When It Comes to Perplexing Accents, The Knife Cuts Both Ways

Australians who have travelled to the USA will often return home with stories of how their accents caused confusion among the American natives. "I told the waiter we'd like to order and he thought I said I'd like some water!" they might recall. Time and time again I'm reminded how Americans struggle to grasp the Australian accent, something I have seen for myself first hand. But while it is absolutely true, and quite funny, I'd like to point out that this common comical phenomenon is not one-sided.

Despite the obvious American influence down here (including a pervasive presence on Australian television, and the world over for the matter), you may be surprised that I run into Aussies all the time who get flustered by my accent. When I tell my friends here about it, they find it hard to believe. But trust me, it happens frequently. The two most recent incidents are as follows:

1. When purchasing some rice at a local organic grocery store, I asked the woman ringing me up if she had some tape so I could secure the paper bag. "Sorry, what are you after?" she asked. I figured I just spoke too fast, or she wasn't really paying attention or something. "Oh, just some tape fo the bag please." Awkward laugh. Confused smile. "Sorry, some...?" she said, bewildered. "Some tape," I said, slowly, "so I can tape up the bag so the rice won't come out on the walk home." I even took my finger and slid it across the fold of the bag. I think it took one more time before the lightbulb went off and I got my tape. We both laughed. I could tell she was dumbfounded as to why it took her so long to comprehend what I was saying.

2. Yesterday I was at a fruit and veg shop in The Gap grabbing some milk, tomatoes, and something to cook up for dinner. There's a butcher and deli in the back. I was after some fish. I didn't see any but I asked anyway. "Do you have any fish?" She looked confused immediately. "Do we have any what?" She inquired. "Oh, um, fish. . . Fish?" She was smiling, but looked at me as if I was speaking another language. "Fish," I repeated, "or. . . seafood. Seafood?" I said nervously, though proud of myself for finding a different way to ask. It was getting quite awkward at this stage. "Oh! Seafood!" she exclaimed. "No sorry, we don't sell fresh seafood here." She was extremely relieved, although I'm still not sure whether she ever figured out I was saying fish to begin with.

What's interesting about these two incidents is that the way I say "tape" and "fish" isn't so different from the way Aussies say it. I think both women were just so thrown off by the presence of my accent that they thought about every single word I was saying way too much. Or perhaps it's because what I was asking wasn't so common and my accent made them question if they were mishearing me, even if they weren't.

I certainly concede that Australians travelling to the U.S. will run into this problem much more regularly than Americans down here. But it does happen. And when it does, it's a stark reminder that I'm still just a foreigner in this land.