Do you use the local vernacular? Like, if you are American in Canada, do you automatically ask for the washroom, or do you keep using "bathroom"?
Or when you go to UK, do you switch to using 'the toilet?"
Etc.
-
I speak the same unless I'm ordering something specific, like "chips" instead of "French fries."
-
@mrsjazz: I try to change it, so that I'm better understood but then I feel "pretentious" for changing it--isn't that stupid??
-
I don't change it.
-
@Anagram: ditto this. I change it to try and fit in, but then feel like a d-bag.
Along those lines, when we went to France, I tried to speak in French (I'm not very good, but I can get my point across). I felt like an idiot and didn't want to try anymore, and I have no idea why.
-
@Anagram: Not stupid...other people sometimes feel like it's pretentious. My friends make fun of me because I pronounce Spanish words with the accent when I'm ordering instead of the English way. They think I'm being pretentious, maybe I am?
-
I try to change it since sometimes people don't know what you are talking about. Like it's easy to say where's the WC or the loo in England than where's the bathroom. Or say queuing instead of lining up.
-
@mrsjazz: honestly, I've thought about it a lot and I don't think you are. When someone who doesn't speak English well tries to pronounce words correctly, don't we appreciate it?
Doesn't it make you a bigger D bag if you refuse to even TRY to speak another language with the correct pronunciation? Like if you KNOW it's pronounced "queso blanco", but you insist on calling it "Kway-so Blan(rhymes with ran)-co", isn't that worse?
-
I'm Canadian and when I'm in the US I always ask for the restroom instead of the washroom. But that's about it.
-
Americans say "bathroom" for public washrooms? I've never noticed that! I don't think I'd change my language unless the terms I would use don't really make sense to the people there.
-
@Grace: bathroom, restroom, ladies room or men's room.
-
I try to say things the way they're said in that country - like here in the UK I'll say traffic lights and roundabouts, even though we call them robots and circles..
-
@imbali: omg---robots are traffic lights?? Never knew that---interesting!
-
@mrsjazz: I agree on both points, I'll use specific vocab if I know it, but I still say toe-may-toe and not toe-mah-toe. I also do the same thing when I pronounce French words, I pronounce them in French.
I have a funny situation where I live since many people speak English, but I'm never sure if they will understand bathroom, restroom, loo, toilet or wc. So I usually just ask for the toilet.
-
I only change if it's something that I know they won't understand... if it's something like bathroom/washroom (FYI - I live in Canada and I always say bathroom, I've never referred to it as a washroom) then I say it how I would normally say it.
-
@meganmp: I know why.... It's bc the French are pretentious and pretend not to understand you
(just kidding!!!!) DH speaks passable French but obviously as a non native speaker his accent isn't great. He tried to order tea in a restaurant and they totally pretended not to understand him when he was saying it correctly! I usually just stick with my normal vocab unless they don't understand me. Then I'll try to think of what it is called locally.
-
Not intentionally at first but I pick up accents and stuff like that really easily so I think it would happen naturally for me.
-
@sunny: See, that's the thing- people were SO nice to me when I tried! The ladies at a bakery figured out I knew a bit of French, so they made me order in French (in the nicest possible way, encouraging me the whole time). I just felt dumb, I guess, because I knew that I wasn't speaking perfectly.
-
Sometimes when I visit the US, I'll say gas instead of petrol, fries instead of chips etc. but I can't my head around saying bathroom/washroom, so I stick to toilet. Same with pants for trousers, just seems too weird!
-
@mrsjazz: what do your friends expect? "I'll have the chicken fah-j-eye-tuhs".
-
Nope. Don't change it. I lived in the UK for 3 years and still only picked up a few things from just using them all the time.
-
@illumina: I think everyone here uses both trousers and pants and we all know what the toilet is, so you are safe not switching those.
Bit the fries/chips thing would cause confusion for sure. =)
-
@illumina: I struggle with the chips thing here cos where I'm from, chips means crisps and hot chips (slap chips we call them). So here I say chips when I mean crisps and I just *cant* say crisps, I cant!
-
@imbali: @Anagram: I JUST learned that a robot is a traffic light in South Africa from BrainPOP on Monday! I
BrainPOP.
-
@swedishfish: that's a random thing for brainPOP to be teaching? cool and yay though
-
I would try to change, although I've only been to 2 different Caribbean countries and they were American resorts, so pretty much everything was the same.
-
@imbali: it's in the Dictionary and Thesaurus video!
(just kidding!!!!) DH speaks passable French but obviously as a non native speaker his accent isn't great. He tried to order tea in a restaurant and they totally pretended not to understand him when he was saying it correctly! 
BrainPOP.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
26 comments