audio until it went digital.

[elleng]

13. I pick up dialect pretty easily, too

Dad grew up in NYC, as did I until we moved to L.I. Neither of us has a NY accent, but I sure pick one up if I'm with a native. Attending high school reunion in September, and wonder whether any of us have accents; high school on L.I.

ALSO pick up Canadian manners of speech, and LIKE 'Eh,?' as convenient 'Got it?'

[annabanana]

14. heh

I hung out with a bunch of Northern Country Irish in Hell's Kitchen in the late 70's and was always getting in trouble for "mocking" thur accents.

[trof]

11. If you speak with an English accent in America...

most of us will automatically credit you with more intelligence and education than you may actually possess.
We're suckers for it.

[trof]

12. And it's the colloquialisms/ euphemisms/slang where we REALLY part company.

We have several friends who are Brit immigrants to the U.S.
We speak torches and loos, lifts, flats, bonnets, and off-side wings.
Also Boots, not to be confused with boots or boots.

[pokerfan]

16. Then there's 'fanny pack'

[dimbear]

15. Usually languages just diverge, but they can converge.........

Want to just talk online in French? You go to a tchat room. Why tchat? Because 'chat' in French means cat. Want to download a bunch of text? French text? You download an 'ebook.' Not a texte digitale.

And so it goes.

And the latest little trailer for 'The Mentalist' is cute. 'Patrick Jane' advises you to tune in in his native ozzie accent.

[HeiressofBickworth]

17. I lived in Australia for a while

For the first couple of months, I almost needed a translator. I had to be there for a while before realizing that the accents were also class-markers. Worker class spoke one way and the white collar workers spoke another.

[DFW]

18. I'm in Germany now. Zey haff vays to make you talk.

Also seid gewarnt!

[HopeHoops]

19. Shit. That's how most Americans sound to ME - and I AM one.