in america we actually
caught a fish
chicken of the sea welcome to watch mojo
and today we'll be counting down our
picks for the top 10 things americans
say that the rest of the world doesn't i
plead the fifth
for this list we'll be going over some
of the idioms and turns of phrase unique
to the united states of america if
there's an americanism we failed to
mention don't have a cow tell us in the
comments
[Music]
number 10
john hancock mr callahan i need your
john hancock on these reports john
hancock
it's herbie hancock
when visitors to the usa get asked for
their john hancock at a bank or during a
business deal chances are they'll look
at the questioner sideways
and even if they are from the country
they'll probably do the same thing i'm
here for my test where do i sign in or
should i say where do i put my john
hancock
actually i would sign my name
that's just a common expression i know
so much history i just dropped her into
everyday conversation although it sounds
like a euphemism or proposition it's
another term for one's signature as well
as a reference to an american historical
figure
john hancock was one of america's
founding fathers and one of the signers
of the declaration of independence while
everyone else signed their names to it
normally john hancock's signature was so
extravagant yet legible that his name
has become synonymous with signatures in
america
number nine
college college
he was shielding his eyes from the sun
do it when i hit it when most of the
world's english speakers want to say
they're attending post-high school
secondary education they'll say they're
attending university although americans
do have universities too and will
sometimes use the term to refer to a
specific institution the general term
for higher education tends to be college
instead fun fact a magazine no one reads
actually rated us the number two best
mid-sized liberal arts college in the
northeast excluding vermont
i went here i can tell this is often
inverted elsewhere though there are
exceptions to both cases depending on
the speaker the region and so on but
chances are if someone says that they or
someone they know is in college it's an
american saying it that that is false
gun coach
that's the local idiot
and can you believe it
i got to go to college too number eight
plead the fifth
five one two three four five
anything you say
go ahead ask me a question
foreign fans of american courtroom
procedurals and legal dramas may wonder
what this phrase is all about it refers
to the fifth amendment of the u.s
constitution which explains why the rest
of the world doesn't get it the
amendment states that while giving
testimony in court someone can abstain
from doing so if it could cause them to
incriminate themselves of a crime how
would you respond to his allegations my
client exercises his right to plead the
fifth amendment
it's a bit of a catch-22 since pleading
the fifth sometimes seems as an
admission of guilt rather than a way to
avoid revealing it
leave the 50 men what
if he's the answer on the grounds that i
want
inseminate myself for this reason it's
often used in conversation to admit
blame without going into specifics
number seven ride shotgun
kenny i called shotgun
damn it kenny get in the bag when piling
into a car or other vehicle americans
often refer to riding in the passenger
seat as riding shotgun they even make a
game out of it calling out shotgun to
determine who gets to sit there uh andy
why don't you go with ron and help him i
really don't need shotgun i call shotgun
where are we going doesn't matter
shotgun shotgun on all rides for the
rest of day for the rest of my life in
any car
while the idea certainly conjures the
image of someone holding a weapon in the
car the expression predates the
automobile like many bits of americana
this idiom has its roots in the wild
west stagecoaches were often robbed in
transit and so one of the people riding
up front would carry a weapon frequently
a shotgun for protection i didn't know
it was going to be this easy ringo
dropped the winchester i only half
figured on the stagecoach curly i didn't
figure on you at all dropped the rifle
kid the roads are safer these days but
the expression stuck
number six bachelor slash bachelorette
parties oh hey
just uh had some thoughts about the
bachelorette party okay
here we go easy peasy vegas it is
helen called you didn't you yeah she got
the jump on you the english-speaking
world has a surprisingly wide variety of
names for pre-wedding parties usually
divided by gender there are stag nights
hen nights and buck nights and these are
sometimes called parties or weekends
depending on how long the festivities
last however it's only in the united
states well and parts of canada that
people refer to these celebrations as
bachelor or bachelorette parties
regardless of what you call them though
these parties can range from tame to
infamously wild this
is the bachelor party
what
are you talking about yeah it's my
bachelor brunch
go crazy get some chocolate chip
pancakes lap dance from the waitress
that's [ __ ]
the idea is to have one last hurrah
before marriage when you're still
technically a bachelor or bachelorette
depending on how crazy the party gets
you may want to stay one oh well now
this looks like a good place for a
bachelorette party
number five grade level names nice try
freshmen
tell you what
just for being such brave little kids
i'm only going to give you five licks
throughout much of the world each year
of education is referred to by year for
example year seven but education in the
united states beginning in high school
has specific names for each year of both
secondary school and university do you
know samantha baker
sophomore right
yeah what do you think of her
i don't freshman year is year one
sophomore year is year two junior year
is year three and senior year is the
final year oh no i'm gonna be a senior
brother
the students in those years are also
referred to by these names although high
schoolers are sometimes called 9th 10th
11th and 12th graders too before you go
blaming americans for being confusing
you should know that the terminology
originated in england at cambridge and
was spread to the us by harvard
benefactor john harvard
number four appetizer dad can we get an
appetizer
appetizer honey good news hayley has
been made the queen of denmark
multi-course meals have a lot of
terminology for what each part of the
meal is called often derived from french
cuisine small dishes served before the
main course are referred to throughout
most of the world as entrees starters or
sometimes hors d'oeuvres it's only in
america and again some parts of canada
that these mini males are called
appetizers probably because they serve
to whet the appetite before the meal
gets started in earnest
run for your lives everyone it's the
appetizer
more confusing is the fact that
americans refer to the main dish as the
entree so if you're expecting little
finger food for your entree prepare for
a surprise
number three
ground floor equals first floor
europeans visiting the us or again
canada may find themselves confused when
getting directions about which floor to
visit in france first the ground floor
then the first floor then the second
floor and so on that's weird
north americans frequently use the term
ground floor and first floor
interchangeably this can cause some
confusion for visitors when trying to
find the right floors in elevators
thank you
much of the world refers to the first
floor above ground level as the first
floor or story essentially treating the
ground floor as floor zero although some
american buildings will keep an
international naming format the majority
don't so make sure you're keeping the
correct count
looks like a christmas tree number two
sneakers slash tennis shoes
these shoes are so uncomfortable they're
dread sneakers you're not supposed to
run in them the world has a plethora of
words for athletic footwear the uk
canada and some other english-speaking
countries call them trainers runners
running shoes or sometimes basketball
shoes there's plenty more too whoa
watch the new kicks
you have another pair of new sneakers
the united states meanwhile tends to
refer to these specialized shoes as
either sneakers a term more popular on
the east coast or tennis shoes or even
tennies
again there are a ton of variations or
alternatives but these labels are most
common in the usa compared to elsewhere
this is another instance where americans
can thank britain at least for the term
tennis shoes as british aristocrats wore
the rubber soled footwear to play their
favorite sport before we continue be
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number one
soccer to most human beings the sport
where you hit the ball with your foot is
naturally referred to as football
however the british came up with the
name soccer as a nickname for
association football to differentiate it
from rugby football when the sports
crossed the pond americans developed
their own spin on rugby called gridiron
football which they just keep calling
football the name soccer stuck too since
of the two gridiron was far more
popular wide for some soccer
[Music]
[Applause]
the cabinet of soccer association is
coming to springfield it's all here fast
kicking low scoring and ties
you bet soccer is also used in other
countries with their own spins on rugby
football such as australia and canada
geez you're big for a lady you could
play for the 49ers
well i was a fullback
but that's european football deer soccer
yes you play soccer too yeah we do
understand why people are frustrated
about american football's name though
only few players even touched the ball
with their feet do you agree with our
picks check out this other recent clip
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