I say I’m proud to be from Barnsley, the only team to win the FA Cup in Yorkshire. It’s a real conversation starter.
Everyone knows Barnsley - they must do because everytime I say I'm from Barnsley they say oh Baaaaaarnsley.
This. Absolutely no idea why people always feel compelled to do a sheep noise when you tell them. It's not even like we talk like that.
I was in Dallas (Texas) in a taxi and the driver said "Hey you're English, what part of England do you come from?". So I decided not to say Barnsley because he wouldn't have heard of it, neither would he have heard of Yorkshire so I said "Cambridge" where I was living at the time, he might have heard of that. So he said "Cambridge, where's that?". Here we go I'm thinking, this could go on forever "About 60 miles north of London." He MUST have heard of that. I'll never forget what he said next, "Is that near Paris?". By now I was struggling to contain myself but I gamely said "No, Paris is in France." Again his next statement is etched on my brain "Paris, France, London, England, you know I always thought they were in the same country!". I was in meltdown....
No, he was black. It just illustrates the lack of international news coverage in the States and the general ignorance of the population of anything outside their State....
If I’m talking to someone from another country I usually say Barnsley which is between Leeds and Sheffield If I’m talking to someone from this country (especially on holiday) I say I’m from Barnsley, which 9 times out of 10 is usually met with “oh Barnsleeeeey” in a Liam Gallagher type way
When i lived in London i attended a wedding where i was put on "the northerners table"! They were from Preston and Carlisle and constantly gave it the Baaaaarnsley routine all the way through the meal etc.
I say I'm from Barnsley. If they've not heard of it. I say near Sheffield or if abroad, in england . If they don't know where they are . I don't give a toss as they'll not be interested anyway. And they should look at maps. If i ask a foreigner where they are from I just ask which country. The town is irrelevant to me as I'll more than likely know nowt about it. And will have forgotten by the next day.
Many years ago we went all-out in the alps. Two Amercan lads got talking to us they asked where we came from in the UK . We told them then they asked my wife Ann "Wales" she announced proudly. The S Americans told they had not heard of it "is that a county in Englsand " they said.... My mate, his wife and I retreated to bar......while have them a heated geography lesson on the UK.
Dunno if anyone saw that Barnsley lass on The Voice last night. In her trailer before the performance below she said something like I am from Barnsley, nothing really happens there. I don't get it with natives going on TV and talking down about where they are from.
I was in London working when I got stopped by a lady with a clipboard doing a survey on something. She asked if I'd answer a few questions. About the third question in after the usual name, rank and serial number stuff was the question " Are you British / foreign ? ". So I ticked the box for foreign ( I 'm Irish). She says " oh, I think you ticked the wrong box there" and changes it to British. I tell her I'm Irish ( thinking maybe she missed my thick as **** Irish accent somehow). She looks at me deadpan and says, " yeah, so you're British right? " I gave up on her at that point, handed back her pen and walked away. I can still see the look of confusion on her face today lol