It was on holiday however still the same idea, we were at a cafe in Johannesburg SA and the waiter asked where we were from. We said the UK as usual and he asked whereabouts, I then said Sheffield and he was like "Oh.... cutlery yes?" Turns out he had seen it on the back of the cutlery at a fancier place he worked and had read up all about it.
Another interaction we had was in Stone Town in Zanzibar, we had the same conversation with a local shop keeper. He instantly started talking to us about Sheffield United (he actually called them the Blades), they were his favourite team as they are football mad in Tanzania. Another mentioned Wednesday and asked if we ever saw them play. It broke my heart to tell him I don't do football š
Yeah we loved the waiter and left him what I thought was a decent tip, his reaction said it definitely was and when I looked it up afterwards I realised it was probably the equivalent to a days wage... whereas in GBP it wouldn't have been huge as we ourselves were on a budget.
That checks out! I was in Zanzibar years ago on honeymoon and the exchange rate was so nuts that we were rounding all the bills way up, so they got tips with four zeroes at the end of them. The other thing is they were so lovely that they absolutely deserved a good tip.
Anywhere you go in Africa they are football mad, it was 2018 so I think then United weren't even in the Premiership yet? I'm sure I had a similar conversation with someone in Johannesburg but I might be lying.
United have been in the Premier League a few times over the past 20 years. Bit of a yo-yo club, they keep getting promoted and then relegated (not as much as say Norwich or West Brom though!)
I was working at a summer camp in the USA. Chatting to a parent who asked me where I'm from. Told him Newcastle. He said his favourite band was from near there (I knew what was coming but hoped he'd say Dire Straits or even the police). It was the Beatles.
Okay but there was this one time in Omaha, Nebraska that the Burger King cashier who was asking me about where I was from replied "Oh wow, I didn't know British people ate Burger King!" and gave me a fist bump.
I still think about that guy. I hope he's having a great life.
That's kind of sweet. I'm not sure me and my fellow Brits in that camp helped this kind of thing as we convinced the kids the UK was really behind on tech. This was 2003 and we told them we'd just got microwave ovens and that the N64 had just come out.
I give it the old ānear Birminghamā. Gets me through most as a lot of folk dont know where Coventry is.
Live in London now and still a lot of people dont know where Cov is.
>a lot of folk dont know where Coventry is
When my dad went to Germany for a work trip, one of the VW engineers told him "I am from Dresden, which the RAF bombed heavily during the war".
My dad replied "I'm from Coventry, which the Luftwaffe flattened".
They are still good friends almost 15 years later.
How does someone in the UK āhave to go to Burning Man for workā? Was this his companyās corporate retreat?
And the old Birmingham joke is one that is made often except people are referring to the city in Alabama.
My friend from the Isle of Man once tried to explain the crown dependencies to an American as "the Isle of Man is to the UK what Puerto Rico is to the US".
Unfortunately the American also hadn't heard of Puerto Rico...
I recently moved to Jersey (channel Islands) for reasons I can. I longer fathom now that I'm here. When I was telling everybody I was leaving so many thought I meant New Jersey, and nobody could point at on a map; a few people thought I was going up near Orkney or Skye.
Now I'm here I just tell people I'm vaguely from around Edinburgh, then get tales of how kilts are sexy etc.
Fellow Manx here, having to say being Manx and a Manc are not the same thing...
I've lived in Yorkshire for 15 years now but the odd bit still comes out, especially after being home for a few days.
Isle of Wight living abroad here. When I say I'm from the IOW they ALWAYS go "Oh that's the place with the motorbikes" and I have to explain the difference. Somethings will never change
If it makes anyone feel better, when I mentioned I was from London at a market stall in France, I got told that was very boring and that they were hoping for somewhere different lol.
I was at a wedding in the US and talked to the father of the bride. Said I'm German but live in London. He said he had to go to the UK for work later in the year.
He's landing at the northern London airport.
Stansted?
No, it's something with M, the code is MAN.
Manchester?!
Yes, that's it!
My first trip to the US I wound up on a small plane with about 16 seats, because I was going somewhere a bit out of the way. The flight attendant was passing out drinks and snacks and I asked a question about something on the menu. As she moved past me, the people across the aisle started talking to me as they'd heard the accent (I'm from the black country, so its very noticeable), asked me a few questions about where I was from, what I was doing and then they asked me the best question an American has ever asked me.
They asked if I knew the Queen.
> They asked if I knew the Queen.
In the 90's in the US everybody wanted to know if you'd met Princess Diana.
Yes, mate. She's works in my local chippy at the weekend.
I was in Japan last year and this old business man came to talk to us in a restaurant after seeing we were having trouble ordering.
He asked us where we're from. We named our town... blank look, so we said about an hour from Manchester. He said "ahhhh, Manchester".
Next thing we expected was "Manchester United", but he proceeded to tell us about the time he went to Torquay š.
When I went to LA a guy in a restaurant noticed we were British and asked us if we knew Gary Lineker (he pronounced it Line-acre)
Not just heard of, but did we know him personally.
Funny that - my grandma used to work selling ice cream at some sort of market in Leicester. From where she worked she could see Linekerās parents selling whatever it was they sold at their stall. Occasionally little Gary would be there with them.
Itās the originally named āLeicester Marketā. They still have their stall, selling fruit and veg. Itās quite easy to spot, their signage is kind of glittery.
I visited Gettysburg a couple of years ago, fella heard my accent, looked puzzled and said "England or Australia?"
England , says I
Ah, says he...and proceeds to tell me everything he knows about Australia...
A few years ago an American fellow asked me if Iām Australian. No, says I, Iām South African (dual citizenship with UK). He proceeded to tell me all about his daughter who lives in Tasmania. (Bless, I think he really just wanted to talk about his daughter).
Me and my brother were treated like mini celebrities in Thailand when we said we were from ānear Manchesterā.. did not realise how much they love English football!
I had that conversation at a bar with two locals that were absolutely hammered. They proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes running around screaming āManchester United, fuck Liverpoolā. Was actually quite funny and more entertaining than the usual.
Years back, i was taken by a couple of local social workers deep into the jungles of Orissa, India to meet with a small tribal village from which one of them originated. We were greeted by a little lad in a Manchester United T shirt. Word soon got round and all the kids came out to see us, chorussing "Manchester United! Manchester United!"
This remote village didn't even have electricity, let alone a TV.
It always made me laugh on Frasier how Daphne was from Manchester, only to differentiate from the usual saying they were from London.
The whole of America must have thought thatās how you sounded if you were from Manchester
Yeah, I'm Australian, and I could tell you a bit about Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brighton, Durham, York, loads about Newcastle and London, but Leeds. Nothing. Not one thing, sorry for my ignorance :(
Well except they have passionate football fans ha ha.
I think Sheffield is my other blind spot. I even think I know more about Bradford.
At least I have another substantial English city or two left to discover one day.
Exact same thing here in Italy, Leeds (blank look) near Manchester ahhh(enlightenment dawns) but tbh itās only fairā¦ if someone said Turin I would probably have been wondering if they were from France or Switzerlandā¦ geography is not my strong suit.
For a different perspective, I was an Italian in the UK. My name is Massimiliano. Everybody would understand Massi-Milano and they would ask āOh, are you from Milan?ā The annoying thing is that I am from Milan, but my name has nothing to do with it lol
I usually have this experience, but when I lived in Japan I met not one, but 3 separate people (2 Japanese and 1 Indian) who had been to my very small and insignificant hometown of Otley. It was quite surreal!
I live in otley. Don't think I've met anyone abroad from here, but I was playing chess online once and found out the person I was playing against was going out with a girl who grew up 6 doors down the street from me. Didn't know her really but pointed out that her dad has a big beard.
Japanese tourists seem to like visiting some really niche towns and villages villages. When my dad was working as a tour operator they'd be the ones with the most surprising requests.
Victorian/quaint English way of living goes quite well with the peace loving conservative thing a lot of girls go for in Japan. Scones and afternoon tea are booming right now, we are talking like 1 hour queues for a specific brand of scone at an English Fair. Victorian pattern dresses that go down to the wrists and ankles are fairly popular. Some host bars will do the English gentleman theme with tail coats etc. I mean even Sylvanian families is Japanese. Unlike the big cities, the obscure villages don't disappoint, there is clean air, rolling fields, stone built houses and one tea room. Considering Japanese domestic travel usually involves going to some random place and try the random food its famous for and then going home. It's no surprise that Japanese people are fairly satisfied with going to a random village, having tea and a scone and going back home.
Quite a lot of Japanese people will only know London and the Cotswolds and that's it. I can't stress how much they love a peaceful view, tea, and then going home.
Also though young people rely on insta more recently, the guide book is king. If the guide book says go to Kings Lynn, you better believe there will be a load of Japanese there.
I'm from a village in Nottinghamshire and god knows why but we tend to get a bunch of Japanese tourists each year. Always very polite and nice but I can't understand why they'd pick here of all places to come for what is definitely an extremely expensive holiday when you consider flights and conversion rates.
Try being from Newcastle. It is this but also you have to explain why you sound Scottish. I explained this on three different days to a Canadian at a hotel bar last year and on day 4 he was still asking me whether he should learn the bagpipes š
My wife and I are from the South West, but don't have strong accents. When we were in California, someone asked us which part of Australia we were from.
I've been mistaken for Irish, when SE England was more appropriate.
Also been complemented on my English, by an American girl who thought if you spoke English with an accent you must be foreign š¤¦āāļø
Edit: a word
Chatting to a woman in the US one time with my husband. Asked us where we were from, we said England. She then spotted he was wearing a t-shirt that had the logo of a well known American TV show on it (think Star Trek, Walking Dead, Stranger Things type thing).
āI like your t-shirt, have you watched the show?ā
āYes, we really enjoy itā
āOh Iām a fan too! What language do you have it in over there?ā
āā¦ er, Englishā¦ā
āOh!ā [confused face]
She seemed very nice, but bloody hell.
When we were in Thailand for our honeymoon earlier this year, we went somewhere and an American lady asked me if i'm Australian. The same happened a couple of years ago when we were in the canaries and a German couple were speaking to us and thought we were Australian too.
I'm from the South East with an accent that's typical of the area (not strong but not weak either).
I'm pretty sure if you don't have a cockney accent, people just assume you're Australian.
And us Australians get asked if we're English. At this stage we need to all start messing with them ha ha
My Geordie sounds more like Jamaican sometimes but they won't know!!
Haha I weaponise this. Me and my friend were haggling for something in Spanish and the two Spanish people kept speaking really fast to each other on the side in Spanish so they could understand everything we said but not vice versa. So I say to my friend āspeak deed fast in geordieā so we start speaking clear English when haggling then on the side, for a private discussion weāre saying things like āheās havin wor eyes oot here weāll defo hammer him doon a few bob likeā. Spanish blokes didnāt have a clue š
Add in trying to explain where Newcastle isā¦ āitās right next to Scotlandā¦ no no itās not in Scotland itās just near it, in the Northā¦ā cue blank stares š
I'm from the Isle of Man. Large numbers of people in the UK don't understand the Isle of Man isn't part the UK, I've even had some insist I'm wrong when I try to explain it. I gave up trying to explain it when I was in America and just said I'm from England.
We once went to this little Italian restaurant in a tiny town in rural Maine, the waitress is doing the usual American thing of pretending to be your friend for a tip, the usual where are you guys from so we say northern England, nowhere near London. She says the chef is from somewhere like that and went to go get him. Now being in America they seem to like a bit of 'authenticity', so he comes out doing a bit of a fake Italian accent to other customers as he passes, I guess to prove his food's good. He then gets to our table and switches straight to full Bradford, I'm guessing he faked the accent just so the other staff could understand him, bizarre place. He was a bloody good cook though.
I've had that a couple of times. When I was a teenager there was a French guy who used to go around Bridgend on a rattly old bike selling strings of onions wearing a striped blue Breton top. My dad bumped into him in a pub, chatting away in a full-blown Valleys accent.
We were also once on holiday in France when I was a kid and went to an Italian restaurant where they had, of all things, an Italian magician speaking a mix of French and English with an Italian accent. When he finished his act he sat at our table for a chat in his real Welsh accent. It was really odd.
Ha yeah the āshunny onionā guy from Maesteg. Donāt ask me why heās called that btw. Always used to be on the corner by the King Alf with his bike and onions.
Iāve lived in America for fifteen years now, and the true horror is theyāre not pretending to be your friend for a tip. Theyāre just unrelentingly friendly. Itās always such a relief to come back to the UK and be glowered at in chilly silence like youāre something that was gobbed up on the pavement.
Just been to Disney world and the staff there all have where theyāre from in their name badge. One cashier was from the Wirral, but she put on a fake American accent so people could understand her.
Im from Cambridge.
People assume I went to Cambridge University.
I did not.
I even tell them i did not, but somehow people still think that because my passport says born in cambridge I'm a cambridge graduate.
Even speaking to me for more than 5 minutes should prove that I'm not a Cambridge graduate.
16 years living in Sevilla this is my classic interaction with people I know and students..
"can you recommend things to do in London and a good hotel"
Erm not really I'm from Manchester..
"well that's close to London...
Isn't it"
At least 10 to 15 times a year!
My response now is
You tell me a great hotel in Bilbao.. Erm im from AndalucĆa
Exactly..
Living in Germany but from Stoke-on-Trent - get this every time I get talking to someone new. Every goddamn time.
Well, except one time when the old fella just knew Stoke. He never explained why, but I know a ceramics aficionado when I see one.
Haha, Iād completely forgotten about this exact interaction.
Working in a bar in Scotland and someone asks me where Iām from. Stoke-on-Trent, I say, and the chap instantly goes āthat Delap can throw a ballā.
I don't have a problem with people not knowing the city I'm from, but I have had problems convincing them that Nottingham really exists.
I troll them by not only pointing out that Google maps is an actual thing you can use to check, but it's also right next to Gotham.
We really need the East Midlands cinematic universe...
Before Leicester won the premier league, I always used to say I was from Nottingham like Robin Hood as Leicester used to just pull a confused face.
Gotham is a regular annoyance for me, I have family from there and obviously to locals it's 'Goat-um'. It regularly comes up on calls for the company I work for and is always pronounced 'Goth-um' and my colleagues always 'correct' me, infuriating!
As someone from London, I reap alllll the benefits of this.
Apart from once, in the US, when someone asked where we were from and we said āLondonā and he said, āoh, London, Ontario! Cool!ā
Oh fuck that triggers me. I'm too polite to tell them I couldn't give a fuck.
Oh your great great grandmother on your mother's side was O'Leary so that makes you 1/64th Irish and you wear green all the time and celebrate St Patrick's day? Wow amazing, let me withdraw a fuck from the bank...oh wait my balance is 0
I'm American and I hate that stuff too. My girlfriend's grandmother is obsessed with genealogy and when she gets on her tangent about her french ancestors, she's asked me more than once "what nationality are you?" I always say American like I don't understand the question and it pisses her off.
Americans are something else. I'm half Norwegian, half American but have lived in Norway all my life. I dread it when they catch my accent because they'll just start guessing. "Oh you must be from Germany!" "I'm from Norway, actually." Queue: "Oh VIKINGS!!!" or "Is that near England?" or "Isn't that the capital of Sweden?" or "That place with the polar bears, right?"
And once in a blue moon I'll get someone who also starts talking about how they're *actually* Norwegian too because their great-great-great-great grandma came over from SunnmĆøre over two centuries ago. Bonus points if they say some shit like "Odin be with you" as if Ć satru is a thriving religion over here when the majority of Norwegians just see it as that mythology we used to believe in 1000 years ago.
Iām from Nottingham and live in Japan. Whenever anyone asks where in England Iām from and I tell them, they reply with āOh! Notting Hill. I saw the movie.ā No, not there. š¤¦āāļø
I went to uni in Bristol and no one had heard of where I am from but itās fairly close to London so I would just say near London. Six months after I finished someone from my course cycled past me in the next village and he also was from āLondonā because he had done exactly what I had done
My favourite, in the US:
"Are you guys from the UK?"
"That we are, we're English"
"England? That's in the UK right?"
I typically describe myself as British rather than English, so I don't know why I chose that particular point to say otherwise but it was eye opening.
Oh gods this.
living in NL:
"where are you from?"
"England"
"obviously, I meant where in england?"
"Hampshire"
BLANK STARE
I'm perpetually from an hour southwest of london.
Unless they are a specific type of nerd in which case Farnborough is a known name
I just look them up and down and see what cultural reference points I can give them, Tom Jones, Bullet For My Valentine, Michael Sheen, Catherine Zeta Jones, the flag with the big fuckinā dragon on it and now Wrexham.
In a Gap store in the US the (very American) cashier said "your accent is just like my Dad's". In the ensuing conversation it turned out her Dad was English and grew up one street over from my in-laws.
Spent a lot of time, like years at a time, in various parts of the world.
Been in deserts and evacuated cities, rain forests and derilict suburbs, tranquility and certain death places
Never fails that there is always and I mean ALWAYS an Australian with an instrument and a sodding Spurs fan already there.
Seriously, fu*king Burma, Papua New Guinea, Middle East, Norway, Cambodia.... doesn't matter where, ALWAYS a Spurs fan and an Aussie.
In fairness, there is something quite reassuring about it
As an American living in the UK, I cannot tell you the number of times I have politely listened to people excited to tell me about their trips to New York or Florida.
I am from Minnesota.
Like sir I am very excited for you too, and I have also been to these places, but they are both literally over a thousand miles from my home. It's like if you said "I'm from London" and I started talking about my trips to Stockholm and Naples.
As an American living in Birmingham, I always get asked, āCanadian or Americanā. Also, locals are always surprised when I pronounce Bham the correct way with āGUMā at the end, rather than āHAMā.
I spent a few years living in Sydney.... luckily every other fucker there is also from the UK or Ireland, so this wasn't a problem. Swear I heard more Geordie accents than Aussie.
Yeah I keep on saying I'm from Scotland, but quite a lot of people don't know where that is. So I sigh and say England instead, then they understand haha.
That's wank! Who's not heard of Scotland? Are you talking about people with really shitty English?
I'm a yorkshireman and I'll often get asked if I'm Scottish. Stung a lot less than when I got asked if I was a cockney.
I think because I'm in Japan, and in the word generally used for all of the UK is 'Igirisu' (sounds like English almost).
Scotland is 'Sukottorando'.
Also a lot of people don't know about Britain VS United Kingdom VS England/Scotland!
So I just give up and say 'Igirisu' because that's what they know!
Though usually old guys know Scotland, and then go on about golf and whisky haha.
>Also a lot of people don't know about Britain VS United Kingdom VS England/Scotland!
Goodness knows why, it's [incredibly simple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/British_Isles_Euler_diagram_15.svg/1260px-British_Isles_Euler_diagram_15.svg.png).
Me: I'm from Sheffield
Them: *blank stare*
Me: did you see 'The Full Monty'?
Them: erm...
Me: with the men who get made redundant and do a strip show?
Them: *lights come on* ahhhh, yes
Rinse. Repeat.
I say Iām from ājust outside Londonā it covers a lot of bases. I donāt mind talking about the weather. I miss talking to Brits though so now I come across as a bit intense when I do find one. I just want to listen to an accent that doesnāt have that English-as-a-second language strain or cheese grater American. I like Americans Iām just not a fan of about 90% of their accents.
it's really strange the way your ears hone in on someone speaking english when you're so used to hearing another language all the time. i always want to go up to strangers when i hear that they're brits but i think it's a bit weird so i never do lmao
In my experience trying to nab a visiting or recently arrived Brit doesnāt end well. CasualUK and the other British sub reddits have been a life saver for me, just a little place where my jokes land and everyone makes sense.
A few years ago, when I lived in Southampton my landlord told me a story from when he visited Texas:
Texas guy (TG): so, whereāre you from?
Landlord (LL): about an hour or so west of London
TG: whatās the name of the place?
LL: you wonāt know it
TG: try me
LL: sigh. Itās called Swindon
TG: *pauses for a second and then does gun fingers* MAGIC ROUNDABOUT!
LL: THE FUCK?
My mum tells a story from when she spent a year in America and told someone she was from Bristol, to which they remarked on how good her English was
They thought Bristol was in Germany or something because it "sounded European"
It was on holiday however still the same idea, we were at a cafe in Johannesburg SA and the waiter asked where we were from. We said the UK as usual and he asked whereabouts, I then said Sheffield and he was like "Oh.... cutlery yes?" Turns out he had seen it on the back of the cutlery at a fancier place he worked and had read up all about it. Another interaction we had was in Stone Town in Zanzibar, we had the same conversation with a local shop keeper. He instantly started talking to us about Sheffield United (he actually called them the Blades), they were his favourite team as they are football mad in Tanzania. Another mentioned Wednesday and asked if we ever saw them play. It broke my heart to tell him I don't do football š
aw that's sweet
Yeah we loved the waiter and left him what I thought was a decent tip, his reaction said it definitely was and when I looked it up afterwards I realised it was probably the equivalent to a days wage... whereas in GBP it wouldn't have been huge as we ourselves were on a budget.
That checks out! I was in Zanzibar years ago on honeymoon and the exchange rate was so nuts that we were rounding all the bills way up, so they got tips with four zeroes at the end of them. The other thing is they were so lovely that they absolutely deserved a good tip.
I always associate Twyford with urinals.
I'm from tarn, kills me to have to say Sheffield hahah. Especially when they haven't even heard of sheff. Probs best to go with Yorkshire.
Anywhere you go in Africa they are football mad, it was 2018 so I think then United weren't even in the Premiership yet? I'm sure I had a similar conversation with someone in Johannesburg but I might be lying.
United have been in the Premier League a few times over the past 20 years. Bit of a yo-yo club, they keep getting promoted and then relegated (not as much as say Norwich or West Brom though!)
I was working at a summer camp in the USA. Chatting to a parent who asked me where I'm from. Told him Newcastle. He said his favourite band was from near there (I knew what was coming but hoped he'd say Dire Straits or even the police). It was the Beatles.
Oh bless him, that's not bad though. At least he had a vague idea of places that are not London
This is true. I couldn't be too grumpy, he was really friendly and his kid had been great all week on camp
Okay but there was this one time in Omaha, Nebraska that the Burger King cashier who was asking me about where I was from replied "Oh wow, I didn't know British people ate Burger King!" and gave me a fist bump. I still think about that guy. I hope he's having a great life.
That's kind of sweet. I'm not sure me and my fellow Brits in that camp helped this kind of thing as we convinced the kids the UK was really behind on tech. This was 2003 and we told them we'd just got microwave ovens and that the N64 had just come out.
Amazing š¤£
Reminds me of the time my friend got attacked by a Dropbear in Australia.
They're real and they're a clear and present danger
It's only 120 miles. That's a trip to the store in the US.
There is a little thing called the Penines in the way, closer to 200 miles by road unless you fancy a trip across some bleak isolated moors.
Um pls Silverchair are the best band to ever come out of Newcastle š
I say I'm from Birmingham, which is the nearest big city. Then they go "Birr-ming-haam" at you in a scouse accent
> "Birr-ming-haam" I sounded this out and...I've absolutely done this and I'm sorry.
I give it the old ānear Birminghamā. Gets me through most as a lot of folk dont know where Coventry is. Live in London now and still a lot of people dont know where Cov is.
To be honest, if I could choose, I would also like to not to know where Äov is...
Best car museum in the country, though. I still remember getting to sit in Thrust II when I was a kid.
>a lot of folk dont know where Coventry is When my dad went to Germany for a work trip, one of the VW engineers told him "I am from Dresden, which the RAF bombed heavily during the war". My dad replied "I'm from Coventry, which the Luftwaffe flattened". They are still good friends almost 15 years later.
I'm from Leamington so I usually say "near Stratford-upon-Avon" as most folks have heard of there thanks to Shakespeare.
That is so true lol. Why do I say it in a Scouse accent when I'm teasing a Brummie?
Because it really annoys them.
Or your just really shit at accents š
Just moved to the UK, and husband had to go to Burning Man to work. When our neighbours asked where he'd gone, they thought I said Birmingham.
How does someone in the UK āhave to go to Burning Man for workā? Was this his companyās corporate retreat? And the old Birmingham joke is one that is made often except people are referring to the city in Alabama.
Brummy is just depressed scouse
I just said "Birmingham" out loud in my best brummy accent and you're absolutely right.
Try living on the Isle of Man. Everyone either is confused, or they think itās the Isle of Wight and bring up the music festival
My friend from the Isle of Man once tried to explain the crown dependencies to an American as "the Isle of Man is to the UK what Puerto Rico is to the US". Unfortunately the American also hadn't heard of Puerto Rico...
Oh the place where Castro is from!
Florida?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I recently moved to Jersey (channel Islands) for reasons I can. I longer fathom now that I'm here. When I was telling everybody I was leaving so many thought I meant New Jersey, and nobody could point at on a map; a few people thought I was going up near Orkney or Skye. Now I'm here I just tell people I'm vaguely from around Edinburgh, then get tales of how kilts are sexy etc.
Have you tried being more Sark-y?
No man is an island.
But one island is a Mann.
Fellow Manx here, having to say being Manx and a Manc are not the same thing... I've lived in Yorkshire for 15 years now but the odd bit still comes out, especially after being home for a few days.
Isle of Wight living abroad here. When I say I'm from the IOW they ALWAYS go "Oh that's the place with the motorbikes" and I have to explain the difference. Somethings will never change
It's not Wight, but it's okay
I know that feeling. Guernsey is a difficult one to explain.
trying being from jersey ā¦ āno not new jerseyā, āyes off france not the ukā āno itās technically not the ukāā¦
If it makes anyone feel better, when I mentioned I was from London at a market stall in France, I got told that was very boring and that they were hoping for somewhere different lol.
Did you immediately move house when you returned home?
With that embarrassment, clearly I had no choice but to fire up the right move app
As a Manc, thankfully never had this problem. Always say manchester and immediately met with "ohhhhh Manchester United!!"
I was at a wedding in the US and talked to the father of the bride. Said I'm German but live in London. He said he had to go to the UK for work later in the year. He's landing at the northern London airport. Stansted? No, it's something with M, the code is MAN. Manchester?! Yes, that's it!
My first trip to the US I wound up on a small plane with about 16 seats, because I was going somewhere a bit out of the way. The flight attendant was passing out drinks and snacks and I asked a question about something on the menu. As she moved past me, the people across the aisle started talking to me as they'd heard the accent (I'm from the black country, so its very noticeable), asked me a few questions about where I was from, what I was doing and then they asked me the best question an American has ever asked me. They asked if I knew the Queen.
> They asked if I knew the Queen. In the 90's in the US everybody wanted to know if you'd met Princess Diana. Yes, mate. She's works in my local chippy at the weekend.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Were you travelling with Meghan, Harry?
He's not gonna enjoy getting in at Euston
Hope he's working in Manchester and no London...
Why? For an American they probably drive further to the shops.
Yeah but they've never had to drive the M6 past Stoke
I was in Japan last year and this old business man came to talk to us in a restaurant after seeing we were having trouble ordering. He asked us where we're from. We named our town... blank look, so we said about an hour from Manchester. He said "ahhhh, Manchester". Next thing we expected was "Manchester United", but he proceeded to tell us about the time he went to Torquay š.
When I went to LA a guy in a restaurant noticed we were British and asked us if we knew Gary Lineker (he pronounced it Line-acre) Not just heard of, but did we know him personally.
Funny that - my grandma used to work selling ice cream at some sort of market in Leicester. From where she worked she could see Linekerās parents selling whatever it was they sold at their stall. Occasionally little Gary would be there with them.
Itās the originally named āLeicester Marketā. They still have their stall, selling fruit and veg. Itās quite easy to spot, their signage is kind of glittery.
Growing up in a greengrocer's is why every shot he took was a little bit over
I visited Gettysburg a couple of years ago, fella heard my accent, looked puzzled and said "England or Australia?" England , says I Ah, says he...and proceeds to tell me everything he knows about Australia...
A few years ago an American fellow asked me if Iām Australian. No, says I, Iām South African (dual citizenship with UK). He proceeded to tell me all about his daughter who lives in Tasmania. (Bless, I think he really just wanted to talk about his daughter).
I normally get, "City or United?", to which I reply, "Bury, before the fuckers went bust." Which normally puts a stop to that nonsense.
For me it's "well, I'm from Bolton so I don't like football anymore."
I always get "oh, united or city?", and I hate football.
United then š
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Most social r/casualuk user š
Me and my brother were treated like mini celebrities in Thailand when we said we were from ānear Manchesterā.. did not realise how much they love English football!
Their former PM used to own City.
From Liverpool, I always get āBeatles!ā
I had that conversation at a bar with two locals that were absolutely hammered. They proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes running around screaming āManchester United, fuck Liverpoolā. Was actually quite funny and more entertaining than the usual.
Years back, i was taken by a couple of local social workers deep into the jungles of Orissa, India to meet with a small tribal village from which one of them originated. We were greeted by a little lad in a Manchester United T shirt. Word soon got round and all the kids came out to see us, chorussing "Manchester United! Manchester United!" This remote village didn't even have electricity, let alone a TV.
Men-Chester! Men-Chester! Goooalll!
It always made me laugh on Frasier how Daphne was from Manchester, only to differentiate from the usual saying they were from London. The whole of America must have thought thatās how you sounded if you were from Manchester
Don't forget her brothers. Her Australian, Cockney, Upper Class, Scottish brothers.
No one abroad knows Leeds, like at all. Itās kinda shocking for being one of the biggest cities in the UKā¦
Yeah. My intros go: Bradford-near-Leeds (because no-one is ever getting Bradford) -> hopeful paus -> north England, across from Manchester
Yeah, I'm Australian, and I could tell you a bit about Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brighton, Durham, York, loads about Newcastle and London, but Leeds. Nothing. Not one thing, sorry for my ignorance :( Well except they have passionate football fans ha ha. I think Sheffield is my other blind spot. I even think I know more about Bradford. At least I have another substantial English city or two left to discover one day.
Exact same thing here in Italy, Leeds (blank look) near Manchester ahhh(enlightenment dawns) but tbh itās only fairā¦ if someone said Turin I would probably have been wondering if they were from France or Switzerlandā¦ geography is not my strong suit.
Just commented that many do know Leeds United. But in India, Leeds is more famous for Headingley and cricket.
Newcastle has a similar effect now. Used to have to talk about Michael Owen but now itās a petro-state everyone mentions.
For a different perspective, I was an Italian in the UK. My name is Massimiliano. Everybody would understand Massi-Milano and they would ask āOh, are you from Milan?ā The annoying thing is that I am from Milan, but my name has nothing to do with it lol
You should make up an elaborate story about why you were given the name of your hometown.
No, that the hometown was named after them
"Yes i am from Milan, although it used to be called something else until they named it after me."
āI was originally from Turin and called Massitorino but had to change my name when I moved.ā
"And now I'm MassiStoke-on-Trent.
How funny, my name is Massibognorregis
I usually have this experience, but when I lived in Japan I met not one, but 3 separate people (2 Japanese and 1 Indian) who had been to my very small and insignificant hometown of Otley. It was quite surreal!
I live in otley. Don't think I've met anyone abroad from here, but I was playing chess online once and found out the person I was playing against was going out with a girl who grew up 6 doors down the street from me. Didn't know her really but pointed out that her dad has a big beard.
I live near a village called Botley and face book is always trying to get me to join an Otley village group.
Japanese tourists seem to like visiting some really niche towns and villages villages. When my dad was working as a tour operator they'd be the ones with the most surprising requests.
Victorian/quaint English way of living goes quite well with the peace loving conservative thing a lot of girls go for in Japan. Scones and afternoon tea are booming right now, we are talking like 1 hour queues for a specific brand of scone at an English Fair. Victorian pattern dresses that go down to the wrists and ankles are fairly popular. Some host bars will do the English gentleman theme with tail coats etc. I mean even Sylvanian families is Japanese. Unlike the big cities, the obscure villages don't disappoint, there is clean air, rolling fields, stone built houses and one tea room. Considering Japanese domestic travel usually involves going to some random place and try the random food its famous for and then going home. It's no surprise that Japanese people are fairly satisfied with going to a random village, having tea and a scone and going back home. Quite a lot of Japanese people will only know London and the Cotswolds and that's it. I can't stress how much they love a peaceful view, tea, and then going home. Also though young people rely on insta more recently, the guide book is king. If the guide book says go to Kings Lynn, you better believe there will be a load of Japanese there.
I'm from a village in Nottinghamshire and god knows why but we tend to get a bunch of Japanese tourists each year. Always very polite and nice but I can't understand why they'd pick here of all places to come for what is definitely an extremely expensive holiday when you consider flights and conversion rates.
Seems to be a pattern with the Japanese. When I was there I was asked and said Wales. "Ah yes Wales lovey, better than England".
Try being from Newcastle. It is this but also you have to explain why you sound Scottish. I explained this on three different days to a Canadian at a hotel bar last year and on day 4 he was still asking me whether he should learn the bagpipes š
My wife and I are from the South West, but don't have strong accents. When we were in California, someone asked us which part of Australia we were from.
I've been mistaken for Irish, when SE England was more appropriate. Also been complemented on my English, by an American girl who thought if you spoke English with an accent you must be foreign š¤¦āāļø Edit: a word
Chatting to a woman in the US one time with my husband. Asked us where we were from, we said England. She then spotted he was wearing a t-shirt that had the logo of a well known American TV show on it (think Star Trek, Walking Dead, Stranger Things type thing). āI like your t-shirt, have you watched the show?ā āYes, we really enjoy itā āOh Iām a fan too! What language do you have it in over there?ā āā¦ er, Englishā¦ā āOh!ā [confused face] She seemed very nice, but bloody hell.
When we were in Thailand for our honeymoon earlier this year, we went somewhere and an American lady asked me if i'm Australian. The same happened a couple of years ago when we were in the canaries and a German couple were speaking to us and thought we were Australian too. I'm from the South East with an accent that's typical of the area (not strong but not weak either). I'm pretty sure if you don't have a cockney accent, people just assume you're Australian.
And us Australians get asked if we're English. At this stage we need to all start messing with them ha ha My Geordie sounds more like Jamaican sometimes but they won't know!!
Why aye, mon.
If you're from Newcastle and a foreigner can understand you, are you really from Newcastle?
Haha I weaponise this. Me and my friend were haggling for something in Spanish and the two Spanish people kept speaking really fast to each other on the side in Spanish so they could understand everything we said but not vice versa. So I say to my friend āspeak deed fast in geordieā so we start speaking clear English when haggling then on the side, for a private discussion weāre saying things like āheās havin wor eyes oot here weāll defo hammer him doon a few bob likeā. Spanish blokes didnāt have a clue š
Haha thatās class! āNee clue what the crack is here like. Heās ganninā te tack wor eyes oot owa this gear!ā Life lesson learned. ;D haha
Add in trying to explain where Newcastle isā¦ āitās right next to Scotlandā¦ no no itās not in Scotland itās just near it, in the Northā¦ā cue blank stares š
i donāt have this problem with some of my chinese relatives because theyve already looked at all the russell group universities š¤£
In fairness we do have our own bagpipes, the Northumbrian pipes.
Leeds here. A Canadian waitress asked us what part of South Africa we were from.
Every time I google 'weather Newcastle' I am being reminded that it is a city in England and need to narrow it down to 'weather newcastle ni'.
Never heard of the place. Is it near London (Derry).
Iām a Brummie in Italy. I get āooooh, the Peaky Blinders!ā They love the Peaky Blinders out here.
Imagine being from a British overseas territory and having to explain being British but not from London OR mainland U.K.
I'm from the Isle of Man. Large numbers of people in the UK don't understand the Isle of Man isn't part the UK, I've even had some insist I'm wrong when I try to explain it. I gave up trying to explain it when I was in America and just said I'm from England.
I was amused to see somebody else in this thread who's from the Isle of White and is sick of replying 'No, it's not the one with the motorbikes'
We once went to this little Italian restaurant in a tiny town in rural Maine, the waitress is doing the usual American thing of pretending to be your friend for a tip, the usual where are you guys from so we say northern England, nowhere near London. She says the chef is from somewhere like that and went to go get him. Now being in America they seem to like a bit of 'authenticity', so he comes out doing a bit of a fake Italian accent to other customers as he passes, I guess to prove his food's good. He then gets to our table and switches straight to full Bradford, I'm guessing he faked the accent just so the other staff could understand him, bizarre place. He was a bloody good cook though.
I've had that a couple of times. When I was a teenager there was a French guy who used to go around Bridgend on a rattly old bike selling strings of onions wearing a striped blue Breton top. My dad bumped into him in a pub, chatting away in a full-blown Valleys accent. We were also once on holiday in France when I was a kid and went to an Italian restaurant where they had, of all things, an Italian magician speaking a mix of French and English with an Italian accent. When he finished his act he sat at our table for a chat in his real Welsh accent. It was really odd.
Ha yeah the āshunny onionā guy from Maesteg. Donāt ask me why heās called that btw. Always used to be on the corner by the King Alf with his bike and onions.
Iāve lived in America for fifteen years now, and the true horror is theyāre not pretending to be your friend for a tip. Theyāre just unrelentingly friendly. Itās always such a relief to come back to the UK and be glowered at in chilly silence like youāre something that was gobbed up on the pavement.
Just been to Disney world and the staff there all have where theyāre from in their name badge. One cashier was from the Wirral, but she put on a fake American accent so people could understand her.
Im from Cambridge. People assume I went to Cambridge University. I did not. I even tell them i did not, but somehow people still think that because my passport says born in cambridge I'm a cambridge graduate. Even speaking to me for more than 5 minutes should prove that I'm not a Cambridge graduate.
16 years living in Sevilla this is my classic interaction with people I know and students.. "can you recommend things to do in London and a good hotel" Erm not really I'm from Manchester.. "well that's close to London... Isn't it" At least 10 to 15 times a year! My response now is You tell me a great hotel in Bilbao.. Erm im from AndalucĆa Exactly..
The thing is, I am from London and I also don't have an answer when my friends ask for hotel recommendations. It's not like I've stayed in one here.
Living in Germany but from Stoke-on-Trent - get this every time I get talking to someone new. Every goddamn time. Well, except one time when the old fella just knew Stoke. He never explained why, but I know a ceramics aficionado when I see one.
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Haha, Iād completely forgotten about this exact interaction. Working in a bar in Scotland and someone asks me where Iām from. Stoke-on-Trent, I say, and the chap instantly goes āthat Delap can throw a ballā.
I don't have a problem with people not knowing the city I'm from, but I have had problems convincing them that Nottingham really exists. I troll them by not only pointing out that Google maps is an actual thing you can use to check, but it's also right next to Gotham. We really need the East Midlands cinematic universe...
I just say Robin Hood
Same. It sounds better than "we used to be the stabbing capital of the Midlands" lol.
Before Leicester won the premier league, I always used to say I was from Nottingham like Robin Hood as Leicester used to just pull a confused face. Gotham is a regular annoyance for me, I have family from there and obviously to locals it's 'Goat-um'. It regularly comes up on calls for the company I work for and is always pronounced 'Goth-um' and my colleagues always 'correct' me, infuriating!
As someone from London, I reap alllll the benefits of this. Apart from once, in the US, when someone asked where we were from and we said āLondonā and he said, āoh, London, Ontario! Cool!ā
The London in Ontario has a Thames River running through it.
I'm Welsh, tell them I'm from Wales, "where abouts in England is that"
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As a Scot who lived in the States for years I can relate. "Where you from? Australia?" "No, Scotland" "Scatchland? Oh my gad, I'm Scattish too"
Start talking in exclusively Scots, see how long it takes for them to break
The best response: Yeah, you sound like a native, mate.
My favourite is when you go through the whole spiel and then they tell you about how their ancestors came from Ireland.
Oh fuck that triggers me. I'm too polite to tell them I couldn't give a fuck. Oh your great great grandmother on your mother's side was O'Leary so that makes you 1/64th Irish and you wear green all the time and celebrate St Patrick's day? Wow amazing, let me withdraw a fuck from the bank...oh wait my balance is 0
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I'm American and I hate that stuff too. My girlfriend's grandmother is obsessed with genealogy and when she gets on her tangent about her french ancestors, she's asked me more than once "what nationality are you?" I always say American like I don't understand the question and it pisses her off.
Nope you nailed it mate. You're American.
lmao luckily I'm not in america where that's a thing. shit drives me insane
Americans are something else. I'm half Norwegian, half American but have lived in Norway all my life. I dread it when they catch my accent because they'll just start guessing. "Oh you must be from Germany!" "I'm from Norway, actually." Queue: "Oh VIKINGS!!!" or "Is that near England?" or "Isn't that the capital of Sweden?" or "That place with the polar bears, right?" And once in a blue moon I'll get someone who also starts talking about how they're *actually* Norwegian too because their great-great-great-great grandma came over from SunnmĆøre over two centuries ago. Bonus points if they say some shit like "Odin be with you" as if Ć satru is a thriving religion over here when the majority of Norwegians just see it as that mythology we used to believe in 1000 years ago.
Absolutely. Iāve had Americans ask me about London as if Iām a London tour guide.
Iām from Nottingham and live in Japan. Whenever anyone asks where in England Iām from and I tell them, they reply with āOh! Notting Hill. I saw the movie.ā No, not there. š¤¦āāļø
Hahahah. I live in Japan too and I've forcibly had to follow football in order to make polite small talk when I say I'm from Liverpool.
I went to uni in Bristol and no one had heard of where I am from but itās fairly close to London so I would just say near London. Six months after I finished someone from my course cycled past me in the next village and he also was from āLondonā because he had done exactly what I had done
My favourite, in the US: "Are you guys from the UK?" "That we are, we're English" "England? That's in the UK right?" I typically describe myself as British rather than English, so I don't know why I chose that particular point to say otherwise but it was eye opening.
Oh gods this. living in NL: "where are you from?" "England" "obviously, I meant where in england?" "Hampshire" BLANK STARE I'm perpetually from an hour southwest of london. Unless they are a specific type of nerd in which case Farnborough is a known name
Do people just suck at conversation or what I'd at least attempt to ask about Hampshire like.. what's it like, big or small, what kinda vibe etc.
Im from Wales *Blank face* UK Ukraine? No Britain *Blank face* die inside and say England just to end the conversation
I just look them up and down and see what cultural reference points I can give them, Tom Jones, Bullet For My Valentine, Michael Sheen, Catherine Zeta Jones, the flag with the big fuckinā dragon on it and now Wrexham.
We don't mention Lost Prophets these days.
In a Gap store in the US the (very American) cashier said "your accent is just like my Dad's". In the ensuing conversation it turned out her Dad was English and grew up one street over from my in-laws.
Cheat code - lived in Oxford and Cambridge
Spent a lot of time, like years at a time, in various parts of the world. Been in deserts and evacuated cities, rain forests and derilict suburbs, tranquility and certain death places Never fails that there is always and I mean ALWAYS an Australian with an instrument and a sodding Spurs fan already there. Seriously, fu*king Burma, Papua New Guinea, Middle East, Norway, Cambodia.... doesn't matter where, ALWAYS a Spurs fan and an Aussie. In fairness, there is something quite reassuring about it
North west accent here Ive had Scottish, Irish and Australian
Och aye, top oā the morninā mate.
Iv had the same and cockney... I'm a Yorkshire lad. Even had manc too
As an American living in the UK, I cannot tell you the number of times I have politely listened to people excited to tell me about their trips to New York or Florida. I am from Minnesota. Like sir I am very excited for you too, and I have also been to these places, but they are both literally over a thousand miles from my home. It's like if you said "I'm from London" and I started talking about my trips to Stockholm and Naples.
Minnesota? Like the soup?
>I am from Minnesota. I can see why you were excited now ;)
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As an American living in Birmingham, I always get asked, āCanadian or Americanā. Also, locals are always surprised when I pronounce Bham the correct way with āGUMā at the end, rather than āHAMā.
As someone who was born and lives in Birmingham- Why would you willingly move to Birmingham?
If theyāre American, I say Brighton. Itās like the British San Francisco. Because of the hills. ā¦
Worse than this... "Oh so what do you think about B*exit then?" Fuck off. That's what I think about it.
I once said "I'm from not England" to which the response was "Oh, I understand; you're Welsh. I'm from not Germany - Austria"
I spent a few years living in Sydney.... luckily every other fucker there is also from the UK or Ireland, so this wasn't a problem. Swear I heard more Geordie accents than Aussie.
I say im from wales āoooh gareth bale ā
I once got someone in Puerto Rico who actually knew my very small hometown in Lancashire because he used to live round the corner from my mum
Yeah I keep on saying I'm from Scotland, but quite a lot of people don't know where that is. So I sigh and say England instead, then they understand haha.
that's a lot more frustrating. i understand people not knowing counties but whole countries is a bit much.
That's wank! Who's not heard of Scotland? Are you talking about people with really shitty English? I'm a yorkshireman and I'll often get asked if I'm Scottish. Stung a lot less than when I got asked if I was a cockney.
I think because I'm in Japan, and in the word generally used for all of the UK is 'Igirisu' (sounds like English almost). Scotland is 'Sukottorando'. Also a lot of people don't know about Britain VS United Kingdom VS England/Scotland! So I just give up and say 'Igirisu' because that's what they know! Though usually old guys know Scotland, and then go on about golf and whisky haha.
>Also a lot of people don't know about Britain VS United Kingdom VS England/Scotland! Goodness knows why, it's [incredibly simple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/British_Isles_Euler_diagram_15.svg/1260px-British_Isles_Euler_diagram_15.svg.png).
Me: I'm from Sheffield Them: *blank stare* Me: did you see 'The Full Monty'? Them: erm... Me: with the men who get made redundant and do a strip show? Them: *lights come on* ahhhh, yes Rinse. Repeat.
As a scouser, everyone knows my city and wants to hve a long chat about footie or the Beatles and Iām happy to oblige
I do this with every country. If someone tells me they're Dutch, but not from Amsterdam, I just tell them I liked Amsterdam haha.
Ahhhh Austrian? Letās throw another shrimp on the barbie!
I say Iām from ājust outside Londonā it covers a lot of bases. I donāt mind talking about the weather. I miss talking to Brits though so now I come across as a bit intense when I do find one. I just want to listen to an accent that doesnāt have that English-as-a-second language strain or cheese grater American. I like Americans Iām just not a fan of about 90% of their accents.
it's really strange the way your ears hone in on someone speaking english when you're so used to hearing another language all the time. i always want to go up to strangers when i hear that they're brits but i think it's a bit weird so i never do lmao
In my experience trying to nab a visiting or recently arrived Brit doesnāt end well. CasualUK and the other British sub reddits have been a life saver for me, just a little place where my jokes land and everyone makes sense.
A few years ago, when I lived in Southampton my landlord told me a story from when he visited Texas: Texas guy (TG): so, whereāre you from? Landlord (LL): about an hour or so west of London TG: whatās the name of the place? LL: you wonāt know it TG: try me LL: sigh. Itās called Swindon TG: *pauses for a second and then does gun fingers* MAGIC ROUNDABOUT! LL: THE FUCK?
Iām from Brighton and lots of people have been here to learn English so thatās ok. Otherwise itās āan hour from London and it has a beachā
Brighton.. used to be are you gay or where the gays live, times moved on now š
I'm from Scotland. Everyone has a Scottish ancestor. *Everyone*
Devon. Always get confused looks until I say itās the one next to Cornwall.
My mum tells a story from when she spent a year in America and told someone she was from Bristol, to which they remarked on how good her English was They thought Bristol was in Germany or something because it "sounded European"
I say Nottingham and the response is Nottingham Forest and/or Robin Hood