Vacation in Scotland

[OC Richard]

What does "hire a car" mean?

I suspect it means "rent a vehicle". As opposed to hire a person who has a vehicle...

Yes in like manner there are Kilt Hire shops all over Glasgow, the US equivalent being Tux Rental shops.

I live in USA. The last time I was in the UK I didn't understand 50% of the language used.

That surprises me.

I suppose it all comes down to what you're exposed to, who you've spent time in company with.

From my late teens to late twenties I spent three to five nights a week in company of Glaswegians. They ran the Pipe Band I played in, the Strathspey & Reel Society I played in, the RSCDS classes I attended. It got to the point where they didn't seem to have an accent, they were just people talking.

I've shared this interview with Martin Compston (Line Of Duty) to give an example. I can perfectly understand almost all of it, there are a couple words or names of players I don't understand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibpmErbPhw&t=198s

Add to that I've worked at Disneyland (California) for over 30 years now, and there I talk to people from all over the world every day. That exposes me regularly to just about every accent.

I would recommend, for people in the US, getting a subscription to Acorn TV or BritBox and watching British, Irish, and Australian programs regularly. There's Closed Captioning when you need it. (The Welsh show Keeping Faith defeated my ear and sad to say I had to turn the CC on.)