15 American Phrases That Totally Confuse Brits
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มิ.ย. 2024
- Huge thanks to Jess for joining me in today's video. Please go check out her awesome channel @loveandlondon
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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
00:52 Monday Morning Quarterback
01:52 Bang For Your Buck
02:19 Plead The Fifth
03:12 John Hancock
04:00 New York Minute
04:55 Freshman & Sophomore
06:26 Knock On Wood
07:26 For The Birds
08:03 Behind The Eight Ball
09:08 The Whole Nine Yards
10:01 Broil
10:54 Y'all
Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)
Actually, John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence with a very large, embellished signature, stating that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles. Since then, any such signature (and eventually, any signature) on a document has occasionally been referred to as a "John Hancock."
Yes, I think it’s a great little idiom & I always loved John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence….striking w/a flair for the dramatic!!👍
Just put your "John Hancock" there. Or .... your "JH".
John Hancock was the first President of the First Continental Congress (essentially, the chairman of the representatives chosen by the different colonies i.e. states to decide what to do about their issues with the British government). John Hancock was the last to affix his signature to the document of the Declaration of Independence, which he did in a flourish, probably because he had a healthy ego (he was the second-richest man in the American colonies).
😂I was screaming as she was “diving into her history knowledge.”
@@lgempet2869 So everyone can see it: www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Declaration-of-Independence-000009931570_Medium.jpg
I think it’s important to say you “plead the fifth” because answering the question truthfully would incriminate you. It’s not just not wanting to answer a question. It’s not wanting to answer because you would reveal something about yourself.
Yes. In court you’d use it if answering would basically be confessing a crime or at least making you look very suspicious. In colloquial usage it’s a way of saying “I know better than answer that question.”, “I’m not getting involved in that discussion.”, or just “I’m not saying anything.”
And there is a difference between its use in criminal and civil proceedings. In a civil proceeding, if you plead the fifth, the jury can draw adverse inference from you pleading it. That is, they can infer that you did something wrong because you chose not to incriminate yourself. The jury can't do this in a criminal proceeding.
Like Dump!
And if your answer had anything not demonstrateably truthful you could get charged with perjury.
Under the Fifth Amendment, the right to not answer a question can not be used as a sign of quilt.
Actually hilariously in rural America and the South the phrase "it'll take a minute" actually means something that will take a long time.
Similarly, if you haven't seen someone in a long, long time, you might say "hey Fred, it's been a minute!"
@@ArtofFreeSpeech Agreed; most I know use it thusly, as well. (I'm in California)
There's also "It's been a hot minute" which means it's been a long time...
@@davarrashayde that's pretty much the same. It just in some cultural context you can omit the hot
“Bang for your buck” doesn’t just mean a good deal - most often it carries with it the word “more” in a comparative sense, as in: you have $50 to spend and you could go to Nordstrom, but decide to go to Fred Meyer because it’s less expensive and you could get 2 pairs of jeans (or whatever) v. the 1 you could only get at Nordstrom because each pair costs more. You get more bang for your buck: more items for the money you spent. Also: many ppl say “frosh” for freshman. Unimpressed with the John Hancock and plead the fifth segments.
"Freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior" often applies to the highschool years too.
Those people in the UK refer to the junior and senior years of what we call high school (secondary education) as "sixth form," specifically "lower sixth form" and "upper sixth form." (That is, if I am not mistaken.)
Its honestly more relevant in High School than college. Also in college, these are official terms based on the number of hours completed rather than years completed. Often you have to be a Junior before you can take 300+ level classes - though I think this is a rule was removed.
Also at one time Freshman was abbreviated to Frosh. He's only a Frosh.
Quits skoo joins a gang den stab dem peeps .
Dey gotz ta know who run shit .
In the US, I’ve always used it for both. In high school, you can use grade number and Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. In college/university, I’ve only ever heard Freshman/Sophomore/Junior/Senior. BUT, I’m 46, that should have changed since I graduated.
The expression "Monday morning quarterback" also refers to the fact that most American professional football games are played on Sunday.
I think that’s closer to the real meaning like she said “saying something that already happened” it’s like a quarter back being late Sunday and showing up Monday so sort of being late to the party of saying something
I’ve actually never heard this expression before (Mon morning quarterback “).
@@DogeDragone right. But the reason the phrase refers to Monday morning is that most football games happen on Sunday. That context is needed to know that Monday morning is referring to after an event has already happened.
I more refers to the people that talk about what should have happened during the game. With the benefit of hindsight. Very similar to armchair quarterback
@@flyingwombatazazz6736, similar but not quite the same, an armchair quarterback is slightly different in that an armchair quarterback. An armchair quarterback is often suggesting alternative methods either while or even before the person who is actually responsible for making the call is making them, they often will not be effected by the results of their suggestions or have their idea effect what is going on, they are also often less informed suggestions than a better informed person would be making. A Monday morning quarterback is being criticized for making what they consider the better call after the fact (though clearly it may not be) whereas the armchair quarterback is being criticized for making them while the decision making is going on, either with irritation because their ideas are unwanted or of lower quality than those who are actually making the decisions or has no effect one way or the other on the decision being made in the moment.
The American distinction between "broil" and "grill": When you GRILL, there is a heat source BELOW an item which is on a grillwork cooking the item. When you BROIL, there is a heatsource which is overhead (only) cooking the item, whether it is on a grillwork or in a pan.
oh yeah, was really weird to see Broil in there, because we still Grill haha. I personally broil things in an oven to give them a nice brown, crispy top, but they are already cooked anyway
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side.
In a oven we grill from the top
Out side we use a bbq or a grill
@@grahamlowe314 Which brings up another distinction here in the US. Grilling food and barbecuing food are different. Grilling means high heat from below and a short cooking time, usually uncovered. Barbecuing is slow heat over a long period of time and is done in an enclosed unit. Most people own something that can do both but restaurants and professionals use separate equipment. Many barbecues look like old oil drums sliced in half from top to bottom and put on their side. In other words, you grill a steak or burger but barbecue a brisket or ribs.
You might also use broil to describe a bad sunburn. Broiling in the sun.
@@hectorsmommy1717
Now in the English speaking world all what you have described is grilling meat. We understand the difference between grilling meat in a house or outside . We also have bbq with covers and know how to cook fast or slow with them .Remember it’s the English language
Behind the Eight Ball: it’s not just a disadvantage. It means you have been put in a difficult position that will be hard to get out of.
...but that is saying the same thing. A disadvantage is just a situation that will be more difficult to accomplish.
@@josiahferrell5022 as I said, it’s not JUST a disadvantage. It’s a particular kind of disadvantage.
@@aramiscalcutt You're thinking "snookered" which is brit slang for thwarted
AKA between a rock and a hard place.
@@mikeevans4585 being behind the eight ball is in the cue ball is his hind the eight ball, so the eight ball will be hit no matter what one of the players on balls he goes for. It’s not just a disability because it’s something that your opponent deliberately tries to do to you so that you have to waste your turn without hitting any balls, which is home table, scratch and allows them to pick up the cue ball behind the shooting line when used correctly, it means either that you’re at the severe disadvantage you can’t keep your balls and they get to place the queue wherever they want or that someone need a dick move that with you and disadvantage and it wasn’t just a turn of luck that put you there
For about 12 years I worked in the Boston office of a British publishing company. One word I ran across that confused the Brits on the team was “Druthers”. It came up in some discussion; my British boss asked for opinions. I said “If I had my druthers we’d ...”. My response left the Brits on the team furrowing their brows. It basically means “choices”, as in “if the choices were mine”. I’ve understood it comes from a contraction of “I’d rather” and it seems it was popularized by Mark Twain.
I use the expression d'ruthers still ) likely from Mother. Yes to the above, it seems to be a vulgarization of "I'd rather, x or y, if I had my d'ruthers.
In some of the many dialects of Southern American English in the 19th Century, “rather” was pronounced as closer to “ruther”. So “I’d rather” sounded like “I’d ruther” or “I druther” and the expression stuck.
The original concept behind "knock on wood' was that evil spirits listen to our talking and if you speak of some misfortune you haven't experienced, it gives them an idea how to hurt you. You knock on wood to invoke good spirits, nature spirits, to ward off the evil spirits from carrying out the specific misfortune you mentioned.
I've always heard that wood (as in trees) was specifically used because the vibrations would carry down into the roots, scaring the spirits away. Similar to ringing a bell.
Travis has part of it, but the whole story includes the superstition that a dryad or other fey creature lived inside the tree you were about to chop down, so you knocked on wood to wake it and warn it, so it wouldn't bounce the axe head back into your leg and confer a life-threatening chop.
@@rossanderson4440 see, that's fascinating. I've not heard that version, but it makes sense the further you go.
Yes, I think Travis and Ross pretty much have the superstition correct. I think that this custom and belief actually originated with the Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages, who had many woodland spirits.
I could've sworn that was a tradition inherited from the British which is why I'm surprised it's still not a superstition that bad spirits lurk in wood
The opposite of a "New York minute" in American English is "island time", "island" referring to the Hawaii Islands, were the pace of life is much slower. I was actually in Hawaii a few months ago, and I almost missed my flight home because the airport security guards were taking their sweet time in scanning the luggages, lol.
In the South, the opposite of a "NewYork minute" is often stated as "slow as molasses."
Or Caribbean islands
In South Africa African time means when somebody dosesn't stick to an agreed time schedule, they come in late.
How about "slow as molasses in January"
@@gulfgal98 oh, i hasn't had that in awhile. Im in VA and it seems like we got a mix of southern and our own thing going.
Wait, just caught that "own thing going" is that southern or?
I have heard two origins for the whole nine yards. One refers to the length of belt fed ammo in fighter planes during WW2. So if you give it the whole nine yards, you gave it everything you had. Also, and I believe this one is the original, it could refer to square rigged sailing ships. Sails were called yards. For a time, three masted ships could have three yards on each mast. So giving it the whole 9 yards means you have all of the sails up and in the wind. You gave it your all.
I was wondering about that
The sailing one reminds me of being three sheets to the wind during a pub crawl.... 😆
Thanks - I always thought it described rushing in football but it always means giving your all against a tough odds
I like the idea of dealing thirty cal. Rounds of hot ass lead to to nazis so im gonna go with that firsfi.dint fault me for it
I wonder how much fabric comes on a bolt. That was my thought.
I heard about an English lady who hadn't been in America very long. She was grocery shopping, and she found a couple of store employees and asked where she could find the ice lollies. They had no idea what she was talking about, but trying to be helpful, they suggested that she look in the bakery.
Ice lollies are what we usually call popsicles.
@Micah There are frozen ice cream cakes, so I could see the misunderstanding.
@@steveaustin2686 I was thinking along those same lines, but I thought that when they heard the word ice, they thought of icing and that made them think of cake.
@@pamshort4590 That is a good point as well.
Makes since.
John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence and his signature is very prominent (i.e., BIG) in relation to the other founding fathers' signatures. He wanted to make a statement by doing so rather just give his endorsement. Colloquially, "Give me your John Hancock." just means the same thing as "Sign here."
Yes. He signed it large enough, he said, so that King George could read it without his glasses!
It was primarily an act of defiance, since they knew that if their effort failed, they would probably be hunted down and executed for treason, so yeah, might as well sign big.
Even ostensibly educated Yanks (like me) sometimes stumble when referring to the Declaration of Independence vs. the Constitution.
*Fun fact* both have an introductory statement. Only one is titled Preamble.
Important points missed
Monday morning quarterback, traditionally all American football games were on Sunday so Monday morning at work everyone is discussing the games with would've should've could've.
John Hancock on Declaration of Independence his is the largest signature, rumors are that he wanted King George to be able to see it.
Similar to the Monday morning quarterback is the armchair quarterback. The armchair quarterback watches all the football games from his armchair and thinks he knows what everybody should do, even though he may never have even played the game. It also refers to someone who acts like they know everything about a situation, when he really isn't even involved.
In UK we would probably say something like "Hindsight is a wonderful thing" but using a sarcastic tone of voice.
@@Phiyedough Not so much an everyday idiom as an adage, but we do say "Hindsight is 20/20"
Could it be same as "general after battle"?
Not native English speaker here.
@@sabkobds - Exactly.
Monday morning quarterback: It is a reference to Sunday night football. It means to give an opinion after the fact. It is like telling someone who has already played the game what should have been done during the game the night before.
I believe the "Whole nine yards" phrase had to do with cloth or material for sewing. If I remember correctly, a bolt of cloth is nine square yards. So if you needed a lot of fabric, you might say something like, "Oh, I like this material, I'll take the whole nine yards."
Actually Give them the whole nine yards got it's start from WWII fighter pilots The bullets for the machine guns used in American combat planes of WWII were in chains twenty-seven feet in length (9 yards) Thus if a pilot was able to fire all his bullets off at one target he was said to have given his adversary 'the full nine yards'. ....So in short the whole nine yards means give it everything you have to give and hold nothing back....
@@jrthmc29 I knew I wouldn't have to type all that, you did it for me. I believe that was the maximum amount the ammo 'container' held for that weapon. must have been reasonably heavy.
Oh wow! I just learned something. I also thought it had to do with fabric.
@@GregBrownsWorldORacing Very heavy! And it was common to have three Browning M2 50 cal machine guns in each wing, so the whole nine yards was really 54 yards.
@@jrthmc29 That`s what I thought!
The College years also apply to High school, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior!
i was thinking about this when they asked about "Freshie". When my daughter was in high school she definitely called the Freshman "Freshies" - at least the ones in band!
Broiling is the cooking technique that uses radiant heat from above to cook your food, so it's like upside-down grilling.
In UK we would call that grilling but the distinction has become blurred since the barbecue gained popularity.
Exactly.
@@Phiyedough grilling in the US is to cook from below with heat (usually flame) passing through a grating that holds the item being grilled. Broiling is heat from above, even the sun will broil you.
I always thought until recently that the Broiler on my oven was a place to store pans.
@@Phiyedough That’s because you misunderstand what barbecue is. Cooking for a short time on a grate over direct, dry, high heat from charcoal, a gas flame or similar is grilling. It is not barbecue. Barbecue involves a lengthy (hours long) cook over low, indirect heat and smoke, with careful control of humidity in the cooking vessel, or barbecue pit. Barbecue involves planning and a significant time commitment. You can’t, e.g., spontaneously invite coworkers to your place for a barbecue after work unless you are planning to eat well past midnight or even late the next day. Throwing a few burgers and sausages on a grill is not barbecue.
Y’all: The English language once distinguished between singular “thou/thee” and plural “ye/you” but lost these distinctions starting around the 16th cent. or so. It turns out, however, that it’s useful to have separate singular and plural pronouns in the second person. Different dialects have come up with different solutions: In Brooklyn, it’s “youze.” In Pittsburgh, it’s “y’inz.” In the Midwest, it’s “you guys.” In the South, it’s “y’all,” and for emphasis, it’s “ALL y’all.”
And "y'inz" has its roots in the Appalachian speech of West Virginia (since so many in Western PA hail from W. Va.): it's a contraction of "you'uns, which is a further contraction of "you young ones." "Young'uns" to "you'uns" to "Y'inz.". Or y'all. Fun with American dialects! :)
I mainly hear you guys on the West Coast. I say you guys. I moved to the Midwest and hear most people saying y’all.
You guys is used in England, too. I just heard it on episode 2 of the current series of The Bay, which takes place in Morecambe.
In the St Louis area it is "Youse guys"
A true southerner would never say all y’all, it’s redundant. We also wouldn’t say y’all in regards to one person. It is plural.
Broiling is actually *not* the same as grilling. Grilling involves heating from below, often with an open flame (or heat source generally--see "grilled cheese"), while broil is an oven setting providing intense radiant heat from above. Top tip: if your pizza's thoroughly cooked but lacks browning on the top, set the oven to broil and check after 1 minute, then every 30 seconds after that until it's got the doneness you want. You'll have your beautiful pizza ready within 2-3 minutes, maximum!
Yes that’s absolutely correct; I came here to say the same. 😊
you missed their point. they call broiling in the uk grilling. so what we call broiling they call grilling.
In pool, if you're playing the game of 8-ball, the 8-ball is the last ball for you to put in, after all the solid colors or all the stripes (whichever group you are trying to sink). If you have a shot you would like to take, but the 8-ball is blocking the pocket you would use to sink some other ball, you're said to be "behind the 8-ball." This has been generalized to mean that when you're "behind the 8-ball" you're being blocked from doing something you desire or need to do.
More precisely, you are in a bad situation from which there is there is no way out.
and you are not allowed to hit the eight ball first. So if you’re behind the eight ball, you’re in a really difficult situation to make a good shot.
The familiar British equivalent would be “snookered”, which also means to be placed in a difficult position in billiards, just a different game than Eight Ball.
Note that in the US we also have the derogatory adjective "sophomoric", meaning pretentious but immature.
"Sophomore" is a combination of Greek root words- "Soph" meaning wise, and "More" meaning foolish. Carries a connotation of someone with some knowledge, yet still a fool in other ways.
Yeah, I thought about that too.
It's also common to refer to a band's second album as their sophomore album, which is often not regarded as well as their first album.
@@rhymeswithorange6092 ❤ this
say it louder for the people in the back!
@@NathanMN The sophomore slump
John Hancock is actually the one that stated he was going to put his signature on in huge handwriting so that everyone in King George could see it very easily. It’s the biggest signature in the center of the document and it is the easiest to see!
Conversely, Button Guinette signed his signature exceedingly small so if the Revolution failed, the British might not notice it.
In the US, you're also a Freshman in the first year of high school, and high schools use Sophomore, Junior, and Senior as well. We usually don't reduce it to anything (that's much more of a British trait with words and phrases).
Well, we do say “frosh” instead of “freshman”, but as for the rest, I can’t think of a shortened version.
@@Gidgetxf never heard that - maybe regional
Sophomoric also means not the best or immature.
In my Highschool older students would teas the freshmen by calling them fish.
@@EccentricAuntWanda1 We used frosh here in the Midwest but that was many, many years ago! Sophomoric is still used on occation!
Freshman-Senior also applies to High School, for each year of 9th-12th grade.
The British version of "behind the eight ball" is "snookered." The whole nine yards comes from cutting cloth, as long ago cloth came in 9 yard bolts, so to go the whole nine yards meant getting it all.
Behind the eight ball also means you're in trouble.
I had heard that "the whole nine yards" came from wwII, when the ammo belts for the machineguns in US fighters were 27 ft long, so if you came back to base without any bullets left you had given the enemy the whole 9 yards
John Hancock was President of the US Congress! He signed the Declaration of Independence the other 55 signed later! He had the biggest signature on it.
A Yd is 3’ (ft) or 36” (in) The whole 9 Yds is the amount of length of .50 caliber ammunition belt in the box. 27 Feet of bullets in the belt of ammunition.
I thought it was a reference to American football. Learn something new every day!
I love it that you make sure to make a use for each sentence! It makes a big difference. Thank you!
Broiling is cooking something (usually meat but not always) _under_ a close flame. On an oven, the broiler was traditionally a compartment underneath the main oven, so the food would be cooked from above.
For John Hancock, it should also be mentioned that his signature on the Declaration of Independence is very outsized compared to all the other signatures.
Sounds like he was compensating with a big John Hancock.
John Hancock famously made his signature larger than the others and allegedly said that he wrote it large enough for King George to see from Philadelphia (or wherever it was signed)
This is what I have heard. "The whole nine yards" originated (I believe) from the WWII 'Flying Tigers' in China. The Curtiss P-40 fighter plane had belt-fed machine guns that had bullet-carrying belts that were nine yards long. If a pilot shot all nine yards at a Japanese airplane, he could say "I gave him the whole nine yards!" meaning, I shot everything I had at the enemy plane. In modern usage, it roughly means: "everything", or "I gave it all I could."
Very well said ! The belts were 27 feet long thus nine yards, you know the rest.
@@CannaMike420 "The rest" is the fact that I'm related to Glenn Curtiss. Whoooo Hoooooo!! 😁
I always thought it had something to do with American football 😅
You are correct
I’ve known this was related to a machine gun belt, but never with the Curtiss P-40 detail. Thanks for “the rest of the story.”
"Behind the 8-ball" means to be _in trouble or an awkward position, out of luck._
Example: _His check bounced, leaving Jim behind the eight ball with his landlord._
I found this explanation online, but it is accurate. I used it because it's worded well.
If you told an American you were going to "grill this chicken", they would assume you were going to cook it on either an outdoor grill, like a propane or charcoal grill (what Brits would call a barbecue) or an indoor gas grill (the same thing but with a vent hood over it for grilling without going outside).
In German we have the same phrase "knock on wood" : Klopf auf Holz....We are also supposed to find something wooden, sometimes jokingly knock our own heads😉
Same in the States.
I think it might be because so many people immigrated from Germany. Both sides of my dad's family did. My mother's family were from the UK and Native American.
Yes, in USA we also knock on our heads as a joke for knocking on wood 😅
@@michelehenne2477 I think so too. My mother's side came from Germany
This would suggest that the English phrase originates from German immigrants around the Wisconsin area, which tracks. It's perceived as a very midwestern expression, even if it's ubiquitous today.
"For the birds" is another idiom involved with farming, particularly wheat. When the wheat is separated from the chaff, the chaff is then considered useful only to the birds, which will glean through it for any missed kernels. When a field is harvested, usually flocks of birds follow looking for small bits of edible bits, regardless of what is being harvested.
That actually makes far more sense than the explanation I've heard about it being a more vulgar WWII U.S. Army phrase (that's s*** for the birds) regarding birds pecking through horse droppings for seeds.
I was thinking something similar, but suspect it had more to do with poultry livestock rather than wild birds. People with chickens will give them bread that is stale, trimmings from the vegetables the humans eat, grain that has gotten infested with bugs, etc.
"for the birds" means "below a man's standard."
Most sources would disagree with you,
You guys are terrific together! Regarding the "freshman" word, some people will shorten the word to "frosh."
In the South, we have a lot of colloquialisms. One of the most common is "I'm fixin' to" which means I am getting ready to do something.
I've also heard "fitna" as in "She's fitna leave for work" .
They say that in the north as well.
Don't forget bless your heart lol
@@t0dd000 what part? I know in VA we may say"hey, Im gonna go to the store" but I don't know if that really counts.
@@PatientPerspective Midwest you hear it all a lot because a lot of us have southern roots😉 Bless y'all's hearts🤗
4:31 We do have the similar term "country mile" to refer to a long, undefined distance. The idea being that rural people greatly underestimate (or understate) distances, since everything is farther apart out in the country, ergo what feels like only one mile to them might in actuality be more like two miles.
...or ten, or a hundred.
Exactly what I thought of too!
But you’d never use a NY minute to describe distance
I just saw this post after I posted mine.
@Tim Bell That's because the phrase is metaphorical for a measure of TIME rather than distance. But I get what you mean.
As an American I loved your guest Jesse, for bring so descriptively clear with her explanations. Awesome!
My favorite British phrase. I watched a British comedy in which a lady announced that she "could really use a good rodgering." Love that term!
"Pleading the Fifth" is actually on the "grounds it may incriminate" you. That last part is important.
Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination, so when your mum asks if you ate the last cookie (biscuit?), you might plead the fifth.
"Hawaiian Time" is pretty much the opposite of a New York Minute. In Hawaii, a party invite that says 7 pm means most folks show up at 8:30 pm.
I've heard "Island Time" which would encompass folks from the greater Pacific island region. Guess they are more laid back 8^)
Same is true of Florida. Specifically if you're at one of the vacation islands (like St. George), they also run on "island time" with similar meaning.
Pleading the fifth is when you don’t want to say something that will incriminate you. Like when your mom says who stole the cookie out of the cookie jar you can say I plead the fifth but when you do that you are sort of incriminating yourself. So be careful what question you use that phrase on. Lol😊
Pleading the Fifth is sometimes done because they may be asking a question the answer to which would make you appear guilty of some unrelated crime.
When referring to high school/college (University) years, some are obvious. "Freshman", as a way to denote the newest and "Senior" to denote the oldest are pretty straight forward. Junior is a little odd, but essentially means 'younger than the seniors'. The really interesting name is Sophomore: This is thought to derive from folk use of two Greek terms, sophos, meaning “wise,” and moros, meaning “foolish, dull,”. Sophomore originally probably meant a wise moron! I think this is applied to 2nd year students as many THINK they are now experienced, but they still have a lot to learn. This term dates back to the 1650s.
Here in the South, we sometimes say, "All y'all." It generally means more people than just y'all ... so everybody in a particular situation. For example, when addressing a few people at a large table in a restaurant, "So y'all want the pulled pork? Oh, all y'all want that?" as in everybody at the table does.
"For the birds"
The phrase was coined in the US military during World War II. The original phrase included a swear word, talking about birds pecking at horse manure for seeds. That's for the birds hit its peak in popularity around the 1960s. It was used more often within the United States.
A grill cooks something on the bottom.
A broiler cooks something on the top. The grill touches the food, the broiler doesn’t touch it and thus isn’t a grill.
Ironically, I always heard "the whole nine yards" was of Scottish origin, referring to the length of cloth it took to make a kilt that "covered everything." After doing some research, I think it mostly just means "all of the fabric" because fabric was sold in bolts that came in multiples of 3 yards, so "the whole 6 yards" or "the whole 9 yards" became common sayings that meant "used everything up."
I’ve heard “frosh” used as a stand-in for freshman. Not super common in everyday usage, but used a lot when talking about college sports.
At my high school frosh was a word used to describe athletic teams composed of freshman and sophomores. It referred to the mixed group, not freshman exclusively.
Another alternative term for freshman used in college sports is "red shirt". This stems from eligibility rules that results in most freshman being officially on the team, but not played in games their first year so that they can learn the game better, be on the team longer, and get an extra year of scholarship.
Fish is used commonly to refer to a freshman
@@nooneyouknowhere6148 Yeah I believe fish for freshman has to do with the "fish in the pond" expressions. A senior in high school is the "big fish in the small pond" they know everything about the school and everyone knows them. A freshman at college is back to the "small fish in a big pond" as they're starting anew.
The only time I heard "frosh" was in the meme.
Having been a member of a rugby club in the US for many years, I've had the good fortune of playing the game with and befriending English, Welsh, Scots, Irish, Canadians, Aussies, and Kiwis. The idioms from each can be very entertaining. One that the non-Americans found amusing was the expression "shagging flies". It is to practice catching fly balls in the sport of baseball. With "shag" having a COMPLETELY different meaning across the pond it certainly led to some raised eyebrows.
We have the term "snagging flies here in the U.S. also, but it's used in baseball.
Opposite of "New York Minute" is "in Army Time" where you "hurry up and wait". Or also "Hawaii Time" means can't be rushed, it will happen when it is supposed to happen.
I'm an American but I just love the phrase from England "Bob's your uncle" I love using it sometimes to just have people go ...huh? lol
What does it mean?
@@mimat1427 basically it means when you're figuring something out or came to a conclusion. "There you go!"
My wife fell in love with it from the Disney 101 Dalmatians (animated) and Cruela movies.
In reference to the sophomore phrase, the same is the case for American high school. Additionally, 'freshman' can be used to mean a newly incoming politician. (e.g., a freshman representative.)
Sophomore can also mean the second of something like an artist's second album. It's a very limited use of the word though; it's not an exact synonym of the word 'second'.
The word "sophomore" is derived from Greek words meaning "wise fool." By the time students are sophomores, they think they know it all.
I would’ve included that we also refer to Freshmen and Sophomores as underclassmen, while Juniors and Seniors are known as upperclassmen.
@@davidneman6527 Yes, hence calling something sophomoric when it's much less mature than the person thinks it is.
@@smoothALOE Good point!
Sophomore is the abbreviation of "sophisticated moron" which would be offensive to some these days. But the implication is that second year students think they have some wisdom, but they really are 'sophisticated.... "
In English, the second person plural pronoun is the same as the second person singular pronoun, "you." This can create confusion in speech, so various different words have developed to serve as the second person plural pronoun. In much of the US south, "y'all" is that second person plural. Around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the equivalent is "yinz." Other places have other substitutes, such as "you'ns" and others.
Yes, Pittsburgh is famous for 'yinz'.
Pittsburgh has possibly the most distinct regional accent in the US
And in NYC area it's youse pronounced use, as in youse guys
English used to have different second person pronouns, "thou" was singular and "ye" was plural. "Y'all" actually comes from "ye-all."
I'm from cali so we kinda just say "you guys" like a nonbinary term to refer to a group of people, but i try to say "y'all" more often so it's more inclusive :P
Y’all did a cracking good job! ✨✅✨You’re Awesome!
"Monday Morning Quarterback"--I think that you were still left confused after Jess explained this, because she didn't explain how the "quarterback" part came in. It's someone on the day after the game, sitting around and basically saying if _they had been_ the quarterback, they'd have done x,y,z. So they're taking the job of the quarterback on hypothetically, and pointing out how they'd have done it better (with the benefit of hindsight). So it's used in any situation where you put yourself in the position of someone whom you think has not done the best job and tell them how you'd have done it if it had been you.
Also important to note: 1) the quarterback is the leader of the team and makes the decisions about their tactics on the field, and 2) traditionally, the big game of the week was played on Sunday night.
In WWII, the Grumman F6 Hellcat fighter’s machine guns’ ammo belt had enough bullets to be nine yards long (2400 rounds, IIRC). So a pilot might go into a strafing run on a aircraft carrier (for example) and say, “I got it in my gunsights and _gave it the whole nine yards_ “ - shot his entire ammo load on it.
I have heard that each gunner on the bombers , b17 b24, in ww2 had nine yards of ammunition.
Thank you for explaining this as I didn’t want to have to do it myself lol.
Thank you! I’ve used that my whole life and didn’t know it’s origin❤️🐝🤗
I was gonna say this, but checked the comments just in case someone beat me to it! 😂 I’m quite surprised not many people know this
Interesting. I've heard many explanations for it but not that one. My favorite is that a full Highland great kilt is 9 yards.
Freshman, sophomore, junior and senior are also used to denote a hierarchy in the student body. The terms are used in American High Schools as well as Universities
And in the universities the designation reflects the number of credits that have been completed. A person could be finished with their first year, but if they didn’t complete enough credits (they were going part time or dropped or flunked classes) they would still technically be a freshman. Our university considered 12 credits a semester as full-time but you’d actually need to complete 32 credits per year to move up to the next rank. I don’t remember if high school cared about the number of units completed per year but you needed to have completed the required courses and a certain amount of units to graduate.
Y'all has so many more versions that can make anyone learning American English cross their eyes. my favorite is all'y'all'd've, which roughly translates to "all of you all should have"
I've always defined a "New York minute" as the millisecond between the traffic light turning green and the blast of the horns from motorists behind you. 😅
PS. A university is a collection of colleges. You go to the university of Illinois but you are in the college of engineering or liberal arts or business. As opposed to going to Augustana College which is a liberal arts school entirely.
Yep.
Didn't realize pre-med was a liberal arts course. Learn something new everyday.
@@raphaelsolo it would be classified as a bachelor of science degree
@@raphaelsolo Tons of things are Liberal Arts that most people wouldn’t even think of.
Fun fact: there were two idioms that are connected to phrases or regional words in Germany. We also say "Knock on wood" for pretty much the same situation. And famously, a grilled chicken is called a "broiler" in Eastern Germany.
I'm from Chile, South America, and we also say "knock on wood." I'd say all latinos say it. Same meaning
I take a bit of an exception for the broiled = grilled. "Broiled" usually inside oven ov a rack or sheet. Grilled usually in a pan, such as s black wrought iron pan on top of the oven.
The term broil is referenced in Alice through the Looking Glass, which starts with the words "'Twas brillig" which is explained as meaning the time of day when you start broiling things for dinner. So it was in common UK usage in Victorian times.
People do use knock on wood here, and if no actual wood is available will tap their own heads.
@@aspenrebel In the US, a grill is a cooking surface with parallel metal bars -- a gridiron. To grill usually means to cook on a gridiron (even though grilled cheese is cooked in a pan or griddle). Broiling is more general, referring to any cooking by high, dry heat.
In the US, raw chickens are usually designated as fryers, roasters, or broilers -- indicating the recommended method of cooking the bird.
The Monday morning aspect is because most (professional) American football games are played on Sundays or Sunday football
The whole freshman - senior designation is also used in high school (grades 9 through 12, ages approximately between 14 and 18). You go from a high school senior right back down the ranks to a college freshman
That broil v. grill distinction is interesting for two reasons. 1) In the US, grill implies cooking over an open flame, typically but not always outside on the barbeque. 2) We have a type of steak here called a London Broil. Presumably, that’s not what it’s called in London.
Broil means cooking with high heat from the top only.
I was just wondering about London Broil, too.
The curious thing about the US is that for many of us below the Mason Dixon line,"barbecue"is a Verb!
Yes I was embarrassed (cringe)
Google Salamander Oven
"knock on wood" is used by the British as "touch wood." It was so used in the film Master and Commander: The Other Side of the World. It's origin is in fact Celtic.
I wasn't sure if the British used that phrase. Thank you. I know that the Irish say, "Touch wood" and it means basically the same thing as in America
"The whole nine yards" comes from the military in WW2. The length of the ammunition belts in the P51 Mustang were 27 feet long. To fire a whole belt in combat was to have used the whole nine yards, or to have given it everything. It can now be used in the context of expenditure, "he gave everything he had out on the racetrack. The whole nine yards." or in the context of acquisition, as in, "he ate everything at the buffet. The whole nine yards."
In college the terms freshman, sophomore and whatever is actually based on how many credits you have earned not how many years you have been there. I was only a freshman for one semester and graduated in less than four years. In high school it’s different.
"In the ball park" & "threw them a curve ball" are both particularly American phrases, since they come from baseball. "In the ball park" means "in the vicinity, in the same general region," & not just physically speaking -- a numerical estimate is often called a "ball park figure" since it's supposed to be a number that's "in the ball park" of the exact figure. "Throwing someone a curve ball" is springing something unexpectedly on someone -- another baseball expression for something unexpected would be that something "came out of left field".
The Oxford English dictionary dates the use of "the whole nine yards" to 1855, & apparently "the whole six yards" was used earlier still, but it's not clear if it's talking about yards of ground or yards of fabric or yards of rope or yards of distance or what. We also have "the whole ball of wax", "the whole enchilada", & "the whole shebang" which all mean exactly the same thing as "the whole nine yards". "For the birds" apparently comes from WWII US military slang -- due to birds being observed pecking seeds out of horse manure, anything third rate or useless was called "sh*t for the birds", which was subsequently cleaned up to be "it's for the birds".
Now *I* want to know about the origins of the Northern English expression "trouble at t'mill"!
The commonly considered origin for "the whole nine yards" refers to the supposed length of ammo belts carried in a WWII fighter plane's wings. So, "I gave him the whole nine yards" meant the pilot shot all his ammo at one target.
Throw them back a googly.
"Trouble at t'mill" means there's a big, usually on-going problem. It comes from the industrial revolution when whole towns (especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire) were reliant on the employment at a mill (e.g. for the manufacture of fabrics). As problems on which a whole area depended on were far-reaching, "trouble at t'mill" was very serious. When it wasn't literally true because there was problems at a factory, it became a somewhat humerous phrase. I recommend watching the British comedy drama of "Brass" (ITV & Channel 4, 1983-1990) which illustrates it perfectly.
@@lancerevell5979 - that usage may have contributed to its popularity, but the phrase was in use long before aviation. One of the earliest usages referred to a seamstress who had been given nine yards of cloth, ordinarily enough for three shirts, and used the whole nine yards to make one - presumably rather fancy - shirt.
Hi guys! Good video. Actually, sophomore is taken from two Greek words meaning " wise fool"
But in this context, it refers to the second year at college.
The idea is that after someone has had one year of experience, whether in high school or college, they think they know it all. But they still have a lot to learn.
The word "sophomoric" equates to stupidity.
“That speech our new boss just gave was rather “Sophomorish.”
Think "sophisticated moron" if you want to really get the etymology at a gut level.
New York Minute is also used when stating that you really like to do something. “Yes! I’d go to see La Traviata with you in a New York minute!”
Thank ya'll for the entertaining video! Ya'll is definitely used outside of a greeting!
Years ago, I remember reading the etymology for the phrase, "for the birds" as being from when horses were our primary means of transport. When a horse would need to do its business, it would do so anywhere in the street, and the birds would flock to the ... Business ... to consume whatever they could (kernels, etc).
Therefore, saying "It's For The Birds" is a polite way of saying, "That's Horse $hit"!
I really hope that it's true, because I LOVE that explanation! 😂
SHIT= Ship High In Transit...because the manure could explode low in the cargo ships😉
You're correct. The phrase was originally "$#!t for birds".
That is hilarious! I've never heard that before even though I enjoy learning where different phrases come from.
I've always used the phrase "this shit is for the birds."
@@laras678 I can't read that without thinking, "$hit for brains!", Which is pure Gold!
On the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock was the first signer and his signature is the largest. Supposedly, he said that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles..
I guess John Hancock signed His name in Big , Bold , Fancy letters to P*ssed off King George.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
3:35 Come on, history teacher. John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence with a giant signature.
It"s funny, but here in Slovenia ( and other ex Yugoslav countries as well) we have "knock on wood" superstition also! In Serbia they usually say:"Knock on wood so evil can"t hear you!"
Here in the US, it comes from the belief that Druids or fairies live in the trees and you "knock on wood" so that they won't take offense and change your luck. I always thought it came from the Irish, but maybe not.
@@janusloggins876 It probaly comes from Kelts..
Sophomore: The Greek words σοφός (wise) and μωρός (fool) put together, "Sophos" and "Moronic". Sophomoric means that someone may have done a lot of reading and studying but lacks real-world experience and wisdom.
I’d liken it more to the Dunning-Kruger effect where someone has had some education and thinks they’re smart, but isn’t as smart as they think they are.
I've met too many people like this. Book smart, but not a drop of common sense.
There's also the adjective sophomoric, which means juvenile and/or overconfident in one's knowledge and poorly informed.
@@amym.4823 those are the kind of people that introduced mansplaining. 😂
Tom hit the nail on the head with some of his examples.
1:16 - She forgot to mention that NFL games are typically played on Sundays, that why "Monday Morning QB" is all about himdsight
In regards to “Sophomore”, when it isn’t used in an academic context, it’s generally referring to someone or something that was shiny & new in the recent past, but is now more established and better-known. You most hear it in the phrase “sophomore slump”, which refers to someone/something that wowed everyone when it/they first appeared, but are having trouble replicating that same success.
Most idiomatic phrases would not be a problem for English speakers, problems would arise for people who don’t have English as their first language. When I was training people at work I avoided slang and idioms. It made life so much simpler.
Important context about the phase "Monday Morning Quarterback":
The quarterback is the leader of the team, and the games are traditionally played on Sunday.
"The Whole Nine Yards" comes from WWII, the American troops would feed nine yards of ammo into their anti-personnel guns, so if you shot everything you had at someone, you gave them "The Whole Nine Yards."
The whole nine yards stems from the length of a string of ammunition in world war 2 aircraft. When a pilot unloaded his entire string of ammunition into another aircraft, he gave the other pilotthe whole nine yards.
Freshman, sophomore, Jr, Sr are also used during the 4 years of high school, not just university.
Also, African Americans will use "y'all" regardless of where they live. It's a part of their vernacular.
True. I've definitely heard some people from non-southern states say "y'all", so it has spread from the South.
In UK (unless it has changed since I went to school) high school lasts either 5 years or 7 years, so we don't really have names for the particular years. A possible source of confusion is that the 6th form lasts 2 years, the lower 6th and the upper 6th.
I thought the same when she said that 😂
Black people from New York definitely say y'all!! 😂 which makes sense because we originated in the south.
@@TheJazzy1980 : That's exactly what I was gonna say! "Black people say y'all no matter where they live", is because almost all of them are from the South.
Ask this guy about the obsolete British Monarchy and about fish and chips.
He would give you a ton of answers.
If I recall correctly, “the whole nine yards” originated in the fabric industry. A bolt of fabric was nine-yards long. You buy by the yard. One yard, two yards, six yards, “the whole nine yards.” So, the phrase means “all of it.”
I've heard it was from WWII. The ammunition belts on B-17 bombers were 9 yards long.
the expression ''the whole nine yards'' come from? The bullets for the machine guns used in American combat planes of WW2 and since were in chains twenty-seven feet in length. Thus if a pilot was able to fire all his bullets off at one target he was said to have given his adversary 'the full nine yards'.
@@gtkline But a chain is 22 yards.
Not sure what a chain of amo is. But the 50 cal gun system of the P-51 Mustang had an amo belt that was exactly 27 feet, or 9 yards, in length when fully assembled. I carried a 100 round starter belt of 7.62mm amo for my m240B machine gun, while my assistant gunner carried up to 1000 rounds. We never measured the legth.
I'm given to understand that "The whole 9 yards" came from WW2. The 50 cal ammo belts for American fighter planes were purportedly 9 yards long.
The whole nine yards came from WWII. When pilots would return from mission they would say "I gave then the whole nine yards". The ammunition belt from each gun was 27 feet long or 9 yards, so if they fired every bullet to do everything they could do, it was the whole nine yards!
I was pretty impressed on how quickly he caught on to the meanings of these phrases.
Scripted of course
He already talked about freshman and sophomore on a video he made like four years ago, so he already knew.
Yeah, it's more-than-likely that he did his due diligence before filming. He's a pro; been at this for enough years, he's not terribly likely to get caught unawares.😉
It’s almost like he knows and explained it a bit better than her
Native Alabamian here.. Y'all is an extremely common word in the everyday speach of Southern Americans.. and yes , when Northerners say it... It just doesn't sound right. Good video y'all. 😊Keep up the good work.
My son born in Indiana to a Texas mom and Tennessee dad. You better believe he says y’all.
The whole nine yards is a term that came from the US military during World War II. The bullets for the machine gun came in 9 yd segments. Someone gave the whole nine yards when they unloaded everything on the target.
I really liked this video! I love videos that compare English and American culture, super fun. One critique is maybe show clips of the phrases used in movies or tv, I think you did that with one phrase. And then also throw in some etymology of the phrases. Overall very entertaining, sub and notifications are on. Thank you❤
I was going to add “my two cents” and say something about John Hancock and about freshman / frosh - but I see that others have already weighed in on those topics.
Frosh is used sometimes as the plural of freshman, but it's an older term.
The sophomore thing is also used other context as well. I've mostly heard it when talking about music artists, referring to their second album as their "sophomore" album. I also think I've heard the first album being called "freshman debut"
Also the dreaded "sophomore slump" - that second album that doesn't live up the debut.
In informal conversation, using the phrase, "I plead the Fifth" _can_ mean that you don't want to say anything that will get you into trouble, but it can _also_ mean that you don't feel in any way obliged to answer the question just asked.
In some games of pool, you're not allowed to touch the 8-ball with the cue-ball until the very end of the game. To do so beforetime causes you to be disqualified and lose the game. But if the ball that you need to sink into a pocket next is "behind the 8-ball," you have a very big and important obstacle to overcome.
The whole nine yards is a phrase used a lot here but not too many people know where it came from. It was used back in the day when you'd have to go and get your dresses personally made. You can technically make a dress with just a few yards but the best possible dresses required 9 yds. So a dressmaker would say, "do you want the whole nine yards?" Meaning the most you could possibly do or the best you can possibly have.
There are several origins that I've heard for "the whole nine yards," but the one I give the most credence to is that upper-class women would buy cloth for clothing for themselves and their families, usually in nine-yard bolts. They would then give the cloth to their servants who made their clothes (or, in some cases, to a piece-work clothesmaker) and specify what they wanted made from it. Because these lower-class tradesmen and women had the habit of keeping some of the cloth for themselves, to use to make their own clothes, they would often be braced to use "the whole nine yards" on the garments they were being told to make. In that version of the saying, it has the meaning of "going all in" on a goal, without necessarily considering your own needs first. So, when you give it your all, with no concern for yourself, you're going "the whole nine yards."
Personally, I'm partial to its origin being with early fighter planes. The ammunition belts for their machine guns were supposedly 9 yards long. Any fighter plane that returned from a sortie with no ammunition was said to have given the enemy "the whole nine yards".
@@MikeDCWeld if you go count the rounds they carried and the length that would be you'll see that they vary greatly as more and less than 9 yards.
Broil is specifically to use the top heating element inside an oven, rather than the bottom heating element; it's hotter so it cooks quicker, plus it browns the top of food, so you get bubbly and browned nelted cheese on top of a casserole by broiling it for a few minutes after baking it most of the way through.
Sometimes we'll knock on any surface as a proxy for wood--we'll even mock-knock our noggins if we don't have any wood surfaces available. This in particular can also be a self-deprecation, meaning we're invoking luck from a fool (a "blockhead"), so "we'll see how that turns out..." 😂
"the whole 9 yards" is a reference to fighter pilots in WW1 and WW2. The machine guns were belt fed and the ammunition came in belts that were 27 feet long, so when they engaged the enemy and basically dumped all of their ammo, they got "the whole 9 yards".
The terms freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior are also used for the four years of high school.