Yes, I'm sure I'm not someone else (short)

[karath]

I had a lady who said I sounded Welsh or British. There's only a couple of things I can think of. I was born in Utah, and some of its early settlers were from the British Isles. I also sing, and one of the things some vocal coaches will teach you is to sing with...sort of a British accent. But both of these things are really stretching it. I don't know.

I've got something similar to that...while my father's ancestors hail from the British Isles, I don't believe anyone in our family has set foot on those shores for generations. And yet I'm told quite often that I have a British accent!

As far as I can tell, it's a side effect of me concentrating on my words enough to obliterate the stutter...adding a touch of "class" (i.e. a slight accent ) seems to help quite a bit. I usually don't even notice I'm doing it until a customer or person I've just met asks if I'm British. Without fail it catches me off guard...and the accent and my controlled speech go out the window while I explain

No, really, I'm not bitter...it's another of my little quirks that I'm never quite sure how I should react to

[mharbourgirl]

Apparently there's a nurse at one of the local hospitals that looks EXACTLY like me. So much so that once when I was at that hospital, at least three people started talking to me because they thought I was her. I'm not sure I want to meet her, honestly. It'd be too weird.

And I'm also a weird kind of dialectical chameleon. I'll be talking to people from other countries, and it won't be long before they ask me 'So when did you move to Canada?'. When I try to tell them I was born here, they usually ask me where my parents moved here from. If I could figure out how to stop doing that, I'd be pretty happy. Then again, it does tend to set people at ease quite often, which is useful when you're dealing with tourists or recent immigrants, I don't know, it's just weird.

[Imogene]

I am apparently known by everybody... anywhere I go, people will stop me and say, "Hey, aren't you Bambi?" Only using my real, full name, the one that makes me see red.
Me: *gritted teeth* "Yes... who the fuck are you?"
Usually I get, "I went to school with you."
"Not around here, you didn't. I grew up in Missouri."

[BookstoreEscapee]

so there is quite the bevy of the New York/New Jersey accents.

We don't have an accent in New Jersey.

[Ironclad Alibi]

We don't have an accent in New Jersey.

Maybe you can buy one with that new stimulus package.

[AriRashkae]

I've got what I can only term as a "mimic"accent. (I'm from Western MA) If I talk with someone who has a different accent, within 5-10 minutes, my speech patterns start shifting. I first noticed it with a British couple who thought I was making fun of them.

Unless I get mad at work. Then I get that really sweet Southern accent. The one that translates to "I will break bones if you don't smarten up."

[Oberonsshadow]

Being from California, I don't have an accent that I notice. However, my father is from NY and my Mom is from the south, so I've got speech mannerisms from both areas. I've also been told that I sound like I'm from Brooklyn when I'm mad.

I've also got one of "those" faces. Everywhere I go, people think they know me. I was in New Zealand, and someone was sure they knew me. They didn't believe me when I said that it was my first time in NZ...

[Chazzie]

-facepalm-

Everyone has an accent. Because the 'accent' you hear is how people speak where they come from. Thus, everyone says they have no accent, even though everyone sounds different from everyone else.

I have a New Yorker accent.

[Bella_Vixen]

When I was younger my mom and some teachers said I had a slight Southern *and* British accent(s).



I swear, though, that at work, I say "there" with a bit of a drawl.

I should ask Becks if she's noticed. BTW, her Jersey tinge of an accent on some words is cute.

[NightWatch]

I've got a mixture of New England and New Jersey accents (thanks mom and dad, no one understands a damn word i say!!) and some of the Utah accent. When I get drunk I slip into an Irish accent.. I'm Irish, but the only exposure I have to Irish accents is in movies. So I don't know where that comes from.
And as far as the "Don't I know you?", when it comes to me, that's usually just a pickup line.

[Becks]

BTW, her Jersey tinge of an accent on some words is cute.

What words? I want to know.