"Where are you from?"

[no name 1]

And BTW, I do an AWESOME Peggy Mitchell.

how many $1 well gins does it take to get you to do it?

although god knows it was somehow hard not get annoyed by the mindless stereotyping and knee-jerk reactions you would get from some Brits the moment you would open your mouth.

so true.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I'll do it for a Coke Zero! No shame here.

[no name 1]

I'll do it for a Coke Zero! No shame here.

Sweet. I get those free here at work!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I think Madge & Gwynie represent that whole "oh were so embarassed to be one of the savage yanks we are going to OVERCOMPENSATE" type of expat that I found super annoying.

One of my American friends over there was just like that and sent me ape$hit although god knows it was somehow hard not get annoyed by the mindless stereotyping and knee-jerk reactions you would get from some Brits the moment you would open your mouth.

I knew a couple of those overcompensators. I remember being introduced to an American woman by my ex; he hadn't mentioned to her I was American. She opened her mouth and out came this god-awful cod-RP accent: "So lovely to meet you." I smiled and replied in my full-on CT accent, "Nice to meet you too. I hear you're from New York -- I'm from New Haven." Jaw dropped, bluff called, Maven for the win!

And yeah, my old PA used to slag off Americans all the time in my presence. At first she apologised, then she stopped even doing that. I remember asking her to organise a travel itinerary for a business trip; I had three conferences back to back in Birmingham, Paris and Cardiff. I asked her if she would please book me somewhere downtown in Cardiff. She said, "Downtown? Where's that?" I said, "You know, Downtown? Like, the center of town?" "Ohhhhh, you mean the city center." What-ever. She pulled that ####### with me again when I called it "telecommuting" instead of "working from home."

GRAARRARRARRARRARARRRRR!

Edited August 1, 2008 by elmcitymaven

[truffles 2]

LOL... to be fair - if that conversation took place in the UK with a UK citizen then I can understand why the PA may have struggled ... city centre is exactly that but the term downtown is really an american term.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

LOL... to be fair - if that conversation took place in the UK with a UK citizen then I can understand why the PA may have struggled ... city centre is exactly that but the term downtown is really an american term.

No, she knew exactly what I was talking about. She and I had worked together for a long time and this was her "thing" -- taunt the Yank.

[amylovespaul 0]

I live in Chicago. So most people are used to the different accents. I do get the odd person comment. Most people seem to think I'm from Ireland

Best one I ever had was a few years ago here in Chicago, before I met my wife. Was in a cafe, placing my order. The guy behind the counter said to me "sorry I don't speak German"!!!

Too funny! The mail lady here asked Paul if he was German!

[amylovespaul 0]

My favorite was my best friend. She asked the usual about tea with the Queen. Then she asked how they celebrate Thanksgiving in England. I told her they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England. So then she asked "How do they know when to start shopping for Christmas?" Then "Do they celebrate Christmas?" Sometimes I wonder....

[truffles 2]

LOL... to be fair - if that conversation took place in the UK with a UK citizen then I can understand why the PA may have struggled ... city centre is exactly that but the term downtown is really an american term.

No, she knew exactly what I was talking about. She and I had worked together for a long time and this was her "thing" -- taunt the Yank.

I have seen both sides...I use to work with an american guy who when dealing with members of the public ( this was in a call centre envoirnment) continued to use american slang which of course caused problems then HE got annoyed with the customers for not understanding HIM!. He was gently reminded by his manager that when making notes on each customers account to use correct spelling and correct terminology as the notes he was making would be picked up many times by other people for them to work with... he wasnt happy about that !

Whilst I have lived here I have to think before I use a phrase or word such as queue etc as it usually confuses people - but suffer the usual remarks about crumpets and tea. I was once told "we speak the same language but we dont "

I work on the saying "When in Rome...."

[Gemmie 142]

Just to point out, this isn't a thread to slag off the Americans at all.

Of course there are ignorant Brits as well! For example...

- the other day a woman at work (when finding out that I was getting married) asked if they had churches and chapels in America!

- Most people, including my friends, have only ever heard of a few states such as NY and FL... so whenever a place comes up that they've never heard of, the question is always "is it near New York?"

- The other day my friend told me that her family were currently visiting Boston in NEW HAMPSHIRE!

- Some people have even branded Americans as wealthy arrogant snobs right in front of me when they know the situation with Bill being American. I even had someone say that they didn't like Americans when I said how he's coming over in a few days so that he'll probably get to meet him.

- My grandfather always brings up how obesity is so high in America and procedes to ask me how overweight the local people are, and what they're eating.

I try to shrug comments off because it's become expected. Though I DO remember the ignorant comments from people and it really irks me.

[Laura+Tom 2]

Just to point out, this isn't a thread to slag off the Americans at all.

Of course there are ignorant Brits as well! For example...

- the other day a woman at work (when finding out that I was getting married) asked if they had churches and chapels in America!

- Most people, including my friends, have only ever heard of a few states such as NY and FL... so whenever a place comes up that they've never heard of, the question is always "is it near New York?"

- The other day my friend told me that her family were currently visiting Boston in NEW HAMPSHIRE!

- Some people have even branded Americans as wealthy arrogant snobs right in front of me when they know the situation with Bill being American. I even had someone say that they didn't like Americans when I said how he's coming over in a few days so that he'll probably get to meet him.

- My grandfather always brings up how obesity is so high in America and procedes to ask me how overweight the local people are, and what they're eating.

I try to shrug comments off because it's become expected. Though I DO remember the ignorant comments from people and it really irks me.

I've had that too from work colleagues and friends. I've had 'why on earth are you dating an American there are plenty of decent British men available'. Erm because I love him very much.

I took Tom to a friends BBQ once and a guy there (who is very anti-war and an enviromentalist) told Tom that American troops are brainwashed so they will fight in the wars knowing full well that Tom is in the US Air Force and has served in Iraq. He also proceeded to slag off the US to no end. I was mortified. Tom never said anything about it, even after we left. The same guy also asked me why on earth I wanted to move to the US as I'll probably become brainwashed myself!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

It's more, 'laugh at the idiots' - wherever they are from!

I will say the one person who really commented on my accent (other than Alex's mother) was a lady at San Jose airport who was really, really sweet. She didn't gush, didn't try to copy me, just said, 'I love your accent and I've always wanted to visit the UK'. She was very helpful too.

[Jeraly 4]

However I love Hugh Laurie when he does Greg House.....

I know! Jeremy didn't even realise he was from the UK I said I will have to show him Blackadder sometime

although god knows it was somehow hard not get annoyed by the mindless stereotyping and knee-jerk reactions you would get from some Brits the moment you would open your mouth.

so true.

In all fairness my brother and his gf were expecting Jeremy to be the stereotypical loud "yank" with the socks and sandals, Hawaiian shirt and cowboy hat or something They said they were pleasantly surprised and that he was nothing like they expected. I also have a group of friends who are very opinionated America-"haters" - a lot of it is tongue in cheek and derives from politics and bumpf but again, they met Jeremy and of course, they would rib him about various American stereotypes but it was all in jest (because they do that to *everyone* - you just retaliate and laugh at them for being goths etc )

I think there are lots of stereotypes for Americans and I am not even sure why - majority of Americans I have met have been nothing like the crazy stereotypes in the UK

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I did *once* meet the stereotypical American. Once! Stereotyping gets very tedious after a while and the stereotypes are nearly always negative. The majority of people anywhere are never going to conform to stereotype.

Jeraly - my brother is like your friends. I warned Alex about him but as it turned out I needn't have worried; my brother toned his jokes down and Alex was able to retaliate in kind. Likewise I was able to laugh with Alex's uncles; it was obvious they were only poking fun, and I didn't find it offensive.

[Mags 112]

Yeah, Bill is good at doing the "posh" English accents but not the "cockney" as he refers to it. I've never heard a convincing English accent that isn't posh from an American!

The exception is Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnell, although I think his father is English (though he is a posh baron or something!)

Christopher Guest IS a Baron himself. He used to have to appear in the house of Lords every once in a while. In fact, his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) often appeared on his behalf when he was unavailable. Since the law was changed in 1999 (House of Lords act), he doesn't pop over any more.

His official title is Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest.