Americanisms generally annoy me and one of the worst is people saying they will “speak to”, instead of “talk about”, some item or subject. E.g. During a slide presentation, someone might offer, “I can speak to that slide”.
..... Yep ! I use a similar strategy when dealing with banks ...... always pick the option that says " Report lost or stolen card " ..... they are usually super-keen to answer that call . Then act dumb and ask to get transferred , and you'll be talking to someone at a level above the phone jockeys .
Its worse when you're living there and you have to learn a whole new way to speak English. Remember they think the same things as we do when we talk about the slide... There's a significant variation between English and the Yankee version though they are typically still easier to understand than a fast speaking Geordie!
Interacting with American sales assistants - Q: Have you got change for a fifty dollar bill A: No I don't Even more trippy ..... your supermarket shopping comes to $7.35 and you give the cashier a $10 bill , and 35 cents in coin , and she looks at the money , than at you , then back at the cash again , and says ..... " You've given me too much money " ...... Bless !
To instill correct grammar use my history teacher (in the 70's) , if someone in class asked " please sir, can I open a window?" He would always reply "I don't know? Can you?"
The same history teacher used to give everyone 100% to start every test and then deduct marks for bad spelling, grammar, punctuation, as well as actually getting questions wrong, most people ended up with negative scores!
We have some friends in America (none here tho) I hate when Americans say “British Accent” There’s no such thing. There’s an English accent, Welsh and Scottish accent and they’re all different. That confuses them
You live in Essex don't you ? ...... what's the difference ? Sorry ! ..... just messing around ..... I couldn't resist ....
My accent is all fucked up from being an expat over the past 10 years. A blend of Merican, British and European
