To be embarrassed about this

[SoukSoul]

New colleague started at my company few weeks ago, don't work closely with him but went to introduce myself to him today and got chatting

He seemed to have an accent. So I asked him where he was from

Cue the embarrassing "I'm from xxxx (home county)"
Me "I mean originally, where do you come from"
Him "uh well my parents are from Turkey but I was born and raised here."

Cringe cringe cringe. I'm really not one of those people who thinks anyone who looks forrin' can't be british

But he did seem to have an accent!! Though as the chat went on it was more of a...God how do i say this without sounding even worse...Ali G style accent going on, with a bit of cockney mixed in!

Made things worse of course by apologising buy insisting that he had an accent, to which he just looked puzzled

Have I marked myself out to him as an awful racist??

Yes

YABU, I would have said, so where did that accent come from? It sounds affected tbh!

Maybe he looked puzzled because he didn't understand your accent.

FFS over use of the word 'racist' - to be racist you must discriminate again a person. Were you doing that? No, you weren't. At best you were socially inept at not being able to cover up your faux pas by saying something like "I'm sure I hear a twang of west country, did you go to uni in Somerset?"

That Ali G style accent seems to be very popular at the moment. I hear it an awful lot. It sounds very affected, and makes people sound far more stupid than they are (generally).

I have no issues with regional accents but put-on ones to sound 'cool' or whatever the correct term is, just wind me up.

I asked a new colleague where she was from - Australia, I guessed?

No, apparently South London. For generations.

I have a cloth ear for accents.

Well if his parents speak Turkish to him and he t them then he would likely have a bit of a Turkish accent, amongst other things, so I'm not sure why you are confused.

The accent I think you mean is common round here. Bit of Turkish, bit of Larnden, bit of Caribbean. Kids pick it up from each other

Devroa

I'm from Essex. I've had quite a few people asking if I am Australian.

If you think about it, the terrible accent of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, which sounds Australian, is because he's exaggerating a cockney too far

No! I worked in a supermarket before uni and I was told I sounded anything from Polish to New Zealand; I never once considered the person to be racist. I've also had people tell me my dark hair / eyes made me look like I was Eastern European / Russian. No offence taken.

I wouldn't worry...

Ooh all these sarf Lundun people being Australasian! We must do that interrogative tone? Where you say everything as a question?

Conina

God not, not that!!!!!. I don't do that. I think it's more the strangulated vowels

The kids who do that round here are quite well spoken, and say "like" every other word

I bet you wish that hole you was digging yourself into just closed up.

I wouldn't say you was racist.

Jamie, the embarrassing thing is that I am also from Sarf London. We should have bonded over our common voice.

Devora. You must be Posh Sarf Lardnden

I wouldn't sweat it. In my experience indigenous Brits who don't want to appear racist worry about this sort of thing far more than immigrants or non white people do: he has almost certainly had far worse, what you said may have been a tiny bit clumsy but its a long way from being racist or offensive.

You were asking him a question about himself without malice or prejudice and in a friendly demeanour. How bad can that be?

yanbu, I'm the same. You'd think I'd be better at recognising accents seeing that I was raised by a foreigner, but no

I think most people raised by somebody with a foreign accent will get asked about their own accent. I have never pronounced things in a particular regional way, spoke differently to all of my peers at school and everything. I usually have to convince people that I'm from Essex originally!

I would not worry. I am foreign and when I get fed up with people asking where I am from, mind you, anyone, in shops etc I usually say I am from the place in the UK where I currently live.

However, if someone in a clearly social situation comes and kindly introduces themselves I would tell them where I am from and make conversation. This guy knew what you meant and could have just said that his family was from Turkey, for example, rather than embarrassing you.

Don't feel bad about it.

If I remember rightly, the Australian accent comes from loads of people from Suffolk and Essex getting transported to one particular colony.
Or summink.
Having known a few people from Suffolk, some of the stronger accents do sound a bit Aussie and I've been caught out once or twice.

If you really feel bad about it, you can apologise tomorrow. I wouldn't worry about it, I've done it to a couple of people. It is embarrassing after you realise what you've said though.

ConfusedPixie that sounds like my DCs in on of their recent essays I saw an underlined word with a remark from the teacher "This is not an English word".

I think people can tell the difference between racist and just a social faux pax, don't worry!

I know someone who swears blind he's not racist, but needlessly questions people who he thinks "Don't look British". We are up North and I have a friend from London. At my birthday party he repeatedly asked her where she was from. She gets it a lot, her accent stands out, so she kept saying "London". He kept asking, "No no, where are you really from?" and she thought he was taking the piss. It was only when he eventually went "No no, I mean what's your heritage?" that she twigged what he meant. Because she's black she couldn't possibly be really from England.

Racist attitudes often shine through, I'm sure he was thinking it was awkward more than racist!

I live in London. I am not from here, I am an army child and as such have a compete non accent. I am regularly asked where I am from, usually they think New Zealand but have also had Australia and South Africa too. Someone asked ex H if he was married to "that Australian blonde girl" He said "no shes English" and they were surprised because I looked and sounded Australian apparently. Are all those people racist?

You were not one little bit racist OP. I wouldn't give it another thought.

I wouldn't have questioned further once he said where he was from. Just accept the answer and move on, do you really need to know where the accent is from?

Ok phew thanks all!

When I lived up in Scotland, lots if people thought I was Australian. I'm from Essex.