BRITISH vs AMERICAN ENGLISH - Accent & Vocabulary Comparison!

- Yeah, in America, we'd say, "That's bull."

- (laughs) Yeah, we might use that, as well.

- Why are you so excited about an oven?

- Genius. Genius.

- Never heard of anything like that.

- Oh, no. (laughs)

Hey, Marina. You all right?

- Hi. Yeah. Why won't I be?

- Oh, sorry. I was meant to ask how are you doing?

- Not bad. You're ready to start?

- Yeah, let me just switch on the audio.

Bob's your uncle. Let's get started.

- What?

- Bob's your uncle. Don't you know Bob's your uncle?

- No, what does this mean?

- It means, "And there you have it."

You say it when you just do something.

There you have it. Let's get started.

- Awesome. Wow. I didn't know that.

I'm not an American,

but I've lived here for over six years,

and I've put some effort

into actually learning the American way.

And actually in the US when you're asking a person,

"Are you all right?"

You're already assuming something bad is happening,

so you would not just casually ask a person

if they're all right.

You would just ask, "How are you doing?" Or, "What's up?"

- Oh, that's really interesting.

Yeah, we don't expect an answer when we say,

"You all right?"

Most people will say, "Yeah, all right.

Thanks. You? You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. Everything's just all right."

Hello, lovely students,

and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today, I have an incredibly exciting video for you

with a super special guest.

We are going to be talking

about American English versus British English.

And I have none other than linguamarina on the channel

to help me.

Hello, Marina! Are you all right?

- Thank you. Thank you for having me.

I'm all right. You?

- I'm all right, thank you. I'm really all right.

Before we get started, I'd just like to mention that Marina

and I have made an amazing vocabulary course

where you can learn over 100 new words

and phrases in just two weeks.

We'll teach you eight new words and phrases each day,

four from me and four from Marina.

There are lots of exercises to take each day.

We're constantly testing you on what you've learned

and really important,

we'll test you on what you've learned in previous days.

This is really good

for improving your memory and retention.

At the end of the two week course,

we'll give you one big test

so you can see what you've learned.

If you'd like to sign up to the course,

just click on the link in the description box,

and the first 150 students to sign up get a special price.

So make sure you click that link right away.

Right, let's get started with the lesson.

Today, we're going to talk about words

that have different meanings

and then different words that have the same meanings.

It can get really, really confusing,

but it's important that you understand them.

- Let's talk about something

that's super confusing for Americans.

Let's talk about a rubber.

- Oh, no. (laughs)

So when I was at school, if I made a mistake,

I would put my hand up and ask the teacher for a rubber,

and they would give me one.

- Yeah, the thing is in British English,

a rubber is an eraser.

In American English, rubber is a condom.

So guys, don't mix those up when you're in the US.

- Yeah, and also don't ask for an eraser

in the UK when you actually need a condom.

- (laughs) Yeah.

- So one phrase that we use all the time is,

"Are you all right?"

Are you all right? You all right?

But we don't always expect an answer.

It kind of just means, "How are you doing?" Or, "What's up?"

- For Americans, it might sound really confusing

because in the US, when you ask, "Are you all right?"

It implies that something is wrong,

that you look sick or worried.

- Oh, but in the UK, it's just a polite greeting, you know?

If someone asks, "You all right?"

You can reply with, "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks,"

or, "Yeah, you?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. How are you?"

- Let's talk about public schools.

'Cause public schools in the US are the ones funded

by the government.

And if you want to get into a good public school,

you need to rent or buy a house in a good neighbourhood.

And this is what a lot of people care about here.

What about the UK?

- Yeah, it's the opposite in the UK.

And it's really confusing.

I remember being confused by this as a child.

In the UK, a public school is a private school.

So you go to a state school,

which is funded by the government

or you go to a public or independent or private school

if your parents or guardians pay for it.

- Wow. Interest- That's so confusing.

Another confusing word is chips.

In the US, chips are potato chips, like Lay's and Pringles.

- Oh, okay, so we use potato chips, like Lay's and Pringles,

we call them crisps.

Chips, on the other hand,

for us, are what Americans would call french fries.

They're hot, deep-fried potatoes.

- Yeah, exactly. We call those french fries.

- Okay, Marina, I'm going to show you some pictures.

I'm going to say how we say it in British English,

and then I want you to say how you would say it

in American English.

Are you ready?

- Yeah. - Okay.

First one. For me, this is an aubergine.

- Oh, for us, it's an eggplant.

- Eggplant. That's so weird.

Do you know why that is?

- Well, I think it's just, again, logic..

It looks like a big purple egg. So it's an eggplant.

- Do you know, I actually read an article

'cause I was so confused about this one day

that it's because the bud

of the flower looks like an egg when it grows.

- Oh, interesting.

So yeah, there's always an explanation.

It's just, yeah, what people are used to now.

- Okay, what about this next one?

For me, it's a torch.

- Flashlight.

But again, for me, American,

like American English, there is so much logic here.

'Cause you're flashing with this light

and you're sending signals.

So it's a flashlight.

- And the word torch sounds like it's a flame.

We're gonna set it on fire.

- Yeah.

- Okay, what about this next one?

In the supermarkets in the UK, we would say trolley.

- That's a cart.

- That's interesting because when we do online shopping,

we add things to our cart.

We don't add things to our trolley.

- Interesting. I would wonder does this happen?

Because somebody in the US introduced this concept

of online checkout and they use the American word cart,

and this is why the British ended

up adopting the cart for the online.

- Absolutely. Absolutely.

Yeah, sometimes we say, "Add to checkout,"

but yeah, we would say, "Add to cart."

Ooh, I will also add sometimes you will see,

"Add to shopping bag."

Would you ever see that?

- No. (laughs) Add to shopping...

Well, maybe, but normally it's a cart, yeah.

- So this next one, what would you call hair

that goes across your forehead like this?

In British English, we would call it fringe. A fringe.

- Yeah, in American it's bangs.

But I also think people understand fringe

'cause I would say both.

- It's really interesting 'cause when I was a teenager

and I started reading American magazines,

they would always talk

about having the right bangs for your face.

And I had no idea what bangs were.

It sounded so weird to me.

I think fringe, it kind of makes sense

that it's fringing above your face.

I wonder where bangs came from.

- Yeah. It's interesting.

- This next word in British English, we call this an apple.

An apple. What do you call it in American English?

- Hmm, I think we call it an apple.

- Yeah, I know. I just put it in there for fun.

Did your YouTube manager come up with that with that?

- Yeah.

- Oh my God. Tell her I love her.

(laughs) That's really funny.

Next one. What would you call this in American English?

In British English, it is clearly a biscuit. A biscuit.

- No brainer. A cookie.

- A cookie.

Yeah, see, we would also recognise the word cookie.

For us, a cookie is specifically a biscuit

with chocolate chips in it.

Chocolate chip cookie.

- Oh, interesting.

Yeah, 'cause, well, this is the most famous cookie.

Well, everybody has chocolate chip cookies here.

- Yeah, the Maryland brand is really popular over here.

We would only call it a cookie

if it looked like an American style biscuit basically.

Okay, what about one of my favourite seasons?

Although I like all four.

Autumn. What do you call it in American English?

- Yeah, for me it's obvious. It's fall.

Just because the leaves fall down

and it makes a tonne of sense.

- I have to give it to you. It does make a lot of sense.

But I do love the word autumn.

So in British English,

when we say that it feels like autumn,

we say it feels autumnal.

Do you have a word like that in American English?

- Never heard of anything like that,

but it sounds beautiful, I should say.

- So you can't say it feels fall-y. You'd just say-

- It fells like fall.

No, I would say it feels like fall.

Feels like October. (laughs)

- Yeah, we would say it feels very autumnal today.

Very autumnal.

- It's beautiful.

- Next one, the pedestrian area to the side

of a street or a road.

We call it the pavement.

What do you call it in American English?

- Sidewalk 'cause you walk on the side of the road.

- Genius. Genius.

And finally, we have the word cooker. Cooker.

This is kind of a slang word for oven.

We also have the word hob, which means the top of an oven.

What do you use in American English?

- Yeah, the regular word would be the oven.

If you say stove, I would say it implies something fancier,

like, you know, in American homes,

if you see a stove with red knobs,

that means it's a fancy home.

'Cause it comes from a particular brand

that's really expensive,

and there is this, I don't even know,

I think there was a special word for homes

with red knobs on the stove.

There is also this brand in the UK.

I don't remember-

This very fancy kind of oven brand.

- AGA maybe?

- AGA. Yes, yes. Exactly.

- An AGA is an oven that is normally on all the time,

so it heats your house as well as cooks your food.

But yes, AGA. Very posh. Very posh English ovens.

- Yeah, we went to see some friends

and they were like, my friends were telling me,

"They have AGA at home."

I was like, "What does that mean?

Why are you so excited about an oven?"

- Yeah, we've just moved to a house with an AGA,

and it's been a nightmare to be honest

because it's extremely expensive to run,

and it's just-

You have to learn a whole new way of cooking

because you can't turn it to a specific temperature.

We have a hot oven and a cold oven

and a hot plate and a not-so-hot plate.

You've just gotta make it work.

- Oh, wow.

Oh, well, this is, you know, you learn to be fancy.

Oh, this is actually a good word.

- Yes. Posh for us. Posh.

Fancy. That is true.

I've never noticed that difference before.

But yeah, you do use fancy.

- Yeah, and also ,I think in the UK,

what do you use fancy for?

In the UK, when you say, "I fancy you,"

that means I like you.

Like, if a girl likes a boy, you say you fancy.

'Cause in the US, you just say, "I like this guy."

In the UK, would you say, "I fancy that guy?"

- Yeah, definitely.

When I first met my husband, I really fancied him.

I was really kind of romantically interested in him.

We can also use it for wanting food

or to want to do something,

like to feel like doing something.

"I fancy going to the cinema tonight."

You know, I feel like going to the cinema or,

"Oh, I really fancy a cup of tea."

That would be a very British thing to say.

- Yeah, very British. Never heard that in the US.

It's like, "I'd love a cup of tea," or, "I like you."

The next one is interesting.

Something that I've noticed, like, this big difference

between American and British cities or towns,

when you have an apartment complex

or a house that is up for rent,

normally, we would have a sign saying, "Now leasing,"

or, "For rent," and then contact details.

What would you have in the UK?

- We often have signs saying, "To let,"

and I always find it really funny

'cause it looks like a sign saying toilet,

which means restroom in American English,

but it's just missing the I.

And I remember being a child and thinking,

"Why are they advertising toilets everywhere?"

But it was just, "To let."

- That's funny. That's a way to remember it.

And by the way, for the restroom,

in the US, we'd normally say restroom or bathroom.

Another word that I learned in the UK was the loo.

And I was so confused when somebody asked me,

"Do you wanna use the loo?"

I'm like, "What does that mean?"

Lavatory, right? That's the contraction.

- Yeah, I use the word the loo all the time.

We use the word toilet to mean the entire bathroom.

It's just a room with a toilet in it.

"I'm going to the toilet,"

is an absolutely fine thing to say over here.

But I've heard that in America,

you should say I'm going to the lady's room

or I'm going to the restroom.

You wouldn't actually say toilet.

- Yeah, I think it's just, it's too specific.

- My grandma's very posh and she says,

"I'm going to use the lavatory." The lavatory.

I always aspire to be that level of posh.

But sometimes I shorten it down to the lav.

- You say the lav, as well?

- It's not particularly formal.

I wouldn't recommend using it in an English exam.

- In the UK, how would you say,

"Do you wanna grab some coffee?"

- Okay, so firstly, we'd probably replace coffee with tea.

We do like coffee over here,

but there's a kind of an emotional connection to tea.

If you've got a problem, let's have a tea.

If you've had a success, we'll have a tea.

If you, you know, if your heart's been broken, tea.

That's all you need.

But we wouldn't say, "A cup of tea."

We would say, "A cuppa."

"Do you fancy a cuppa?"

- Interesting. Wow.

- Okay, let's talk about the word rubbish.

If I say something is total rubbish or absolute rubbish,

what do you think I'm saying?

- I would say rubbish is garbage.

I would just say garbage. That's it.

- It means garbage or trash.

We would never use those words, really.

If we use the word trash,

it means that somebody isn't classy.

But I think we've adopted that from America.

If we say something's rubbish,

it means that an idea or thought isn't good

or something's not worth thinking about

or something's really terrible.

We do use it a lot.

You know, if someone's having a bad day,

and they've told me about their day,

I'll say, "Oh, that's rubbish. I'm so sorry for you.

That's really sad and annoying."

- Mm. Interesting.

- We would absolutely use it to say

that something doesn't make sense.

If someone tells me something, I don't believe it,

I'll say, "That's total rubbish. I don't believe you."

- Yeah, in America, we'd say, "That's bull."

- (laughs) Yeah, we might use that, as well.

We'd probably say BS. "That's total BS."

Or we would say bollocks.

Okay, Marina, I have one last phrase for you.

It's possibly my favourite one.

It is Bob's your uncle. Bob's your uncle.

What do you think it means?

- I have no idea.

It's just crazy how, you know,

I've never really heard people use it.

And when you said it today, I was like,

"What does that mean?"

- Let me give you an example of how we'd use it, okay?

How can I get into the theatre?

Buy a ticket and Bob's your uncle.

- It sounds to me like,

"And buy a ticket and do whatever you want.

Like, I'm not part of this movie."

It's just sounds like that to me.

Like, "You're sending me to some Bob,

you know, and he's gonna take care of you.

He's your uncle. Bye."

This is what it sounds like to me.

What does it really mean?

- So it means, "That's it. You're all set.

There you have it."

We often use it to conclude an easy

or simple set of instructions.

For example, "To make a cup of tea,

boil the kettle, put a tea bag in,

pour in the water, and Bob's your uncle.

You have a cup of tea."

That's not how you make a cup of tea.

You need to wait certain amounts of minutes,

and you need to add milk, just a splash.

But you know what I mean.

Bob's your uncle, there you have it.

- So it's not as mean as I imagined it.

- I guess you could replace it with tada.

Like, "Tada! There you have it. Bob's your uncle."

- Oh, I guess in American we would say, "That's it,"

or, "You're all set. There you are."

- Right. That is it for today's lesson.

Thank you so much for watching.

I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you learned something.

A huge thank you to linguamarina

for joining me in this video.

Make sure you check out her channel

and subscribe to it for lots of English lessons.

And I will see you soon for another video. Mwah!

- Thank you. Bye.

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