10 British expressions Americans don't use

90,098 views ・ 2018-08-03

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00:03
Well, it's a lovely conference hotel, isn't it?
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Yes, isn't it great?
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I hope Jay hasn't overslept again.
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We never hear the alarms on our phones.
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No, he's up.
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I saw him at breakfast.
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Oh good.
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Ah Jay.
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You're late.
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Sorry.
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I thought this meeting was on the first floor.
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Yeah?
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Well, this is the second floor.
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No, it isn't.
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Never mind.
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Have you got the artwork, Jay, for our presentation?
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Yes, it was quite a challenge.
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I couldn't find all the images you wanted so I had to take the photos myself.
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Oh cheers, Jay.
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Yeah, cheers.
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Ah.
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Cheers.
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Cheers.
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Show us the pictures.
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Sure.
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Here's the first one.
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I don't understand.
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Yeah.
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Which picture is this?
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Hmmm.
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Man delivering the post.
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This isn't what we had in mind.
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Where are the letters?
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You didn't say anything about letters.
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But we wanted a postman.
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Let's move on.
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Jay, show us the next one.
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OK.
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Well this photo was very hard to take.
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I don't get it.
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Me neither.
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Well, you said you wanted a suitcase in a boot.
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Now I couldn't find a boot big enough for a whole suitcase but I did my best.
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Are you taking the mickey?
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The mi...
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What do you mean?
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We need to see a suitcase in the back of a car.
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Well then why didn't you say so?
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I thought we did.
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You did not.
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Don't get shirty.
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Sh...
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What?
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What's the next one?
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OK.
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I put a lot of effort into this one and it's exactly what you asked for.
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It's a school boy holding a rubber.
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What's wrong now?
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It's pants, Jay.
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No it's not.
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Its a condom.
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Vicki, you're going to have to make all these images again.
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Yeah.
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You're such a plonker Jay.
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What time is our presentation tomorrow?
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8.30 in the morning.
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Do you want me to stop by your room and knock you up?
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Oh, that would be great.
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Thanks Craig.
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What?
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Hello everyone, I’m Vicki and I’m British.
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And I’m Jay and I’m American.
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And last week we showed you that story and asked you to spot the British expressions.
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03:04
There were ten of them and you did really well!
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Well done!
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We were very impressed, and this week we’re going to explain them.
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Yeah, let’s get cracking. That means let’s start and we say that in
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American English too.
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But you don’t say ground floor when you’re talking about buildings.
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We can but the ground floor of a building is the first floor.
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And in the UK?
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It varies but usually we have a ground floor and then the next floor is the first floor.
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So it’s the second floor.
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In the US we’re logical.
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We start at floor one and go up.
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Well we have a different logic.
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We start at zero.
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OK, what’s next?
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Cheers.
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We say cheers when we’re making toast in American English.
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So when we’re lifting our glasses to drink.
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We do too but cheers has some other meanings as well.
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It’s an informal way to say good bye.
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Oh, like cheerio?
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Yeah, 'Cheers bye!'
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And it’s also an informal way to say thank you.
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OK, next one.
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Post.
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That’s a piece of wood or metal that’s set in the ground.
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That’s the same in British English but the post is also the mail – so letters and parcels.
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And a postman or postwoman is someone who delivers the post.
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We’d call them a mail carrier.
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A mailman if it’s a man.
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OK.
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Next?
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A boot.
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This is a big strong shoe.
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Same in the UK, but it also means the space in the back of a car where you put your bags
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and cases.
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We call that the trunk.
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05:20
Taking the mickey.
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Yes.
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This is an informal expression and it’s when you make someone look silly.
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Is it unkind to take the mickey?
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Not really.
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It means teasing and making fun of someone, but usually in a gentle way.
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OK.
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05:44
Shirty.
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What does that mean?
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That means cross or a little angry.
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So when you’re shirty, you’re bad tempered.
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Exactly.
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Shirty is when you’re rude because you’re annoyed.
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OK, the next one.
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Rubber.
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This is an informal way of saying condom on the US – so a rubber is a contraceptive.
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We just call them condoms in the UK.
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And we use rubbers to remove pencil marks from paper.
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That’s an eraser.
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Yeah, we could say eraser but it’s a bit formal.
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We normally say rubber.
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06:33
Plonker.
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This is an insult right?
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Yes.
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It’s slang.
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If someone is stupid we might say they’re a plonker.
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It means they’re an idiot?
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Yeah, or we might say they’re a wally – that’s another informal word.
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If someone does something stupid we might say ‘Oh, you wally’.
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It means stupid too.
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07:03
Pants.
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Ah yes.
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Now pants are a piece of clothing that cover our legs in American English but I know that’s
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different in British English.
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Yeah, we call them trousers.
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And for us, pants are what you wear under your trousers next to your skin.
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We call that underwear.
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But pants can also be an adjective in British English.
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It’s informal and we use it to say something was rubbish.
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So ‘How was the film?’
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‘Oh it was pants.’
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Oh so pants means very bad.
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Yeah.
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And now the last one.
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Knock someone up This is informal again and it has a couple
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of meanings in British English.
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In American English it’s slang and it means to make a girl pregnant.
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We have that meaning too.
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But very often it means to wake someone up by knocking on their door.
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That’s not what I think of when I hear it.
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He must have a dirty mind.
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So are we done?
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Yes.
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That was fun.
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We want to say a big thank you to Craig for appearing in the comedy sketch with us.
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We’ll put links to his websites below.
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They’re great for Spanish speakers who are learning English.
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And if you enjoyed this video please share it with a friend.
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And subscribe to our channel.
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See you all next week everyone.
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Bye.
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Bye-bye.
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