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American Reacts to 10 American Words That Completely Confuse British People

Reacting To My Roots

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In this video I react to 10 American words that completely confuse Brits! I can see why most of these would be confusing to British people, but I was surprised to see the equivalent British words were just as confusing to me.

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20 Comments

@KernowWarrior 3 years ago

The 4 way blinkers in British English would be called Hazard lights. So you would use your indicators to show which direction your heading and you would turn on your hazards if your stopped.

@thelastpilot4582 3 years ago

Blinkers in British English are part of a horses bridle that provide shields that prevent the horse from seeing sideways. These were used for horses pulling carts to stop them being startled by passing vehicles.

@tedroper9195 3 years ago

Estate Car = The original purpose of an estate car was to transport the wealthy people that owned them from their homes to their country estates, carrying their luggage along with them.
The term is of British origin, and originally this type of vehicle had been named a ‘shooting brake’ with reference to the space for shotguns in the rear.

@tedroper9195 3 years ago

Estate Agent = The term originally referred to a person responsible for managing a landed estate, while those engaged in the buying and selling of homes were "House Agents", and those selling land were "Land Agents". However, in the 20th century, "Estate Agent" started to be used as a generic term.

@joepollard9476 3 years ago (edited)

Here's a new word for you: In England, particularly Yorkshire, fields are divided by dry stone walls rather than hedges. I heard, today, for the first time, an American tourist call them "Stone Fences."

@stevefrost64 3 years ago

The lights on the dash we would call warning lights.

@samartzis2000 3 years ago

Most of these are not confusing, you have to remember that we get American tv shows here. I knew all of these and I would suspect my fellow Brits do too.

@alfresco8442 3 years ago (edited)

To be fair, blinkers is sometimes used in British English, but I guess we avoid it because it can be confused with those things you put on racehorses to prevent distraction. Putting the blinkers on can have two totally different meanings.

@colinmelling6369 3 years ago

Just imagine asking a British girl if she likes “ bang “ you’d get a slap in the kisser .

@easterdeer 3 years ago

Being bi-dialectal is certainly a big perk of growing up in the UK and watching American media. Great video as always :D

@petervenkman69 3 years ago

4-ways (blinkers) is Hazard Lights in the UK.

@seanhickling7340 3 years ago

Actually, estate car and station wagon are of the same origin.
It originally meant the carriage that would transfer the family and their luggage between their estate and the station.

@corringhamdepot4434 3 years ago

The estate car is the motorised version of the "Shooting brake which originated in the 1890s as a horse-drawn wagon used to transport shooting parties with their equipment and game". Basically a car with a rear door and platform to work from, when you are out shooting on your estate.