I know I've already done my daily post, but I have to share this nugget with you, oh fellow expat bloggers.
I was speaking on the phone to a fellow Brit in America, and he ended the conversation with "Good Day". I don't know this man personally: I was speaking to him in his official capacity. Do they train people to sign off "Good Day" do you think? Just to remind us expats of BBC period dramas, and make us feel nostalgic? I know you're going to ask whether I'm sure he wasn't Australian, but it was definitely "Good Day", not "G'day". And I'm not sure I didn't hear a gentle thud as he tipped his bowler hat to me.
Made my day, even if he can't help me speed up the green card application process. It was top hole talking to him.
I wonder if he is One of Those expats (especially Brits in the US) who play up their accent and/or 'ethnicity'? You know the little train of thought flitting amongst some of us expat bloggers at the moment about how the British accent in the States gets positive reinforcement? Or maybe he's just one of those Brits living in the (former) colonies who enjoy being more British than he was in Britain. Or maybe he's just odd.
ReplyDeleteDare ya to do the same at the end of every phone call for a day! ;)
ReplyDeleteWas it Jack Dee?
ReplyDeleteOh, please take up Michelle's dare. And then blog about it.
ReplyDeleteSince you're in the Midwest, Iota -- I wonder if you'd pay attention to a little conversation closer I hear all the time back home (Ohio) but never out here in CA. In fact, some California people have told me they find it "impersonal" or "off-putting" when they hear it -- while it is really meant as quite the opposite. It is: "take care" -- used at the end of a conversation.
ReplyDeleteI always use the uber-Americana -- have a great day! Maybe the British gent you spoke to was in a state of mid-Atlantic jargon?
Very amusing. Actually, if he's been out here a while, he might not be able to bring himself to say Have a Good Day, but Good Day may be OK for him. (Perhaps he mumbled the "have a" part?)
ReplyDeleteI say "Take Care" a lot but usually only to my British friends. It seems impossible over here to just end a conversation with "Bye". You always have to almost bless the person on the other end. Actually, here in Chicago, a lot of people say "See you Later" even when you're not due to see them for weeks.