7 British Words That Are Catching on in America

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  • Опубликовано: 29 окт 2024

Комментарии • 3,4 тыс.

  • @LostinthePond
    @LostinthePond  10 месяцев назад +39

    If you liked this, watch 7 American English Words That Are Catching on in Britain now: ruclips.net/video/0KL9Jqr0vvw/видео.html

    • @alexistaylor969
      @alexistaylor969 10 месяцев назад +1

      Sorted is actually due to American and English militaries.
      Our troops get stationed in the UK and get used to saying it and then come back or get deployed with UK troops and come back saying it.
      While we always had the officer exchange program (officers swap countries to lead other nation's troops) It really ramped up in the 80s and exponentially ramps up after 2001.
      When you consider that 12.3 million people (almost 4% of the US population) joined the military in the 15 years after 9/11, all of them exposed to British words, and then released back into the wild, there really is no wonder why the popularity of those words increased.
      Adding onto the hit shows of Dr Who( before it became trash), and Downton Abbey, and Penny Dreadful; the English uses of words just skyrocketed.

    • @jsemplefelton5348
      @jsemplefelton5348 10 месяцев назад +1

      Bloody goes back further. It evolved from the term 'by our lady' in catholic England.

    • @CC-Pi
      @CC-Pi 10 месяцев назад +2

      Great lists... I use a lot of those American words, although there is one I am surprised you didn't mention which I wish would sink to the bottom of the pond and never re surface and that is the phrase 'reach out' which is being used instead of 'contact' drives me mad when I hear someone saying that. 😀

    • @n1nj4l1nk
      @n1nj4l1nk 10 месяцев назад

      It's English, not British English and for a native speaker you seem to have a tenuous grasp of it.
      Also, try talking through your mouth rather than your nose. You're not in Oasis or a Python sketch. 🤢

    • @dfgd2402
      @dfgd2402 10 месяцев назад

      Lost in the Pond is a beggar who tries to get people to subscribe. If you want those, EARN THEM! People will do them when THEY WANT to, not when you WANT THEM to. You do not deserve subscriptions.

  • @J-wm6jo
    @J-wm6jo 11 месяцев назад +1445

    I am a 57-year-old American and I’ve been using the word wonky to describe something thing that is askew or messed up my whole life.

    • @tabularasa
      @tabularasa 11 месяцев назад +26

      Which region do you live in, if you don't mind? Regularity of American use of wonky seemed to be debated in the original community post about this, but it also appeared to be possibly regionally limited

    • @JackTeague
      @JackTeague 11 месяцев назад +93

      I'm sixty-seven, and the same here. I was proper surprised to hear it being proclaimed a British import.

    • @2528drevas
      @2528drevas 11 месяцев назад +75

      @@tabularasa I'm 63 and also have always used the word "wonky," I live in the Midwest but spent some time in the South.

    • @MimiGardens
      @MimiGardens 11 месяцев назад +46

      I've used wonky for quite a while...I'm in the Midwest.

    • @J-wm6jo
      @J-wm6jo 11 месяцев назад +28

      @@tabularasa I was born in and grew up in New Mexico, but I have lived most of my adult life in Florida. My parents were originally from Pennsylvania and Illinois. I’m pretty sure wonky isn’t a southern thing because my parents were from the north and used it as well. Maybe wonky is a more common word amongst people who sew, knit or crochet. If your tension is off your scarf, blanket, pot holder or whatever you made will be wonky. If you can’t, maintain a straight line when sewing hems and seems especially with a sewing machine ,your garment will be wonky.

  • @Paul71H
    @Paul71H 11 месяцев назад +508

    In my experience, Americans do use "sorted" to mean "resolved," but if we want that meaning, we don't use the word "sorted" alone. Instead, we say "sorted out." For example, "Let's talk for a few minutes to get our Christmas plans sorted out."

    • @barbaramatthews4735
      @barbaramatthews4735 11 месяцев назад +2

      "Sorted" alone could mean "tawdry."

    • @caulkins69
      @caulkins69 11 месяцев назад +104

      @@barbaramatthews4735 No, that's "sordid."

    • @claywoodral7587
      @claywoodral7587 11 месяцев назад +21

      We do say "sorted out" but I've noticed we use it only for multiple tasks. For singular tasks we'll say "fix". Instead of "get your hair sorted" we'll say "fix your hair."

    • @vtcs1963
      @vtcs1963 11 месяцев назад +9

      Recently I’ve heard a lot of people use “sorted” without “out.” I was sensitive to it because I was in the UK last year and there were signs up on the trains saying something like “see it, say it, sort it” (where I live it’s “see something, say something.”) I think the two Englishes are getting closer every day.

    • @LillibitOfHere
      @LillibitOfHere 11 месяцев назад +6

      It’s a much shorter way of saying I’ve got my ducks in a row or all my shit in one sock.

  • @barryfoster453
    @barryfoster453 10 месяцев назад +115

    Little-known fact...
    The word 'fall' for autumn was originally used in England during Henry 8th's time, but went out of fashion. The word autumn entered English from the French automne.

    • @RFC3514
      @RFC3514 10 месяцев назад +7

      Which was itself a corruption of "automan", the famous TV show from the 1800s. And also a Turkish empire.

    • @DonBean-ej4ou
      @DonBean-ej4ou 10 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@RFC3514also the first name of a doomed German battleship.

    • @GizmoFromPizmo
      @GizmoFromPizmo 9 месяцев назад +4

      A lot of American English (and spelling) is from old English. When we separated in the late 1700s, the language became stilted somewhat. A lot of the differences stem from us Americans being a bunch of hillbillies but it's fun to listen to Canadian RUclipsrs say words like:
      "Been" (pronouncing it like "bean")
      "Battery" (pronouncing it "bat-ry")
      And many others. (Don't get me started on aluminum.)
      Canada is still married to the UK and so there is a lot more shared language and culture with England north of the border.

    • @syzyphyz
      @syzyphyz 7 месяцев назад

      @@GizmoFromPizmo i always notice the "O" sound with Canadians, like how they pronounce sorry like soar-ee

    • @GizmoFromPizmo
      @GizmoFromPizmo 7 месяцев назад

      @@syzyphyz - They also pronounce "worry" like we pronounce "wary". "Don't wary."

  • @k2lmn
    @k2lmn 11 месяцев назад +179

    I really like "Cheeky", its a far less aggressive version of annoying/mischievous/surprising

    • @laurahubbard6906
      @laurahubbard6906 11 месяцев назад +8

      W.S. Gilbert was once asked how "Bloodygore" was going, and Gilbert replied, "It's Ruddigore." The person then said, "It's the same thing," to which Gilbert replied, "So if I say 'I admire your ruddy complexion'-which I do-it's the same as saying 'I like your bloody cheek'-which I don't."

    • @stephenguppy7882
      @stephenguppy7882 11 месяцев назад +4

      Cheeky does not mean cheeky in any way, nor is it an equivalent to surprising.

    • @theoneanton
      @theoneanton 10 месяцев назад +11

      Brit here. I use 'cheeky' to mean 'daring' and 'unconventional' as well.

    • @stephenguppy7882
      @stephenguppy7882 10 месяцев назад +6

      @@theoneanton Fair enough, Cheeky 😂😂

    • @Touma134
      @Touma134 10 месяцев назад +8

      I love cheeky and sassy are some of the all time greats.

  • @tcphll
    @tcphll 11 месяцев назад +200

    I grew up in Texas and am nearly 50 years old and the word "wonky" has been part of my vernacular all of my life. I actually assumed it was a southern US word since it's used so much where I grew up. I don't think this is a recent addition to American English, at least for Southern US English. Maybe this is the case for Midwestern US English, but it's been commonplace in Texas for my entire life.

    • @Mick_Ts_Chick
      @Mick_Ts_Chick 11 месяцев назад +11

      I have to agree. It's very common in the south. I've heard it a ton for many years.

    • @sherryjoiner396
      @sherryjoiner396 11 месяцев назад +4

      I agree too. I'm 68 & have used it as long as I can remember. Also in Texas.

    • @Jimmyinvictus
      @Jimmyinvictus 11 месяцев назад +8

      Another Texan here: I've also used "wonky" since I was a child, as well as "knackered." My older relatives were big fans of British television shows on PBS back in the early 80s, so that may have been the culprit.

    • @nightengalenorth6881
      @nightengalenorth6881 11 месяцев назад +8

      I'm from Michigan, and i've used wonky for as long as I can remember

    • @nailsofinterest
      @nailsofinterest 11 месяцев назад +2

      I grew up in mid west (though we called it north) we used it.

  • @swankzilla
    @swankzilla 10 месяцев назад +26

    I was once in Florida on a small fishing boat with my dad and a local guide. About half way through the trip, the local guy turned to us, dead serious and squinting - "What language are you guys speaking? Norwegian?!". We're Geordies of course (northern/newcastle). Things were pretty awkward from then, as he was strapped (of course) and seemingly didn't believe that we were British anymore..

    • @Jmcinally94
      @Jmcinally94 7 месяцев назад +1

      My theory is the Danes had a massive impact on the Geordie accent!

    • @bethbyerly4572
      @bethbyerly4572 3 месяца назад

      ..."strapped"?

  • @TomsBackyardWorkshop
    @TomsBackyardWorkshop 11 месяцев назад +119

    Wonky has been somewhat common in the US for at least 30 years. I used it as a child more often than i do now.

    • @rebelpearl
      @rebelpearl 11 месяцев назад +4

      Yes I’ve used it since I can remember (and I am almost 58) and even my parents and grandmother used it frequently and most if their lives. However, it could be regional usage. It has caught on in areas that rarely used it before. Influence from British programs being easier to see? Maybe. People moving due to life changes and taking that regional speech with them? Also maybe. And maybe a combination of the two. The last one is my guess.

    • @RobertJRoman
      @RobertJRoman 11 месяцев назад +2

      Perhaps, but an Ngram search shows its use in American English exploding the century.

    • @treelineresearch3387
      @treelineresearch3387 11 месяцев назад +3

      Really common in programming/computing ("that looks wonky", "something's wonky") for as long as I can remember.

    • @DanielMWJ
      @DanielMWJ 11 месяцев назад +2

      I blame Willie Wonka. He was a wonky fella.

    • @GeoffRiley
      @GeoffRiley 11 месяцев назад +2

      You mustn't go shopping often enough then… otherwise you'd be experiencing the wonky wheel on a shopping trolly far more frequently! 🛒

  • @TibrisXVII
    @TibrisXVII 11 месяцев назад +229

    when I was a teenager I had heard the word "bugger" a few times with little context. I assumed in meant "to annoy" like we use "bug". I would go on to use the word in that context on a semi-frequent basis. Quite a few times I would approach someone and say something akin to "hey, mind if I bugger you for a moment?". I was pretty damn embarrassed when I learned the true definition of the word.

    • @ZeMarkKrazee
      @ZeMarkKrazee 11 месяцев назад +16

      Haha. I didn’t realize its true meaning until recently. I never used “Bugger off!”, but would say things like “Bug off!” and “Stop bugging me!”. I always thought it referred to annoying someone like a bug often does (especially mosquitoes). I didn’t know about “buggery”… Well, at least the term haha.

    • @strawberrygirl8572
      @strawberrygirl8572 11 месяцев назад +3

      😂

    • @enkisdaughter4795
      @enkisdaughter4795 11 месяцев назад +11

      Yea, that is the real meaning of the word bugger, however, it’s used more often to say things like “Bugger off!” as in “Get lost” “Go away”

    • @jmodified
      @jmodified 11 месяцев назад +19

      "I was pretty damn embarrassed when I learned the true definition of the word."
      So no takers then?

    • @Heavywall70
      @Heavywall70 10 месяцев назад +21

      Well don’t tell someone to sit on their “fanny” either
      It’s quite literally 180° off the mark by definition.

  • @ralphgreenjr.2466
    @ralphgreenjr.2466 10 месяцев назад +75

    This brings back fond memories of when I was in the US Army and stationed in West Germany at GHQ Rheindahlen. I got a "proper" education from my British "mates." I use all these words along with wing (fender), boot(trunk), bonnet (hood) and referring to a truck as a "lorry." I do love and respect my UK cousins. "God Save The KIng!"

    • @martynm.449
      @martynm.449 10 месяцев назад +2

      Cheers!

    • @greggdaly967
      @greggdaly967 10 месяцев назад +3

      Lorry is the word I bought back with me from Europe. I say lorry all the time and most people look at me with an odd stare after I say it...

    • @kat7047
      @kat7047 8 месяцев назад

      Sounds like ya’ll are doing it for attention.

    • @teaeyedoubleguhur
      @teaeyedoubleguhur Месяц назад

      I drive a MINI Cooper and just the past weekend,, I had to point out where the bonnet latch was. Of course, it is ion the right side. The MINI has a boot, too.

  • @DougVanDorn
    @DougVanDorn 11 месяцев назад +151

    I will say that "sorted" by itself is usually only used in American English to describe a system of organization, as in "sorted by color." But the British meaning you mention of "resolved" has always been used in American English, but it requires the preposition "out" along with it. A Brit might say, when a problem has been resolved, "I'm glad we got that sorted," while an American in the same situation would say "I'm glad we got that sorted out." Sometimes, the American phrase even adds a modifier, with the phrase "all sorted out" (and even "mostly sorted out" in cases where there are still a few details to be fixed) being common, as well. But "sorted out" is a tried-and-true American English-ism, I've been using it since I was in elementary school, and I just turned 68 recently.

    • @raedwulf61
      @raedwulf61 11 месяцев назад +3

      This is true.

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown 11 месяцев назад +3

      I knew a South African girl that used sorted out, meaning to discipline somebody. Watching British TV and films from 60 or 70 years ago, they used to use "up" when using the verb queue, as in to queue up, just like to line up in American English. I don't know when the Brits started dropping the up from queue. The South African girl also used proper. I saw an American TV show from 60 years ago that used "do the marketing" for going grocery shopping.

    • @treelineresearch3387
      @treelineresearch3387 11 месяцев назад +3

      I see "sorted" on its own in US English more and more, but really only in the context of cars/car issues. Guessing that's influence from something like Top Gear.

    • @sourisvoleur4854
      @sourisvoleur4854 11 месяцев назад +1

      Good eye.

    • @b_uppy
      @b_uppy 11 месяцев назад +4

      The US usually has "out" after sorted whereas "sorted" may end the sentence in Britain.

  • @Jarekthegamingdragon
    @Jarekthegamingdragon 11 месяцев назад +24

    I've heard both wonky and dodgy used commonly my entire life over here in the pacific northwest. I've never even thought of them as british. At this point I don't even think they are.

  • @PtylerBeats
    @PtylerBeats 10 месяцев назад +30

    A few words that I’ve tried to implement in my daily life and get other people on board are “Mate,” “Bloke,” “innit,” and “cheers.”
    I just like the way those words sound and flow. I have a delusional sense of belief that I, alone, can make these words catch on lol

    • @garylancaster8612
      @garylancaster8612 10 месяцев назад +6

      Keep on trying mate, you sound like a decent bloke. Cheers.
      Greetings from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
      PS I just can't bring myself to use the word "innit"!

    • @nealgrimes4382
      @nealgrimes4382 9 месяцев назад +3

      @@garylancaster8612 luckily that's just London area, i 'm from the North and i've never said innit in my life.

    • @nealgrimes4382
      @nealgrimes4382 9 месяцев назад +7

      I'm trying to get Bellend across the Atlantic.

    • @susanwestern6434
      @susanwestern6434 9 месяцев назад

      ​@@nealgrimes4382😂

    • @ikebirchum6591
      @ikebirchum6591 8 месяцев назад +2

      I picked up "innit" from british youtubers like Gavin Free and Wilbur Soot

  • @hneilmorris
    @hneilmorris 11 месяцев назад +35

    I've heard (and used) "wonky" regularly and often since growing up on the US East Coast (both North & South), and I was born in the 1950s.
    In addition, I can remember my mother-in-law using it regularly (especially when I hung her Christmas decorations), and she was a lifelong Wisconsinite.

  • @robertpearson8798
    @robertpearson8798 11 месяцев назад +55

    As an older Canadian I picked up most of my English words and phrases from Monty Python, on The Buses, Benny Hill, and Are You Being Served with a bit of James Herriot thrown in. It’s off to bed for me now, I’m knackered.

    • @catw6998
      @catw6998 11 месяцев назад +4

      Another Are You Being Served tv show watcher here too. I’ve even watch3d them on You Tube as of late.

    • @AndaraBledin
      @AndaraBledin 10 месяцев назад +2

      Now that was a show that was right bloody brilliant.

    • @KlodFather
      @KlodFather 10 месяцев назад +4

      Yes this one is familiar to me. There was a British family who lived in our neighborhood and we picked it up from them. I love the word knackered because there is no word on the USA side of the pond that expresses a general state of malfunction or disrepair or in some cases of medial or mental state. This useful word also hinds of the knackery where things go to be disassembled, recycled, or the glue factory for old horses. LOL And of course the phrases, I'm gonna knacker you or You need a knacker... take on a life of their own. WHen I hear them they are normal so I get a chuckle from them. Bloody Hell or Forking Hell are ones I hear often and am probably responsible for. I use Forking Hell instead of the F-bomb version to take the edge off of it but it still ruffles a few feathers. Love you Brits. You Lot are masters of humor and dry sarcasm. Love it.

    • @sugarbertie1143
      @sugarbertie1143 10 месяцев назад +1

      I must say you've got great taste in comedy. Fabulous programmes all of them. I salute you! 👍

    • @sugarbertie1143
      @sugarbertie1143 10 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@KlodFather One of the words/phrases we always used to hear in the North of the UK was 'bobby-dazzler' which you don't hear people say much now. It means 'outstanding, fancy, sparkling' , for example 'that red and blue hat you're wearing is a right bobby dazzler'!' I've always liked that phrase, I don't know why!

  • @paulc1243
    @paulc1243 10 месяцев назад +10

    "Gutted" is one I've heard with more frequency. I think most people here were exposed to it through The Great British Bake Off, which became extremely popular to stream during the pandemic when everyone took up baking as a hobby.

  • @KamisamanoOtaku
    @KamisamanoOtaku 11 месяцев назад +43

    I have lived my entire life in the American Midwest, and have heard "wonky" for the last 30 to 40 years. Not all the time, but often enough.
    The others are "newer", and indeed seeing more use!

  • @TerryTheNewsGirl
    @TerryTheNewsGirl 11 месяцев назад +327

    I don't blame Ron Weasley for Bloody Hell. I blame Chief O'Brien!

  • @annamcb1529
    @annamcb1529 7 месяцев назад +5

    I like “knackered” it feels more visceral.

  • @phillm156
    @phillm156 11 месяцев назад +41

    I have to admit I’ve used Wonky many times 😅
    Wonky seems such a natural description of something off, ungainly, unstable.

  • @edjarrett3164
    @edjarrett3164 10 месяцев назад +235

    I spent many happy formative years in England as a pilot for USAF. The use of language and how it was applied was wonderful. The context and the reasoning behind common phrases was illuminating. I adopted numerous words, but the one that always stayed with me was cheers, mate. Something so simple given without expectation but heart warming to the core.

    • @andyhinds542
      @andyhinds542 10 месяцев назад +4

      Where were you based and what did you fly?

    • @edjarrett3164
      @edjarrett3164 10 месяцев назад +27

      @@andyhinds542 Mostly RAF Mildenhall flying KC-135Q/A/R/T. Great mission, great location and great people.

    • @andyhinds542
      @andyhinds542 10 месяцев назад +4

      @@edjarrett3164 Yep. I lived in King's Lynn from 1977 to 1987 and remember going to spot planes at Mildenhall around that time. I was only a child but remember Mildenhall was great for KC135s, as well as visiting RAF jets such as Jaguars, Buccaneers and other jets. Not forgetting of course F-111s from Lakenheath and their fenland bombing runs,

    • @edjarrett3164
      @edjarrett3164 10 месяцев назад +13

      @@andyhinds542 I remember how totally wierd it was when I saw all the plane spotters when I first visited. Later, on a quick trip to London, I picked up the latest log of aircraft arriving and departing Mildenhall. I was really surprised how accurate the log entries were. They included all our KC-135Q aircraft, the RC135s and the SR71 tail numbers. Short of the actual mission routings, it was strikingly accurate especially considering the classified nature of our missions.

    • @onecupof_tea
      @onecupof_tea 10 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@edjarrett3164
      Don't you have plane spotters, bird spotters or train spotters in US.
      There's accurate books for each. with photos, best places and time to see them. And people mark them off until they've seen them all.

  • @Just_Jelle
    @Just_Jelle 10 месяцев назад +24

    “Chuffed” is my absolute favorite, and I got it from watching all the British RUclipsrs I love. Crossing my fingers that “…and Bob’s your uncle!” will catch on sometime soon in the US. 😅

    • @JfromUK_
      @JfromUK_ 9 месяцев назад

      Oh wow, is "crossing fingers that" not generally understood where you're from? Since that's a literal reference of a gesture (🤞) I thought it might be more universal :)

    • @Haley_Halo
      @Haley_Halo 9 месяцев назад

      ​@@JfromUK_The phrase they were quoting was "and Bob's your uncle". They are crossing their fingers in hopes it will catch on with other people in the US because they like it😊

    • @kimhaughton3771
      @kimhaughton3771 9 месяцев назад +1

      I've been using the phrase "and Bob's your uncle" for years. I get strange looks but I like saying it. 😅

    • @LCARSx32
      @LCARSx32 9 месяцев назад +3

      And Bob's your uncle has been used in the US for at least the years I've been old enough to remember. At least here in Missouri.

    • @ianmedford4855
      @ianmedford4855 9 месяцев назад +1

      My dad was English; so of course growing up my brother and I picked up British words. Until recently, using "proper" and "sorted" drew funny looks, but I've noticed that's stopped over the last few years.

  • @tallactordude
    @tallactordude 11 месяцев назад +94

    I’ve been using “wonky“ for quite a while, but I have mostly heard it used as generally not quite right, and that’s the way I’ve used it. On the other hand, generally when I’ve heard the word “chuffed“ it has been from British RUclipsrs.

    • @andonbailey9656
      @andonbailey9656 11 месяцев назад +2

      Same here. Growing up we had a couple of wonky kids in school. Being from northern Minnesota we usually used 'catty wompas' when something was askew. 'Chuff', was a new one for me.

    • @ronjohnson5070
      @ronjohnson5070 11 месяцев назад +3

      Paris Hilton was said to have a wonky eye since the early 2000’s

    • @mickyo7171
      @mickyo7171 11 месяцев назад +1

      Same here with respect to wonky.

    • @Mick_Ts_Chick
      @Mick_Ts_Chick 11 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@andonbailey9656Here in NC we use cockeyed more for something askew. I've heard chuffed from Yorkshire folks on RUclips.

    • @rogink
      @rogink 11 месяцев назад

      Chuffed is a joke word here - no one uses it in real life. The 80s satirical puppet show Spitting Image used to use it as a way to avoid stronger swear words. "I gonna chuffing kill you!"

  • @vlmellody51
    @vlmellody51 11 месяцев назад +74

    I have become indoctrinated to many idioms in English slang due to my love of all the writings by Sir Pterry Pratchett, God rest his soul.

    • @Thats_him_with_the_daft_hat
      @Thats_him_with_the_daft_hat 10 месяцев назад +4

      If I might be so bold as to steer you in the direction of a bit of classic BBC comedy from the early 1980s'; A programme called "The Young Ones", which ran for two series (Seasons).
      Alot of slapstick, innuendo and quite bad language.
      Ever wanted to hear a punk rocker shout "Sod off ugly po-faced git"?
      Then this could be "Just your cuppa Rosy Lee, Govner."

  • @efixphoto
    @efixphoto 9 месяцев назад +3

    "Proper sorted" is a f***ing brilliant phrase. Thank you for enriching my dictionary with this.

  • @lorenzoboyd6889
    @lorenzoboyd6889 11 месяцев назад +45

    I (a US native), recently received an email from my web designer (a UK expat) suggesting that we get together for a 'chinwag'. Although I am well-versed in both tongues, I had never hear that term before. The term was self-explanatory. We chatted over a cuppa.

    • @HelenA-fd8vl
      @HelenA-fd8vl 10 месяцев назад +5

      A Londoner here: we used chinwag all the time when I was growing up. Just means a chat. Pow wow, was another one, meaning a similar thing, but maybe a bit more serious. I am 71 years old. I don’t think young people use it now.

    • @HelenA-fd8vl
      @HelenA-fd8vl 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@yossarian6799 Are you winding me up? Perhaps people heard it in Western films, which were very popular when I was young. Other foreign expressions: “I’m going to take a shufti”, meaning take a look - I think the British troops brought that back from North Africa. It is Arabic for “look”. Also a cup of “cha”, meaning a cup of tea. Is that from India? “Cow tow”, meaning making yourself subservient, is from China, I think.

    • @KY_CPA
      @KY_CPA 9 месяцев назад

      I've heard chin wag for at least my entire adult professional life - a couple decades. 40 year old US native here. I'm also an army brat though, so I have been exposed to several different dialects along the way

    • @jacksonramsey5023
      @jacksonramsey5023 9 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you for the new Briticism! I deliberately use them when I'm in the mood to do so. I am a twenty-four-year-old Autistic American (who still resides in the US and has unfortunately never travelled overseas; I don't even have a passport as of now) who is fascinated with language in general (I'm a legitimate logophile and was shocked to learn that there's a word for people just like me!). In particular, I am enamoured with British English as a result of growing up believing that it was "true English" and that foreign dialects were no more than "knockoffs". (I intend no offence to anyone with a zeal for their version of an imported language.)

  • @uncletoby-
    @uncletoby- 11 месяцев назад +20

    Love how Kafka mysteriously disappears at 2:22 into the video. I was gobsmacked !

  • @jamesyoung7400
    @jamesyoung7400 10 месяцев назад +4

    Lost in the pond is a proper brilliant RUclips channel.

    • @jamesyoung7400
      @jamesyoung7400 10 месяцев назад

      Now, it's not just your words.

  • @jonadabtheunsightly
    @jonadabtheunsightly 11 месяцев назад +37

    For "sorted" in the sense of resolved, Americans have traditionally said "sorted out".

    • @Flibbles
      @Flibbles 11 месяцев назад

      In British English it is just Sorted on it's own, no preposition needed. As in - Is it finished? Yes, sorted.

    • @jmodified
      @jmodified 11 месяцев назад

      "Sorted out" is more specific than "finished". It means that there was a problem that is now solved, and also that the true nature of the problem was not at first understood but looked highly feasible.

    • @beenaplumber8379
      @beenaplumber8379 Месяц назад

      Sorted makes me think of Eastenders, which enjoyed a certain popularity here in the US, at least in the 90s. I think it has a certain power, like, it's not just resolved, it's sorted!

  • @thnksno
    @thnksno 11 месяцев назад +47

    I've used many of these words/phrases for decades. Likely they were attached to my vocabulary through Monty Python and other PBS shows in the 70s-80s.

    • @beckybugbee5696
      @beckybugbee5696 11 месяцев назад +5

      Me too. Love my britcoms! Now, is wonky any relation to Willy Wonka cuz he's so crazy and disorganized?? Hmmm.

    • @marianhreads
      @marianhreads 11 месяцев назад +4

      PBS - making Americans British one show at a time 😁

  • @danielgeorges3048
    @danielgeorges3048 10 месяцев назад +8

    Yes, Games Workshop, who produces Warhammer, very much exposed me to lots of British terminology through various publications. More recently (last 15 - 20 years), their PC and mobile games have really brought a lot out. The green skinned Ork / Orc races in their games have been assigned a British Cockney accent. This gave me access to many of the phrases you used here as a teen / early 20’s person.

  • @chuck1804
    @chuck1804 11 месяцев назад +89

    Personally, I have made it my one man mission to incorporate the word "faff" into American English. There really is no alternative, and a multitude of errands and responsibilities do call for it.

    • @trickygoose2
      @trickygoose2 11 месяцев назад +12

      I'm glad you're doing that as it sounds too much of a faff for me to bother.

    • @skeptibleiyam1093
      @skeptibleiyam1093 11 месяцев назад +9

      I use the word, but only in the phrase "faffing about", which I find there is a lot of, so it gets used.

    • @Kingdom_Of_Dreams
      @Kingdom_Of_Dreams 11 месяцев назад +1

      Only if you use the phrase "faffing about" lol

    • @chuck1804
      @chuck1804 11 месяцев назад +7

      @@Kingdom_Of_Dreams That too. But it is also a noun. eg, "No dear, I will not individually crimp all these pasta shells for your mother's birthday luncheon. It's too much of a faff."

    • @fnjesusfreak
      @fnjesusfreak 11 месяцев назад

      I've used it for years.

  • @terriroberts8594
    @terriroberts8594 11 месяцев назад +40

    I love language and the differences in 2 English speaking countries. My favorite British word is gobsmacked.

    • @charlenemack7040
      @charlenemack7040 11 месяцев назад +2

      Gobs’mack’ed…… Was named after me lol!😊❤

    • @bradjensen4927
      @bradjensen4927 11 месяцев назад +1

      Everlasting Gobsmackers! Yum 😜

    • @kimberlyerickson7107
      @kimberlyerickson7107 11 месяцев назад

      love it and I used it all the time.

    • @rogink
      @rogink 11 месяцев назад

      Nobody uses 'gobsmacked' seriously here. It's basically tabloid speak. We'd only use it ironically.

    • @elultimo102
      @elultimo102 11 месяцев назад

      @@bradjensen4927 That was first heard by me in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

  • @Abandoned_Brane
    @Abandoned_Brane 10 месяцев назад +2

    'flat' in relation to an apartment is making gains in the US I've noticed. I use 'piss off' a lot, thanks Patsy. 😁

  • @linguaphile42
    @linguaphile42 11 месяцев назад +22

    I started saying, "And Bob's your uncle!," after watching too many British panel shows like WILTY, and my boyfriend told me to just knock it off. Now he's picked up the expression and sees just how wonderful it is. The one Brit I dated in my life was a Liverpudlian who said "actually" more than anyone should be legally allowed to.

    • @brianwhite8465
      @brianwhite8465 11 месяцев назад

      Yeah, my family uses it too. Especially since my wife has a less than savory uncle named Bob, so it's also a little dig at her when I use it.

    • @linguaphile42
      @linguaphile42 11 месяцев назад

      @@brianwhite8465 Oh man -- my uncle was a Bob as well! I just now realized that -- duh.

    • @GeoffRiley
      @GeoffRiley 11 месяцев назад +5

      @@linguaphile42, but do you have an Aunt Fanny? The expression in full is: "Bob's your uncle, and Fanny's your aunt". 😆 It was a music hall hit in the early 1950… they really knew how to live it up back then!

    • @Sub2GigaChad
      @Sub2GigaChad 10 месяцев назад

      Roberts your mother's brother.

  • @zippitydoodah5693
    @zippitydoodah5693 11 месяцев назад +129

    Bloody hell, this was bloody brilliant the way you sorted this proper phenomenon of how wonky American vs. British word usage is.

    • @Bob_just_Bob
      @Bob_just_Bob 11 месяцев назад +12

      My own vocabulary has been heavily modified to include bloody ‘ell and the like for a good 25 years already as I have been an American expat living and working with Brits, Aussies and Kiwis (many of each) as the sole ’merican pilot at our company in Asia since moving here in the 90s They made it one of their missions to get my vocab sorted right proper they did. 😂

    • @WyattRyeSway
      @WyattRyeSway 11 месяцев назад +5

      Yeah, I was chuffed to bits lol

    • @trwindianaoutdoors7996
      @trwindianaoutdoors7996 11 месяцев назад

      Yup

    • @ToyInsanity
      @ToyInsanity 11 месяцев назад +4

      Bloody daft innit

    • @joadbreslin5819
      @joadbreslin5819 11 месяцев назад

      You couldn't fit "gobsmacked" and "chuffed" into that comment? It wouldn't have been that difficult.

  • @jodim9659
    @jodim9659 9 месяцев назад +2

    Thats funny that you call him Harold Potter. I picked up most of the words you mentioned by watching IT Crowd. I love that show!

  • @RedRuffinsore
    @RedRuffinsore 11 месяцев назад +92

    After many years working overseas, I still tend to use "cheers" when saying good-bye in person or on the phone. Knackered is my favorite. A perfect description of tired/completely worn out. I am also quite fond of "Bob's your Uncle".

    • @jsemplefelton5348
      @jsemplefelton5348 10 месяцев назад +8

      Cream crackered. London cockney.

    • @alphabetaomega265
      @alphabetaomega265 10 месяцев назад +2

      I don’t quite understand bob’s your uncle. What exactly does it mean and when is it used? Are there multiple meanings it can have?

    • @christasker2944
      @christasker2944 10 месяцев назад +6

      @@alphabetaomega265bobs your uncle and Fanny’s your aunt - there you go that’s how it’s done straight forward - ‘simplles’ can be used due to the insurance tv advert (Compare the Merecat)

    • @INTRLINKD
      @INTRLINKD 10 месяцев назад +3

      bing bang bosh, bob's your uncle, mate

    • @Quzinqa1122
      @Quzinqa1122 10 месяцев назад +7

      ​@@alphabetaomega265​ "Bob's your uncle" means "It's done" or "There you have it".
      Like the French saying "Et voilà".

  • @basher20
    @basher20 11 месяцев назад +70

    I used to work for a manufacturing company where the director of research and development was a brilliant but mercurial Britt. When one of his creations catastrophically disassembled itself in the lab, he described the results as a "Right, proper, bloody mess," which I believe to be the best third-level intensifier that can be spoken in polite company.

    • @alphabetaomega265
      @alphabetaomega265 10 месяцев назад +12

      Sounds like the lab exploded if he’s using such a strong wording.

    • @basher20
      @basher20 10 месяцев назад +10

      @@alphabetaomega265 we were talking about bits of a bearing cage and individual rollers embedded in cinder block walls, so yes, spectacular.

    • @n.d.m.515
      @n.d.m.515 10 месяцев назад +1

      I have heard that phrase more than once in a British movie or TV show.

    • @SoonGone
      @SoonGone 10 месяцев назад +4

      Third level intensifier. Very nice 👍
      Also i was imagining him to be Q from James Bond. I felt i needed to share that, not sure why.

    • @johncostello3174
      @johncostello3174 10 месяцев назад

      Americans would probably say "clusterfuck" :)

  • @crazynoob159
    @crazynoob159 10 месяцев назад +1

    My wife is British (I’m American) and I find myself saying “Oh my days” ever since we’ve gotten together since I always loved the way she said it

  • @sandybruce9092
    @sandybruce9092 11 месяцев назад +11

    I’ve used “wonky” for as long as I can remember - wonderful word! And then there is “gobsmacked” - I just love the way it sounds and is so perfectly descriptive!

    • @Lily_The_Pink972
      @Lily_The_Pink972 11 месяцев назад

      Because my dad was a stickler for speaking correctly, the word gob wasn't allowed in our house as it was considered coarse slang. (Kid as in child wasnt allowed either!) As a result, although gobsmacked is perfect in many ways, I still wince when I hear it!

  • @russell154
    @russell154 11 месяцев назад +17

    I’ve been using wonky since the 1970’s never realized it was British in origin. My ww2 veteran grandfather used it, usually to describe an apparatus that needed attention/ fixed before it was proper broken.

  • @PlagueOfGripes
    @PlagueOfGripes 6 месяцев назад +1

    "Chuffed" always sounded like a word for being upset by something to my ear. Funny that it's the direct opposite.

  • @seanconway918
    @seanconway918 11 месяцев назад +16

    I have been using wonky all my life. My mother would say that you just needed to cook wonky meat a little longer to make sure that it was safe. A depression era child upbringing never left her.

  • @marciadarby3
    @marciadarby3 11 месяцев назад +18

    I’ve said wonky all my life and love the book Wonky Donkey! I follow Julie Montague, The American Viscountess, and she’s uses brilliant all the time. I had no idea it was largely British usage.

  • @adeyoliver1680
    @adeyoliver1680 10 месяцев назад +2

    That sofa/couch/settee, that short sleeved shirt and OMG that carpet - I'm sure many of us in our late 40s/early 50s saw that old photo of you and were like "that's just like me at home at that age".

    • @TheInkPitOx
      @TheInkPitOx 6 месяцев назад

      A sofa is smaller than a couch. I have never heard the term settee before.

    • @adeyoliver1680
      @adeyoliver1680 6 месяцев назад

      ​​@@TheInkPitOx Oh that's interesting; I don't know where you're from but where I'm at here in the UK all three can & are used interchangeably, although you do tend to hear settee a lot less often nowadays.

  • @XaviusNight
    @XaviusNight 11 месяцев назад +56

    gobsmacked in Warhammer (the tabletop war game) is used by the Ork faction, because they have a thick cockney accent layered on all their lines, and they use a lot of cockney british slang. Due to its popularity in the USA, Warhammer has thus imported quite a few british-english slang terms into american-english speakers' lexicons.

    • @kentvesser9484
      @kentvesser9484 10 месяцев назад +7

      The way the Orks speak in Warhammer is also reminiscent of the recurring Monty Python characters called Gumbys.

    • @lpeterman
      @lpeterman 10 месяцев назад

      But with more "WWAAAAAAAUGHHH!" thrown in.@@kentvesser9484

    • @patrickknoph6313
      @patrickknoph6313 10 месяцев назад +2

      Let's also add that The Warhammer is Ghal Maraz, an enchanted war hammer, so that our friendly Brit what makes the videos will know what a Warhammer is and maybe be gobsmacked.

    • @baalrog887
      @baalrog887 10 месяцев назад

      Zoggin umies

    • @realhorrorshow8547
      @realhorrorshow8547 10 месяцев назад

      I was surprised to encounter gobsmacked in American usage because I don't associate them as using "gob" for mouth. If you don't know what a gob is, how do you know what's being smacked? But apparently they do.

  • @dstarling61
    @dstarling61 11 месяцев назад +19

    American. I lived in Essex for a year in 1974, “bloody hell” is still a daily part of my vocabulary.

    • @myalways5052
      @myalways5052 10 месяцев назад +1

      As somebody born in Essex in 87 I can confirm that the only people that still say bloody hell in Essex were there when you were 😂

    • @BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA
      @BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA 10 месяцев назад +3

      People still say that up north of England still.

    • @myalways5052
      @myalways5052 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA yeh but north and south are so different, the dialects and accents are world's apart, even the economies are so different we could have different currencies 😂

    • @BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA
      @BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@myalways5052 yeah for a council house down south you can buy a mansion up north with the same money lmao

    • @myalways5052
      @myalways5052 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@BJJISTHEGAYPARTOFMMA 😂 it's mad that that's so true, it's why so many houses up north are leased by landlords in the south, the HS2 would have changed/will change that...I don't keep up to date on news so no idea what's happening with thst

  • @thinkingnomad
    @thinkingnomad 5 месяцев назад +3

    The word "cheers" has caught on too.

  • @elizabeththompson5278
    @elizabeththompson5278 11 месяцев назад +17

    I love your take on America. We’re blessed to have you one of us. 😊

  • @meagiesmuse2334
    @meagiesmuse2334 11 месяцев назад +13

    I first heard the word gobsmacked from a British friend about 10 yrs. ago. I loved it and adopted it immediately.

  • @darshanr2369
    @darshanr2369 5 месяцев назад

    Wow. I didn’t think I’d see it come up, but I’m absolutely chuffed to see it amongst the seven words! 😮

  • @kathleendavidson3316
    @kathleendavidson3316 10 месяцев назад +42

    I think the best part of this video is how Lawrence’s cat learned how to teleport somewhere around the 2:50 mark

  • @jo-anntardif1090
    @jo-anntardif1090 11 месяцев назад +25

    I use wonky but I was surprised knackered isn't catching on. I have used it and love the phrase because it sums up the feeling of tired and exhausted so well.

    • @DanBeech-ht7sw
      @DanBeech-ht7sw 10 месяцев назад +5

      It basically means "fit for the knackers yard" - being the place where horse carcasses were collecte do

    • @margaretflounders8510
      @margaretflounders8510 10 месяцев назад

      I think it came about with the sad state of a horse, it would be sent to the Knackers Yard to be turned into glue!

  • @mimib95
    @mimib95 10 месяцев назад +1

    That was a good and brilliant video. I’m chuffed and gobsmacked that you featured these words. Bloody hell, it was proper the dogs bollocks

  • @johnwood551
    @johnwood551 11 месяцев назад +5

    I’m 70 and we used it in my childhood in Tennessee . Hadn’t heard chuffed. Gobsmacked I learned when visiting the UK in the early 80’s. All I can say is your video is Brilliant !

    • @briancourtney6074
      @briancourtney6074 11 месяцев назад

      I'm American and not heard the word "chuff" too.

  • @413smr
    @413smr 11 месяцев назад +11

    A lawyer I worked for who took business trips to London every few months used "sorted". I learned "chuffed" from some Beatles quotes.

    • @yourboyskeeter
      @yourboyskeeter 11 месяцев назад +1

      I'll find myself saying "Happy Christmas" or "Happy Crimble" because of the Beatles sometimes. 😂

  • @danceablesolutions
    @danceablesolutions 10 месяцев назад +1

    I bloody hate listicle crap on youtube and skip instantly but this chap has an actual personality. Good stuff fella

  • @artman2oo3
    @artman2oo3 11 месяцев назад +9

    Bloody hell, I am quite chuffed at this brilliant video about these proper British words!

    • @Chris-mf1rm
      @Chris-mf1rm 10 месяцев назад +1

      Good to see that your cultural assimilation is sorted.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 10 месяцев назад +1

      Bloody hell, an American who knows how to use bloody hell! That's bloody brilliant, mate (do please note I said mate not bloke though!)

  • @brendaokuda2158
    @brendaokuda2158 11 месяцев назад +18

    I watch a LOT of British tv & youtube videos. I've picked up "let's get crackin'", stop wafflin', & several others that of course refuse to come to mind at this moment. But honestly, some of these words &/or sayings were quite common when I was growing up here in Texas. I must assume that my ancestors were originally from England? Had to laugh at "Harold Potter"! That was hilarious. 🤣🤣

    • @brianwhite8465
      @brianwhite8465 11 месяцев назад +2

      Is "get crackin'" originally British?

    • @staceyschmidt3149
      @staceyschmidt3149 11 месяцев назад +2

      I've also used "stop waffling", "I'm waffling", etc for as many years as I've been alive (quite a few).
      I've heard the "let's get crackin'" phrase, although I've seldom used it.
      Also "wonky" has never not been in my vocabulary, as well as the vocabulary of those around me, along with a few more that he's mentioned as carry- overs from Britain.
      So they must have been far earlier carry- overs than what he's thinking, or they aren't carry-overs at all...

    • @brendaokuda2158
      @brendaokuda2158 11 месяцев назад

      @@brianwhite8465 I have no idea, but I've only heard it on British TV shows.

  • @bbrachman
    @bbrachman 9 месяцев назад +1

    I get all my British words from 'The Repair Shop' Chuffed was the one I could not wrap my head around. Brilliant!!! easy.

    • @crose7412
      @crose7412 8 месяцев назад

      @bbrachman I'm surprised that gets shown. Is it on BBC America?

    • @bbrachman
      @bbrachman 8 месяцев назад

      @@crose7412 One of the streaming services offers the first 5 seasons. Don't quote me since rights shuffle around weekly.

  • @mommas2470
    @mommas2470 11 месяцев назад +19

    I've been saying "wonky" since early childhood in the late 60s...my Daddy said it was short for "cattywampus". We here in New England also use "sorted" quite often..."well, he got that sorted".

    • @nate8088
      @nate8088 11 месяцев назад +4

      Yeah, one thing I've found a lot from these videos is that new englanders (which I'm one of) have used a lot of British slang for a looooong time. So many things he brings up I'm like, "But, I've been saying that my entire life...?" Heh. It really shows just how much things vary by the part of the US you're from.

    • @Saphire1993
      @Saphire1993 11 месяцев назад +3

      😂😂 Cattywampus was common down in the south too

    • @andonbailey9656
      @andonbailey9656 11 месяцев назад +2

      @@Saphire1993 I'm so delighted by this thread. I thought cattywampus was just a northern Minnesotan thing. It's so nice to here other people actually use it too.

    • @sandybruce9092
      @sandybruce9092 11 месяцев назад +2

      @@Saphire1993I was born in York, PA and I’ve used this word (cattywampus) my whole life - all 76 years of - and I still do! Many people do not understand😄😄😄😄

    • @kathyjohnson2043
      @kathyjohnson2043 11 месяцев назад

      Wonky, not to be confused with cattywampus

  • @mandyliz84
    @mandyliz84 11 месяцев назад +12

    I am a lifelong Anglophile and the only one of these I haven’t adopted is chuffed. Time to add a new word to my vocabulary!

    • @S-North
      @S-North 10 месяцев назад +3

      People in the U.S who know the word will be 'chuffed' to hear you use it!

  • @GoldSh3ll
    @GoldSh3ll 10 месяцев назад +4

    I took 2 linguistic classes and the word 'sorted' would be an interesting one because "American Flapping" would make it sound like its own thing. Example. British - "Sor-ed" where the T is silence and American Engish - "Sor-dd-ed" where we turn the T sound into a DD. I spent a good bit of my time living close to the Appalachian Mountains, we used a lot of older British words like 'Yonder' & 'Reckon'.

  • @pipemma1893
    @pipemma1893 11 месяцев назад +14

    I’ve adopted the word “wheelie-bin” which is more fun to say and shorter than “recycling bin.”

    • @momonomay3011
      @momonomay3011 10 месяцев назад

      can you start adopting the term rubbish bin rather than trash can so your neighbours think you’re slowly becoming a crazy british person when you put the bins out

  • @Bobrogers99
    @Bobrogers99 10 месяцев назад +22

    I've used "wonky" for some years, and also "proper" and "sorted out." I think the Harry Potter books and Dr. Who have influenced my vocabulary. All of the words you mention are somewhat familiar due to British literature and television programs.

  • @Beatlefan67
    @Beatlefan67 10 месяцев назад +111

    Until we teach them to use - AND use properly - the word 'BOLLOCKS' in all its multiple contexts then we have no chance of truly educating the Americans.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 10 месяцев назад +14

      They'd only bollock it up anyway!

    • @DanBeech-ht7sw
      @DanBeech-ht7sw 10 месяцев назад +11

      But if they could use it properly....that would be the bollocks, wouldn't it

    • @maureenm8462
      @maureenm8462 10 месяцев назад +3

      I heard John Wayne use that word in one of his westerns

    • @trustmeimaphysiologist
      @trustmeimaphysiologist 10 месяцев назад

      ​@@maureenm8462 bollocks

    • @0utcastAussie
      @0utcastAussie 10 месяцев назад

      Crowley used to proclaim it often in supernatural... And his mum come to think of it !

  • @clairethompson5549
    @clairethompson5549 10 месяцев назад +18

    I studied in England briefly and brought a lot of these phrases home with me. Fun to see them being used more and more.

    • @clairethompson5549
      @clairethompson5549 10 месяцев назад

      @@karmakazi101 lol why am I a little 💩?

    • @clairethompson5549
      @clairethompson5549 10 месяцев назад

      @@karmakazi101 hahaha thats awesome! I wasn’t offended, just curious. Glad to find a fellow Anglophile!

  • @kasisoot
    @kasisoot 11 месяцев назад +45

    Using “cheers” for purposes other than celebrating a drink is becoming more common in the USA, typically as a greeting or a thank you. I started using it about 10 years ago when a British coworker said it to me while I was holding the door open for him. It is also fun to use as an email sign off when I dump a load of work on one of my colleagues. 😂

    • @cynthiajohnston424
      @cynthiajohnston424 11 месяцев назад +2

      Hear it a lot , in the US midwest too , used in the same context .

    • @n.d.m.515
      @n.d.m.515 10 месяцев назад +2

      I think it is generally used when in a hurry or when goodbye seems too formal.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 10 месяцев назад +4

      Cheers for that!

    • @0utcastAussie
      @0utcastAussie 10 месяцев назад +5

      Aaah, British sarcasm.
      Tiz an art form unto itself !

    • @jaybe2908
      @jaybe2908 10 месяцев назад +1

      'Cheers' is used as a less formal 'thank you'

  • @mikaylaeager7942
    @mikaylaeager7942 10 месяцев назад +1

    As someone that grew up watching British TV and reading British children’s book I honestly can’t distinguish between British and American English words.

  • @zackmarkham4240
    @zackmarkham4240 11 месяцев назад +11

    I've been using 'Wonky' all my life and I'm 31. My mom used it all her life and she's 70. Both sides of my family moved to America in the 1880's-1890's, so they didn't bring it over.

  • @aaroncostello8812
    @aaroncostello8812 10 месяцев назад +10

    "Arse". That is a recent favorite of mine. 😂

    • @legsnhipsnbawdy
      @legsnhipsnbawdy 7 месяцев назад

      It sounds slightly less vulgar than ass.

    • @TheInkPitOx
      @TheInkPitOx 6 месяцев назад

      With a British accent arse and ass sound almost the same.

  • @maryrudelich9000
    @maryrudelich9000 9 месяцев назад +1

    I picked up the word lovey while traveling through Labrador City, NF. A word I use when when I play with my English bulldog, Joy.😆😎

  • @amherst88
    @amherst88 10 месяцев назад +5

    Proper brilliant Laurence! My most used import (and go-to expletive) is *'bugger'* -- British profanity in general seems utterly adorable and carries no cultural baggage even though I'm well aware of what the words actually refer to.

    • @0utcastAussie
      @0utcastAussie 10 месяцев назад +2

      "Bugger" has been "Declassified" as a swear word in Australia as it's so prominent and is an exclamation of something that has gone wrong.
      There are even TV adverts (Toyota iirc) where even the dog says it !

  • @funnyusername8635
    @funnyusername8635 11 месяцев назад +38

    My favorite British word that I've adopted is "dodgy". I learned it from watching Ian Wright on Lonely Planet/Pilot Guides/Globe Trekker (depending on the year and market, the show went by several names) about 25 years ago. I had a number of British folks in my life then and my parents were anglophiles so they all understood me. I've started to use "brilliant" more often thanks to Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic which often has us using the word "sgoinneil" to describe things. "Brilliant" has an uphill battle though as it would have to unseat "cool" as my go to word to describe something amazing/useful/ground breaking/smart, etc. I'm surprised I didn't see "posh" on this list. Use of that word by Americans must have gone way up thanks to the Spice Girls.

    • @patrickporter6536
      @patrickporter6536 10 месяцев назад

      "Dodgy" not "sketchy". They mean different things entirely-obviously!

    • @anndeecosita3586
      @anndeecosita3586 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@patrickporter6536I’m American and I use dodgy to mean evasive when responding to questions. After looking it up I found it can have several meanings but the one used in my circles as a journalist is that of people who give answers without actually giving answers. In Oliver Twist the Artful Dodger was dubbed so for doing this.

    • @n.d.m.515
      @n.d.m.515 10 месяцев назад +1

      ​​@@anndeecosita3586dodgy outside of "journalism" means of a very questionable nature. Often I hear it in reference to food, as in it might taste terrible and possibly make you sick. For people it can mean a possibly dangerous person; so in general the word is used for risk.

    • @MrDaiseymay
      @MrDaiseymay 10 месяцев назад

      For years, I puzzled over the American expression, OH 'DARN -it', that was often used in their Films, anfd TV series. Only recently have I realised that it meens DAM-IT. a very innocent expression. that I assume, the religious immigrants took with them , on the Mayflower etc.because DAM, was blasphemous ? tut tut. Not to mention the female genitalia mix-up ---FANNY AND ASS ( or ARSE ) that being another example. ARSE is a proper word, ASS ,meens a kind of DONKEY.

    • @funnyusername8635
      @funnyusername8635 10 месяцев назад

      @@patrickporter6536 I am very particular about how I use certain words and for whatever reason these words I use in different specific contexts. Things are "dodgy" but people, animals are "sketchy". "Sketchy" was also a term I heard a lot when I went to raves (approx. 2000-2010) to describe the feeling of coming down from a stimulant.

  • @homerthompson416
    @homerthompson416 9 месяцев назад +1

    There's a social media site named after my favorite British film, Threads? Bloody hell, that's proper brilliant!

  • @BakedFryD
    @BakedFryD 11 месяцев назад +12

    Learn something new in every one of your videos. Today: “chuffed”. Thanks! My British workmates a few years back presented me with a “proper” English dictionary so that I would speak “brilliantly”.😊

  • @Ali-Bee
    @Ali-Bee 9 месяцев назад +1

    I'm hearing "hoovering up" (as a general term for data collection etc) on US podcasts a lot more. Hoover never used to be the de-facto verb for vacuuming when I was growing up in the (North east) states (in the 80's) but was one that instantly stood out when I moved to the UK (...doing the hoovering...) Seems the verb is catching on over the pond now too, though possibly only for non-vacuuming tasks... IDK.

  • @arlenesobhani8739
    @arlenesobhani8739 11 месяцев назад +13

    I picked up a lot of British vocabulary from reading John LeCarre, particularly one of my favorites, "tickety-boo."

    • @WeWillAlwaysHaveVALIS
      @WeWillAlwaysHaveVALIS 10 месяцев назад +5

      Ironic because I don't think that I have ever heard it used here outside of period dramas in the twenties/thirties about rich people.

    • @amherst88
      @amherst88 10 месяцев назад

      I learned 'tickety-boo' from Dorothy Sayers' character Lord Peter Wimsey.

    • @goodyan4453
      @goodyan4453 10 месяцев назад +1

      My dad's favourite phrase. ( English)

    • @TheDizzydiana
      @TheDizzydiana 10 месяцев назад

      I like the sarcastic version of tickety boo......Tickety Fu$%in Boo when something is the opposite to tickety boo

  • @ErokowXiyze
    @ErokowXiyze 11 месяцев назад +10

    Today I learned that Gobsmacked is a British phrase.
    I picked up Proper a bit ago. It made describing things much easier. I also use Bloody Hell a fair amount.

  • @lorijones9579
    @lorijones9579 9 месяцев назад

    My husband and I picked up "sorted" and "mind" and "proper" (and others) during our last trip to London. We used them just between us as a nostalgic nod to London for a while, but soon added them to our normal speech. It isn't only because of "Mind the Gap" from the tube stations anymore. "Brilliant" also makes a regular appearance, but we haven't shortened it to "brill" yet in normal conversation. I've been using "wonky" as long as I can remember and didn't even realize it was a British term. We've also been influenced by watching "Keeping Up Appearances" and others. We both love Brit TV and films.

  • @stevethepocket
    @stevethepocket 11 месяцев назад +22

    The British expression I've found myself using, because I can't for the life of me figure out what the American equivalent is supposed to be, is saying someone has "gone off" or been "put off" some food, meaning they've gone from liking it to being disgusted by it. There was an incident at one point that I need not bother you with the details of, that put me off Reese's peanut butter cups for a couple years. Them's was dark times.

    • @Robocline
      @Robocline 10 месяцев назад

      Gone off would be Spoiled or Gone bad. Put off would be turned off but a lot of Americans will say something is off putting which is pretty much the same.

    • @Aaron19987
      @Aaron19987 10 месяцев назад

      @@Roboclinegone off would not only be for out of date food, works with no longer liking something also. I use it all the time, I’ve gone off cycling now, it’s boring.

    • @tangyjoe4326
      @tangyjoe4326 10 месяцев назад

      Gotten sick of for not liking something anymore. I’m south (maybe not just south) we also say sick to death of something.

    • @momonomay3011
      @momonomay3011 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@Roboclinegone off wouldn’t be spoiled/spoilt in this case as it’s not referring to food that has gone off, but the person has gone off the food. I’d say put off implies that the person may already like the food but also may have not actually tried it but was initially intrigued or appetiser before something changed their mind. gone off implies that the person already really liked the food and nothing necessarily caused them to dislike it, they’ve just changed tastes. that’s how i see it as a brit though, just the contexts i see them used in

    • @CharleneCTX
      @CharleneCTX 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@momonomay3011 There's also a similar US expression usually referring to animals. To say an animal is off his feed means he's not eating.

  • @tammyC1971
    @tammyC1971 11 месяцев назад +5

    I can’t get enough of your channel Lawrence. You two keep on making my day better.

    • @KlodFather
      @KlodFather 10 месяцев назад

      He is really funny. Love hearing him complain about people and their nonsense. Helped me understand that we Americans really are Knackered LOL

  • @dominicsheldon8154
    @dominicsheldon8154 10 месяцев назад +2

    I heard an American use 'gander' as in 'having a gander (look) this week. I was most surprised!

  • @donnawitteried3213
    @donnawitteried3213 11 месяцев назад +5

    I watch soooo much international TV, movies and RUclips that I can't help but pick up words from all over. As an American who has never gone outside the US, I am still familiar and even use, UK style, ALL the words you mentioned today (and then some).

  • @benbaker2965
    @benbaker2965 11 месяцев назад +24

    The only time I have ever heard "chuffed" in the US is when it refers to a sound the tigers and other large cats use as a happy greeting to each other and their human care takers .

    • @Aengus42
      @Aengus42 11 месяцев назад

      My nan taught me "Chuff-chuff" for "Railway locomotive" when I was little. This puzzled me because even when I was 3 the trains went "Gnnnnnrrrooorrrrrrrr"!!!

    • @joanwood9480
      @joanwood9480 11 месяцев назад +1

      I've heard chuffed used in relation to big cats too. But since I do watch British shows when available I've heard it there too

  • @dharvell
    @dharvell 9 месяцев назад +1

    "Sorted" surprises me, as well. Having lived in the USA my entire life, I have used "sorted" since I was able to talk. The first time I used it in the presence of my wife - as in, "Great! That's sorted. Now we can focus on the next issue" - she looked at me as if what I had said was not English, at all. I think her reaction was to give me a very odd look, while slowly repeating, "...sorted?".

  • @matthewfriday2979
    @matthewfriday2979 11 месяцев назад +6

    Good stuff! I'm not sure about "chuffed" catching on here in the states, but I do see/hear "queue" much more here in recent years... and I'm all for it.

    • @IceMetalPunk
      @IceMetalPunk 11 месяцев назад

      As a software developer, I'm all in favor of "queue" catching on! It's a good way of making it clear that the line you're in isn't a people stack 😁

    • @cynthiajohnston424
      @cynthiajohnston424 11 месяцев назад

      Interesting that you mention the word " queue " as I've noticed it now being used more frequently on the national tv news channels here in the US . Assume it will soon be used a lot in our daily conversations .

    • @matthewfriday2979
      @matthewfriday2979 11 месяцев назад

      I agree completely! @@cynthiajohnston424

    • @matthewfriday2979
      @matthewfriday2979 11 месяцев назад +1

      Hahahaha!! Yes that makes much more sense in that case!! @@IceMetalPunk

  • @strawberrygirl8572
    @strawberrygirl8572 11 месяцев назад +7

    Love your videos 💕 Have to comment here: 1st I love the crossover of British and American English and tv and the internet has definitely contributed to this sharing. I applaud this! However, maybe a few young people misled you a bit because they don't know any better....Wonky is definitely an old word in the US and quite widely used from coast to coast. I do think "brilliant" is being used more "Britishly" here these days. Sometimes it comes in quite handy and I use it more these days myself. I'd like to see "proper" catch in more; it's handy too. I might just start using it all the time and see if it spreads. I never hear chuffed used, not here in California anyway. Where I am in California we use chuffed as the sound a bear makes when you startle them in your driveway at night and they chuff at you. You're right about sorted, we use it, but not in quite the same way. We say "sorted out". I like the word cheeky and think we should adopt that one.

  • @anneharley5319
    @anneharley5319 10 месяцев назад

    Hi, cosmic video. I’m glad to have found you, liked and subscribed. xxx

  • @cak813
    @cak813 11 месяцев назад +31

    I’m not only an Anglophile but I’ve been back and forth across the pond some 45 times and I even lived in London for a while back in 1977. I’ve incorporated many Brit words into my everyday lexicon including chuffed, brilliant, and gobsmacked to name just a few. Most of the time, I don’t even think about it unless the person to whom I’m speaking gives me a funny look and then I’ll provide a “translation”.

    • @Blayda1
      @Blayda1 10 месяцев назад +1

      Im Chuffed to bits that you use Chuffed :D

    • @johnross2924
      @johnross2924 10 месяцев назад +1

      You wouldn't like London now 😩

    • @DonBean-ej4ou
      @DonBean-ej4ou 10 месяцев назад

      ​@@johnross2924yawn

    • @JaneAustenAteMyCat
      @JaneAustenAteMyCat 10 месяцев назад

      @@johnross2924 Why?

    • @johnross2924
      @johnross2924 10 месяцев назад

      @@JaneAustenAteMyCat gangs, stabbings and crime. The days of the London gentlemen in bowler hats, holding news papers is well gone.

  • @The_R-n-I_Guy
    @The_R-n-I_Guy 11 месяцев назад +15

    My grandmother was born and raised in Wales. She met my grandfather, a US soldier, during the war. She still had a fairly thick accent at the end of her life. I picked up a lot from her and try to keep it with me

  • @davidcopple8071
    @davidcopple8071 11 месяцев назад +11

    Wonkey. I'm an American and I remember wonkey being used most of my sixty years. But Catawompus is probably related but I've heard that even more my entire life.

    • @alabamacatherder5789
      @alabamacatherder5789 10 месяцев назад

      I'm 63. Also used "wonky" all my life. Also used "catawompus," but the version I grew up with was "catywompus." 😂

    • @w.reidripley1968
      @w.reidripley1968 10 месяцев назад

      And catawumpus. Mostly in print.

  • @azurithdetwilight
    @azurithdetwilight 11 месяцев назад +6

    Warhammer is space fantasy war game played on table top (literally what it sounds like) played with miniature figures. That's a very watered down explanation, but the fact you used to live in Indianapolis you may have heard of Gencon, a large table top convention that covers board games, card games (like Magic and Pokemon) Dungeons and Dragons (though you're more likely to find Pathfinder games there) and war miniature games like Warhammer. Among many other things.

  • @thegreathadoken6808
    @thegreathadoken6808 10 месяцев назад +1

    I like your (obviously put on for the camera) weary, almost despairing, teetering-on-the-edge-of-losing-your-temper-but-you-must-get-through-it-somehow energy.
    It's very British.

  • @romad357
    @romad357 11 месяцев назад +6

    I've used "wonky" & "wonkiness" for over 50 years; don't know where I picked it up. However, I do know that "gobsmacked" was usually found in characters who were Irish in many novels I read over the years starting in the late 20th Century

  • @timsgotissues3581
    @timsgotissues3581 11 месяцев назад +17

    I was raised by my grandparents, who were of the WWII generation. I remember my grandpa saying things like " you kids, bollocksing around". He'd say this in reference to us being well, kids. My grandma told me years later that he picked it up from some guys he worked with in the service. It wasn't for years that I researched his service and realized he probably got it from some RAF guys he worked in conjunction with while in the Army Air Corp. Anyway, thanks to him, a bunch of elementary school kids in rural Pennsylvania were saying Bollocks in the 1980's with zero frame of reference. Long live slang.

    • @sicaltus369
      @sicaltus369 10 месяцев назад +2

      Brilliant! One of my favourite words. From my part of England it can be used as a positive as well as negative. You could say 'that is the bollocks', meaning that is excellent, or 'that is bollocks' as a negative. Essentially reversing the meaning by omitting or adding the word 'the'!

    • @0tispunkm3y3r
      @0tispunkm3y3r 10 месяцев назад +2

      The idea of 80s kids running about school shouting "bollocks" to each other without any idea what the word means or what it is for, is absolutely hilarious.

    • @user-ed7et3pb4o
      @user-ed7et3pb4o 10 месяцев назад

      just like the difference between 'this is the shit' and 'this is shit' @@sicaltus369

    • @garylancaster8612
      @garylancaster8612 10 месяцев назад +2

      That's brilliant mate! The dog's bollocks one might say.

  • @maryfreeman3341
    @maryfreeman3341 9 месяцев назад

    Brilliant as in shiny, really good and brainy. From one of your UK subscribers

  • @kingatticus5371
    @kingatticus5371 11 месяцев назад +45

    I’d give an honorable mention to “ginger” to describe a person with red hair. I distinctly remember a comic over a decade ago where someone told a cop that a ginger did something and they looked confused because they thought they meant the spice. It may have had more regional use but as I’ve gotten older people around my age know what I mean when I mention someone as a ginger. I think its use in a South Park episode helped popularize it further

    • @kaelanmcalpine2011
      @kaelanmcalpine2011 11 месяцев назад +2

      I think over there though it's a derogatory term, along with much of Europe. Maybe that explains the whole "Only a ginger can call another ginger, ginger" thing my mom, and sister technically, liked to spout just because.

    • @EebstertheGreat
      @EebstertheGreat 10 месяцев назад +1

      I don't think "ginger" is a Brithism. It has been used to refer to red hair since the late 18th century, and before that for the red feathers of some roosters. If we count 18th century words, then almost everything can be considered a "Britishism," since most American residents from that time were recent British imports.

    • @anndeecosita3586
      @anndeecosita3586 10 месяцев назад +1

      Might be regionally dependent because I have always known it to be associated with redheads. However there is some Irish ancestry in my family stemming from US slavery times. I grew up hearing my family use the term redhead stepchild to mean someone being the unwanted, mistreated person.

    • @isladurrant2015
      @isladurrant2015 10 месяцев назад +2

      Be careful with "ginger" it's also Cockney rhyming slang... ginger (beer) = queer.

    • @o00nemesis00o
      @o00nemesis00o 10 месяцев назад

      @@colinwilson6942 At college we had someone who had this remarkable talent for leaving class after everyone else but getting to the cafeteria before anyone else. He was our ginger ninja.

  • @fldon2306
    @fldon2306 10 месяцев назад +4

    “Sorted” is used heavily in the automotive realm, especially in regards to suspension tuning; so anyone who watches European car racing, F1, WEC, etc. hears this term. Great vid!