There are many quirky differences between British and American terms, from whether you say ‘vacation’ or ‘holiday’, or ‘trash’ or ‘rubbish’ – and there’s various slang words on both sides of the pond.
MailOnline reporter Alicia Watts took to the streets of New York to put our transatlantic neighbours to the test on popular British phrases.
Americans were left baffled after being quizzed on everyday words used by British people – including ‘brolly’, ‘fit’, ‘out on the pull’, ‘full of beans’ and ‘snog’.
One man incorrectly thought the term snog meant to ‘clean your shows’, while another woman wrongly guessed that ‘full of beans’ meant ‘full of s****’.
Snog actually means to kiss and ‘full of beans’ suggests the person you’re talking about has lots of energy.
Reporter Alicia Watts took to the streets of New York to put our transatlantic neighbours to the test on popular British slang words
Elsewhere, another person in the US thought that ‘Bob’s your uncle’ (which implies ‘it’s done’ or ‘there you have it) meant you can ‘have it how you want it’, while one individual asked if it was ‘boyfriend related’.
Others thought that brolly meant ‘muscular’ or ‘built’, rather than umbrella, while some thought ‘give me a tinkle on the blower’ was a ‘kiss on the cheek’ or ‘watering flowers’. Instead, the amusing saying means to ring someone.
Asked what fit means, one person said ‘yo that’s cool, that’s fire’, another added: ‘good looking’.
Next, reporter Alicia asked what ‘out on the pull’ means and surprisingly, all the American’s got it right, with one many saying ‘to pull some chick, probably.’
It comes after one man from the UK was left baffled after being quizzed on words used by people from the United States during a language podcast.
English teacher Sam, from Manchester, who co-hosts The Bridging Borders Podcast, was tested on more straightforward terms like ‘extra’ as well as tougher regional phrases.
Fellow presenter Veronika Mark – a Russian translator and content creator – started off the episode, which was uploaded on YouTube in February and racked up 2,000 views – with ‘bussin”.
‘I’ve definitely heard this,’ Sam said feebly. ‘But I’m going to have to wait till the sentence.’
One man thought the term snog meant to ‘clean your shows’, while another woman guessed that ‘full of beans’ meant ‘full of s****’
Elsewhere another US person thought that ‘Bob’s your uncle’ meant you can ‘have it how you want it’, meanwhile another asked if it was ‘boyfriend related’
However, he successfully deduced that it’s a term of high praise, especially used for food. However, Veronika added that ‘anything can be bussin’ as it simply implies something is ‘amazing’ or ‘really good’.
Sam next easily guessed ‘amped’ to mean ‘excited’ or ‘hyped’. ‘I think that one makes more sense because of like an amplifier,’ he told Veronika. However, he stumbled slightly on the word ‘extra’.
‘Over the top,’ he suggested. ‘Like… you’re giving too much energy or focus to something.’
‘Not exactly,’ Veronika replied. ‘Well, I think you were very close. It means dramatic – like attention grabbing.’ Her next slang word was ‘salty’.
‘I know this one,’ Sam replied. ‘People say this in the UK as well. It’s like you’re annoyed but it’s like a little bit more than annoyed.’ The pair also concluded it means you’re being ‘a bit childish’.