The Moment You Realise You’re Speaking American

Living in America as an Australian changes the way you speak in ways you don’t expect. After 8 years in the USA, I’ve started noticing American phrases, cultural differences, and everyday habits slowly becoming part of my life without even realising it.

It starts small.

Saying “y’all” at work.
Asking for a “to go box” instead of takeaway.
Calling it a gas station instead of a servo.
Even changing the way you say “water” just to be understood.

In this episode, I talk about the strange moment you realise you’re speaking American… and how living between Australia and America slowly changes the way you sound, think, and communicate.

This isn’t really about losing your Australian identity.

It’s about what happens when you live between two cultures long enough that parts of both start blending together naturally.

From American politeness and Southern culture…
to raising kids between two countries…
to accidentally translating yourself mid-conversation when talking to Australians back home…

These are the small shifts nobody really warns you about when you move overseas.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I said something the other day, and I actually stopped mid-sentence because it was something that I'd never said before in my entire life. I caught myself saying y'all in a sentence. And I sort of went, well, that was near. And in that moment, I thought, mate, I think I might have been here too long. And the funny part about it all was it didn't even feel strange until after I said it. You better take cover. That's the thing about living overseas, because it doesn't happen all at once. There's no big moment where everything suddenly changes. You don't wake up one day and think, yeah, I'm different now. It's kind of quieter than that. And I think it's small things and the little habits, words, the timing, and just sort of that shift. You don't really notice it while it's happening until one day you hear yourself say something and it just feels a bit off. Now it always starts with words, the little ones. I say YOL now, and honestly, I actually really like that. Because to me it makes sense. It's efficient. It actually feels very Australian in some strange sort of a way because back home we love to shorten everything. I'm really surprised that we didn't come up with YOL ourselves. But then it spreads. You don't just pick up just that one word, you pick up a whole tone. And I'll catch myself saying things like, that's super exciting. Like, super. I never said that growing up. That would have sounded maybe a little bit over the top. And the one that really got me, I appreciate you. That's not an Australian sentence. Now back home, it's more like, yeah, cheers, mate. Short, sweet, done. We move on from it. But here it kind of lingers a bit. There's just a bit more warmth in it. And now if someone does something for me, I say it without even thinking. And that's when you know that it's really stuck. But it's not just the words, it's how you say things as well. In Australia, if something needs to be said, you just come out and say it. Sometimes a bit too directly. There's not a lot around it. But here I've really noticed I sort of soften everything. Hey, just real quick, do you mind if we I just wanted to mention there's layers to it. Yeah, sort of ease into things. And even when there's a problem, you generally don't just drop it on the table. Yeah, kind of walk it in. Yep, and I've caught myself doing it without thinking, even in everyday conversations, even in stores. See, that's another one. Stores. I say that now. It's not shops. And I'll say, I appreciate you. And there's a part of me listening to myself, thinking, who is this bloke? It's actually the kind of thing that ends up on the podcast every Thursday as well. It's just those little moments during the week that don't seem like much at the time, but then later you realize that something has actually shifted. And usually that's when it really hits you. You'll be talking to someone back home in Australia. Yeah, I'll be on the phone, I'll be driving somewhere, picking the kids up from school, and I'll say, Hey, I just got to go. I'm going to pull in and get some gas. Yeah. And they'll stop me. Like, what? Yeah, they know what I'm saying, but taking the piss, Aussie style. And I'll catch myself and I'll go, yeah, I'll go on into the survey. Usually get a laugh and then say, I guess I have been here too long. But it is more than that as well, because it actually feels like, in a way, you're speaking two languages. You're translating in real time. You start a sentence one way and then halfway through it, you sort of adjust it depending upon who it is that you're talking to. And you don't even realize that you're doing it half the time. It shows up in really small, everyday things too. And I think restaurants are a really good example. So in Australia, if there's too much food, you sort of just leave it, or you might ask for a doggy bag. Or you just sit there and you try to finish it all. Even when you probably shouldn't. But here, it's almost automatic. Can I get a to-go box? Early on, I was asking for takeaway containers and just getting this blank look. No one really knew what I meant. So you learn, you adjust, and then it just becomes normal. Yeah, we went back to Australia last year for a visit, ordered way too much at a Chinese restaurant, and I went to ask for our to-go box, stopped myself mid-sentence. Doggy bag. And even then, I actually wasn't really sure. I think we used to call them containers, maybe. I don't know. Is doggy bag still a thing? You let me know. Because that's the strange part about all of this. Things that you grew up with, they start to feel a little uncertain. If you enjoy these quieter observations, there's a buy-me-a-copy link in the description. A few of you have already used it, and I genuinely appreciate it. It really helps to keep things ticking along for me. I guess even the way that you sound, that starts to change as well. Water is a really good one because I've learned to say it in a way that can actually be understood here wider. But early on, man, I had plenty of problems. Saying that word just didn't land. Finding myself adjusting mid-word, almost catching myself and correcting it on the fly. Now, my wife Nikki, she's much worse than me. She will go full-on American accent. And I'm like, that's a bit much, mate. But she always gets a water. The interesting part is the kids, they don't think about it at all. It's just natural to them. They're school teachers, dance teachers, friends' parents. It's always Miss Nicole, Miss Angela. And I like that. It's very respectful. And it feels different in a way to how I grew up, but it fits here as well. Even when their friends call me Mr. Michael, and I'm like, mate, you've known me for six years. You can just call me Mike. No. They don't. And that's just how it is. After a while, you realize it's not just your words that change, it's that you start choosing who you are a bit, depending upon who it is that you're talking to. If I'm talking to Americans, I'll typically slow things down. I'll say gas station, trash can, y'all if it fits. But if I'm talking to an Aussie, suddenly I'm just back to servo, bin, mate, tomato. And the funny thing is both versions to me now feel real. That's probably the part that I didn't expect. I thought living overseas would mean trying not to lose the Australian part whilst embracing the American part. But it's not really losing it. It's more like carrying two sets of keys. One works here, one works back home. And most days I'm just standing there at the door trying to remember which one I'm actually holding. I guess that's what happens when you live between two places. You don't stop being where you came from. You just pick things up along the way. And some of them feel pretty strange at first. Some of them you resist, and some you don't even notice. And then one day you hear yourself saying something. And then I guess you realize you've changed a little. Not completely, just enough. Bit of Australia, bit of America, and somewhere in the middle, that's sort of where you end up hanging out. You better take cover.