“You don’t belong here. You’re an outsider. Your customs are weird. Your food is weird.”
Now of course it’s all in the tone, and while people seem to think so, I don’t get offended or angry just because people ask.
I’d prefer people not guess, though. I don’t really think I would be thrilled at being mistaken for Pakistani or Afghani, for example. Both perfectly fine countries but I’m from India, damnit.
Yeah, it’s not rude unless you’re wrong. I usually don’t ask, but if I guess, I want to be 99% sure before I do.
Of course it’s even worse if you don’t consider yourself foreign.
A man at a conference in rural Georgia asked me why I didn’t speak English with a “Canadian Accent.” He seemed quite disappointed, made only the more strange by the fact that he was from New Jersey…:dubious:
You’re an 8 hour drive away, and we’re both academics. I don’t sound like Bob and Doug MacKenzie, and you don’t sound like Carl Brutananadilewski. I supposed I was a bit peeved in this case, because I felt like it was a stupid question.
Anyhoo, to the OP…my parents are both immigrants. My mom’s accent is almost undetectable, but grandpa’s is very thick. If someone asks him, “Oh hey, are you from Hungary/Poland/Slovakia/Rumania/Yugoslavia?” he’ll usually make conversation with them. But if they say “Where are you from?”, I’ve seen him give them the old “Eez nun you fockun’ Beezneez!” 
It’s all about the tone and context, is what I’m saying.
I like trying to identify Southern (USA) accents. I’m pretty good at it and no one has been offended yet. Or maybe they’re too polite to show it.
I would say not rude at all. Some people are jerks.
I’d say, it’s rude and none of your business. If they want to share where they’re from with you, they’ll share it without being asked.
Bless your heart!
If they Texans, they’ll share that info with you in 5 minutes.
I wouldn’t say it’s rude, but you certainly risk sounding like a dumbass if you get it wrong.
For example, my sister-in-law was talking to a guy at a bar and asked him if he was from Ireland. He looked at her like she had three heads and said, “I’m from the south side of Milwaukee.” She was mortified. I don’t know where she got this, because the two accents sound nothing alike!
I have heard this from lots of British people in the US.
When I have been an American in the UK, it bugs me that no one EVER asks me about being American. Show some curiosity, people! 
Really! Fuckin’ Australians.
You just need to be in the right part of the UK. I spent an afternoon with another American friend in this tiny coastal town in northwest England in the offseason once. We had multiple people stopping us to ask what part of the US we were from, like we were the biggest novelty ever. (I imagine it’s very boring in that town.) But people in Manchester have also been known to interrupt our conversations to ask and I now know most of Belfast’s plans for American vacations. I should think the more tourist-heavy cities would be more jaded, though.
I don’t think it’s too rude to ask if someone’s from a specific place, but I’d cut people plenty of slack if they get annoyed about it because it can be tiresome at best sometimes.
The worst reaction I ever got was when I asked a Canadian what part of America he was from (meaning what part of the US), he got himself completely bent out of shape and I don’t think he ever really forgave me for my faux pas. Not that I was overly concerned…
“How would you like it if I asked what part of England you’re from!?!”
“Wouldn’t really bother me to be honest.”
I’m from Northern Ireland btw and no I don’t think its a rude thing to do in and of itself but it depends on how they’re approaching the subject.
Heh, yeah. I guess it’s just that American accents are familiar to us from TV and movies and so on. Lucia did impress a kid in out apartment block in Renfrew: he was so excited about the fact that there was a real live American living next door.
ETA: Lucia is my late wife, who I named because I know that Brynda knows who she was. I appreciate that it’s annoying when folks throw names around without explaning why anyone should know who’s being referred to.
You do know there’s such a thing as a cover story, right?
I’m guessing CIA. Maybe Mossad.
I don’t think it’s rude at all. A student came to see me and after about 10 seconds, I asked him if he was Russian (he was).
Oddly enough although I have lived for over 40 years in Canada, I still cannot tell a Canadian from a native of the northern US. Unless they say something like aboot, bean (for been), or shedule. But I can tell a southern accent instantly.
When I speak, I’m usually asked almost immediately if that’s where I’m from. Most people I’ve encountered have pretty good Tex-dar ( ) and “You’re from Texas, aren’t you?” is their first guess.
I’ve asked people up front if they’re from X part of the States, or from X country. I haven’t had anyone get offended at my question; on the contrary, several folks I’ve asked were very nice about it and graciously offered up information.
Its not rude but you run the risk of looking like a complete idiot if you are far off.
I don’t see why she should feel embarrassed. Anyone who thinks someone’s an idiot because they don’t have a perfect grasp on accents needs to prioritize. If someone asked me if I was from Zimbabwe, I might ask why they thought that, but I wouldn’t think they were a moron or anything.
Also, since Texas seems to be coming up in this conversation, I’m Texan, and so was Mr. London McGrumpypants.
Maybe this is part of the problem. If it’s relevant, a person’s exact origins will usually become clear eventually anyway–but can’t you wait more than five minutes? Otherwise, it probably seemed to him like you were treating it more as a game just to amuse yourself.
I imagine that most of the people I come across on a daily basis come from somewhere else–it’s almost the status quo, so to just bring it up in the first five minutes out-of-the-blue is a kind of incongruous or immaterial. Like suddenly trying to guess their favorite color for no apparent reason.