Day 137/365: Apparently I'm from everywhere

[nanila]

Here is a sampling of amusing exchanges I've had recently with people who have tried and failed to identify where I'm from based on my accent.

Anecdote 1
I'm in a taxi late in the evening, going home. The driver is Brummie. I've told him that I've been in London for the day for work. He asks me how long I've lived in the Midlands. "Almost six years," I reply. "It doesn't feel like that long since I was living in London."

Him: "Yeah, you still sound like a Londoner."
Me: “I do, don’t I.”

I chuckled over this internally for a good hour after I got home.

Anecdote 2
I'm in a taxi, going home after an evening out with some lady friends.

Taxi driver: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
Me: “Er, the bad news?”
Him: “You lost Eurovision.”
Me: “...Did we?”
Him: “Yes, I’m afraid Australia finished last in the popular vote.”
Me: “What a shame.”

I never did find out what the good news was.

And the one that takes the cake, my friends:

Anecdote 3
I’m speaking to someone to whom I’ve just been introduced.

Him: “Your president is very handsome.”
Me: “WHAT”
Him: “Justin Trudeau! He’s very handsome.”
Me: “OH THANK GOODNESS”

Comments

[cosmolinguist]

That last would make my heart skip a beat. :)

I've been guessed at being from Wales, Greece (?!), I used to get "a particular bit of southern Ireland" (I was never sure which bit) a lot, as well as Canadian (which seems pretty understandable since adding any amount of English to Minnesotan will make an accent sound Canadian, I think).

[nanila]

Oh, I definitely had a very alarmed expression on my face.

I can see how Minnesotan + English would also give you Welsh.