Where do People Think You are From?.....

[Captain Oates 911]

ME: (speaking very slowly) 'I would like a GIN and TONIC please'

answer: 'MGD lite? sure !'

me: 'no, no, I said a GIN, and a TONIC !!'

answer - 'oh ok - are you Australian ? '

I am from Otley Yorkshire by the way and that is the opposite of Australian in every way......

I was talking to an American girl at York Minster and she said -

'We are going to Norway tomorrow - is that in the north of England too ? '

I was watching the superbowl last night and they were claiming to be 'world champions' - on that score I suppose residents of Yorkshire are world champions at being residents of Yorkshire

The evidence is in folks - the rest of the world is somewhere in that inky ocean - on the old maps they used to mark it as 'There be dragons !'

But I also know that Americans are split into 2 groups, and those who are internationalists are very, very good and their geography and knowledge of culture differences is fantastic and their command of languages too - so it's just the 80/20 % rule at work again - but its true that joe/joanne public doesn't know manchester from mars.....

It's the same here in the UK - my daughter (34 years old) doesnt know who is Prime Minister

alan

[Moon9393 0]

lady : " where you from "

me: " I am from Italy"

lady: " Oh so you speak spanish?"

me : " no"

lady: " so what language do you speak?"

me :" italian"

My brother in law: "So you are from Rome, is Romania in Rome also?"

me: "noo"

my brother in law: " but romania is in italy ,right?"

[rebex05 1]

This makes me laugh... though not the best representation of us USCs. I will tell you that while I do not have my accents down... my geography is much better that saying Norway is north of England and that Romania is in Rome. Guess my fiance will face the same stupid questions when he gets here.

[Fandango 1,439]

Just interested to know whether anyone else new to the US has had a variety of assumptions about where they are from? Im from London and its clearly obvious I am from my accent, however, Ive been asked if I am Australian, Welsh?, South African, and today, wait for it....Norwegian !! Now dont get me wrong, I realise that not everyone is familiar with an english accent, but I have always been able to tell the difference between Americans, Aussies, South Africans etc so I can never understand why it doesnt work both ways?

HI,

I am from Scotland and have been told I speak English really well. I find it funny since English is my spoken language. Like another poster I found most people around here think London is the whole of England,lol.

lol too true.

David's from NE England...people asked if he was Scottish, Australian, and there was one other that I can't remember. It's funny tho cos when he's around me, he speaks slightly differently than when he's with his friends. I honestly can hardly hear the accent now, tbh. But I can call him up at home and I know if someone's in the house by the way he answers the phone. It's strange.

Edited February 6, 2007 by LisaD

[Saddle Bronc 124]

To no surprise, we do get asked whether we are from Bangladesh or Pakistan (as the majority of Pakistanis resemble those of Indian Punjab, and somewhat smaller percentage resemble "Hindi Belt" Indians; Banglas are almost indistinguishable physically from West Bengalis).

Personally, I have also been asked whether I was born in Canada or US (due to my accent, which is typically Albertan with some ex-FOP desi modifications).

[Mags 112]

I just get asked where in England am I from. Only one person has ever said to me "Are you Scottish?". For the record I have a pretty mild Essex accent and lived the last 7 in London, so alot of the Essex has rubbed off. Hardly Rab C Nesbitt....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rab_C._Nesbitt

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

my friend's mother played the neighbor, Ella Cotner, in that show.

[Captain Oates 911]

I am from Scotland and have been told I speak English really well. I find it funny since English is my spoken language. Like another poster I found most people around here think London is the whole of England,lol.

My USC wife is here in the UK and I want to show her Scotland - she is now looking for her passport for when we are a bit north of carlisle and asking if they use euros... i said it's like going from Wisconsin to Illinois - some different laws but it's not as far...

I spent the summer of 1976 in Scotland as a student and had to be able to do the Scottish accent in order to draw my social security at the post office....(wheers ma doash than Jam ?) and in the US I have to ask for carfy if I want coffee- otherwise I don't get any - it's that simple.

[tweety 1]

good topic lol

I'm German, and people keep on asking me where I'm from. Most guess England, followed by California and New York.

Oh well, but if anyone else is tired of that stupid question give them this reply:

"I'm from around here!" I can guarantee you from my experience that this will shut people up for a good while and confuses them greatly. ROFL Try it out - it's worth the laugh.

Oh and speaking of Germany - most strangely people tend to ask if that isn't also that country where they drive on the wrong side of the road

[athena_ny 1]

My husband is from Peru. He has been asked if he is from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico... B) he gets mad, and I laugh b/c it is so ridiculous.

[PaulineA 1]

I am from Scotland and have been told I speak English really well. I find it funny since English is my spoken language. Like another poster I found most people around here think London is the whole of England,lol.

My USC wife is here in the UK and I want to show her Scotland - she is now looking for her passport for when we are a bit north of carlisle and asking if they use euros... i said it's like going from Wisconsin to Illinois - some different laws but it's not as far...

I spent the summer of 1976 in Scotland as a student and had to be able to do the Scottish accent in order to draw my social security at the post office....(wheers ma doash than Jam ?) and in the US I have to ask for carfy if I want coffee- otherwise I don't get any - it's that simple.

That is so funny. I must admit that I have to try and talk with an American accent, or I'm either not undertood, or I get something I haven't asked for, lol.

[JayJay 4]

Oh man...I am so done with being asked where I'm from. I've had the following countries (apart from England - and I am English): Russia; South Africa; Australia; "down south"; and a few others. but the best, by far was: Saudi Arabia.

This guy who came into the store that I managed asked me where in Saudi Arabia I was from. he said he was certain I was from Saudi Arabia, as he'd had a friend from Saudi Arabia and I sounded exactly the same as his friend. I said "I am not from Saudi Arabia" but he wasn't having any of it. He asked me if I said "ta" and I said "no I don't..." to which he replied "oh, cos my friend used to say "ta" and doesn't it mean "goodbye" or soemthing in Saudi Arabia?" I said "I have no idea - I'm not from Saudi Arabia" but that semed to totally fly over his head and hit the wall behind him...some people are just really odd.

I get asked by about 50% of my custoemrs where I'm from. It's usually a variation of "so, where are you from?" (*weeps with boredom....utter boredom*) or "ooooh - you're not from around here, are you??". When you take into account that I geet about 150 customers a day, this gets unbearably annoying (the kind of annoyance that makes a person want to take their head and just whack it against a wall).

There's one very smelly pervert who comes into the store and in between the "you've got nice breasts/buttocks/hair/figure" and leching he does, he likes to get really personal with the staff. His weapon of choice against my psyche is the English Monarchy. Every time he comes into the store, he'll come very close to me (and believe me, this dude probably hasn't seen a shower or a washer since childhood - I expect he simply sits, festering away in his own filth in the same chair day after day...) and ask me if I know which Prince started his reign in the year 1457, for example. When I say "I have no idea..." he will tell me the correct answer and let me know he's been spending a few hours a day researching things "quitiscentially English" so that he can know me better.... *shudder* Occasionally he'll also throw a reference to European landmarks in there as though England and the countries in Europe are one and the same. *note to anyone wondering: Europe is a collection of countries!!!*

Well, I suppose it's better than being told one should consider the exotic dancing industry, as he told one of my employees when nobody was listening...

Strangely enough, his house burnt to the ground yesterday afternoon - total loss. I wonder if it was an accident of if the local women ganged up and set it on fire.

One of my male employees once asked me in a perfectly serious tone of voice what language people spoke in England. He genuinely didn't know. He said "do they speak French there then, like in Canada?". When I told him that no, English people spoke ENGLISH he corrected me and told me that American people in fact, spoke English. At which point I corrected him back and said that the English spoken in America is very often to twisted up from English English that it might as well be called American, all by itself. It was a little while later that I was told this young man hadn't been outside a 100 mile radius from his birthplace. But that's Minnesota for you. At least in places like Montana, residents are forced to journey at least 50 miles for food... *giggle*

Nowadays when someone makes the observation that I "can't be from around here!" I simply say "Oh yes actually I live right here in Wells - my husband and I just bought our first house last October!" and flash them a winning smile.

I dunno - I try not to be too cynical, but depending on my mood, I do sometimes make some silly remarks.

[no one 0]

The Californians here think I'm a local I'm from Hong Kong, and grew up in Toronto (Canada). Guess the Ontarian accent is similar to the northern Californian accent?

[Reba 2]

Toronto accent maybe, but I wouldn't lump all of Ontario as having the same accent. I certainly don't unless I need to. I grew up at Mussleman's Lake (just north of the city) and the accent is a bit more "hick"

Of course my Laker accent now has overtones of Toronto and Western North Carolina

[Widge 0]

I get asked by about 50% of my custoemrs where I'm from. It's usually a variation of "so, where are you from?" (*weeps with boredom....utter boredom*) or "ooooh - you're not from around here, are you??". When you take into account that I geet about 150 customers a day, this gets unbearably annoying (the kind of annoyance that makes a person want to take their head and just whack it against a wall).

I dunno - I try not to be too cynical, but depending on my mood, I do sometimes make some silly remarks.

Working in retail I can ohhhhhh so relate to this, dunno if I'd have stuck the job if I'd known 14 months later I'd still be getting the same string of dumbass questions! Do you ever feel like the Geico in the add where he says something along the lines of I'm here for Geico not to answer personal questions ......... the audacity of some customers in what they think it is perfectly OK to ask verges on criminal (I have been heard to mutter "this is almost racial harassment" lol) I've also been known to reply when asked "where's your accent from?"

"Here" pointing to my neck/vocal chords!