You Brits are so funny

My daughter and I are fans of saying "OMG you have an accent. Keep talking!" I love British accents and the island ones. I don't even care what they are saying. Just talk.

This thread has been quite entertaining! :laugh: I'm a New Yorker married to an Essex boy.

Essex, England Essex?? Oh my goodness, now there's a mix!!

Where do you guys live, here or there??

Yes, England Essex. Near Chelmsford. We live in the states because at the time we made the decision the cost of living here was MUCH lower.

I was born in Wales but my dad's from Derby and my mum's is from Hull!
I've lived in Wales all my life but grew up with a mixture of a S.Welsh accent and an accent from 'up North'.

My school friends with strong welsh accents thought I sounded more English than Welsh.
Now Ive grown older and naturally widened my social network with mainly Welsh people my accent has definitely become more welshy.
Now and again I come out with a word that I learnt from my mum like "wan't" instead of the welsh wasn't. I just pronounce in one syllable rather than two. It's getting less frequent the older I get but I gotta say I love my mum's accent and wish I'd been able to keep some of it.

I like to talk about differences in accents or ways of speaking between countries.
I spoke to an Irish lad while on a night out once and I couldn't understand a word he said. It wasn't helping that it was a nightclub and he was probably very drunk. At one point he said something to me and I had to get him to repeat himself about 4 times trying to blame the loud noise even though he was talking right in my ear.
I realised on the 4th time that he said "CAN I KISS YOU" and had to instantly back away and say "umm no sorry I have a boyfriend!" really embarrassed in case I had embarrassed him asking him to repeat himself until he got shot down.
*cringe*

His friend however (was a girl) and I could understand everything she said. Her accent was less.... irish, however I'm sure they said they were from the same place...

I love the British humor (humour) as well as their slang.
Then again i enjoy learning about different cultures & languages anyway
but i have to apologize a bit... i prefer the aussie accent to the british accent.
Even though an aussie friend of mine told me awhile back that they DONT HAVE accents, we yankees do LOL

you guys are talking of the "FILM" James bond type accent.................


Dont ever go to

Liverpool
Hull
Birmingham
Newcastle

all have GREAT accents that you will not understand in any way, shape or form !

it will shatter all your illusions of what you loving think of as being a sexy British Accent.

arghhhhhhhhhh

There is NO British accent. that is like saying I love the American accent and including Canada and Mexico in the mix, I am aware that people from different parts of the US talk with very different accents, I would hope that most Americans would be aware that not only is Britain a collection of countries that we talk with different accents all over the country.

I certainly do not talk like people from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, Birmingham etc

I don't talk like people in Eastenders or Coronation Street.

You are absolutely right...and I will take it a step further...there are tons of American accents...

Boston, Down Home Yankee, New York, Brooklyn (it IS different from New York), Southern (includes, Carolina, Tennesee, Southern Belle, among others), Midwestern (which includes Yooper (upper peninsula Michigan), Michigan, Northern Plains ("Ya Ya"..."You betcha"...see Fargo), Chicago ("Da Bears"), traditional midwestern (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc.), East Texas, West Texas, South West Latino, Surfer guy West Coast, I could go on and on...)

Joyfulthanks:
I was visiting a pub in England once, and saw a sign that said "English spoken here. American understood." Classic!

Can one of you Brits help me out? For the life of me, I can't figure out what foods qualify as a pudding in Britain? I thought I had a handle on it, but recently, one of my MFP friends said she ate a pudding made of ice cream. It sounded like what we call a sundae. I know you also have meat-based puddings.

In the U.S., a pudding only refers to a custard-like substance made with milk.

It can be any dessert for some people, but the origins are anything that requires a pudding bowl really whilst it's cooking. So that could be sweet or savoury.

For other language variations see below, (but since starting it I was interested to find out that some of the 'English' words are still in common use in various parts of the US, particularly New England)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/266055-uk-us-divided-by-a-common-tongue

Thanks, all, for the help understanding puddings. I think I have a better grasp on it now...even if I don't fully understand it!

I sound like a slightly less posher version of the great Patrick Stewart.

A couple of months ago, 'whilst':laugh: doing my hypnotherapy training, my client told me I had a wonderful voice for radio.
I THINK that was meant as a compliment...
:glasses:

Sutekh, she didn't say a FACE for radio so I think you can pass it as a compliment.

And for the guy that said we cal Yorkshire puddings "puddings" and the American lady that said a pudding in america is something made from milk. Maybe that's why we called them puddings. Because Yorkshire puddings are made from milk, ha ha.

Great, now I was some Yorkshire Pudding. Stupid England

But their teeth.

My teeth are perfect, ta.

But their teeth.

Um hai, we have an NHS which means our kids/poor people get free dental care, therefore actually manage to have better teeth than in countries where you have to be rich to afford medical stuff....like that country...ummm...America?

I've wondered who started all this nonsense about Brittish having bad teeth. I'm going to guess the ratio to good vs bad teeth is about the same in the US.

It's better here, every single child gets free dental and orthodontic work til they're 16, even longer if they stay in full time education! People out of work, on low income, pensioners, on benefits etc all get free dental care too. People that have bad teeth here do so out of choice, by not brushing their teeth or keeping dental appointments.
People in countries without free health care often simply canny afford to look after their own and their family's teeth. Bad example but have you seen the Simpsons episode where Lisa needs braces? xD

anyway, I think the stereotype comes from the royal family/aristocracy, as a lot of them do have big teeth, but this is due to inbreeding within the top classes.