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I seem to recall baffling people on my first visit to the US by asking them if they knew where a "cash machine" could be found. Either that wasn't a common term

I seem to recall baffling people on my first visit to the US by asking them if they knew where a "cash machine" could be found. Either that wasn't a common term for ATM or my strong British accent confounded them.

hairofadog 4y ago
Ha, people in the US should know what a cash machine is. It may have been the accent, but I’m having a hard time imagining how even the most severe British accent would make “cash machine” that hard to understand. Now if you were Scottish, on the other hand…
- dcminter 4y ago
  Virtually a BBC accent, so who knows? A bit later in Texas I had trouble ordering a tuna sandwich because of the stark difference between "tooona" (US) and "tyouna" (UK). To be fair they're very different sounds. The first time I was introduced to a Glaswegian colleague I just smiled and nodded because I had not the faintest idea what he was saying (the ear tunes in pretty quickly though).
  - bentley 4y ago
    “What is a yute?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qGwmXZtsE&t=108s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qGwmXZtsE&t=108s
  - hairofadog 4y ago
    Based only on personal experience, I think Scottish folks are screwing with us just to see what we’ll do.
  - timthorn 4y ago
    Yeah, the ew sound isn't commonly understood - try asking for a Mountain Dew. I've been visiting America for 20 years and I still can't get people to understand what I want to drink.
    - pacaro 4y ago
      Which means Americans have homophones that are not homophones in other variants of English. Leading to, for example, confusion over whether someone should "make do" or "make due". In British English, there is no ambiguity, and one makes do
runnerup 4y ago
Not a common term here. It is somewhat ambiguous with "cash register", so some people's brains may not immediately or strongly select the correct interpretation. Some will just fine though.
- bentley 4y ago
  My first thought would be a coin changer. Although if I heard it from a foreigner an ATM would probably be the next thing to come to mind.
  - jeltz 4y ago
    Yeah, the context should make it obvious. An ATM is a very common thing to ask for and it is a machine and it handles cash.
rahoulb 4y ago
My friend was driving across America and his car broke down. He asked a passerby where the nearest garage was and got blank looks. He quickly realised the issue was pronunciation - “garidge” vs “gararge”
Symbiote 4y ago
There are these cash machines in Denmark, with both American and British labels. https://travelswithsheila.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/airport-atm.jpg https://travelswithsheila.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/air... (Copenhagen Airport, although I don't recognize the exact location. Probably the place cruise ship buses meet passengers or something like that.)

hairofadog 4y ago

Ha, people in the US should know what a cash machine is. It may have been the accent, but I’m having a hard time imagining how even the most severe British accent would make “cash machine” that hard to understand. Now if you were Scottish, on the other hand…

dcminter 4y ago
Virtually a BBC accent, so who knows? A bit later in Texas I had trouble ordering a tuna sandwich because of the stark difference between "tooona" (US) and "tyouna" (UK). To be fair they're very different sounds. The first time I was introduced to a Glaswegian colleague I just smiled and nodded because I had not the faintest idea what he was saying (the ear tunes in pretty quickly though).
- bentley 4y ago
  “What is a yute?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qGwmXZtsE&t=108s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6qGwmXZtsE&t=108s
- hairofadog 4y ago
  Based only on personal experience, I think Scottish folks are screwing with us just to see what we’ll do.
- timthorn 4y ago
  Yeah, the ew sound isn't commonly understood - try asking for a Mountain Dew. I've been visiting America for 20 years and I still can't get people to understand what I want to drink.
  - pacaro 4y ago
    Which means Americans have homophones that are not homophones in other variants of English. Leading to, for example, confusion over whether someone should "make do" or "make due". In British English, there is no ambiguity, and one makes do

runnerup 4y ago

Not a common term here. It is somewhat ambiguous with "cash register", so some people's brains may not immediately or strongly select the correct interpretation. Some will just fine though.

bentley 4y ago
My first thought would be a coin changer. Although if I heard it from a foreigner an ATM would probably be the next thing to come to mind.
- jeltz 4y ago
  Yeah, the context should make it obvious. An ATM is a very common thing to ask for and it is a machine and it handles cash.

rahoulb 4y ago

My friend was driving across America and his car broke down. He asked a passerby where the nearest garage was and got blank looks. He quickly realised the issue was pronunciation - “garidge” vs “gararge”

Symbiote 4y ago

There are these cash machines in Denmark, with both American and British labels. https://travelswithsheila.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/airport-atm.jpg https://travelswithsheila.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/air... (Copenhagen Airport, although I don't recognize the exact location. Probably the place cruise ship buses meet passengers or something like that.)