The FastDay Forum

Yes, there is. They locate call centres in regions with likeable accents.

You may think of the British as being staid and stiff upper lip. But, its really a well made facade to hide the fact that most of us are completely nuts.
Which is why we are so open to new ides, especially ones that push all the right instinctive buttons.

Absolutely right. You only need to think back a year to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics to get an idea of the contemporary British ... Quirky, creative, funny, versatile, outrageous, tolerant, diverse, serious but don't take ourselves too seriously, sense of community and sense of the world ...

(well we do have some faults but mustn't grumble )

It's great to have so many people from all over the place on the forum - we're all the better for it, and in the end it might just be more important than the original reason we came here in the first place

Yes, there is. They locate call centres in regions with likeable accents.

Got a car loan off my bank from a really nice Scots lass yesterday ...

Hi Wendy - great thread!

To convert kilos to pounds, just double the amount and add one tenth. So 67kg becomes 134 plus 13 - 147lbs.

In reverse, just halve the number of pounds then subtract 10 per cent. So 147lbs becomes 74 - 7 = 67kg.

The funniest experience I had with some English vernacular was trying to get our Cuban tour guide (a lovely, lovely bloke!) to say "Like a rat up a drainpipe", which roughly means to scuttle off quickly. The closest he could get to it was, "Like a rat up a rainy pipe".

We had a lot of fun trying to teach him the words to 'Ilkley Moor baht 'at" - as you can imagine!

I have been accused of having a BBC English accent as I spend years 5 to 10 in Australia, then came home to Wales. A short time in Scotland where I picked up the Scottish accent like a sponge and then marrying a man from Kent, soon homogenised all the differences into a standard English accent.
Though some people can still hear a bit of North wales, slight Scouse twang in there too.

I've just moved to North Wales & we find the local accent hilarious. Welsh with scouse inflection, it's just fab.

We live pretty much right in the heart of the USA and our accent is pretty much non-existent. But, put me in Georgia and I can twang with the best of 'em. It's like that Southern drawl is contagious, probably comes along with a glass of Sweet Tea.

Loving this thread and the cheerful mutual incomprehension. Had American family over in London recently and a fair bit of time was spent translating back and forth, to much general hilarity.

All good fun!

Okay, breadandwine, PLEASE elaborate for those of us from out of town. What the heck is Ilkley Moor baht 'at and what are the words???

Oh Wendyjane even I would not attempt to explain Ilkely moor but in answer to your earlier question, yes 'fill your boots' does mean help yourself but it means to really go for it, have as much as you want rather than be polite and just have the one chocolate/cake/drink/ etc. lovely to have you lot here and having a laugh with us,

Ballerina x

I remember one of hubbies relative coming over from California. They did the faamily run which meant starting in Scotland and ending up south of London. By the time they got to us, in spring they had had it all. Thunder, lightening, snow hail, gale force winds, flooding, sunshine and soft fluffy clouds. On one day in particular, all in one day.
Hubby met them at the door where they had dashed to the house from the car and in that short distance they looked like drowned rats. Hubby was apologising all the way about the weather. The relatives stood in front of the fire with beaming smiles and said. ' We're loving it, its fantastic to experience so much real weather'. The life portrayed of California and other so called paradise parts of the world can get a bit boring weather wise.

@wendyjane

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Ilkla_Moor_Baht_'at

From a right Yorkshire-woman

What fun! Thanks, Silverdarling, for passing that on. Next time I'm over your way, I'll ask someone to sing it for me.

DUCK! I love when people from Nottinghamshire say duck. It is so much better than Liverpool's gal or Baltimore's hon.

Having lived in the UK for almost 10 years I can understand most British English. Geordie however....

Ah, Silverdarling, you beat me to it!

That's pretty much how I remember it, except perhaps for this line:

"Then wey shall all 'ave etten thee!" (Then we shall all have eaten you!) was the way we used to sing it.

The ultimate in recycling!

Just found this on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RtrdqTKBNA