7 Embarrassing Mistakes I've Made in the UK as an American (didn't know these words!)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Want extra content and my general, unimportant, life updates as an American in the UK straight to your inbox? Join the free Girl Gone London newsletter here: sendfox.com/lp/366d52
Some people have asked for a small way to say "thanks" if they've found my information helpful or entertaining. There's no need, but if that's you, I have a little "buy me a coffee" option here (okay, or tea, we're in the UK, after all): www.buymeacoffee.com/girlgone...
Check out the Girl Gone London book on Amazon, a humorous and practical guide to life in the UK as an expat: amzn.to/3iobJGt
// CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE: girlgonelondon.com/how-to-mov...
// WHO AM I
Hi! I’m Kalyn, an American expat in the UK, and I’m super glad you’re here (yes, I’ve lived in the UK for almost 10 years and the word “super” is still very much part of my vocabulary!) Whether you’re thinking about moving to the UK or just visiting, I have plenty of information and other resources for you below, so make sure to find your section and let me help you make the most of your trip or your move to the always-sunny, beautiful, and historic UK (okay, two of those things are true, but if you squint really hard at the lights when the London Underground is coming into station, you can kind of pretend it’s the sun?)
---MOVING TO THE UK (OR DREAMING OF IT?---
//GIRL GONE LONDON BOOK
Check out the Girl Gone London book on Amazon (amzn.to/3iobJGt), a humorous guide to life in the UK that every future expat needs to read.
//MOVING TO THE UK COURSE
If you want more practical tips, my comprehensive course on moving to the UK is the perfect gift to yourself to save hours and hours of time and tons of headaches. Use code “Friend” for $20 off and check out everything that’s included here: courses.girlgonelondon.com/co...
VISITING THE UK?
//ULTIMATE LONDON’S VISITOR’S GUIDE
This is the most all-inclusive, up-to-date visitor’s guide (that’s always kept up to date, thanks to be virtual, no more trying to go to a restaurant that no longer exists! Your London trip is no small cost, so make sure you are truly ready and making the most of it with the guide here: courses.girlgonelondon.com/co...
CONTACT:
For all subscribers and partnership enquiries, please use kalyn@girlgonelondon.com
And make sure you subscribe to my channel!
DISCLAIMER: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In addition, I participate in several other affiliate programs that allow me to earn while I recommend products that I use and love.
MUSIC: www.bensound.com
You've got to love the small differences, it's great that you're happy to confess to the misunderstandings and make me laugh!
If you ever wear khaki trousers. Please don’t tell anyone you’re wearing cacky pants!
😂😂😂
Yep, a perfect example of how a difference in terms and pronunciation can potentially lead to an enormous misunderstanding! 😆
@andybaker2456 Indeed. Micky Flannagan, on the pull in New York, was hilarious.
Well worth it to see peoples faces!
wait, you mean Tori Amos isnt a member of the conservative party? then who the hell did i vote for?*
*for comedic purposes and not an admission of guilt, terms and conditions apply.
"I don't know what that means" or "I don't understand" are perfectly acceptable resposes we should all use more often, but are somehow reluctant.
Or " It might be a stupid question but...." As I always say, there are no stupid questions only stupid answers
It would be, but, you have to recognise that there is a misunderstanding before you can ask for clarification.
@@clivewilliams3661A stupid answer is how to respond to a stupid question.
@@nedludd7622 The only stupid question is the one that you already know the answer it otherwise it can't be a stupid question.
Lawyer in the U.K. is an umbrella term, it has two main types within it, Solicitor and Barrister, a Solicitor deals with common legal work, a Barrister (one who has taken the Bar exam and has passed it) deals with advocacy and litigation, I hope that this helps.
In the UK a solicitor might advise you to employ a barrister to defend against a charge of 'soliciting'.
🤣🤣🤣
I'm not sure that an American would understand the implications of that form of soliciting.
Yes. Was going to say that being a solicitor is one thing, but soliciting is something quite different...
@@bethel1019 Yes and no. Soliciting for business is quite legitimate and is used in many trades and professions. However, in some contexts, it has become a by word for soliciting in one line of work in particular.
@@JAmediaUK I do know that. Just didn't want to confuse matters any further.
A girl I knew at university reckons her most embarrassing moment was when she went to get the contraceptive pill at the university health centre. The doctor asked when she was last sexually active and she checked her watch.
oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooo
😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
😭😭😭😂🤣
Well, it might have been only a few hours before....
I remember reading of someone who told the father of an American friend that she was training to be a barrister. She was puzzled why he seemed rather dismissive and didn’t pursue the conversation. It was some time later she realised he thought she was training to be a barista.
So it turns out intralinguistic differences are a great way to weed out the snobs, too!
I suspect there are not many British girls named Tory as it's a diminutive form of Victoria and they are more likely to be called Vicky.
Plus it has such a well known political connotation. |f it is your leaning you wouldn't use it as it is most often used by opponents, and if you are not a lifelong supporter you definitely wouldn't choose it!
I do actually know a Tori here in the UK. Yes, her parents named her Victoria, but she chose to be known as Tori rather than Vicky. She always was a bit "alternative" though!
My first girlfriend was a Victoria who often went by Tori. I've never known anyone actually called Tory though.
My daughter answers to Toria or Vicky.
Tori Amos lives in Cornwall!
If your local MP is in town for meetings with the public, they’re holding a SURGERY which you can book in to talk about any issues you have.
Because its their opportunity to disect and pull apart any ideas you might have of your own
That always confuses me 😂
A surgery can be a one to one meeting with your lawyer too, though less commonly used these days.
Also we'd never say 'have A surgery' we'd say 'have surgery' (uncountable) or 'have AN operation'.
The answer to the question "are you a Tory?" "No, my name is Kaityn" is clever and will be seen as "My politics are my business" or "I don't subscribe to any particular party, I am just me" So don't feel embarrassed
The descriptions of the misunderstood words would have made a brilliant Two Ronnies TV sketch, thank you for such an entertaining video..
Unless the person is a close friend it is a rude question to ask anyway. A girl I knew got a job in Dundee and lots of people asked her if she was Catholic or Protestant. I would have answered "Mind your own business"!
@@Phiyedough I was once asked by the elders of a Mosque whether I was a good Catholic to which I replied "No." leaving them to wonder whether I was actually a good Catholic because a good Catholic would never admit to it because they are always striving to do better or whether I was being honest. I never expanded on my reply so that I could see that they were still working out what the answer meant.
@@Phiyedough You're right, that is rather rude!
The Scots and the Irish also consider a 'mixed' marriage one being Catholic & one Protestant.
In England it's really a non-issue. But that sort of thing could get real spicy in Ireland & Northern Ireland, back during 'The Troubles'.
@@Phiyedough My usual answer to that is 'no, I'm a Jew', which confuses and shuts them up. For 30 seconds. Followed, invariably, by an argument about Israel. So I stopped doing that. Doesn't go down well in some circles, either.
As an employee of local government, one is meant to be politically neutral. That you were asked if you were a Tory by a colleague is deeply disturbing and most improper. The correct answer is to tell them to mind their own business.
Years ago, I studied at a British university (I'm an American) for the summer semester. I was just chatting with a few random guys and told them that I loved wearing full-length skirts and that I never wore pants as I found them horribly uncomfortable. They looked taken aback a bit which confused the heck out of me. After talking for a while longer, I left and went home. A full 24 hours later, I remembered that "pants" in British English means "underwear."
OMG that's hilarious! They must have thought "wow, I get embarrassed when I accidentally put on differently coloured socks. These Americans are so much less prudish than I thought!". 🤣
Now that really IS embarassing!
@@adriannaconnor6471 I'm sure you didn't refer to it as a "semester" at the British university you went to... 😉
the silly thing is that underwear is called underpants but what you wear over them are not called pants! Why aren't they called undertrousers.
@@CaseyJonesNumber1 in school, it's referred to as 'terms' but in university, they use the word 'semester'
My most embrassing moment in the US was when three of us had booked a hotel room with an extra bed. When we arrived we only found two beds so I rang reception stating the problem. She then asked me if we needed an extra cot, and I said no, we are all adults. It took a while to sort out what she truely meant, i.e. a put-you-up bed rather than aa babies cot.
Thank you! I went 5 years ago and was confused by that too
Somewhere there is a Tory who is a Tory Councillor counsellor
That Tory Councillor counsellor has a surgery too
And somewhere there is a Tory who is a Labour Councillor. 😄
Here in Australia, one of our two major political parties, the conservative side, is called the Liberal Party. Not to be confused with someone whose politics are more liberal (note the absence of a capital letter). The conservatives are called the Liberal party, and the liberals are called the Labor party. Never try discussing Australian politics with an American. you'll have their brain synapses bursting in minutes.
@@afpwebworks whereas in the UK the Labour party are centre left and the liberal (or Liberal democrat) party are centrist so brits wouldn't be too confused
@@misterthegeoff9767except they're actually not centrist at all and have always had waaay more radical policies than labour. 🤷🏼♀️
When my then 10-yr old son began at his US school after our move there for my work, a new-found schoolmate took him to the nearby stationers for supplies. This friend told me when he visited our house over the following weekend, how he'd collapsed laughing in the store. Apparently, my son had asked for, "A pack of small rubbers; you know the ones one puts at the end of one's pencil." 😅
Classic! 😅🤣😂
Hilarious. The one you 'put at the end of (your) pencil' even sounds like the right euphemism for them too 😂😂😂
My nice used to collect erasers and when I was on holiday in the US I asked in a store if they sold rubbers, the guy looked at me funny and said "Erasers".
We also have the word counsellor in British English as someone who provides counsel (advice) rather than someone who forms a part of a council.
Although barely noticeable, counsellor and councillor are pronounced slightly differently.
@@phoebus007 If you're referring to the vowel sound in the second syllable then its functionally identical between the two unless you're putting stress on it. Unstressed syllables in English (irrespective of accent or dialect) tend to be pronounced as a schwa (the name of the sound of the a in comma).
Thanks for correcting the spelling :-) that was painful ;-)
There are so many accents and dialects in the UK that I think we all have similar stories. I am from the north east and am a high school teacher. I remember when I got a job in the north west the first time I warned a child he'd 'get wrong' if he didn't stop it the kids had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't realise 'to get wrong' was a Geordie expression. It means 'to get into trouble'.
And the kids were always imitating my Geordie habit of saying 'cannot' (stress strongly on the first syllable) rather than 'can't'.
You don't need make-up. You're good-looking. Keep making these videos.
How funny, loved your examples. I had a German colleague at work years ago who told me one of his mistakes - he was at his other workplace and was limping across the office cos he'd hurt his foot and a colleague shouted out, hey are you okay and he guessed the English word for limping based on the German word humpeln for limping and said, it's okay, I'm just humping! Different meaning in the UK!🤣
I think hump must also have a different meaning in USA as "hump day" is a slang term for Wednesday.
@@Phiyedough haha, how funny. That definitely wouldn't work in the UK.
My friend had a German colleague who upon watching him struggle, frowning, with a door lock told him "Take it easy, you will put creases in your foreskin!"
@@lottie2525 "hump day" is used in the UK too. Most especially because of the double-entendre. 😋
@@Naptosis Never heard it before.. Where abouts in the UK are you then? Maybe it's a regional thing.
Misunderstandings between nations. Just before being seconded to the US I handed in my grade 1 daughter's school report to the head teacher of her new school and every element of the report had a tick (check) against it. I handed it to the lady and her face dropped - the longer she looked the more concerning her face became. She looked at me and asked "How is her reading?". I told her that she had just taken the school reading prize. Utter confusion followed by the realisation that there was a reversal of convention in using the tick or a cross in the American school system and she thought my daughter had failed in all things instead of 100% achievement. Steep learning curve for both parties.
"Ticking you off" in the UK can also mean getting a "telling off".
@@XennialTV I've often known it used to mean "telling off".
@@XennialTVthen you have never read any of the ‘Jennings & Derbyshire’ books by Anthony Buckeridge!! they were always getting “ticked off” by the Head!! - you have missed a deep reading joy!
@@XennialTV WTF are YOU on about? I had been ticked off more than once by my parents and bosses in my time. It may be a regional thing...
@@BarnabyRudge-sx3pbexactly!
@@XennialTV Sounds like you're getting a bit ticked off !
One of the things I watch your videos for is to learn about an American who has gone to London. When I visited Chicago there were signs saying 'No Solicitors' I just had to have a picture of my wife standing under one because to us, in that context, a solicitor is a lady of the night. Just shows how much I need to learn. When I arrived at a hotel in Beijing There were a few children at the reception desk about age five. A lady explained to us that you are allowed to bring your child to work after school hours in China. Sometimes they help out sometimes they go to sleep under the counter.
The Canadian Conservatives are referred to as Tories, as is the Liberal Party in Australia (despite the name, they are anything but liberal - Australia, everything's upside down :D ).
Don't worry everyone around the world have said or done things that is embarrassing, this shows how honest you are and have a British sense of humour 😊
My little one is starting Reception in September & now I'm imagining him sitting behind the front desk in the school reception... 😂
Get them a job in reception 😂 it’s a great idea 😂
This must be a new thing. Never heard of it before this video. It was always nursery, infants, junior, high shool
@michaelbloomfield9911 no not new - my son is 30 and he started in reception in 1999
@@michaelbloomfield9911 It’s regional. Scotland and Northern Ireland have primary and highschools. Reception to us is primary 1 and it goes up to p7. Highschool goes a bit like Harry potter- first year, second year etc
English,65 year old man here and this is the first time I took have come across the term reception to mean early school.Nursery school would be the the term I would still use.
The UK and USA divided by a common language. And 3000 miles of ocean 😊
As Winston Churchill said.
Lived here all my life and never heard of reception when kids start school, new one on me tbh.
It doesn't help that it's related to celebrations like marriages too. You'd think we were running out of words!
It's an extra year they have in primary schools now, precedes year 1.
It's an English thing rather than a UK thing so if you live in a different part of the UK that might be why.
It's not a new term though. It has been around since the 1980s when they changed all the names of the school years. First year in infants school is 'reception' followed by years 1 to 6.
High school covers years 7 to 11. And post GCSE is years 12 and 13 often still called the Sixth Form.
I think it's what we used to call the "nursery class" back in the sixties. This was as opposed to A Nursery where pre school children went for day care.
More confusion......in the UK we use the word grill instead of broiling. Broiling is never used in the UK and this caused me a real problem when I first travelled to Canada.
Broiling sounds very unappetising to me because it sounds like boiling. Imagine boiled chicken or a boiled steak😝
'"Brillig" means four o'clock in the afternoon, the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.'
From Through The Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. Apparently, broiling was known in 19th Century Britain.
@@kittyprydekissme Oh, of course!
"Twas bryllyg, and the slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves;
And the mome raths outgrabe." Beware the Jabberwocky!!
@@alanwatson7560 Great film.
Chickens for meat are known as broilers.
I thought your solicitor misunderstanding was going to go a different way. Which would have been more embarrassing.
In the US I was confused as to why lawyers were not allowed to use rural rest spots, as they had signs saying 'No solicitors'
I come from London and the first day at work in Nottingham, at lunch I was asked "Have you brought your snap?" 'Snap' in local dialect means 'lunch'.
I heard this (in their accent) as 'snout' - a London term for tobacco or cigarettes.
When I answered "No, s'okay - I don't smoke" then confusion abounded.
We have solicitor - legal entity handling things like land, probate, legal issues up to court appearance. In court appearances, we have barristers - from the term being called to the Bar (who are 'recruited' by solicitors). Then higher ranking, you have K.C.s - King's Councels who are barristers who have qualified to act on behalf in court for the monarch. As far as I know.
As far as 'surgery' is concerned, it's use is of a verb or a noun. You use surgery to cut into someone; you go to a surgery to speak to a doctor.
Considering regional dialects and phrases, it's not only Americans who have trouble! 🙂
I'm English but moved to Scotland and sep up a business repairing domestic alliances. I quickly learned never to use the word "done" as in "it's done". People there thought I was saying their machine was done as in beyond repair.
I laughed my head off at your snap story. Very funny. I too am from London, although I left the UK in the 90's. I friend from Newcastle asked me "Am I corn beef"? I thought Corn Beef!! She said "Deef". Oh, you mean "Mutton Geoff".
@alantheinquirer7658 They would say 'Have you brought your bait? 'in Newcastle.
According to Stephen fry it's not called snout now. It's called 'burn'. 'Two's up on your burn.'
Here in Australia, KC or King's Counsel or in some juristictions SC meaning Senior Counsel it means you can get away with charging your clients $3000 per hour rather than the more normal $650 per hour for ordinary counsel.
As a British person I cannot get used to "doctor's office". Like, why would I go to an office to see a doctor? Doesn't this doctor have a room where he sees patients?
In Ireland a doctor sees patients in his "surgery", as in the UK, and Public Health is (was) dispensed in a "clinic" but while UK politicians also meet their constituents face-to-face in a "surgery", in Ireland they do so at their "clinic", which probably makes a little more sense.
First i think it's great you go for the natural look rather than being fake. I have an American girlfriend who lives in Texas, over the years we have had several misunderstandings over words, on both sides.
'Reception' is also the gathering for the guests after a wedding, for cutting of the cake, food, dancing, drinking, etc. If held at a hotel you could ask at reception where the reception is.
After a rough night’s sleep (I have psoriasis and it itttttccchhhhes like crazy at night when I am trying to sleep! Uhhhhh 😖😖😥😥) but today’s vlog has put a big 😃 on my mush! It really made me laugh with your “misunderstandings” of our particular terms and expressions… poor you….but hey, it was funny and I am feeling your ‘cringe’ moments! 🫣😂😂
Please carry on presenting your blogs “as you are” - there’s no need to get dressed and made up to the “nines” (have you heard of this term - it has a real meaning behind it) - just pop yourself in front of the camera and just chat away - you are really “one of us” and we like you - as Mr Billy Joel says - “just the way you are….” 🥰🥰
If you work somewhere that needs photo ID, it's a pretty major security breach on the part of the team issuing those IDs to give you one with the wrong picture on - the level that leads to being shown the door...
They say that you learn something new everyday. Today I learned that Disney are no different to the Costa Brava Timeshare Scammers of the 1980s
This was hilarious!!!
Your "cot" example reminded me of a question a couple of years ago on the Trip Advisor London Forum. An American lady asked how likely it was that her London hotel might put a cot in her room for her 13 year old daughter to sleep on. It of course solicited many responses from locals enquiring about how tiny her 13 year old must be to be able to fit into a cot, or why she didn't ask for something larger and more comfortable for the poor girl!!
Then there was the time that my cousin from North Carolina came to live in London for six months. She got herself a temporary job working in Boots, where she was required to wear a skirt as part of the uniform. As winter drew on, she found herself feeling the cold, so decided to ask her boss if it was acceptable to wear something a bit warmer. So of course she went to her boss and asked if it was OK if she wore pants to work. His red-faced response was, "That's...really none of my business!". Her face was equally as red when she realised she had just asked her manager if he minded her wearing underwear to work! 😂
Many years ago I was in a sandwich shop in Vermont and I asked what 'fillings' they had. They look confused at me for a moment and said, "You mean, what's on them?"
My friend in New York told me that they almost certainly thought I was asking about their dental work. 😄
When I was in the US, I used to chuckle to myself because every shopping centre I entered seemed to have sign on the door, NO SOLISITORS. I knew what it was referring to, but it still made me chuckle.
I've heard the equivalent term for a British solicitor in the US is an attorney (someone who does your legal paperwork), while an American lawyer in Britain is called a barrister (someone who represents you in court).
You may, however, end up court if you are prosecuted for soliciting. 😉
In the US all lawyers need to pass a bar exam in their state both to practice and represent someone in court. In the UK only barrister's are members of the bar. A solicitor can't represent you in court only in front of the magistrate (not a judge) for an initial hearing. A solicitor brings cases to a barrister. They have a separate governing body and rules to follow.
That is pretty much spot on, although it is a little more nuanced than that. A barrister is indeed a solicitor who represents a person in court, albeit only within the Crown Court, which is one 'rung' on the ladder of the court system. Above the Crown Court is the High Court, which is reserved for only the most high-profile and significant trials, and below it is the Magistrate's Court, which deals with less serious crimes. Solicitors work in all of these courts, but barristers have to undergo further training once qualified as a solicitor due to the intricacies involved in that position. I could get very deep into the weeds here, explaining the reasons for the wigs and robes, the KC (King's Counsel) title, and various other things, but that feels a) like far too much for a YT comment and b) a little unfair to just dump all this stuff here without being asked. So, with that in mind, I shall post this, do some digging on YT and come back to edit this comment if I find a video that will do a better job than me waffling on here! 🙈🤪
Not UK, just England and Wales. Scotland does not have barristers, the nearest to that is an Advocate, who undertake different training to barristers.
@alanj9391 oh, shoot, yeah! Thanks for that.
They are called TORY in Canada too.
Who are ?
@@chrisbodum3621 People named Tory.
@@Naptosis 🤣
This was hilarious Kalyn! I could feel your embarrassment, but I couldn't stop laughing at the misunderstandings. Great video.😅
Love it Kalyn, thanks for sharing. I worked with a lady from San Francisco many years ago and there were many instances where the different use of certain words and phrases between UK & US English caused much amusement and confusion.
I don't know when we started to use the word 'reception' in an educational context, but when I was growing up we called it the infants' (school).7
When one orders coffee in Greece one asks for "plain coffee with milk" (Sketto me gala). Sketto - plain. Skartar is poo . I onced asked for skartar me gala - poo with milk. My two friends who could speak Greek burst out laughing, the waitress was very kind & diplomatic. Phew
My dad once asked for "vin courant" in a restaurant in France, he wanted the house wine.
@@BarnabyRudge-sx3pb What is "Courant"? Is that rude? Should it have been "vin maison", although I have no idea. 😂
@@maudeboggins9834 It means running, as in "running water". If you want tap water rather than bottled you ask for "eau courante". Yes he should have asked for vin maison.
@@BarnabyRudge-sx3pb hahahaha. I like that. Running wine, & why not, it is France after all. Thanks
I once ordered a glass of white wine with a meal in France and received a carafe of red. My French was OK, so I reckoned that was just the nearest thing they had.
LOL this was fun!
My anecdote: when I moved to the US, a friend of a friend was very surprised that I didn't know what "bullion logic" was. Now, I know Boolean logic very well but I had no clue that they were talking about the same thing.
Enjoyed that , good fun ,i think there are a lot of councillors who need counselling looking at the way they are running our towns and cities 😊😊❤.
What's the most embarrassing or confusing situation you've gotten yourself into in another culture?
@GirlGoneLondonofficial I was on a working holiday in Lebanon and were going to a play at the AUB [American University of Beruit] and decided my shirt needed an iron..Anyway I was about to start ironing away when my hosts mother came in and saw me..SHE WENT MENTAL!! Shouing "what would people think if I let a guest iron their own. Shirt " etc etc...She snatched the iron off me and did the Shirt herself!!! I was completely gobsmacked and shocked!! A proper cultural faux pass..
Another American residing in Britain. I have found saying, “I’m sorry, I’m unfamiliar with that term, would you please explain it to me?” works quite well. The one and only time I felt utterly confused was many years ago when I asked someone to explain what is a Fresh Budgens. That person not only laughed at me but told others about it so they would laugh at me as well. Thankfully they didn’t and said that it was very understandable I would be confused. Since then just saying you are unfamiliar and asking for clarification works well.
Also, school years here and in America are very different so saying Reception and Kindergarten are the same is misleading. Reception begins at age 4 here, not age 5, but is more equivalent to 1st grade in America in terms of what is being taught. Reception age children immediately begin with reading, writing and basic mathematics whereas Nursery (equivalent to preschool in America) is more for learning letters and numbers. This is also only in England. The educational systems differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well.
That would be the time I was watching football with my German father-in-law and confused ‘schiessen’, to shoot, with ‘scheissen’, to shit.
Doubly embarrassing because it was my own culture:
I was reading the personal ads in a local newspaper and someone was selling a 2'6" bed. Incredulous, I blurted out "who would buy a 2'6" bed - a dwarf?!". It didn't occur to me it was 2'6" wide (a child's single bed), not long.
We had a book of stupid things people said at work. A friend, on the Parthenon in Greece: "The Parthenon? Is that near the Apocalypse?" (Acropolis)
I heard the story of an British girl working in Italy who went swimming at the end of the working day. She knew a swimming pool is 'la piscina' so she assumed 'swimming' was 'piscare'. It isn't, and her colleagues didn't tell her what it really meant for a week or more.
When i was a kid in the 70s and 80s, i went to nursery, then infant school, then junior school, and finally high school.
I was born in the 1970’s. We called Reception Play School.
Reception for kindergarden? I work in education and have never heard of that term. We call it playschool.
Definitely reception in London/South East. Where are you from?
As a British native who has (inexplicably?) faced similar problems, I sympathize.
"Off you go," the teacher said to 7-yr-old me. So I walked off, relieved I didn't have to talk to her after all. Naturally, instead she meant, "Please begin."
Eleven years later, the first week of my philosophy course was given a fantastical tinge when one of our lecturers spent several classes talking about "magicians". Except of course he was in fact talking about logicians...
In the south we still use cot for the baby’s bed.
But we wouldn’t know what a pram is.
As an aside, the word 'Tory' comes from the old middle Irish word 'tóraidhe', meaning 'outlaw' or 'robber'. Make of that what you will 😁
I made many similar 'mistakes' or 'faux pas' when I worked in France. It can all be very confusing, when you first move to another country. Embarrassing at the time, but they make you laugh in the end.
Yep, and The Court Party rebranded to The Tory Party, and then later to The Conservative Party
And supposedly that's where the word toerag also came from
Yep. In France, years ago (but it still sticks in my head), I was just about to miss a train and rushed through, shouting to the staff which platform I needed. They looked bemused. I'd asked where the ceiling was ('plafond'). Sounded reasonable at the time.....
Love your videos, Kaylyn & keep up the great work!
It may have been embarrassing for you Kalyn, however I'm sure you were forgiven and just keep being your true self. It is so refreshing to see 😃
A surgery is also a chance to talk to your political representative
I think that I have already told you about my confusion on returning a rented car to an airport in the US. I was asked whether I wanted a valet service. In the UK a valet is typically a servant who looks after his master's clothes and "valeting" is cleaning clothes.
I laughed at the first one, because we totally have city councillors in local government in the US.
My US mother in law offered me some squash and I said no thank you I'm not thirsty but she ment was squash as a vegetable.
This is a great video, thanks for the chuckle.
A Brit here. I smiled all the way through until you told the Reception story when I laughed. Thank you.
If you're willing to accept that American English is a different language to British English, then there is no need to be embarrassed? The problems come when people assume they're the same.
Re the cot. I remember an American couple and their adult daughter booked a hotel room with a 'cot'. So they walked into a room with a double bed and a crib. The hotel found another room. sorted
In the 1990s there was a British TV comedy called the Brittas Empire where the receptionist put her babies in her desk drawers as she couldn’t get childcare (using the drawers as cribs😀)
It's a T-shirt, well, a long sleeved T- shirt, or a top, or a jumper. (Most people would just say top i think). It's absolutely NOT a shirt. Those have a collar and buttons.
I heard an American who was hiking in the UK say he was glad he was wearing his water proof pants. It was just starting to rain. He had the rest of the group laughing so hard they were in tears.
To be ticked off also means unhappy over here too.
Maybe imported from the US.
When dealing with GCSEs and A-levels, marks and grades are not the same. You get marks, and they then finalise the grade boundaries based on the distribution of marks for all people taking that exam. After that they can calculate your grade. So a mark of 75 can lead to different grades depending on the subject, the exam board, and the year.
Please please, she is confused enough already lol!
The solicitor tale and the camping one made me chuckle 🤭 :)
nice to see a fresh face who just is real...keep on going with this. Lived in the UK now for 15 years and is a definite learning experience everyday
This was such fun to watch! I learnt a couple of things from your video. I never realised that solicitor in the US is a person who works in telesales. Also your use of the word "checkmark" confused me, and maybe your ex-friend didn't understand either. Happily, google explained to me that it's another word for what I would call a "tick".
Even crazier, MPs and councillors have surgeries!
Making an appointment for myself in Germany the lady was saying "fünfzehn Uhr dreizig" 15 hour 30, I thought "What"!! 15 hour 30 WTF is she talking about, she is nutty., So I slammed the phone down thinking I've no idea what that was about! She was saying 3.30pm in German. Oh!! Moving to different countries with bugger all knowledge of the language can be both funny, frustrating & embarrassing.
Whats even worse, is that when they say 3.30 in germany, they mean 30 minutes before 3, not after - so it really was 2.30. I've been late to an appointment in Germany before :)
@@MartinSteed You are quite right. But indeed there are about 3 different ways of saying half past the hour. Say 10.30 am. If it is 1025 they say 5 minutes before 1130. I think just say 1025 damn it!!! Half ten. & as you rightly say 1130. I lived in Germany for years & when driving around I would listen out to how they were going to say the time. Jesus my head did spin for a long time. But my German is better than my Greek having said all that.
@@MartinSteed Only if they say halb drei (half three). Drei Uhr dreizig would always be thirty minutes past the three.
@@brun4775 Germany observe the 24 hour clock so Drei Uhr dreizig of course would be 3.30 am. or could be one hour later.
@@maudeboggins9834 You mean twelve hours later? The twelve hour clock is also used, especially in spoken German and when using halb, viertel, vor, nach etc. How the time is spoken can vary a lot around the country, but I think halb fünfzehn would be rare in most of Germany. 2:30 pm would be halb drei.
I think reception is a relatively new term in the UK. The word kindergarten was used when I was that age.
In the UK, Kindergarten is an alternative word for Nursery, the non-statutory year(s) before Reception. Reception has been reception since at least 1980 - and I can't think what else it would have been called before that.
I thought we used the word nursery for pre school children.
I would have thought that after the linguistic misunderstanding was cleared up it may have lead to you being friends for life, but then it could be for other reasons that you are no longer best buddies.
a friend’s daughter from the US came to the UK for a year in an a UK hospital as part of their medical education. One day she was told that she was to go to the theatre one afternoon, she wondered why she was going to see a play, but found out it was to observe an operation ie a patient having surgery.
I really don't understand why we call the first year of primary school "reception" either ... it's a word that already does multiple duties in the language, none of which really line up with a class full of very small children. I remember when it came in, and I was confused because I had to do Year 5 twice ... when I started primary school, it went from year 1 to 7 with, unsurprisingly, year 1 being the first year. Then it changed to being year R to year 6, so everyone already in school stayed with the same year number for two years at the changeover. I guess it fits with the way we number storeys in buildings to start at 0 rather than 1, but I'm still sure we could have found a better name for it!
A grade in the UK tends to be a letter, a mark is usually a number out of a maximum number of marks.
Except for GCSEs, where it's 1-9.
Kalyn I know you’re embarrassed about these things but they’re all perfectly natural for an American coming to the UK. We do use words differently, and we just have to get to know these things. Please don’t be too embarrassed.
Councillor/counsellor is not just a UK/US spelling thing, they’re different words. On both sides of the pond a psychotherapist is a counsellor; they counsel people, they listen to and guide. A councillor is a member of a council, a group of people who council, they come together to deliberate and make decisions.
I think it's great that you are on camera as you are, you seem like such a lovely person and that's what counts. Good on you.
This is wonderful. Thanks Kalyn, for the entertainment. 😄
Uk councillors run in both sense, politics and mental, different spelling and context. Brother is the mental health type, so had to mention at work not political type if spoken.
4:05 "Do they all just need emotional support for this new building that's going up?" That made me laugh, and it's probably somewhat true! 😅
Kindergarten and reception are different things. Kids go to kindergarten or nursery school from 0 to the term (semester) before they are 5 then you the "reception class" as a transition into school.
"Reception" is also a social event where people gather to meet. Often it is part if a larger event. So a weekend conference could start with a welcoming reception, or after the main part of a wedding in a church there will be a separate wedding reception.
So I guess kids could have a "reception" on their first day of school, or the school could hold a reception so that the teachers can meet the students they will be teaching that year, along with their parents.
during the American revolution the term Tory was used interchangeably with the term Loyalist, i.e.loyal to the crown
Reception is a weird one, I always thought it was imported from America because locally kids start at Nursery before going to Primary school then secondary.
Caveat: i could be out of date because it has been decades since i had any involvement with schools.
Same. It was always juniors then secondary. I don’t know when Years cane in for schools before secondary school either? I think 5th year is now year 7??? 🤷♂️
“No, my name is Kaylin”. Well done you! Dont apologise!! We don’t do that political division thing in this country! I’ve never been asked if I was part of any political division. Nor have my parents nor grandparents.
When I lived in SE Asia, I must have told my girlfriend how beautiful she was numerous times (as you do). It was some months before it was pointed out to me that I was using the wrong tone (it's a tonal language), and all that time I'd been telling her, "You're really unlucky"!
Check mark means nothing in uk. Tick is the word. (Also for the engineers - check valves don’t exist, we have non-return valves!)
I had a professor who used to work in the UK. He told us about how a coworker stepped into his office asking if he could borrow a rubber. My professor was kinda weirded out and told him he should get his own. He later found out that, in the UK, a "rubber" is an eraser, not the useful bit of latex found in the pharmacy aisle.
You always crack me up, 😂. I’m so hungover from watching England last night, and laughing hurts my head.
In the UK, a crib is usually a small, portable cot that's less than 90 cm long and is suitable for a baby's first few months of sleep. A cot is generally larger and can be used for babies and toddlers up to four or five years old.
Guses what we call a bed for camping?....... A camp bed!
The only one that I have heard about a few times is from British who told me about trouble they had when they used their slang word for cigarettes.
And to us Brits, the longer version of that word means a butcher's herby pork and liver meatball.
Your focus on embarrassing moments is very British. It's one of our primary emotions and indeed is a good reason for avoiding any contact with a person forever. All very amusing. At the LGA, your fellow workers should not have asked your about your political views, I think. The organisation should not be party political. The first rule of Disney Vacation Club is that you don't talk about Disney Vacation Club.
Depending on when you first started working, the Liberal Democrats may have been 2 separate parties, Liberals and Democrats
Another example of misunderstanding is I went to Australia in 1990 and my cousin a young woman who I had not seen since we were children together almost 30 years previous at that time, said to me I will buy you a pair of thongs while you’re here and I immediately replied that is not necessary I can get anything like that myself. I felt embarrassed and she was smiling intently.
It was sometime later that I found out thongs in Oz meant flip flops and not skimpy underwear as we refer to the word.
So it happens in lots of places where English is spoken.
Pissed (uk) vs pissed (us) vs pissed off (uk) is a fun one.
Reception is a modern term before that we used simply Nursery then 1st year for 5 year olds.