Chomsky was a knobhead?

Since moving to Manchester from Prague a couple of years ago, my language has changed. Shortly after getting back, I noticed that I naturally swore in Czech and said “cheers” to somebody if they sneezed. As Czech and Spanish both use the same phrase for “cheers” and “bless you”, I can see where that came from. It certainly appeared somewhat sarcastic to say “cheers” to somebody after they sneeze. Nervously explaining this linguistic confusion made me sound like a pretentious arse. I learned that the hard way and hoped it would go away all of its own accord. Soon enough I was no longer sarcastically thanking people for sneezing in my vicinity, nor muttering in Czech when I knocked a glass over.

Certain northern dialect words have eased themselves back my vocabulary naturally, such as “skrike” to describe a crying child. I welcome their return.

I’m no linguist but it seems fairly self-evident to me that we all constantly relearn language from those around us. How then can I possibly explain where I learned the phrase “Oh arse, I’ve just spazzed it up again!” (When on the phone to a call centre helpline). I really am going to try to unlearn the word “spaz” to indicate foolishness or minor error. It’s just not polite and nice boys should not use it, lest they look a knobhead.