American English (New York, Manchester, York: earthquakes, living in, moving to)

[swisswife]

I was starting to look forward to moving to New York State after years of living in Asia because it will be nice to be in a country where most people speak English..... I have just been reading another thread about the differences in American and British English and wondered if people have any examples they want to share.....?

I am from Manchester and still use lots of the 'northern' sayings I have used since I was a child and use lots of other idioms and cockney sayings ( I lived in London for 17 years). I also spend a great deal of time teaching my husband, for whom English is his 4th language, to say things like "bloody 'ell", "cheers ears", "blimey", " who's round is it?","its all *******s" and some far more risque sayings I don't want to post for fear of being blocked from the forum

I have learnt lots already, for example I didn't know a faucet is the common word for a tap, or that fanny was a bum !!.... but what about idioms..... If I said "she can talk 'til the cows come home" will people think I am bonkers ???
Or maybe not bonkers but at least a bit away with the fairies ??

[swisswife]

ooh just realised that I should have posted this on the 'general' but I have no idea ( not a scooby!!) how to move it.....

[streetsmart]

I think you'll be just fine. There are PLENTY of foreigners living in this area, and people are generally well-educated and well-traveled. If you are speaking with a British accent and you say "Blimey!" no one is going to laugh or anything!

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by streetsmart

I think you'll be just fine. There are PLENTY of foreigners living in this area, and people are generally well-educated and well-traveled. If you are speaking with a British accent and you say "Blimey!" no one is going to laugh or anything!

I fully agree. You wan't have any problems at all. Didn't somebody say, "An Englishman sounds better reading a phone book than an American reading the Gettysburg Address."

[swisswife]

Hey Kletter1mann - I just saw you used to live in Tokyo. I am completely jealous. Its my fave city. I would LOVE to live there. How was it ??

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by swisswife

Hey Kletter1mann - I just saw you used to live in Tokyo. I am completely jealous. Its my fave city. I would LOVE to live there. How was it ??

Expensive. Crowded. We had a great set up. FANTASTIC. I'd recommend to any internationalist. The only thing I didn't like was earthquakes all the time, never letting you forget that The Big One might happen at any time.

[swisswife]

yeah, I guess that would be a downside. We prob go there 3/4 times a year for a week and try to get some of the other cities in too......... I became completely addicted after the first visit..... its definitely on my list of places to live ........