Maybe you didn't speak 'Strayan enough, like, " how's it garn cobber? Geez, it's as hot as a dingoes ball sack out ere. Better slip, slop, slap and grab a bevy from the Esky ay.
In Greece I got Swedish or English, they hated English, so I would count loudly in $, they'd say "American?", I'd say "Australian!", they'd say "I have a cousin in Melbourne!" 😊 In UK they got it right (Australian), but both before I went to UK and after I came back, ppl said, 'Yar a pom are ya?' 🙄
I’d love to know what they think an Australian looks like. I suspect they don’t consider an Australian as one who looks like first nation, but rather someone who floated in on the first fleet.
The question is usually code for “are you like me? Do we think or have the same “values”.”
Yes, years ago holidaying in predominantly German part of Majorca... refused to speak English (when in Spain...), but Spanish not brilliant so the assumption was we couldn't be German, English or Spanish so we must have been French! 😂🙈😂
What does an Australia look like?
My oldest best friend is part Chinese & part Philippine grew up in Australia speaks with a thick educated Aussie accent, he is often mistaken for Aboriginal.
He is a true Aussie. Fortunately we are a diverse culture.
Yes, but only when I speak Spanish. In Ecuador, I was asked if I was a "chilanga" (from Mexico City); In Puebla, Mexico, I was asked if I was from Peru.
I'm 🇫🇷 and have been living in 🇦🇺 for 14 years now. My accent always gives me away here.
In the US, though, when I was travelling for conferences, people believed I actually was Australian. And last time I went back to France, a few people thought I was English 😅
I worked at a venue with lots of Italian customers. I was often asked if I was Italian and were surprised when I told them my heritage is Irish and British. It’s my dark hair and hazel eyes I suppose. I’m born and bred Aussie.
I was mistaken several years ago as an Indian. A group of Indians touring Tas with an Indian holy man spotted me working on a boat at a community boat shed. They asked where I was from in India. As they were so friendly I took them all on a waterfront tour.....Franklin Tas on the Huon.
Lots of people ask me if my accent is Canadian, even other Aussie’s. Not quite sure why, I’ve never been there. I put it down to religiously watching Degrassi High during my formative years.
I’m a Brit but have been mistaken for French multiple times. I don’t complain! Many years ago while in Belgium I was regularly chatted to in French while my then very blond boyfriend was struggling with people talking to him in Flemish.😊
Travelling alone in France, was in line for a show. The usher glared at the loud tourists behind me, eyerolled then smiled at me & said ‘bonsoir madame’ & handed me the program, before addressing them in English. I HAVE NEVER FELT SO STYLISH. (The program was entirely in French. Worth it 🇫🇷 🫠)
Italian nonna on a Melbourne tram asked me where I was from, because she was convinced I must be Italian too. "Your parents are Italian?"
"I'm sorry, but no."
"What about your grandparents?"
I felt so bad to disappoint her. English and Scottish all the way down.
Been mistaken 4 coming from a Country that used 2 care about all of its Citizens. Been mistaken 4 coming from a Country that was made up of all Nationalities & proudly took in the poor, the tired,etc. Been mistaken 4 coming from a Country that used 2 have Ice Bucket challenges 4 people..
I don't think I could be, my background is German and English and I wear surf brand boardies all year round. In winter I mix it up and wear uggies with boardies.
A chap in Cornwall asked if I was a “Northerner”.
Mystified do northern Aussies have a particular accent? I’m from Perth.
I’ve since been advised he meant North of England. Apparently the ships coming to colonial Australia were manned by Northerners and our accent is influenced by that.
People in the extreme corners of Britain may not be the best judges of accents. My wife and I (both Australian) were mistaken for Americans when visiting Orkney.
The Australian accent seems to be basically London with input from Irish and East Anglian fenland dialects. Certainly, if you hear a rural Cambridgeshire accent, it has a slight 'Aussie' twang.
I didn't notice a distinct accent in Hobart, but we only really visited the south-east, so I can't speak for anywhere outside that small area.
Adelaide though, that's easy to pick. Words like "dahnce" and "advahnce" are the giveaway. Snobbery based on the fact they never had convict transportation!
We moved from Townsville to Hobart and people picked our accent (and mine’s muddled with American/Scots) - “you won’t sound so country after you’ve been here a while” 😳 But Tassie accents outside of Hobart are quite distinct from any of the mainland ones, lots of archaic English idioms too.
I'm from the west country in England, a Tasmanian friend of mine still has west country pronunciation for some words handed down from a many greats grandmother but the accent of the northern suburbs of Hobart back in the day used to be nearly pure cockney
Americans (in the USA) think I'm Australian, which was hard to take. A Turkish man in his café (in London) asked me if I was Turkish based on me greeting his Turkish staff, which made me feel very good about myself, albeit coupled with the likelihood that flattery makes one spend more money.
In France I'm mistaken for Italian (because my French is good but not perfect), in England for American, and in America for Australian. My accent is weird.
Yes. I am from England but in New York City and Boston have been mistaken for a local by out-of-state Americans (USAnians to avoid ambiguity). How come?
Incredibly I've been mistaken of being from tons of countries, except usually, the actual other country I AM from and that's hilarious. (I'm a dual national)
No. Can't say that I have any "typical German" features (means that I'm not a tall blue-eyed blonde...sheesh stereotypes), but usually people ask where I'm from.
Yes, all the time!! Ahaha
It happens a lot when you work in customer service. Whenever I get asked, I return the question with, 😇 Welllll sir/ma'am, where do you think I'm from?
And I've been assumed to be English, Welsh and/or Irish... But not Scottish... Poor Scotland
(I'm Australian.)
I've been pleasantly mistaken for being Canadian - it's likely because I lived in Detroit and went to Windsor often. Also, it may be the occasional "eh?" added at end of my sentences.
I have been asked for directions on Dublin. An Italian man complained to me in Italian about the tourist ahead of us in line. My wife and I were mistaken for Norwegians in Trondheim. I can't tell you how often I've been mistaken for a local in London. I am generic white European male, I guess.
When I was in America my friends & I were at Disney World & these Latino people came up to me asking me something in Spanish. We cracked up laughing. I had to tell them I didn't speak Spanish. 🙄🙄
I once got off of an airplane, and a guy followed me out of the airport, asking (in French) if I was from Switzerland. I answered him (in German, a foreign language I spoke better), saying that I wasn’t.
An older guy in London figured I was from Scotland. I have red hair and the whole deal, and, according to him, I "looked like I hated being there" and "didn't look inbred".
Surprisingly, he was Scottish.
I'm a Geordie and I used to live in Sweden.
Everyone always thought I was Danish.
No matter whether I spoke English or Swedish.
Apparently when a northerner tries to speak Swedish it sounds like a Dane trying to speak Swedish.
I'm from County Durham so I'm chill with Geordie as a regional term (Sky Sports using it to mean NUFC fans can do one).
Though be aware those are fighting words for folk from Sunderland (Mackems) ;)
I do always love it when foreigners pick up local dialects. I am trying to do this with my French!
I grew up in Newcastle and subsequently worked there for a few years. I could tell the difference if my patients lived in the east end of town (Byker/Walker) or the West End (Fenham/Benwell)!
I was at October Fest in Munich, DE once and get asked if I'm from South Africa or Wales 😂 I find it quite hilarious, cause I'm Finnish (and English is my second language).
In a bar in New York my wife was asked if she was Irish. She replied no.
The questioner, then went on to say she was 12th generation Irish. My wife who has Irish grandparents, thought well I'm more Irish than you. She wanted to order a Guinness but thought they would carry her on their shoulders.
When I was in Germany once, I thought I'd bought the correct train fare to the airport, but the ticket inspector didn't seem to think so. Anyway he didn't speak very good English so he ended the conversation saying "(mumble, possibly swear word) British!"
Indiana is the South, they drawl down there. Have relatives (distant) and went to a family reunion back in the 20th century and thought I was in Mississippi and it wasn't just the accents! Were you born in Windsor? I spent a week there one night, it's just Detroit with better beer:)
Fortunately, not Windsor. Indiana is actually north of most states. The culture is just bizzarely unmidwestern. I would say most of ohio is the same, actually.
I am forever being asked if I'm Australian, my own now husband when we first met was so convinced I was actually Australian that he told people about the "food obsessed Aussie" he was dating..... I'm from the Medway towns (we downplay that) in Kent
When I was travelling to the US a lot for work, they’d often guess South African or kiwi. I did a project once with a guy with the broadest Manchester accent and they thought we sounded the same 🤣
I am always confused with being English.(I am Welsh.). What is worse is that my entire country is frequently confused with being England. I can accept Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, even the British Isles, but England is just wrong .
Accents from NE Wales are different again, with a lot in common with Liverpool and the Wirrall --- these accents too may not be recognised as from Wales by people who have only heard stereotype (south)-Welsh accents.
I certainly don't insist on it, but it is technically accurate, and the best way of describing the group of islands off the north west coast of mainland Europe.
Geographically, the Channel islands are nothing to do with Britain or Ireland.
As for the IoM and Lundy, they're part of Britain. Kinda like how the Aran Islands are part of Ireland. But if you want some funky name for your islands, that's up to you.
When I went to Mexico as a teen, a few people thought I was Mexican and started chatting with me in Spanish. And it's not a nationality but I've been mistaken for being gay more often than I'd expect for someone who looks as scruffy as I do.
The strange thing is that I'm not camp at all (I don't think), I don't dress well, and I look a little disheveled a lot of the time. But such is life. No skin off my nose.
Funnily enough my heritage is almost all German but no one has ever mistaken me for a German, even in Europe.
Yep. English, Maori, Malaysian, Vietnamese and the rest, mostly asked by Australians 😂
I mean, I could be all of those and still from Australia. That’s what makes the question so funny. What are you really asking?
I was constantly thought to be Aussie (instead of NZer) in the north of England when I lived there for a few years and asked if I was from Neighbours by the kids. I just went with it eventually - none of them had any idea where NZ/Ao is.
“Yes, we have koalas and kangaroos in our backyards” etc 😊
In England I've been asked if OZ or NZ - fair enough.
In Victoria, OS born Vic's ask where I'm from but "natural" Vic's don't. Apparently those who have to listen hard pick up the 50yo surpassed Qld accent that 'most' local Vic's do not hear.
Not to say a local Vic might guess it if prompted but they don't spontaneously hear the difference.
I don't use give-away words - stroller, laundry sink, Cheerios, ice-blocks, Windsor ssg
..about 5 distinct common word differences.
(Pusher, trough, Little Boys, icy pokes, Devon)
When traveling in the US I'm often confused for Australian in Pacific coast states, English in Atlantic coast states. In the mid-West they have no idea. In the South, after I say I'm from NZ there's often a moment of confusion before they blurt out "you speak very good English!"
I’m currently on a train in Germany and I think I’ve got them fooled. As long as I don’t speak anyway.
I look generically European I think (British, Belgian and Swiss heritage). I’m also good at blending in, apart from when I cried at the station this morning. But that’s a whole other tragic tale.
When I speak French, Belgians often mistake my English accent for a Dutch accent and switch languages. That’s fine because I do also speak Dutch, but my French is a lot better. In any case, I’m flattered that they don’t spot that I’m English right away.
While dining alone in a restaurant recently, a woman walked out of the kitchen straight to my table and asked if I’m Turkish. Being blond, blue eyed, and frighteningly pale, this question baffled me.
Sort of. I lived in Germany, mom's heritage was from Germany in the 1700-1800's. Waiting for a bus I chatted with a man, I stated I am from California. He said, "noooo, your English is very good but you are a German." Pretending? Happened more than once.
I myself am Irish, we can be completely rude, disgusting and yobbish when abroad, the locals will look at us in utter contempt and yell "Bloody English!".
Wales is a part time country divided by a common monarch with England. It's funny that it's been 1000 years since the Norman invasion and yet the United Kingdom still loves their identity based on regional divisions that predate the Roman Empire
I've often been taken as English. I've never had a broad accent but after working for years in British international schools many parent/students pegged me as ex-Eton and Oxbridge. Then they were shocked if I'd confide to them that I went to one of Adelaide's shittest public schools. 😅
I've often been asked by Brits where I was from in England. When I'd say, "no I'm from Australia", they'd then usually tack to, "but you grew up in England" or "you lived in England" or "your family must be English". They find it hard to believe I don't speak like Paul Hogan.
Yes, but admittedly I put a bit of mayo on it when working with predominantly Brits. I mean, I once had a principal who taught Tony Blair at Fettes College. Had to keep up with the exported class system.
I’m Canadian and was often mistaken as from the US when abroad. This is not happening anymore; everyone automatically assumes I’m Canadian. Not sure why but, I like it.
My California daughter got her nursing degree in Boston and her first job in Mobile, AL. Her weird accent combo caused one of her elderly patients to ask her if she was from Norway…
Was literally speaking French to my mum at a concert when an older gentleman turned around next to us and said "oh you must be Brazilian. ".......he wasn't even joking 💀
Last night I was asked if I was Russian bc I pronounced a woman’s name correctly and I looked Russian (I’m not). I had a cab driver insist that I was Algerian. Or French/Algerian. I’ve been Spanish. Italian. Swedish. All no. The nice part is they always want to claim me. I get Canadian a lot.
I was asked on a visit to the US at gas station to refill my hired car by another American customer where was from as he said I sounded like I am from Aussie. When I said no, I am from Zambia, Africa. He was even more shocked due to the fact I am white 😂.
We’re Canadian and when we were in London, we were mistaken as being Irish. From the North. Then we saw an episode of “Come Dine With Me” done in Northern Ireland and it made sense. (To us, they didn’t have much of an accent 😂)
Border patrol between Arizona and California stopped me asking where I was born. I told them and they said "That's Mexico". I said "No, it's right next to San Francisco". He said "No, that's Mexican". This was during the racial profiling in AZ. Dumb ass racist border agent.
I married into "you can't get more white than Lund".
I get mail addressed to Luna.
I am European Polish brunette so it's more than likely I will throw a punch at a dumbass racist as well in the near future.
Someone thought I looked Ukrainian and started speaking to me in Russian. When I look confused, he asked if I was from the Ukraine. Nope, Ohio. Easy to confuse.
Well I never. I have a beautiful book of photographs by a Dutch tog of Dutch redheads. I love it so much. I guess there's a reason NL hosts an annual redhead convention 😂
I was in Paris, sitting near to a public toilet. A lady tried to get in. I said “l'autre toilette est vacante”. In a US accent she explained that she had dropped her camera. I said that I hadn’t seen it at all on the floor. She thanked me and told me that I spoke beautiful English.
Mistaken for being Italian when speaking Spanish in Barcelona .
As they didn’t believe an English person could be bothered to learn a foreign language 🙄
Is that how the world sees us 😖
I've been told I have a French accent. (I don't!) That's because Americans don't have an ear for accents. If it sounds foreign but not harsh, they immediately default to French. I don't mind when I'm mistaken for an Italian because that's at least the same language group as mine. But French? Com'on!
Loving the anecdotes on this thread. I do have to actively curb my rich Aussie vocab and sometimes ‘choice words of emphasis’ when visiting old friends and family in the UK 🇬🇧. The eye rolling of judgement is strong!
The other one was having a big RED CANCELLED stamped on a visa in my passport.
Caused me no end of trouble.
I had the presence of mind to write name badge & phone number into p/p.
The prick got a call everytime. Regardless of time zone.
Australia playing Brits at Headingley won by 210 runs
i have multiple times been asked if i am russian. like stopped on the street (in the US) to ask if i'm russian. i have 0 russian or eastern european background so not sure where it comes from
I am from another country but have been mistaken for being another country again. My mother was often asked, are you Greek/Italian/Indian/American Indian...have these people never seen Welsh ladies before??
Before I moved to Australia I used to get asked if I was Australian with regularity. I'm not sure how I managed to sound so convincingly Aussie - I don't now and I've been here nearly 20 years!
All the time
Are you American? are you Canadian? You are from England right? To the “where is that accent from?” Earth . That is what happens when you live in many places - your accent just becomes a mix of everything.
I’ve been asked a number of times while holidaying in the USA if my accent is Austrian. I’m Australian. My reply is always ‘yes, yes I’m from Austria’ sigh 🙄
Years ago when I was younger I was a notoriously draconian discord admin and I was mistaken for being European (country not specified) rather than American because I “didn’t believe in free speech”
was working in a biker pub once and got hit with "you don't sound australian" by a particularly nasty looking dude. "that's because i went to school" i replied. he laughed and tipped me handsomely (with drug money i presume). good times.
Pulled aside at passport control in Oslo because I looked ‘South American’. Checked my bags and patted me down anyway. Tanned and long dark hair. MUST BE A DRUG COURIER
In Italy I said I was from Nuova Zelanda..blank ..near Australia, then I'd get all about their relatives there.
Later I just said New Zealand and they understood that!
I learned Italian from library cassettes and in Italy I found out I was very polite!
I related this tale on the Dead Bird, I was travelling through Fort Myers airport in Florida, a local stopped me:
"Hey, that's a great accent! Are you from Canada?"
"I'm from Australia."
"Is that in Canada?"
😅
On my first trip to Europe at age 17 I was with my friend in Munich. We were waiting in a hotel lobby and talking about what we were doing for the day. An American woman who was dressed like Joan Jett noticed that we were speaking English. She was from New Jersey.
I was in England some years ago and handed a beggar some coin. He thanked me profusely and said the Yanks are generous, I pointed to my Canadian pin and he apologized for thinking I was American. Brits of my generationI know, do not like Americans.
Not exactly, but I was once chatted up by a guy on a bus who asked where I'm from because I am 'obviously not English' and when I revealed I am in fact very English he got off the bus 🤷🏻
Xenophobes will say you don't look English, throw rocks, and tell you to get out of their country.
Xenophiles will say you don't look English, throw pick up lines, and tell you to get into their bed.
It was such a surreal experience. I was a student and rocking that early noughties rock-grunge look, with fake dreads and all, and I think he thought he'd found himself some exotic tottie, but I have never been courted and swiftly rejected based entirely on national origin before
When I was a student I knew a few guys into the whole pickup thing (knew. Not close friends or anything. Don't judge me!).
I will say one of them was a notorious "Flag hunter". They're out there.
No judgement and I'm only too aware. I am English born and bred, but I am Jewish, and that can attract a similar sort. "Ooh my first jew" while gleefully wringing hands Uriah Heep style has never been the chat up line they think.
When I worked in China, people would ask this Caucasian Aussie (who grew up in a small outback town in Queensland), whether I was from the UK or Canada.😯 But, here in Australia, I'm often told that I have a "radio voice" (whatever that is!). Maybe the university "learnin" curbed my Aussie accent?
Yes. My MIL in England said our kids didn’t sound too bad. Thanks Grandma. What were you expecting? Them to run up to you and say: Stone the Crows nanna, you could freeze the balls of a brass monkey over here.
Not the same but as a neatly dressed teen I was always asked for assistance by old ladies in the local Myers.
I used to help them pick out slippers or hankies for their husband and then walk them over to the counter and find an actual shop assistan. I ended up being given a Saturday morning job.
I was asked what the weather was like in France because the woman serving me in the NYC shop thought I was French.
I have a normal easy coast Aussie accent. Certainly not some weird affected Manglish accent like Josh Thomas who was born in Brisbane.
Josh is mildly amusing but his fake accent (fakecent) annoys me because there's no reason for it. He's from the western suburbs of Brisbane. I can't stand affected bullshit.
I'm overly sensitive I know.
Common experience when I lived in Mississippi. I am from Cheshire, England, but was mistaken for Australian (often) and German (not so often, but more than once).
Comments
Incredible.
The question is usually code for “are you like me? Do we think or have the same “values”.”
My oldest best friend is part Chinese & part Philippine grew up in Australia speaks with a thick educated Aussie accent, he is often mistaken for Aboriginal.
He is a true Aussie. Fortunately we are a diverse culture.
I wasn’t.
I was born in Canada. I guess my Spanish is good.
In the US, though, when I was travelling for conferences, people believed I actually was Australian. And last time I went back to France, a few people thought I was English 😅
"I'm sorry, but no."
"What about your grandparents?"
I felt so bad to disappoint her. English and Scottish all the way down.
In Arizona.
I just happen to have brown skin.
Oh yeah, they definitely mistake Me being from another country and would definitely "send Me home" to the wrong one.
In France: Spanish (by the French)
In the US: Russian (by Russian Jews), Indian (mistaken for boss's sister)
Italian-American stepfather's father thought my mother was Italian. Was never corrected.
I'm of French, English, Irish, Scottish, German, Swiss descent.
(I’m actually from the USA, but for the next four years, when traveling, I’ll be pretending I’m Canadian…)
Mystified do northern Aussies have a particular accent? I’m from Perth.
I’ve since been advised he meant North of England. Apparently the ships coming to colonial Australia were manned by Northerners and our accent is influenced by that.
Adelaide though, that's easy to pick. Words like "dahnce" and "advahnce" are the giveaway. Snobbery based on the fact they never had convict transportation!
Most times I say "Denmark".😁
It happens a lot when you work in customer service. Whenever I get asked, I return the question with, 😇 Welllll sir/ma'am, where do you think I'm from?
And I've been assumed to be English, Welsh and/or Irish... But not Scottish... Poor Scotland (I'm Australian.)
Have been routinely mistaken for Indonesian on the phone (I worked very hard on my accent in Indonesian).
To which I replied "The part near Singapore," with a straight face.
My American friend cracked up. The woman looked so confused.
I'm Norwegian.
Admittedly, he was drunk...
Surprisingly, he was Scottish.
That's Scottish for being nice to you!
Everyone always thought I was Danish.
No matter whether I spoke English or Swedish.
Apparently when a northerner tries to speak Swedish it sounds like a Dane trying to speak Swedish.
He spoke English with a perfect geordie dialect.
Though be aware those are fighting words for folk from Sunderland (Mackems) ;)
I do always love it when foreigners pick up local dialects. I am trying to do this with my French!
I think they expected broad ocker
The questioner, then went on to say she was 12th generation Irish. My wife who has Irish grandparents, thought well I'm more Irish than you. She wanted to order a Guinness but thought they would carry her on their shoulders.
Felt like saying "I'm fucking Australian!"🤣
I clearly have work to do.
"your English is excellent!"
"Thank you - where do you think I'm from?"
[The man who, when there had been a Yugoslavia, had owned a transport business, for 30 yrs, between Yugoslavia, Germany & Austria.]
"Why, Germany, of course!"
- & he'd looked so pleased. 😯
"Well you haven't got a Welsh accent"
Yes I have. It's a Newport one. We're not all from Aberdare.
And yet even Welsh people will often insist on it.
Ireland is not a British isle. The British isles are isles that are British.
As for the group, 'Britain and Ireland' or 'Ireland and Britain' do fine.
Meantime, you're English, right?
As for the IoM and Lundy, they're part of Britain. Kinda like how the Aran Islands are part of Ireland. But if you want some funky name for your islands, that's up to you.
Ireland is not a British isle.
Funnily enough my heritage is almost all German but no one has ever mistaken me for a German, even in Europe.
I mean, I could be all of those and still from Australia. That’s what makes the question so funny. What are you really asking?
“Yes, we have koalas and kangaroos in our backyards” etc 😊
In Victoria, OS born Vic's ask where I'm from but "natural" Vic's don't. Apparently those who have to listen hard pick up the 50yo surpassed Qld accent that 'most' local Vic's do not hear.
I don't use give-away words - stroller, laundry sink, Cheerios, ice-blocks, Windsor ssg
..about 5 distinct common word differences.
(Pusher, trough, Little Boys, icy pokes, Devon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcuri1loTpg
I look generically European I think (British, Belgian and Swiss heritage). I’m also good at blending in, apart from when I cried at the station this morning. But that’s a whole other tragic tale.
spain, turkey, romania, russia, Uzbekistan, german . . . all the EU countries.
driver thought I was English
When I said I was Australian
- he apologised !
But I make up for it by having the cutest dang kids you've ever seen.
And also Greek—although that's more people not being able to place a Lithuanian surname...
No convict zone.
I guess it must be my Aussie accent 🤣
She was a Caucasian lady
I smile nicely as I’m at work & say
“Yes something more consistent would be preferable”
She was gobsmacked & rushed away red faced.
(I’m from L.A. USA)
Why do most people hate South Africans on sight?
It saves time getting to know them.
I get mail addressed to Luna.
I am European Polish brunette so it's more than likely I will throw a punch at a dumbass racist as well in the near future.
As they didn’t believe an English person could be bothered to learn a foreign language 🙄
Is that how the world sees us 😖
Yeh
Had a devil of a time clearing immigration.
Had to sleep in park.
Thats how late i was
Caused me no end of trouble.
I had the presence of mind to write name badge & phone number into p/p.
The prick got a call everytime. Regardless of time zone.
Australia playing Brits at Headingley won by 210 runs
Are you American? are you Canadian? You are from England right? To the “where is that accent from?” Earth . That is what happens when you live in many places - your accent just becomes a mix of everything.
The 48th Parallel shockingly does create a massive difference in personality, character, and culture.
I am Welsh. And look Welsh.
Later I just said New Zealand and they understood that!
I learned Italian from library cassettes and in Italy I found out I was very polite!
"Hey, that's a great accent! Are you from Canada?"
"I'm from Australia."
"Is that in Canada?"
😅
Oh right! Don’t you speak Portuguese in Australia?
With a completely straight face my friend replied: No ma’am, I think you are getting us mixed up with Brazil.
Nah - you're too white !!
(Note: I’ve also had many MAGA folk automatically confuse my skin color for their compatriots…I’d laugh if their brains weren’t so sad)
Xenophiles will say you don't look English, throw pick up lines, and tell you to get into their bed.
I will say one of them was a notorious "Flag hunter". They're out there.
I used to help them pick out slippers or hankies for their husband and then walk them over to the counter and find an actual shop assistan. I ended up being given a Saturday morning job.
I have a normal easy coast Aussie accent. Certainly not some weird affected Manglish accent like Josh Thomas who was born in Brisbane.
Or a poor imitation of some cartoon character that he saw on the telly?
Aussie twang to French is a stretch !
I'm overly sensitive I know.