British words I cannot say.

During my time in the UK I have adopted a mantra, and that mantra is "I must adapt." I do not want to be the Ugly American, demanding that the entire Queen's Realm modify its behavior to suit my needs. It's not a bad mantra, but it does entail drinking warm beer, using confusing keyboard layouts, eating French Fr...chips with curry sauce, and generally immersing myself in British "culture" as much as possible. But there are some British words that i just cannot say. I've adapted to calling a yard a "garden." I call a parking lot a "car park." French fries are chips, and chips are crisps, but I am completely unable to call £30 "thirty quid." Nor can I refer to a large truck as a "lorry." And I don't think I'll ever adopt the hideous British pronunciation of "schedule." For some reason, these words just sound wrong when spoken with an American accent. More and more, I find myself speaking a bastardized hybrid of American and British English. At this point, I am totally incomprehensible to the brits, and visitng Americans are puzzled by my strange choice of words.

There is one exception, though. I have very quicly adapted to British profanity. I can "bloody hell" and "right bastard" with the best of them. A hearty "bollocks" to you all! Bloody peasants.