Difficulty with Irish accents abroad!

Kev_2012

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

mikemac1

Ask an English barman for a Rock Shandy and prepare to be met with a blank look

Ask the barman for a bag a taytos and you'll get the same look

Poor Brits, they don't even had red lemonade

ejmaztec

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

Can you repeat that, I don't know what you're on about?

Kev_2012

ejmaztec wrote: »

Can you repeat that, I don't know what you're on about?

Sure!

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

mikemac1

Kev_2012 wrote: »

and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain

I can't believe this, it's a ridiculously simple word

Were the two of ye drunk and slurring your words?

Kev_2012

mikemac1 wrote: »

Ask an English barman for a Rock Shandy and prepare to be met with a blank look

Ask the barman for a bag a taytos and you'll get the same look

Poor Brits, they don't even had red lemonade

Really? They dont know what rock shandy is? Thats weird!

In Canada actually, in pizza places they have meals where you get a pizza slice, drink and chips.

Must have caught me out about 4/5 times!:(

ejmaztec

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Sure!

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

That's much better.:D

Kev_2012

mikemac1 wrote: »

I can't believe this, it's a ridiculously simple word

Were the two of ye drunk and slurring your words?

Nope! We literally were only off the plane, we hadn't been drinking yet! Was at about midday or something! She genuinely had no clue what we were on about. A friend of mine from yorkshire also didnt understand us either!

mikemac1

Maybe the girl wasn't English herself

Helix

the opposite of the thread, but i no longer have the ability to tell the difference between a canadian accent and an irish accent unless i REALLY pay attention

Kev_2012

mikemac1 wrote: »

Maybe the girl wasn't English herself

She had a thick scouse accent and so did the others that were there! I know most people can't believe this but it's probably because of how flat our accents are. I'd say Dubs would have no problems but try our accent on and see how you get on haha. :cool:

coddlesangers

Engerlish people don't say salt, they say sawwwt. Try it using the same accent as bianca from eastenders, great success is assured.

bwatson

Why would you use slang when talking to someone from a different country? Isn't that being needlessly difficult when you know there might already be issues when it comes to understanding accents and dialects?

FloatingVoter

Kev_2012 wrote: »

She had a thick scouse accent and so did the others that were there! I know most people can't believe this but it's probably because of how flat our accents are. I'd say Dubs would have no problems but try our accent on and see how you get on haha. :cool:

Without turning this into a city v country thread - some rural accents can be hard to understand even within Ireland...especially in a crowded chipper at lunchtime. That said, "salt" is pretty universal. Unlike the "taytos" thing which is a trap anyone could fall into.

Kev_2012

Helix wrote: »

the opposite of the thread, but i no longer have the ability to tell the difference between a canadian accent and an irish accent unless i REALLY pay attention

Actually, when I was in Toronto, the thing I noticed was that the Irish tend to slow down and speak in a strange tone! But when Irish spoke amongst each other, they sped up the conversation and spoke normally! I ended up having to really slow my speech and change the tone I spoke in otherwise they could understand me!:)

Wall E

OP I can't see how Scouse/English could not understand salt, were you really drunk or have you a really thick Limerick accent . When I was on holidays when I was about 15 English lads had difficulty in grasping me using the word grand, "a shure its grand". The employee could have been foreign as stated above

SteoL

Kev_2012 wrote: »

mikemac1 wrote: »

Ask an English barman for a Rock Shandy and prepare to be met with a blank look

Ask the barman for a bag a taytos and you'll get the same look

Poor Brits, they don't even had red lemonade

Really? They dont know what rock shandy is? Thats weird!

In Canada actually, in pizza places they have meals where you get a pizza slice, drink and chips.

Must have caught me out about 4/5 times!:(

So what were chips? Crisps?

jester77

Just goes to show how crap the Irish education system is. We should be learning languages like Liverpudlian and Glaswegian instead of Irish!

Conbhar

I remember when i was younger my relations came over from America and they hadnt got a clue what i was saying but it was more to do with me speaking so fast or so they told me. Rite enough when i slowed my speech down they they had no problem understanding me at all

Kev_2012

bwatson wrote: »

Why would you use slang when talking to someone from a different country? Isn't that being needlessly difficult when you know there might already be issues when it comes to understanding accents and dialects?

Not necessarily slang that you would only expect Irish people to use. There is a few words used in everyday conversation that you take as proper english and others may not understand. Fizzy drinks are called "pop" in canada. I had trouble asking for the bathroom over there as well because they call it a "wash room" just simple things like that, even "hoover" instead of vacuum cleaner!

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Without turning this into a city v country thread - some rural accents can be hard to understand even within Ireland...especially in a crowded chipper at lunchtime. That said, "salt" is pretty universal. Unlike the "taytos" thing which is a trap anyone could fall into.

Yeah that's true, but I tend to slow my accent down whenever I leave Limerick ( I'm from the city BTW ) because I know it might be difficult to understand sometimes, but sometimes you get caught out! Yeah I found the salt one very unexpected! The Taytos one catches everyone out at some stage! I get caught out a bit for saying tackies instead of runners

kylith

I think that we do tend to speak quite fast, and this, coupled with an accent, can make it quite hard for foreigners to understand. Thinking about it I think I do tend to speak slower around foreigners.

ball

I always forget that foreigners don't understand what "your man" and "your wan" mean.
An English girl had to stop me telling a story to tell me that your man wasn't her boyfriend

onlyrocknroll

In my experience Irish people are amazingly bad at softening their accents and avoiding Irish slang when speaking to foreigners.

A boss in a place I used to work in once gave the staff a big speech about making the effort to speak clearly to a new Polish employee who had very little English. Then he turned to the guy, trying to be friendly and said...

"I'm in the doghouse with my old doll"

in his fairly strong Cork accent.

I've never seen such a look of abject confusion on a person's face.

Elba101

When I was working in England I was telling some poeple a story and said that my dad gave out to me. They hadn't a clue and all asked did "to give out" mean the same as "to put out". Said my dad ain't no peado!

They couldn't understand how that could mean "to tell off". Crazy Brits.

BraziliaNZ

Surely when people are abroad they adopt their manner of speech to better suit non-Irish people? Haven't you watched enough British or American TV to not get a shock when you say "grand" or whatever and they don't get it? OMG they couldn't understand my very local colloquialisms when I was in England! Stop the lights!

WoollyRedHat

mikemac1 wrote: »

Ask an English barman for a Rock Shandy and prepare to be met with a blank look

Ask the barman for a bag a taytos and you'll get the same look

Poor Brits, they don't even had red lemonade

I've asked for a rock shandy in pubs before, never mind my accent, they just don't know what one is, which is a criminal offence tbh. As are the prices they used to charge for one

Jimoslimos

I was in a class/lab recently (in England) and made a mistake on a graph I was drawing, asked the girl beside me for a 'rubber':eek:

Moment silence and look of bewilderment from her.....

Realised and quickly corrected myself and asked for an eraser. Eye-contact avoided for remaining few hours:o

mikemac1

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Yeah that's true, but I tend to slow my accent down whenever I leave Limerick ( I'm from the city BTW )

In Limerick, all skangers are scobes and all gardaí are shades

kevohmsford

I went up to a bar in London last year and asked for a pint of Carling. The barman thought I said curry. Ended up with a curry and a pint. Worked out ok in the end.

St.Spodo

Most of us in Ireland, including me, pronounce ''three'' incorrectly as ''tree'', but then the English pronounce it as ''free'', so they're fúcking wrong as well.

kfallon

When abroad just keep saying 'Turty-tree and a turd' and you will forever be loved by those who inhabit the country you are visiting!

Also good for a laugh are the following:

Thursday
Thought
Thief
Throw
Through

etc etc

summerskin

Jimoslimos wrote: »

I was in a class/lab recently (in England) and made a mistake on a graph I was drawing, asked the girl beside me for a 'rubber':eek:

Moment silence and look of bewilderment from her.....

Realised and quickly corrected myself and asked for an eraser. Eye-contact avoided for remaining few hours:o

Everyone in England says rubber. That's bollix.

As for the other stuff, "grand" is used all over the north of england in the exact way it's used here.

rock shandy? red lemonade??? nope, we have neither in england, just like we don't have Taytos.

And why the hell do you expect us to know what a "press" is??? It's a bloody cupboard! A press is either something you put your trousers in to get rid of creases, or the newspaper media.

At least i now understand them all after 5 years in ireland, t'was a struggle at first!

mikemac1

kfallon wrote: »

When abroad just keep saying 'Turty-tree and a turd' and you will forever be loved by those who inhabit the country you are visiting!

Yeah, what's that about?

I was ordering motorcycle gear from a Newcastle company
After confirming I was in "Southern Ireland", she asked me repeat how I said three and oh didn't she love it

I don't know if she meant what she said or was she just mocking and taking the piss out of me

summerskin

St.Spodo wrote: »

Most of us in Ireland, including me, pronounce ''three'' incorrectly as ''tree'', but then the English pronounce it as ''free'', so they're fúcking wrong as well.

Again, a load of bollix.

It's like the only english people you have seen are in Eastenders! Up north the vast majority say "three". We also say "drawing" and not "drawring".

Bloody southerners, ruining the english language. They're the equivalent of a North Dublin Skanger when it comes to butchering english.

mikemac1

summerskin wrote: »

red lemonade??? nope, we have neither in england, just like we don't have Taytos.

They have brown lemonade though
Vile stuff, blugh

Fair play to the Scots and their Irn Bru, love that drink but hard to find here

summerskin

mikemac1 wrote: »

They have brown lemonade though
Vile stuff, blugh

Fair play to the Scots and their Irn Bru, love that drink but hard to find here

never heard of it myself, honestly. looking it up it seems to be a northern ireland thing.

Jimoslimos

summerskin wrote: »

Everyone in England says rubber. That's bollix.

As for the other stuff, "grand" is used all over the north of england in the exact way it's used here.

Really? Have lived in England for over 5 years and to the best of my knowledge rubber is exclusively used as slang for condom. The girl wasn't English though, although grew up there from an early age.

Never heard anyone use 'grand' (to mean fine, ok) other than the Irish

kylith

When I was in the US a few years ago I discovered they had no idea what a 'barman' is. I drew a complete blank on their synonym and we sat there for a while while I tried to remember the way to say 'the guy who serves you drinks in bars'.

Crooked Jack

I was in Vancouver and got talking to a couple of yanks. Half way through the night they all told me that they didnt understand at least half of what i was saying but that they loved my accent. Then we went back to their hotel and I banged one of them.

No problems with the accent abroad at all. Admittedly there was some confusion the next day when we went to a diner and my order had a fried egg in it. She asked how i wanted it done. I said 'fried.' The she let off this spiel of 'sunny side leftways' shite and I replied 'uh, just normal. Cue a ridiculously long engagement in which i tried to tell her what normal meant before just writing it on my phone.
Still, it balances out.

cocokay

in new york my other half asked for to-mah-toes on his sandwich instead of to-may-toes and she looked at him like he had 2 heads, i had to repeat "to-may-toes" for her. they don't sound THAT different, do they? i thought it was a bit mad in a city like ny that has so many different nationalities all speaking with different accents & pronunciations

mikemac1

What I learned from slaving in Irish hotels is if an American leaves a one cent coin on your table they were extremely unhappy with the service.

And if it was a Canadian coin, well jaysus you deserve to be sacked :eek:

summerskin

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Really? Have lived in England for over 5 years and to the best of my knowledge rubber is exclusively used as slang for condom. The girl wasn't English though, although grew up there from an early age.

Never heard anyone use 'grand' (to mean fine, ok) other than the Irish

Virtually the whole north west use grand and always have done. My gran still talks about it being "a grand day for drying" when it's sunny, and last week my mate was telling me how they had a "grand night out" after going to the races at haydock.

"rubber" is never used to mean a condom where i'm from, "rubber johnny"(usually just a "johnny") is. "eraser" is an americanism. Probably those "east yanks" southerners saying it. The scourge of the nation.

kylith

cocokay wrote: »

in new york my other half asked for to-mah-toes on his sandwich instead of to-may-toes and she looked at him like he had 2 heads, i had to repeat "to-may-toes" for her. they don't sound THAT different, do they? i thought it was a bit mad in a city like ny that has so many different nationalities all speaking with different accents & pronunciations

You'd think they'd at least have heard the tomayto/tomahto song. It was created for just such an eventuality.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Its very simple, when ever you go to a city/town in Engerland, listen to the locals accents and then put on an accent when speaking to the local yokels.

summerskin

CJC999 wrote: »

Its very simple, when ever you go to a city/town in Engerland, listen to the locals accents and then put on an accent when speaking to the local yokels.

Oh the irony....

rgmmg

I asked a girl in work (London) once "How's the craic?" I nearly got sacked.

Jimoslimos

summerskin wrote: »

Bloody southerners, ruining the english language.

summerskin wrote: »

Probably those "east yanks" southerners saying it. The scourge of the nation.

F*cking northern monkeys!

summerskin

Jimoslimos wrote: »

F*cking northern monkeys!

Northern boys love gravy.


I spent ten years living in london, it was like someone running their nails down a blackboard on a constant basis, having to listen to those accents. (that said my irish wife has a lovely soft west london accent after spending 20 years there)

Even worse is the new "patois" accent kids down there have, where "dey allz iz tinkin dey iz black, blud."

Jimoslimos

summerskin wrote: »

Northern boys love gravy.


I spent ten years living in london, it was like someone running their nails down a blackboard on a constant basis, having to listen to those accents. (that said my irish wife has a lovely soft west london accent after spending 20 years there)

Even worse is the new "patois" accent kids down there have, where "dey allz iz tinkin dey iz black, blud."

Still North or South, all better than a Midlands/Brummy accent:(

ejmaztec

summerskin wrote: »

Northern boys love gravy.


I spent ten years living in london, it was like someone running their nails down a blackboard on a constant basis, having to listen to those accents. (that said my irish wife has a lovely soft west london accent after spending 20 years there)

Even worse is the new "patois" accent kids down there have, where "dey allz iz tinkin dey iz black, blud."

I find those people laughable, and wonder whether the day will ever come that they realise that they sound like complete dicks.

NeonCookies

I'm teaching English in Japan at the moment. I teach one to one lessons, so maybe 8/ 10 students a day. NONE of them can understand me when I say "fun" (which I say to nearly every one of them - "Was it fun?" etc.) or "often" (I have to pronounce it offen). This is mainly due to them learning English from Americans and English people.

I'm really realizing how different the accents are! Apart from accents, American and British English are almost different languages with the different spellings and the different words they have for things - pavement/sidewalk/path, cupboard/press, trousers/pants. Chips and French Fries is another one that keeps catching me out. It's a minefield!

My new found friends from Oz, Canada, US etc. slag me for saying "grand", and apparently the way I say "lunch" is quite funny too..!