Cultural Curiosities: Life in Other Countries

[Lucy of Narnia]

Thanks, Jillhope!
So are they just ice or are they flavored?

Lu

[Shantih]

To each other does it sound like you have accents?

Regional accents, yes. Some are stronger than others

What does beef with mash and new potatoes mean? Is it like mashed potatoes?

It's exactly what it says on the tin - beef, with sides of mash potatoes and usually boiled new potatoes (young potatoes).

(BTW, about the food I mean like pigeon pie and such. And what are ices? Sherbet?).

Ahh, that sort of food was definitely reflective of the time Lewis set the book in. You can still get pigeon pie in some places, but it's not a popular food. I've never had it And I always assumed by 'ices' she meant ice lollies.

What are some things that American's say that tip you off to the fact they're American? (like someone told me that saying "he sure is" or "she sure did" and such is SO American!)

Those are pretty American There's a huge amount of differences between American English and British English, I couldn't list them all. A recent one I remember discussing were that we say 'post', you say 'mail'.

Has an American ever pretended to be British but you knew they weren't?

Online, yes. It's pretty easy to tell, I think because a lot of people aren't aware of a lot of the subtle differences (for starters, it's actually not very common to refer to yourself as British, most people prefer English, Welsh, Scottish, etc). I've never had anyone try to pretend in real life, although I do work with a guy from Chicago who does brilliant impressions of the rest of us, but he's had a lot of time to hone it

What do you all think about movies with British accents? Do they sound different enough from you that you notice (like when I watch Sergeant York I can tell they're American but have a different accent), or do you not really notice it?

British accents in US films are more often than not pretty dire. It's nearly always noticeable, although sometimes an actor I know is English sounds ridiculous, so I think it might partly be that when they're surrounded by Americans the accent sounds a bit conspicuous.

And lastly (for now! ): Is it true that us Americans think we can do the British accent, and you Brits are rolling your eyes at us because it sounds so fake?

Maybe One thing I always have to point out is that there isn't actually British accent. I think what most Americans are going for is an English accent. I have met a few people that can pull it off pretty well (like the co-worker I mentioned) but there is a lot of dodgy 'British' accents going on.

Ok, I have to ask one more thing that just popped into my mind: Can Brits do an American accent?

Some of us might be able to... I don't know As I said in my other post we're not terribly intrigued by the accent so I haven't actually heard anyone attempting it. I imagine we're equally as rubbish, unless you spend a lot of time listening and immersing yourself in a language/accent you're always going to sound pretty silly, whether it be American, English, French, whatever.

[Jillhope]

Lucy Of Narnia, I think that generally they're flavored... but very lightly of lemon and some such... but they aren't sweet.

Shantih, correct me if I am wrong about the ices, Please... I'd hate to go around thinking that's what it was and possibly telling people if I were to be incorrect.

[Shantih]

Honestly Jillhope, I don't know for sure I've heard of what you're talking about, but I've only ever had them once when I visited Italy, I've not known it to be a tradition in Britain. I might ask my grandmother if that is indeed what they used to call ice lollies so we know for sure

[Lady Lilliandil]

Thank you Shantih! I was confused about the food. I know what beef is I just did not know what new potatoes were. You are sooooo kind to answer our strange questions! I want to live in England, so I love learning about things that our different from the U.S. Thank You Again!

[Lucy of Narnia]

Thanks Shantih! So are ice lollies what we Americans call popsicles? (link to picture of them)

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.shescribes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/popsicle.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.shescribes.com/2010/07/slow-the-melt-this-summer-with-popsicle.html&usg=__F7KYrTzvMqc13vp6H_RkbwnO4io=&h=334&w=300&sz=28&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=4wImWLUiCat40M:&tbnh=119&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpopsicle%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1728%26bih%3D853%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1

I love the word "rubbish" (as you used in one of your posts)! So English!

And yes I've heard someone say that there IS NO "British" accent, because that would include England, Scotland, Whales, etc. There IS an English accent, however. (Or something to that effect).

And about immersion...well, I watch Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and I like listening to behind the scenes stuff on both of them so maybe I can pick up a little bit of an English accent! It'd be much better if I could just talk to a real Brit, of course!


So do you sound like in the Narnia movies where your "Tilda" is pronounced "Tilder" and your "Skandar" is "Skan-duh"?

Lu

[cuppycakesrach]

I have one: My Dad says that in England, everyone has tea at a certain time, and they all stop what they're doing at that time just to have tea. Is that true or a myth?


~Riella

I'm not from britian but I've stayed about a month there and I have friends there. Its not like they just automatically stop what they are doing and say " TEA!" but they call their dinner tea. So i think when they say they are 'having tea' it usually means dinner. But there is a thing, that I think mostly just the higher class people do, afternoon tea. Then they have their tea and desserts and stuff. I only did this once while I was there but its kind of like a brunch in the afternoon ( if that makes sense )

[Lucy of Narnia]

Ooh! You were in England for a month! *jaw drops and starts drooling*

That must have been so much fun! So now I have a question for you:

What was the biggest surprise for you being there?

[cuppycakesrach]

Well I was expecting something completely different but it actually was alot like America, or at less the part I'm from. But it was really great the only thing is I hated the food over there. I lost alot of weight when I was there haha

[IloveFauns]

also i think burke/berk means idiot but i am not sure, does it? ('' who is that berk?)

[Aslans_Jewel]

do any of yall say "yall" or "aint" or is that just american slang?

[Lucy of Narnia]

I of course am not British but to me that sounds like how American Mountain Folk talk.

[MinotaurforAslan]

This is a question for anybody outside of the States: what stereotypes do people make about us?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Minotaur, there are a lot but most of them are rather negative.

[MinotaurforAslan]

I was sort of suspecting that. If they're not appropriate for the forum, then sorry for asking the question.

[Ithilwen]

I've noticed that a lot of people I meet from England wear their wedding rings on their middle finger, instead of their second-to-last finger. Is that the tradition there in your country, or is there some other explanation?


~Riella