Has anyone ever gotten where your accent is from wrong?

[PunnyBeaker]

Been told I am from Birmingham , really from Coventry

Accent is never mistaken here in UK, but in US I sound Australian even though i am from Derbyshire.

Well, just to blink and walk off is a bit rude: but asking where someone’s accent is from is really just harmless curiosity (and, in my case, professional interest). I have never met anyone whom the question actually offends. Most are delighted to talk about it and find accents and dialects almost as fascinating as I do.

Marching up and asking which school your kid’s uniform is from is far weirder and more intrusive.

I am sure if you are delighted to talk about it, you are probably not being rude in your manner.

But I don't always like having questions shot at me by strangers, and sort of a propos of nothing, just because they are curious and then want to leave it there. But there are ways and ways of doing it, I agree.

I am a Scouser and have been asked a few times I am from Leeds. Maybe I have a generic ‘northern accent’

Been told I have an Aussie accent. I’m SE London.

Also in the US seem to think I am Australian went to buy some shoes in shop once and assistant kept asking me about Australia , I told her I am Londoner but she wouldn’t have it insisting I was Australian,
Another time waiting to get on tourist boat at Niagra Falls and guy in queue asking me about Australia and where I was from the amusing thing was couple in front of us were Australian they just kept looking at me and laughing rolling their eyes
Mind you a lot of Americans when you meet seem to be under the impression we all know members of the royal family personally 😄

Many years ago, I got talking to a lady during a theatre interval, who instantly placed my accent to a South Wales village only 2 miles from where I was born! Chatting further, I discovered that she had briefly dated my grandfather!

Born in greater London,lived here all my life. I was asked a few months ago if I was Polish. I said 'No,why do you ask?'. They said I sounded like I had a Polish accent. 🙄

I can't really imagine how anyone can mistake a Liverpool or Merseyside accent for anything else, because to me, it's so distinctive, but that's probably because I'm native to there (Merseyside but not Liverpool), so I'm used to it.

I read a review of a hotel I'd stayed at in Inverness that complained about the lift announcer being Polish.

The lift announcements were in a very local Inverness accent 😅

Birmingham and Coventry are pretty close! I would know the difference but I lived in Coventry for years. To others, it just sounds West Midlands-y.

I'm from Oxford but have lived all over the country. I've been teaching in South Derbyshire for years and most of the kids think I'm from London or Bristol. Again, I don't think the accents are alike at all but to the kids I'm just some form of Southern.

To be fair, when I was at Glasgow uni in the 90s, we had an Orcadian lecturer. Many of the home students, and I, were puzzling over which country he was from.
"Do you think he's Dutch? Austrian? Norwegian? etc." Until we found out that he was as Scottish as they were. 😅

With the caveat that tone and context are obviously critical here, I have always found people absolutely delight in any opportunity to tell you about themselves.

(Whether they know it or not 😀)

@UnctuousUnicorns it made me laugh as it used to be said that Inverness was one of the purest accents.

I’m from the North East and live in the Midlands, I had to take lessons to modify my vowels because when I said my name the locals would hear a completely different word, and it drove me up the wall every time I went to collect something from a shop or make an appointment. I’ve been asked many times if I’m Irish.

I must be a miserable old curmudgeon! I hate having very direct questions flung at me by people I don't know well.

You are right that tone makes a difference though.

Have had people insist I’m from the southern states of the USA. I’m from Northern Ireland. Never set foot in the US.

The other one is Dutch but think that is more due to the way I look??

Damn these Scottish accents that don't sound properly Scottish! It's confusing! 😤 😅

When i speak welsh, people have no idea where im from.

Do you mean Welsh speakers can't place your accent, or other people don't recognise the language?

Yes. 'I can tell you're from [town with a distinct accent]' . I'm not from anywhere near there.
'You don't sound like you're from [city].' I've only been there 3 times and it's about 130 miles away.

Them: 'These Germans, don't they realise we can understand what they're saying'
Me silently to myself: 'Ffyc off Sais.'

I’m from a town close to the Scottish border (English side). When I go over the border to Scotland, it’s assumed I’m a geordie.
When I go to Newcastle, they all think I’m Scottish.

Wooler?

Bizarre. I would have thought Southern US and NI have very little common ground (although I've now made a mental note that if I ever meet Dolly Parton I need to ask her to say 'power shower' - that should settle the question).