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Have you been confused for a different nationality?


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Are you mistaken for someone from another country?ie  

191 members have voted

  1. 1. Have you been mistaken for someone from another country

    • Yes, regularly
      57
    • Occassionally
      94
    • Never
      40

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In the sense of have they guessed wrong based on my accent? Yeah, definitely. It's not overly pronounced but not quite American, so people just guess random European countries.

 

Have I ever been mistaken for a different ethnicity or something like that? Nope, very pasty and white! To the degree that they wave me through airport security checks even if the metal detector goes off, while any of my friends that are actually American but look even slightly middle eastern are guaranteed to be pulled aside for extra security checks and pad-downs.

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58 minutes ago, Dreamer23 said:

In the sense of have they guessed wrong based on my accent? Yeah, definitely. It's not overly pronounced but not quite American, so people just guess random European countries.

 

Have I ever been mistaken for a different ethnicity or something like that? Nope, very pasty and white! To the degree that they wave me through airport security checks even if the metal detector goes off, while any of my friends that are actually American but look even slightly middle eastern are guaranteed to be pulled aside for extra security checks and pad-downs.

Lucky duck. I’m very white - pale skin, brown hair, blue eyes. I’m short and young and female. But since I was a preteen, I’ve never been able to get through airports or border control without a pat down or interrogation!

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58 minutes ago, Graceful said:

Lucky duck. I’m very white - pale skin, brown hair, blue eyes. I’m short and young and female. But since I was a preteen, I’ve never been able to get through airports or border control without a pat down or interrogation!

I know this is going off topic, but I can't resist making this statement. When I go through airports, I like to pack a couple of pairs of my dirty and sweaty underpants in my hand luggage. Ones I have taken off immediately after a cardio workout are the best. If my bag gets searched, and I get a nice security officer who is friendly and respectful, I will casually mention that I have been trekking and that I have dirty underwear in my bag, and that they may wish to be cautious. If on the other hand, I get a belligerent security officer who is abrupt and impolite, I will say nothing and wait smugly while they put their hands on my filthy underwear. 

 

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In terms of how I speak, never 

 

However I have been stopped and asked for directions in a country I'd only been to for one day, and I didn't speak the language 

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I've often had people think I was from somewhere else - in the US they have either thought I was Canadian or from another part of the US. In Europe I have had locals and tourists mistake me for being a local - that has happened in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

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Someone here thought I was British. :wub:

Once, I was was mistaken for being Spanish.  :huh:

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arekathevampyre
12 hours ago, Scott1989 said:

 

Lol. Glaswgow or Scotland in general would make things difficult. This video made Scottish news cause of how funny (but accurate) it was from an outsider (only a small sample of Glaswegian slang)

 

Nice video !! :D

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I'm from the Philippines with some Spanish lineage, but due to my pale skin and fluency in English, people here often mistake me for an American :P

 

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confused lil bee

OOOOOH BOY in the last few years multiple people have asked if I'm American within moments of meeting me :/ I have literally never lived outside Australia and not gonna lie, kinda offended that I sound American to some 

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people have asked me if im mixed with something i assume because i have native american in my bloodline?? but its only a small part on my moms side and really far back so idk anything about it really im mostly german and irish so im not sure where they get that question from

im just american bruh most of us are mixed with crap

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On 2/4/2018 at 9:20 PM, crinklyphotographer said:

As I get darker in Summer, I get everything from Cuban to Egyptian.

You must get a lovely tone.  I absolutely love that complexion range. 

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa

@arekathevampyre...first time I ever heard Glaswegian patter spoken like a Cornishman!:lol:The intonation he uses is like Australian, Weegies tend not to go up at the end of the sentence. Not bad attempt though, for a Korean!

This is coming from a Scot who often gets mistaken for Irish.

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arekathevampyre
12 minutes ago, chandrakirti said:

This is coming from a Scot who often gets mistaken for Irish.

my sister has issues differentiating between Scottish and Irish lol

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People have guessed I'm Russian, Canadian, Native American, Mexican, Colombian, and Spanish. Some people have asked if I'm Irish since I seem to have a very Irish style of songwriting, apparently.

 

Most of my heritage is Scandinavian. My grandma on my dad's side was Mexican, though.

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sorry-for-my-english

only once, just because i asked to a cop how to find a place

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When I lived in Texas people assumed I was Mexican. It makes sense since there are so many there. I have more trouble with guessing ethnicity rather than nationality. 

 

I am American and generally assumed to be such, but guesses about ethnicity can go all over the place. I suppose that makes sense because I am Puerto Rican, African-American, Taino, Yugoslavian, Swiss, Irish, and I think German... I tell people I am a Yugorican. :D

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I can fake French because I've picked up on the accent after spending time there, but I dont get mistaken for it unless I put some effort in.

It's handy for scam callers though. "Hello, we'd like to talk to you about PPI." "Salut, ce qui se passe?" "Nevermind"

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8 minutes ago, Lichley said:

I can fake French because I've picked up on the accent after spending time there, but I dont get mistaken for it unless I put some effort in.

It's handy for scam callers though. "Hello, we'd like to talk to you about PPI." "Salut, ce qui se passe?" "Nevermind"

Might borrow this :ph34r:

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Do you answer the phone with "'Allo, 'allo"? (sorry, reference to an old tv show) :D

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8 hours ago, daveb said:

Do you answer the phone with "'Allo, 'allo"? (sorry, reference to an old tv show) :D

"Also allo, zis is Night'awk, are you receiving me?"

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I can't really pronounce the letter R, so every time I go to the UK I regularly get mistaken for a French <.<

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Only once. I used to carry my daughter in a sling while she was still little - one day somebody stopped me in the supermarket and said "That thing you're carrying her in is really cool. Is that how you carry them where you come from?" "What, England?" :huh: 

My partner has quite dark colouring for a Caucasian though, and unusually shaped eyes due to a genetic condition. People often assume that he isn't from England originally but can't think where he could be from. 
Likewise my daughter has the same eye condition and I have had people ask where her father is from. 

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When I was in Italy they thought I was a local.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

All the time. I get mistaken as a Latina / Hispanic often. I've had ppl ask me if I was Cuban, Mexican and Honduran before. In Florida I've had people talk Spanish to me and I'm there like...what?

I also get mistaken for a North African sometimes and once for a Fijian. 

 

Strangely no one has ever came close to any other South Asian country.

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  • 1 month later...
J. van Deijck

seems that in my country everyone assumes you're from here, unless you're black or Asian :P

I had some occasions where people asked if I was German or Hungarian. people were also curious about my nationality when I was abroad in the north :P

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