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One of the great misconceptions about British people is that we like to queue, I've never met anyone that actually enjoys it. We just understand that to jump a queue means everyone in a 5 mile radius will immediately judge you as the spawn of Satan, which you obviously are if you go around jumping queues. They might even tut at you, which is worse than a punch in the face as wounds heal but shame is for life.
I suspect that the reputation for queuing grew up particularly during the two world wars and following years when very strict rationing caused huge queues for basics like foodstuffs...
That and the likelihood that a Brit will join a queue even if they're not 100% sure what the queue is for. This includes in the car. Can't risk going into the completely empty lane in case there's a really good reason why everyone is queuing...! (My dad did that the other day. Finally got tired of sitting still, drove past 2 cars and realised the road ahead was completely empty, they were just sitting there for some reason.)
Bill Bryson commented on queuing in one of his books. He said he loved the way people formed one queue in front of two ticket windows instead of having a queue on each. He said it was so fair and so British. I think it was notes from a small island.
How we enjoy the rain: 1. Stand at the window (inside) 2. Put non-tea drinking hand on hip 3. Slowly sip tea from favourite mug 4. Occasionally mutter one of these three options: “look at that rain”, “it’s really coming down now” or “the garden needs it” 5. Comment that it’s “a good job we got the cushions/washing in” 6. Consume as many biscuits as possible
Good for the garden yeah haha. Always used to annoy me as a kid. I didn't give a toss about "the garden" now I have one of my own I've been known to utter those same words myself.
We ‘toe the line’ or ‘cross the line’ depending on whether we are doing what we are told or not. It comes from the House of Commons where the Government and Opposition face each other. There are two red lines on the carpet and each side has to stay behind their own line. Apocryphally, the lines are two sword lengths apart.
Our Banter (friendly ribbing) is generally rooted in sarcasm, and we are the masters of sarcasm. Also between Brits it’s generally very obvious if the insults are friendly banter or not.
In British English, "Randy" means "horny, always craving sex". Hence why you can see it is a name which would never be able to be taken seriously here.
I met an American lady who chirpily said, "Hi, I'm Randy" and I'm thinking, "Too much information!" (she was really nice - and said she knew the British connotation, but what could she do?)
@Avatar Ang Even most of us who are British don't really speak 'English' in the official sense. There are large regional variations in the language, with different words being used to describe the same thing or words that are entirely regional with no comparable word in other parts of the UK. It's basically a legacy of the cultural melting pot that is the last 2000 years of British history; Celts, Romans, Irish, Angles, Saxons, Norse, Normans, Flemings, Huguenots, Indians, Germans, Jews, Russians, Africans, Afro-Caribbeans etc. It's also a legacy of the class system, with some words being widely adopted as official because of the class of people using them while others are more distinct to a social class. I've had some very amusing conversations over the years with people from other countries who speak perfect 'official' English about how they've moved to the UK to work and found themselves in parts of the country where the actual language we speak is a bit different, such as Yorkshire, and they couldn't understand what we are talking about until they got used to the local dialects and idioms. I also find when I'm travelling around the UK that I'll consciously rein in my natural patois and adopt a more generalised English when speaking to other British people but when I'm on my home turf I'll unleash the full Yorkshireman :D I suspect you could pick a country and a language and the same would be true of them.
@@RavenclawStudent123 Oh boy, we do that too, except in the States, when you offer something to someone, they are much more likely to take the biscuit rather than politely decline 😂
I never hear people say can't complain, usually just yeah thanks, you? Or yeah I'm alright, or Good thanks, you? Usually if I'm not so great I'll say something like, Yeaaahh (more drawn out), not too bad.
@@lindawright8949 Oh boy, there must be lots of landfills with printers in them then. Bloody things don't do anything except sing me the song of their people.
I'm British but used to work in Toronto. During work training we had to show we could read a 24h clock or 'military time' as they called it. When my turn came, 17:55 flashed on screen. Instead of saying 5:55, I said 5 to 6 and the whole room erupted into laughter. Luckily the lady taking the class was from India and was used the way Brits tell the time.
I teach English as a foreign language and I always teach both so "7:45 or a quarter to eight" both are correct . One of my strangest experiences was when I was in Argentina where they "speak" the 24 hour clock "a las 17 y 30" or 5:30 in old money. I'm fine when I see it written down but making arrangements in a foreign language where they also use the 24 hour clock was difficult.
@@martinmaynard141 I used to work in the bus industry and a very good example of the confusion arising out of only one party understanding the 24 hour clock (ie Military Time) was an inspector being asked what time the last bus back from a particular bus stop was...he responded correctly 22.12 which the would be passenger misunderstood to mean 23.40 - unfortunate at that time of night at a remote location! I should point out that this was well over forty years ago just after the 24 hour clock was introduced on the buses.
@@WanderingRavens It's strange how timetables and schedules are in 24 hours, but we will still say the 12 hour time "I'm catching the 18:30 at half-past six".
With regards to the ‘time’, we were on holiday in Mexico talking to some Americans. We were leaving the next day and they asked us what time was our flight? We said that we were being picked up at around 3pm and it was an overnight flight leaving around tea-time! They looked quite confused and said ‘what time is that and are you having tea and cake first? We left at 18:10
Tea time is all the time, but in Mexico I'll bet the tea wasn't nearly as good. Correct tea time is 4:00pm but if a formal dinner is not happening, supper is called "tea" at about 6pm. It is polite to be 10 minutes late, so, well done.
The best insult from a friend was "I've been defending you!" "Have you?" "Yes. John reckoned you haven't got the brains of a rocking-horse and I said you do."
My response is usually 'If you're already making one, yeah go on then' feels like I'm not trying to put them out to make one. Or a friend always says 'be rude not to'
I like the Scottish person's comment about being translucent. My ex wife's family are all very pale and have carrot coloured hair. Her brother broke his rib at work. When I asked him if he had an x-ray he said, "no, they just held me up to the light!"
Best comment! Definitely the best comment on this video. And as a ginger person from Orkney, I can attest to the fact that we are pretty much invisible if we stand in front of a white wall.
That's true about the tea. My English friends will remember someone's first name, surname and how they take their tea, or ... horrors ... if they drink coffee, as part of their identity. They memorise people as "Tom O'Brien (milk, no sugar) and that awful wife of his, Ann (coffee, half the jug of milk and three! sugars)".
Hahahaha when I was 13 I remember watching 10 THings I Hate about You and Kat was talking about a time she didn't want to have sex and Joey got pissed and dumped her. I thought, wow, he went out and got drunk and dumped her then? Man, he must have been mega upset that she wouldn't have sex with him!!! Didn't realise it meant that he got angry or pissed off
@@ellycelly5278 I thought it was strange in many american tv shows where children said they were pissed Getting drunk so young. In UK saying pissed off is being angry
The uk is just more negative with life than America “the American dream = if I work hard I can get what I want. British dream = lie-in” - Russel Howard
@@stayforthepeelpronpls4774 he is wrong about the UK (he is a lefty afterall) The UK doesn't need a dream as we are awake already (not my line can't remember who said it first)
The best insult I have ever received was from one of my best friends who told me that he had stood up for me earlier that day. He told me.... "They said that you weren't fit to live with pigs, I said you were"
Timings work like this (adding the hour after is optional as I think most brits normally always know the hour) 5 past 10 past Quarter past 20 past If it’s 25 mins past the hour you can say 25 past or say it’s nearly half past Half past 25 to 20 to Quarter to 10 to 5 to
with the prefix "about" added they mean anywhere between one and another, and the prefix "dead on" meaning it's exactly that time with about a 10 second's grace period (you have to give someone some time to get the statement out). dead on half eleven 11:29:50-11:30:10, after that it's about 11:30.
The reason Americans (and others) struggle adapting to British communication techniques is because a lot of contexts are unspoken (I.e the same phrase has 5 meanings). You have to decipher if a person is saying something jovially, seriously or offensively based on their delivery and I think that's an art, particularly when humour and sarcasm are as dry as they are in the UK. It comes naturally if you grow up around it, but for others it can be a bit of a nightmare to pick social cues up. I find Americans tend to state the context a lot "oh that's so funny", "That's so mean" etc... Whereas Brits say it and let you work it out haha.
I was on Erasmus in Germany, I turned up to a student fancy-dress party at a Scottish friend's place not wearing fancy-dress, and she opened the door and said 'what have you come as? An English twat?'... Maybe it's a sort of friendship test - the more offensive you can be without the other person being offended, the closer you are... I don't know...
I know a lad who just always switches it up, randomly like "I need that bloody haemorrhoid cream back or your strap ons arrived through my amazon prime. . 😂😂.
The tea in Turkey (Turkish N Cyprus) is just as strong as the UK perhaps much stronger. They complain here that all the best tea that they grow here is sent to the UK and they're left with the worst of it. But it is packaged and sent back here in tins and boxes.
One dead giveaway - 'ish' being added to a time to indicate "round about that time". Example: "What time shall we come over?" . . . "Oh, make it fiveish."
I used to work abroad in Europe as a tour guide. I was mainly based in France and Northern Europe. On one occasion I went on Holiday to Naples with my partner, as he is Italian and my family are Italian also. They come from the same region. My entire time there was frustrating, however, this one morning I was in a cafe and asked for a tea. The waiter looked at me as though I was an Alien and didn't have a clue how to make it. He basically went away and filled a mug/ cup with boiled milk and brought to the table with a teabag on the side. I looked at it and was in shock and the waiter, embarrassed said he'd never made one before. I ended up having to teach a few Italians how to make a bloody cup of tea lol
"It's a good job you're pretty" said to anyone who acts a little daft! I also like to call them 'precious' or 'special'. As a non-tea drinking English person, I actively avoid the tea making rounds for fear of getting it wrong!
I think possibly the UK is the only nation on the planet where an entire conversation can consist of only two words, it be the exact same word and both parties understand. Person 1: “Alright?” Person 2: “Alright?” That’s the entire conversation, everyone understands and no further interaction takes place. It’s bloody odd
One term which I'm pretty sure is 'Brits only' is 'goggle-box' (often shortened to 'box') meaning television; e.g., "Anything good on the 'box tonight?"
This one is funny because several other brits have also commented saying that "can't complain" is positive, but in the US it's definitely interpreted as a negative statement 😂 I love identifying subtle little culture differences like this! Thank you for the insight, Helen!
I think the only other people who have this sort of expression are the rural Norman French. If they think something is really good they say “pas mal” - not bad. It drives the other French potty because they never know what Normans really think.
I'm fine is a neutral response, the negative response is "not that bad" (and if it is bad emphasise the "that"), for me to say something along the lines of "not good" I would pretty much have to be dying in extreme pain.
That's rubbish that, Helen. I say "I'm fine, thank you" very often and I've only ever meant it in a positive sense, as in "I'm well" or "very well". Also, "can't complain" means that things are just fine, ok - not "life is perfect".
I have to confess, and I think I may have made this comment before, that I once went in to a hotel kitchen in Paris to show the waiter how I wanted him to make my cup of tea. I hasten to add, it was done in fun and I was invited to deliver it as a lesson. Up until then, they had been using a coffee filter machine to heat the water. I say "heat", it was cool enough to was in! Animals!
As to tea making I was in the military and when you ask how you like your tea the regular reply was 'Standard NATO' this means milk and 2 sugars One word which seemed to make me stand out as British in USA was the use of 'Fortnight' In some parts of the North Midlands when telling the the time you will hear 'Five and twenty past or five and twenty to'
Apart from singing ‘four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie’ and in period dramas, who speaks like that and exactly where? Certainly not used in the West Midlands! Oh, and ‘builders brew’ is used here too.
most memorable friendly insult I've heard was given to my daughter. She was working with twigs and sticks for a college media class, when she complained about the poor appearance of her twig her friend quickly replied "The wand chooses the wizard!"
9 out of 10 times when a British person asks "alright?" they are not looking for an extensive reply detailing what is currently wrong or right with your life. However, if someone is genuinely concerned that a loved one, friend or colleague is unhappy, unwell or annoyed, we may ask more slowly and deliberately "are you all right?"
With insults I was introduced to one of my friends other friends. He introduced himself as the good looking one to which I said, "yeah like you've been set on fire and put out with a hammer". He got the sarcasm..
I am not British, but I honestly doubt if I've ever experienced a nice insult. I remember I once joined a party and the two other girls had left. The rest of the people were guys, I had dressed up for the occasion (not with the intention to hit on them though) and I was enjoying snacks and the movie. At some point, someone sighed and said; 'What a sausage-fest guys, there are literally only guys here.' I coughed and he didn't look up. He complained again and said; 'There's no eyecandy here whatsoever.' I sarcastically said; 'Oh, stop it, I'm blushing' and he said; 'You are Emma, you're not eyecandy.' I mean, it's a good thing I wasn't objectified. But I wasn't considered a friend though and I also wasn't conceived as anything female or pretty. I'd say it was more of a confusing comment.
@@Widdekuu91 it's how you say it and all about delivery. In Britain being sarcastic is seen as you actually liking someone. Friends are sarcastic with each other and it is viewed as being comfortable enough and liking them enough to be able to be sarcastic. I'd be more worried if my friends weren't sarcastic!
Hi Eric and Grace. I do enjoy your channel; I've had so many laughs. I am a Londoner, born in 1953 and have lived here all my life. Watching your channel has brought it home to me afresh how much 'British' mannerisms and culture have evolved and changed in those 68 years. Were it possible, I would love to be able to show you what life was like in London and the UK in the 1950s and 1960s; you would find it fascinating, I am sure. Long may you both continue to enjoy your visits to the UK. With warmest good wishes to you both. Peter A
Great observation, Tommy! We hadn't picked up on that, but now that you mention it, I think you're right! While Americans do frequently drop the "of" they use the "of" just as often.
Best insult I've been given:- "If sex with 3 people is a threesome, and sex with 2 is a twosome, is that why people call you handsone?" You have to think about it... I don't know about names, but there's definitely a British style of nickname, usually by shortening the real name and adding "z" or "zer"at the end of it. So, for example, my name's Barry, but my friends will usually call me "Baz" or "Bazzer".
The Barry = Baz/Bazzer thing actually has a name. It's a form of the "Oxford -er". It started as public school slang in the Victorian era, became popular at Oxford University and spread from there.
Me and my friend are walking here from school one day and we just got back ,the day before,from a school trip to Oxford university and I pulled out of my coat pocket a note pad that I had been given from the University and I said “this the only thing I’m ever going to get from Oxford” and then she said “yeah that and a rejection letter” it was so funny at the time because it was so unexpected 😂
Queue is actually the French word for ‘tail’, which makes sense when you think about it. Almost certainly introduced after the Norman Conquest when hundreds of French words were incorporated into English.
The word queue comes from French. In French it meant an animal's tail but also came by analogy to mean people forming a line one behind the other. It still has both meanings in French but in English now just means the standing in line. During the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War British newspapers illustrated reports of the shortage of food in the besiged French city with pictures of Parisians standing in une queue for their meagre rations
3:10 Having a tea rota, informal or otherwise started when they got rid of the tea lady. Elderly woman been there years knew all the office gossip and scandals. Does anyone remember Reginald Perrin trying to also buy a cake off the trolley to find it was reserved and he could not have it. Next day he tried to buy ALl the cakes to deny everyone else.
How do I squeeze past someone? I kinda meekly say "er, hi, er, excuse me, can I just, er...." And then when they ignore me I just do it while drawing as much attention as possible.
worse/ best insult. I arrived slightly late for a meeting at work. It had been slightly raining as i walked from the station so my hair was damped down with my fringe dampened to my forehead.I was wearing a rain coat and carrying a slighlty old fasioned overnight bag( the ones you got free for opening a creditcard account). As i walked into the silent room one guy shout we can start now Roy Cropper has arrived. Half the room cried with laughter the other half said , who is Roy Cropper.
I was in Canada a few years ago as part of a group. We were chatting amongst ourselves and a local asked us to confirm that we were British. He said that the giveaway was that someone had said the word "telly" as an abbreviation for television. Apparently, this is very much a British thing while "TV" is the more universal abbreviation (which Brits also use).
I worked in a school before, doing some flooring, and when I made myself a cup of tea, next to the kettle there was a giant chart with about 30 teachings staffs info of preferences on how they take their tea.. amount of sugars, whether or not they take milk, brand of tea etc. Its serious business ☕😂
Thanks for a great video, had me belly-laughing! Yes, I'm a Brit despite my proud Irish surname. And yes, I'd like to think we do queuing rather well in the UK but there has been a decline in recent years. For example, at busy periods when a checkout till opens up at a supermarket it is extremely irritating when those at the back of the queue think they can walk right to the front of that queue. And saying 'well' before an adjective is slang, when what is meant is 'very'. We have Essex to blame for that one.
People who live in Hove think the rest of the world doesn't know where Hove is so their answer is usually "I'm from Brighton ... well ... Hove actually." This is a well known local Sussex joke!!
Our banter can be very Brutal. Armed forces , Emergency services and Hospital workers have a very Dark sense of humour as a way of dealing with they Experience.. as for saying 8:30 in Lincolnshire we would say Half 8 as arf 8
In terms of how you remember who has what in an office tea run, in my experience it comes down to experience. As an apprentice, intern or new starting graduate, your primary role will be the tea run (often for the whole office/workshop/work place). By starting all early years employees on this vital task, it means that virtually everyone in the office, often all the way up to management, has the ingrained ability to remember sometimes hundreds of tea orders without having to think about it. Hope that helps 🙂
Have to say you were dead on when you said about giggling at someone's name being Randy. Probably wouldn't giggle to their face until we're friends though.
@@HighHoeKermit There was a supervisor called Reginald Sole where I once worked. We were forever asking the switchboard operator to call for R. Sole over the tannoy. We were in hysterics...
When you teach children how to tell the time on an analogue clock ; quarter past, half past, quarter to is obvious, the child might not be able to count upto 60
The reason why we say “Queue” is because it means standing in a line or vehicle moving forward to be attended or to proceed. Just to “stand in line” could mean you just standing there because you want to it doesn’t refer to the moment forward as Queue does.
Number 1, we'll 100% every single time point out that it's couldn't care less and not could care less when someone ( mainly Americans) say I could care less.
the best way I've found to clear a path through a crowd (none of this 'Squeeeezing past' lark ...) is to shout 'Mind Yer Backs ... Pregnant Lady!' ... or maybe 'Move Along the Bus Please!' ... They usually work because everyone is so surprised to hear them ... especially if there is no pregnant woman in sight, and they're not on a bus! My mother was a Cockney from the East End of London, so those were the sorts of phrases I might have heard from my uncles I think. They are old fashioned, but have the element of surprise. Try them some time! Phrases like 'Well good' and 'Alright??' as a greeting tend to be used by the younger generation I think. (Look up actress Catherine Tate's 'Lauren Cooper' sketches!)
When you line up a shot in Snooker (or pool) it's called "cueing up", spelt differently but pronounced the same, if that counts as other uses, probably not lol
As a Brit, I have said “can’t complain” when asked if I’m ok. And I do also have a tendency to say the time as half past, quarter past etc, and I do drop the hour. But I’m from Coventry (Midlands)
When you surprise someone with your unexpected knowledge about something they may say 'You're not as green as you're cabbage looking!'. The opposite - when someone doesn't know something that's well known - "He's still wet behind the ears!'
Being out of line is a military colloquialism... Someone being out of line means they're not lined up correctly shoulder to shoulder... Not it a queue behind eachother. So yes, we do use "He's out of line" but its actually the type of line were talking about is different
The inverse is that many RUclipsrs start their videos with "What's up?" I don't know whether it's a countrywide thing but where I come from originally (Lincolnshire) that is something you say to someone who looks sad, ill or in trouble. The typical Lincolnshire greeting, though not one I would ever use, comes out something like "Nairn". In real words, though it makes little more sense, it is actually supposed to be "Now then".
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Ok
I’d love to hear what you’d think my name cause mine is a not a British name 🤣
Yes we are "more difficult to offend" but I think it's more to do with the fact that most of the time we cant be bothered to get offended.
One of the great misconceptions about British people is that we like to queue, I've never met anyone that actually enjoys it. We just understand that to jump a queue means everyone in a 5 mile radius will immediately judge you as the spawn of Satan, which you obviously are if you go around jumping queues. They might even tut at you, which is worse than a punch in the face as wounds heal but shame is for life.
I suspect that the reputation for queuing grew up particularly during the two world wars and following years when very strict rationing caused huge queues for basics like foodstuffs...
That and the likelihood that a Brit will join a queue even if they're not 100% sure what the queue is for.
This includes in the car. Can't risk going into the completely empty lane in case there's a really good reason why everyone is queuing...! (My dad did that the other day. Finally got tired of sitting still, drove past 2 cars and realised the road ahead was completely empty, they were just sitting there for some reason.)
Bill Bryson commented on queuing in one of his books. He said he loved the way people formed one queue in front of two ticket windows instead of having a queue on each. He said it was so fair and so British. I think it was notes from a small island.
In 2002 I travelled over 60 miles to spend the whole day queuing in London, had a great day with my friends. Can anyone guess what I queued for?
@@jenniedarling3710 Last night of the Proms?
Cheering when someone breaks a glass in a pub. I did this in a bar in LA. The looks I got!
😂😂
The usual reply is “sack the juggler”
When I broke a glass in a pub and everyone cheered I used to reply "that's one less to wash up".
Waaaaaay taxi!
@@tonys1636 'There go the profits' is another one
How we enjoy the rain:
1. Stand at the window (inside)
2. Put non-tea drinking hand on hip
3. Slowly sip tea from favourite mug
4. Occasionally mutter one of these three options: “look at that rain”, “it’s really coming down now” or “the garden needs it”
5. Comment that it’s “a good job we got the cushions/washing in”
6. Consume as many biscuits as possible
Good for the garden yeah haha. Always used to annoy me as a kid. I didn't give a toss about "the garden" now I have one of my own I've been known to utter those same words myself.
I literally did this yesterday. 😆
My slight variation of today was 'the gardens need it'.
My mum's like GET THE WASHING IN!!! QUIICCCKKKK!!!!!!!
"blimey it's really chucking it down" is another favourite
“Youaright?” “Yeah amaright, youaright?” “Yeah amaright” - British greeting
Alright
Never say the you bit. Walk down the street and you see someone you just say alright and they say alright as Ur walking by
I once said "how's it hanging?" As a greeting to my girlfriend at the time. She thought i was calling her a bloke.🙄
That is a Caribbean dialect, but absorbed into British English.
How do
"Out of line" would be said as "Out of order" in the UK
Thank you for answering our question! That makes sense :D
Or "beyond the line".
Or "you've crossed a line"
Bang out of order
We ‘toe the line’ or ‘cross the line’ depending on whether we are doing what we are told or not. It comes from the House of Commons where the Government and Opposition face each other. There are two red lines on the carpet and each side has to stay behind their own line. Apocryphally, the lines are two sword lengths apart.
Telling somebody they are 'out of line' translates as 'your bang out of order mate'
oooo, that sounds much better
@@Bakura1000000 your beeing to pedantick
@@Bakura1000000 oh dear
We would also say out of line
@@doctordoodle-do9933 *pedantic
Our Banter (friendly ribbing) is generally rooted in sarcasm, and we are the masters of sarcasm. Also between Brits it’s generally very obvious if the insults are friendly banter or not.
Ik its not just me but in the uk the c word is just normal
Matt Wiisports_lover it’s a term of endearment in some cases
@@MW-dd8vk 😂ikr
@@aperson9782 particularly cockneys. The love to drop the c bomb and have a great pronunciation:you caaahnt
Irish Scottish and Australians all say cunt every other sentence
In British English, "Randy" means "horny, always craving sex". Hence why you can see it is a name which would never be able to be taken seriously here.
culthosmythos true true I met a randy in the states and I was trying not to laugh 😂
I met an American lady who chirpily said, "Hi, I'm Randy" and I'm thinking, "Too much information!" (she was really nice - and said she knew the British connotation, but what could she do?)
No such thing as British English! It's English. 'Mirkins speak an English patois called American.
The American singer Randy Van Warmer's name always used to amuse me, as translated into British English it becomes 'horny truck heater'!
@Avatar Ang Even most of us who are British don't really speak 'English' in the official sense. There are large regional variations in the language, with different words being used to describe the same thing or words that are entirely regional with no comparable word in other parts of the UK. It's basically a legacy of the cultural melting pot that is the last 2000 years of British history; Celts, Romans, Irish, Angles, Saxons, Norse, Normans, Flemings, Huguenots, Indians, Germans, Jews, Russians, Africans, Afro-Caribbeans etc. It's also a legacy of the class system, with some words being widely adopted as official because of the class of people using them while others are more distinct to a social class.
I've had some very amusing conversations over the years with people from other countries who speak perfect 'official' English about how they've moved to the UK to work and found themselves in parts of the country where the actual language we speak is a bit different, such as Yorkshire, and they couldn't understand what we are talking about until they got used to the local dialects and idioms.
I also find when I'm travelling around the UK that I'll consciously rein in my natural patois and adopt a more generalised English when speaking to other British people but when I'm on my home turf I'll unleash the full Yorkshireman :D
I suspect you could pick a country and a language and the same would be true of them.
Slapping your thigh and saying, "Right" as an announcement you're leaving.
When being kindly offered something and responding, "Are you sure"?
Oh yeah. With biscuits. Even if you want that last biscuit, you should ask others but it's annoying when they take it because you wanted it
These are both SPOT on! Also, saying the word "spot" in reference to food 😂
@@RavenclawStudent123 Oh boy, we do that too, except in the States, when you offer something to someone, they are much more likely to take the biscuit rather than politely decline 😂
I say are you shore when someone offers me something lol
@@WanderingRavens are you taking the biscuit is another way are you taking the micky lol
"Can't complain" is positive. If we're not okay, we'll say "fine".
Its up to you if you take offense
"Yeah fine mate" is positive though.
I never hear people say can't complain, usually just yeah thanks, you? Or yeah I'm alright, or Good thanks, you?
Usually if I'm not so great I'll say something like, Yeaaahh (more drawn out), not too bad.
Or you can use "Mustn't grumble" for variation.
"Fine" stands for
F = Fucked up
I = Insecure
N = Neurotic
E = Emotional
You never heard anyone say "quarter 8" or "quarter til" The expression is "quarter to"
Hmm, maybe it's regional.
Wandering Ravens you must have misheard , no Brit would say til
@@simonbrittan1331 this is true. No one would say that
@@WanderingRavens "Tuh" is how it is pronounced in my neck of the woods. "Quarter tuh eight"
Yes, quarter to or quarter past.
Not that I'm a polite Brit, but I once said thank you to a printer.
And I don't mean a bloke who does your print jobs.
A photocopier.
I do the same to most inanimate objects as well. Or I threaten them with a landfill with their name on it if it doesn't work correctly.
The Queen would be proud 😂
@@lindawright8949 Oh boy, there must be lots of landfills with printers in them then. Bloody things don't do anything except sing me the song of their people.
And then there's apologising to chairs/tables/lamp posts for banging into them.
Also cash machines 😂
I'm British but used to work in Toronto. During work training we had to show we could read a 24h clock or 'military time' as they called it. When my turn came, 17:55 flashed on screen. Instead of saying 5:55, I said 5 to 6 and the whole room erupted into laughter. Luckily the lady taking the class was from India and was used the way Brits tell the time.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Liam! The common use of military time was another culture shock for us when we visited the UK
I teach English as a foreign language and I always teach both so "7:45 or a quarter to eight" both are correct .
One of my strangest experiences was when I was in Argentina where they "speak" the 24 hour clock "a las 17 y 30" or 5:30 in old money. I'm fine when I see it written down but making arrangements in a foreign language where they also use the 24 hour clock was difficult.
@@martinmaynard141 I used to work in the bus industry and a very good example of the confusion arising out of only one party understanding the 24 hour clock (ie Military Time) was an inspector being asked what time the last bus back from a particular bus stop was...he responded correctly 22.12 which the would be passenger misunderstood to mean 23.40 - unfortunate at that time of night at a remote location! I should point out that this was well over forty years ago just after the 24 hour clock was introduced on the buses.
@@WanderingRavens It's strange how timetables and schedules are in 24 hours, but we will still say the 12 hour time "I'm catching the 18:30 at half-past six".
Brits also say the time as Five and twenty to three for 2.35.
With regards to the ‘time’, we were on holiday in Mexico talking to some Americans. We were leaving the next day and they asked us what time was our flight? We said that we were being picked up at around 3pm and it was an overnight flight leaving around tea-time! They looked quite confused and said ‘what time is that and are you having tea and cake first?
We left at 18:10
Tea time is all the time, but in Mexico I'll bet the tea wasn't nearly as good. Correct tea time is 4:00pm but if a formal dinner is not happening, supper is called "tea" at about 6pm. It is polite to be 10 minutes late, so, well done.
The best insult from a friend was
"I've been defending you!"
"Have you?"
"Yes. John reckoned you haven't got the brains of a rocking-horse and I said you do."
Rockdoc2174 nice one!
😂😂
"you have"
Simon Templar What do you mean?
@@TP-mv6en Just being a grammar nazi. "You have not got" - "You have got" not "you do got" Sorry.
when you say "fancy a cuppa?" and you get the instant pavlovian response "ooh yeah"
😂😂
Lol. Some times it's polite to refuse on the bases you don't want to put the other person out
My response is usually 'If you're already making one, yeah go on then' feels like I'm not trying to put them out to make one.
Or a friend always says 'be rude not to'
Or even, "If you're making one . . ."
@Jim Taylor its a conditioned unthinking response.. lookup Pavlov's dogs
I like the Scottish person's comment about being translucent. My ex wife's family are all very pale and have carrot coloured hair. Her brother broke his rib at work. When I asked him if he had an x-ray he said, "no, they just held me up to the light!"
😂😂
Ginger lives matter.
Best comment! Definitely the best comment on this video. And as a ginger person from Orkney, I can attest to the fact that we are pretty much invisible if we stand in front of a white wall.
@Moa Constrictor I’m Ginger But Don’t Agree So Think About That Cuz That’s Just How I Am!!!!!!!!!!😂🤣👨🏻🦰🧘🏻♂️😊😎
I’m Scottish and I’m pail blue
In the uk a “line” is something you sniff , you did ask lol
Involving a £20 note! ;-), I had fun in my younger days!
@@DavidLee-yu7yz a twenty? What are you doing sah? It's a fifty or nothing sah!
That's true about the tea. My English friends will remember someone's first name, surname and how they take their tea, or ... horrors ... if they drink coffee, as part of their identity. They memorise people as "Tom O'Brien (milk, no sugar) and that awful wife of his, Ann (coffee, half the jug of milk and three! sugars)".
That's brilliant 😂 Thank you for answering our question!!
And from that I can tell his wife is from County Armagh.
Frank Spencer What did Armagh ever do to you that you should malign it so? 🤣😂🤣
Three sugars?! Greedy cow.
three? one of my cousins in Belfast is 6-7 sugars. 🤣
A person who is “pissed” in the USA is angry, while in the U.K. he/she is drunk!
Hahahaha when I was 13 I remember watching 10 THings I Hate about You and Kat was talking about a time she didn't want to have sex and Joey got pissed and dumped her. I thought, wow, he went out and got drunk and dumped her then? Man, he must have been mega upset that she wouldn't have sex with him!!! Didn't realise it meant that he got angry or pissed off
@@ellycelly5278 I thought it was strange in many american tv shows where children said they were pissed Getting drunk so young. In UK saying pissed off is being angry
Pissed means you are either drunk, angry, wet yourself or your found something funny in the uk.
It means angry in the uk too like I'm soooo peed off right now!! Xx
@@cherrylane6751 you missed the point pissed off is angry - pissed is drunk unless you been watching too much US TV
You know we're British, you join a queue and the person in front turns around and says 'alright '😁
Saying 'right' is an integral part of our vocabulary.
Right I best be off then
*Slaps hands on knees*
Then continues to stand at the front door for half hour chatting sh**
The uk is just more negative with life than America “the American dream = if I work hard I can get what I want. British dream = lie-in” - Russel Howard
It's incredibly hard work being so positive.
Russell Howard is not funny
Damned Dave ok. Not relevant 😂
@@stayforthepeelpronpls4774 he is wrong about the UK (he is a lefty afterall)
The UK doesn't need a dream as we are awake already
(not my line can't remember who said it first)
Damned Dave ok great. To each their own I guess.
The best insult I have ever received was from one of my best friends who told me that he had stood up for me earlier that day. He told me.... "They said that you weren't fit to live with pigs, I said you were"
Timings work like this (adding the hour after is optional as I think most brits normally always know the hour)
5 past
10 past
Quarter past
20 past
If it’s 25 mins past the hour you can say 25 past or say it’s nearly half past
Half past
25 to
20 to
Quarter to
10 to
5 to
with the prefix "about" added they mean anywhere between one and another, and the prefix "dead on" meaning it's exactly that time with about a 10 second's grace period (you have to give someone some time to get the statement out). dead on half eleven 11:29:50-11:30:10, after that it's about 11:30.
And we all do it. Unless there are some regions I don't know about that specifically don't do it.
The reason Americans (and others) struggle adapting to British communication techniques is because a lot of contexts are unspoken (I.e the same phrase has 5 meanings). You have to decipher if a person is saying something jovially, seriously or offensively based on their delivery and I think that's an art, particularly when humour and sarcasm are as dry as they are in the UK. It comes naturally if you grow up around it, but for others it can be a bit of a nightmare to pick social cues up. I find Americans tend to state the context a lot "oh that's so funny", "That's so mean" etc... Whereas Brits say it and let you work it out haha.
Americans say "two times a week", Brits say "twice a week"
Or three fourths instead of three quarters ...
Once a week is enough for me!
They say waste paper basket for a bin.
@@racheltaylor6578
I thought that "waste paper basket" is a mainly British term
Tony Casey - correct. It’s also one of those words with class overtones, like lavatory.
I was on Erasmus in Germany, I turned up to a student fancy-dress party at a Scottish friend's place not wearing fancy-dress, and she opened the door and said 'what have you come as? An English twat?'... Maybe it's a sort of friendship test - the more offensive you can be without the other person being offended, the closer you are... I don't know...
Brutal! I'm not sure if someone could get away with saying that in the US - even as banter 😂😂
That's just considered friendly banter here 😊 it's not really a test of friendship, more like a sign that you are liked lol.
It's both an insult and friendly bants. Lol
You got away with it light in my opinion.
In my office we have a sheet in the kitchen with details of how everyone takes their tea and coffee
I had a friend who often greeted me, usually in company, with - “Hiya, how’s the old rash of the inner thigh?” Not a jaw was dropped.
'How's your belly off for spots?'
I know a lad who just always switches it up, randomly like "I need that bloody haemorrhoid cream back or your strap ons arrived through my amazon prime. . 😂😂.
Reminds me of the old joke "I haven't had sex since 1955".
"Well it's only 8:30 now!".
😂
My mum takes teabags when we go on holiday just so she can have a decent cuppa (can’t blame her😂)
We use “stepping out of line’ rather than “getting out of line”
Good to know! We use that one too.
An acceptable alternative is to say "You're out of order" if someone is misbehaving.
@Tobey Transport I'd say it's "getting out of hand".
He/she is over the limit
Finishing up a phone call with some iteration of ‘ok thanks now speak to you soon bye bye’ with the pitch getting increasingly high 😂
Magenta Otter Travels Absolutely! And a liberal use of the word ‘sorry’...we’re not brilliant at being direct 😅
"Mustn't grumble" is traditional.
For real
The tea in Turkey (Turkish N Cyprus) is just as strong as the UK perhaps much stronger.
They complain here that all the best tea that they grow here is sent to the UK and they're left with the worst of it.
But it is packaged and sent back here in tins and boxes.
When me and my family go on holiday we take a large bag of tea bags with us so we don’t have to have the hotels/restaurants tea
One dead giveaway - 'ish' being added to a time to indicate "round about that time".
Example:
"What time shall we come over?" . . . "Oh, make it fiveish."
When anyone says "Can't complain", I reply with, "You can but no one will listen"
😂😂
And there's always, "Oh, well, mustn't grumble".
Excellent, I'm going to start replying with that.
I use "mustn't grumble because no-one listens anyway" 😂
I used to work abroad in Europe as a tour guide. I was mainly based in France and Northern Europe. On one occasion I went on Holiday to Naples with my partner, as he is Italian and my family are Italian also. They come from the same region. My entire time there was frustrating, however, this one morning I was in a cafe and asked for a tea. The waiter looked at me as though I was an Alien and didn't have a clue how to make it. He basically went away and filled a mug/ cup with boiled milk and brought to the table with a teabag on the side. I looked at it and was in shock and the waiter, embarrassed said he'd never made one before. I ended up having to teach a few Italians how to make a bloody cup of tea lol
"An Englishman, when alone, will form an orderly queue of one." George Mikes.
Best insult given by a friend. "You have the tact and subtlety of a rotting corpse."
"It's a good job you're pretty" said to anyone who acts a little daft! I also like to call them 'precious' or 'special'.
As a non-tea drinking English person, I actively avoid the tea making rounds for fear of getting it wrong!
Love that insult! Will tuck it away to use on my younger siblings 😂
Same here, I'm always a bit worried whenever I can't avoid making the tea.
Same around the tea. I have no idea what I’m doing
One comment thrown at me - by a friend - was:
"Everyone should have *one* friend like you - but *two* would be more than flesh and blood could stand."
I think possibly the UK is the only nation on the planet where an entire conversation can consist of only two words, it be the exact same word and both parties understand. Person 1: “Alright?” Person 2: “Alright?” That’s the entire conversation, everyone understands and no further interaction takes place. It’s bloody odd
One term which I'm pretty sure is 'Brits only' is 'goggle-box' (often shortened to 'box') meaning television; e.g., "Anything good on the 'box tonight?"
"Can't complain." means, "Life is perfect." For a negative response, you would say, "I'm fine."
This one is funny because several other brits have also commented saying that "can't complain" is positive, but in the US it's definitely interpreted as a negative statement 😂 I love identifying subtle little culture differences like this! Thank you for the insight, Helen!
I think the only other people who have this sort of expression are the rural Norman French. If they think something is really good they say “pas mal” - not bad. It drives the other French potty because they never know what Normans really think.
I'm fine is a neutral response, the negative response is "not that bad" (and if it is bad emphasise the "that"), for me to say something along the lines of "not good" I would pretty much have to be dying in extreme pain.
That's rubbish that, Helen. I say "I'm fine, thank you" very often and I've only ever meant it in a positive sense, as in "I'm well" or "very well". Also, "can't complain" means that things are just fine, ok - not "life is perfect".
'Can't complain' is NOT to be confused with 'Mustn't grumble'. That one rarer these days.
I have to confess, and I think I may have made this comment before, that I once went in to a hotel kitchen in Paris to show the waiter how I wanted him to make my cup of tea. I hasten to add, it was done in fun and I was invited to deliver it as a lesson.
Up until then, they had been using a coffee filter machine to heat the water. I say "heat", it was cool enough to was in!
Animals!
As to tea making I was in the military and when you ask how you like your tea the regular reply was 'Standard NATO' this means milk and 2 sugars
One word which seemed to make me stand out as British in USA was the use of 'Fortnight'
In some parts of the North Midlands when telling the the time you will hear 'Five and twenty past or five and twenty to'
My grandma says that, and she is from the north Midlands. My mate has a Julie Andrews...
We call that a builders brew in the north (strong, milk and two sugars)
Apart from singing ‘four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie’ and in period dramas, who speaks like that and exactly where? Certainly not used in the West Midlands! Oh, and ‘builders brew’ is used here too.
overlord nat it’s only when telling the time, my grandma says it (in the East Midlands)
When I first joined, "NATO" was milk & 2 sugars too but it has generally now changed to milk & 1 sugar... I call it "NATO with cutbacks"!
The "brew round" is alive and real in every office I've seen
most memorable friendly insult I've heard was given to my daughter. She was working with twigs and sticks for a college media class, when she complained about the poor appearance of her twig her friend quickly replied "The wand chooses the wizard!"
I wouldn’t say getting out of line, I regularly tell my daughter she is getting too big for her boots
"You're taking the piss, mate!"
9 out of 10 times when a British person asks "alright?" they are not looking for an extensive reply detailing what is currently wrong or right with your life. However, if someone is genuinely concerned that a loved one, friend or colleague is unhappy, unwell or annoyed, we may ask more slowly and deliberately "are you all right?"
With insults I was introduced to one of my friends other friends. He introduced himself as the good looking one to which I said, "yeah like you've been set on fire and put out with a hammer". He got the sarcasm..
I am not British, but I honestly doubt if I've ever experienced a nice insult.
I remember I once joined a party and the two other girls had left.
The rest of the people were guys, I had dressed up for the occasion (not with the intention to hit on them though) and I was enjoying snacks and the movie.
At some point, someone sighed and said; 'What a sausage-fest guys, there are literally only guys here.'
I coughed and he didn't look up. He complained again and said; 'There's no eyecandy here whatsoever.'
I sarcastically said; 'Oh, stop it, I'm blushing' and he said; 'You are Emma, you're not eyecandy.'
I mean, it's a good thing I wasn't objectified.
But I wasn't considered a friend though and I also wasn't conceived as anything female or pretty.
I'd say it was more of a confusing comment.
@@Widdekuu91 it's how you say it and all about delivery. In Britain being sarcastic is seen as you actually liking someone. Friends are sarcastic with each other and it is viewed as being comfortable enough and liking them enough to be able to be sarcastic. I'd be more worried if my friends weren't sarcastic!
Hi Eric and Grace. I do enjoy your channel; I've had so many laughs. I am a Londoner, born in 1953 and have lived here all my life. Watching your channel has brought it home to me afresh how much 'British' mannerisms and culture have evolved and changed in those 68 years. Were it possible, I would love to be able to show you what life was like in London and the UK in the 1950s and 1960s; you would find it fascinating, I am sure. Long may you both continue to enjoy your visits to the UK. With warmest good wishes to you both. Peter A
I notice Americans say, "off of" instead of just "off" e.g. "I'm getting off of the floor" instead of "I'm getting off the floor".
Great observation, Tommy! We hadn't picked up on that, but now that you mention it, I think you're right! While Americans do frequently drop the "of" they use the "of" just as often.
I say off of, and I'm Scottish
@@cd8190 We'll let you off - this time! 😊
But then yanks will add an extra of to something like the book is inside of the car.
I've noticed Americans saying one and one half instead of one and a half
Best insult I've been given:-
"If sex with 3 people is a threesome, and sex with 2 is a twosome, is that why people call you handsone?"
You have to think about it...
I don't know about names, but there's definitely a British style of nickname, usually by shortening the real name and adding "z" or "zer"at the end of it. So, for example, my name's Barry, but my friends will usually call me "Baz" or "Bazzer".
😂😂
I have a friend named benedict who I call Paddington but that’s a whole other story. I assume Americans also get nicknames from and event.
The Barry = Baz/Bazzer thing actually has a name. It's a form of the "Oxford -er". It started as public school slang in the Victorian era, became popular at Oxford University and spread from there.
Most people call the hours between 4pm - 6pm ‘tea-time’ but we do use the 24 hour clock a lot too!
I always use the 24hr clock. I actually prefer it to the 12hr one as there are 24hrs in a day. Not 12
"Ta" is another British thank you
For added emphasis you might say “Ta muchly”
We hadn't heard that one before! Thank you, Tony!
@@WanderingRavens Don't you mean Ta😉
Yep I use it all the time.
And the text abbreviation TVM = Ta Very Much
Me and my friend are walking here from school one day and we just got back ,the day before,from a school trip to Oxford university and I pulled out of my coat pocket a note pad that I had been given from the University and I said “this the only thing I’m ever going to get from Oxford” and then she said “yeah that and a rejection letter” it was so funny at the time because it was so unexpected 😂
The nearest i've been to Oxford is a puncture on the Cow;ey Road.
Instead of "can't complain", I say "mustn't grumble".
"Can't complain......no-one listens anyway" sometimes what I say
Even better 😂
feet are right side of grass.
I usually say ' still breathing, thanks' in my little ray of sunshine way, lol
I would say not bad
Queue is actually the French word for ‘tail’, which makes sense when you think about it.
Almost certainly introduced after the Norman Conquest when hundreds of French words were incorporated into English.
The word queue comes from French. In French it meant an animal's tail but also came by analogy to mean people forming a line one behind the other. It still has both meanings in French but in English now just means the standing in line. During the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War British newspapers illustrated reports of the shortage of food in the besiged French city with pictures of Parisians standing in une queue for their meagre rations
If you're British and don't respond to "How are you?" With a sarcastic "living the dream" then you're just wrong...
"Never better!" Works 'incredibly';-)
"Another day closer to death" is one of my favourites. Said at the end of a day's work usually.
"Well I haven't died yet"
"Yeah, except for being at work" is one of my daily responses
"Just end me" I've used that so many times or "if there was a cliff id jump"
3:10 Having a tea rota, informal or otherwise started when they got rid of the tea lady. Elderly woman been there years knew all the office gossip and scandals. Does anyone remember Reginald Perrin trying to also buy a cake off the trolley to find it was reserved and he could not have it. Next day he tried to buy ALl the cakes to deny everyone else.
How do I squeeze past someone?
I kinda meekly say "er, hi, er, excuse me, can I just, er...."
And then when they ignore me I just do it while drawing as much attention as possible.
I do that if I'm alone but if I'm with my better half, "excuse me please" makes you think "move or else". I don't tolerate people getting in her way.
My daughter once said to me “when I grow up, I want to be as funny as you think you are”
worse/ best insult. I arrived slightly late for a meeting at work. It had been slightly raining as i walked from the station so my hair was damped down with my fringe dampened to my forehead.I was wearing a rain coat and carrying a slighlty old fasioned overnight bag( the ones you got free for opening a creditcard account). As i walked into the silent room one guy shout we can start now Roy Cropper has arrived.
Half the room cried with laughter the other half said , who is Roy Cropper.
I was in Canada a few years ago as part of a group. We were chatting amongst ourselves and a local asked us to confirm that we were British. He said that the giveaway was that someone had said the word "telly" as an abbreviation for television. Apparently, this is very much a British thing while "TV" is the more universal abbreviation (which Brits also use).
I worked in a school before, doing some flooring, and when I made myself a cup of tea, next to the kettle there was a giant chart with about 30 teachings staffs info of preferences on how they take their tea.. amount of sugars, whether or not they take milk, brand of tea etc. Its serious business ☕😂
Thanks for a great video, had me belly-laughing! Yes, I'm a Brit despite my proud Irish surname. And yes, I'd like to think we do queuing rather well in the UK but there has been a decline in recent years. For example, at busy periods when a checkout till opens up at a supermarket it is extremely irritating when those at the back of the queue think they can walk right to the front of that queue. And saying 'well' before an adjective is slang, when what is meant is 'very'. We have Essex to blame for that one.
We're so glad you enjoyed this one, David! And thanks for explaining that "well" is a slang phrase - we weren't aware of that! Take care x
The British would be using a knife and fork correctly. Alright ?
Even to eat pizza, which Americans find strange.
I don’t think so... we pick up pizza and eat it with our hands like everyone else. We do however use a knife and fork correctly you are right there.
I hate seeing Americans shovel their food around eating with just a fork.
@@kimtaylor2959 thats americanisms seeping into your british attitude there.
Frank Spencer.. Ooohh Betty... I got a little bit of a problem...🤔
People who live in Hove think the rest of the world doesn't know where Hove is so their answer is usually "I'm from Brighton ... well ... Hove actually." This is a well known local Sussex joke!!
I used to live in Hove Actually! I really miss it. English people think Brighton is quite odd, but Brighton people think Hove is really odd.
I worked for someone who lived in Hove actually.
I’ve always imagined the title of the film ‘Love Actually’ to be based on ‘Hove, actually’. I might be talking out of my arse though!
Our banter can be very Brutal. Armed forces , Emergency services and Hospital workers have a very Dark sense of humour as a way of dealing with they Experience.. as for saying 8:30 in Lincolnshire we would say Half 8 as arf 8
same yeah lincolnshire budddyyyyy
The thin LINE between love and hate is the ability to insult someone you have a crush on to let them know you like them!
This was DEAD good!
I think you've given enough examples there; you should draw a line under that.
😂😂
In terms of how you remember who has what in an office tea run, in my experience it comes down to experience. As an apprentice, intern or new starting graduate, your primary role will be the tea run (often for the whole office/workshop/work place). By starting all early years employees on this vital task, it means that virtually everyone in the office, often all the way up to management, has the ingrained ability to remember sometimes hundreds of tea orders without having to think about it.
Hope that helps 🙂
Have to say you were dead on when you said about giggling at someone's name being Randy. Probably wouldn't giggle to their face until we're friends though.
I giggled when they said it on here... and I'm old enough to remember Eddie Murphy singing "The Children Are Our Future" as Randy Watson!
It's our fault though, don't you think? Randy is just short for Randolph. I suppose they have the same problem with the short form of Richard.
@@Otacatapetl I had a teacher in primary school called Dick Brammer, used to crack me up!
@@HighHoeKermit There was a supervisor called Reginald Sole where I once worked. We were forever asking the switchboard operator to call for R. Sole over the tannoy. We were in hysterics...
@@Otacatapetl Spot on. We know a gent whose name is Dick Long. No joke. Even better, he's a priest. Also not a joke 😂
When you teach children how to tell the time on an analogue clock ; quarter past, half past, quarter to is obvious, the child might not be able to count upto 60
When ever I travel abroad, I will always pack teabags 😊👍
The reason why we say “Queue” is because it means standing in a line or vehicle moving forward to be attended or to proceed. Just to “stand in line” could mean you just standing there because you want to it doesn’t refer to the moment forward as Queue does.
Good to know!
But I think that would be 'to stand in a line', rather than 'stand in line'!
At the end, Grace said, ‘two times a week’ when a Briton would say ‘twice a week’.
Good to know!
I'v noticed that the use of 'twice' is slowly being eradicated. 2x's is always being used in adverts.
Thrice
You’re once, two times, three times a lady. Hmm... the Commodores wouldn’t have sung that despite being American.
When I first heard there was an American singer called LOU RAWLS it conjured up a mental image of arse wipe 🤣
"they are polite to people they hate and insult people they like" - 💯💯💯💯
I usually say "out of order" as opposed to "out of line".
Number 1, we'll 100% every single time point out that it's couldn't care less and not could care less when someone ( mainly Americans) say I could care less.
You should check out Billy Connolly. He reckons that, as a Scottish person, he's pale blue.
Like Stokies!
the best way I've found to clear a path through a crowd (none of this 'Squeeeezing past' lark ...) is to shout 'Mind Yer Backs ... Pregnant Lady!' ... or maybe 'Move Along the Bus Please!' ... They usually work because everyone is so surprised to hear them ... especially if there is no pregnant woman in sight, and they're not on a bus! My mother was a Cockney from the East End of London, so those were the sorts of phrases I might have heard from my uncles I think. They are old fashioned, but have the element of surprise. Try them some time! Phrases like 'Well good' and 'Alright??' as a greeting tend to be used by the younger generation I think. (Look up actress Catherine Tate's 'Lauren Cooper' sketches!)
When you line up a shot in Snooker (or pool) it's called "cueing up", spelt differently but pronounced the same, if that counts as other uses, probably not lol
Good to know! Thank you, Jonathan!
As a Brit, I have said “can’t complain” when asked if I’m ok. And I do also have a tendency to say the time as half past, quarter past etc, and I do drop the hour. But I’m from Coventry (Midlands)
Good observations. We blame the quality of tea down to experience. Have you got the recipe wrong? In Boston they mixed tea with sea-water, i.e. salty.
The main factor between banter/a joke and insulting someone is the tone it’s said in and the persons facial expressions.
Instead of ‘well’ we’re more like to say ‘proper’ around here
When you surprise someone with your unexpected knowledge about something they may say 'You're not as green as you're cabbage looking!'.
The opposite - when someone doesn't know something that's well known - "He's still wet behind the ears!'
I always take yorkshire tea bags with me where ever I go on holiday 🤣
Best insult i have been given was my friend calling me a weaseled spunk trumpet. Because it made it laugh so much😂
Being out of line is a military colloquialism... Someone being out of line means they're not lined up correctly shoulder to shoulder... Not it a queue behind eachother. So yes, we do use "He's out of line" but its actually the type of line were talking about is different
In Scotland they say 'the back of six' to mean just after six.
Painbow
My family say that too and we are from north west England.
The inverse is that many RUclipsrs start their videos with "What's up?" I don't know whether it's a countrywide thing but where I come from originally (Lincolnshire) that is something you say to someone who looks sad, ill or in trouble.
The typical Lincolnshire greeting, though not one I would ever use, comes out something like "Nairn". In real words, though it makes little more sense, it is actually supposed to be "Now then".