hi guys welcome back to love English today's lesson all about slang and it
was actually inspired by a student of mine have you ever wondered what the
differences are between British and American slang slang phrases and as well
phrasal verbs well there is a difference and in today's lesson I'm going to
explain what that difference is so that's right today we are going to be
looking at British and American slang looking at the differences basically I
will give you one option to express the same thing in both British and American
English now why is this going to be helpful well depending on whether you
want to learn more British English or American English it means you can make
the choice between the two and of course if you are learning English you'll be
watching lots of British and American films so that difference in slang can be
a little bit confusing and the other day a student asked me in fact about the
first word I'm going to explain and she didn't realize that it was actually
American English before we get started don't forget quickly click that
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right number one to kiss in American English they use the phrasal verb to
make out but in British English we would say as snog to have a snog and to make
out so I saw my friend making out with her boyfriend way too much
PDA public display of affection can you believe it they were having a snog
outside the cinema cheeky a little bit naughty number two to fall
asleep to crash in American English but we might say nod off in British English
phrasal verb vs. verb to crash or in fact you can say crash out means you
were exhausted very tired and you fell asleep very quickly to nod off is
referring to the action of falling asleep but maybe unintentionally like
this imagine if you're on public transport and really tired when you not
it's this action when you say yes so to nod off means you've fallen asleep I
crashed out last night I was so tired did you see him he was nodding off on
the train number three an expression that to mean I am tired
so rather than the action of falling asleep this is to express being tired in
American English Zonk t' i'm Zonk t' i had such a long
day but in british english nuk 'add knackered not connected but
knackered i was really knackered after the party I am not staying out again
that late number four if you are at a party you might have a little drink and
if you have a drink you are possibly going to get wasted wasted means very
very drunk inebriated but in conversational English in
colloquial English we wouldn't say I was inebriated you would say I was drunk or
in American English wasted in British English we often say pissed
I was rather pissed last night he drank too much he was totally pissed be
careful pissed in American English means I was angry but in British English its
pissed off it's a phrasal verb I was pissed off at him for getting so pissed
last night I was wasted because I got pissed that
she was misbehaving do you see where the confusion lies wasted drunk pissed drunk
pissed off English angry pissed American angry
number five and number five is actually quite a new word to me Sabra taught me
this the other month jonesing in American English means to desire
something to want something I'm jonesing for a hamburger I've never actually come
across this expression in any films that I've watched but apparently it's quite
common in American English let me know if you've heard of this expression
before if you've heard this slang word and what might you be jonesing for in
British English we would say fantasy I really fancy a gin and tonic so I really
want or desire something to have a craving for something number six to
leave quite quickly maybe in a hurry in American English bail I had to bail last
night I was really tired why did you bail on us last night why did you bail
and leave the party oh I was wasted I drank too much in British English we
would say shoot off it's a phrasal verb sorry I had to shoot off early last
night I had to feed my cat so to shoot off and to bail number seven I'm hoping
this is something that none of you guys do to speak badly or disrespectfully of
someone to criticize them in a very negative way in American English they
say dis I guess coming from disrespect so to diss someone is to talk badly
disrespectfully and negatively about them often without their knowledge or as
we would say behind their back when they aren't fair in British English we have
got a phrasal verb and this is very British so if you use it with an
American they will not understand and to slag somebody off I'll stop
slagging him off he's not that bad are you dissing him again
British American understand the difference don't diss him okay verb
don't slag him off phrasal verb number 8 this is very very American uber meaning
the ultimate the best the top so Americans might say something like it
was Oba nice of him to give you a lift last night that is uber uber cool
uber exciting I don't know I'm not American I don't use this adjective I
would never use uber what I would use is maybe fab short for fabulous or Brill
short for brilliant or of course amazing but I would not use the expression uber
similarly of course there is awesome and amazing awesome is very very American
awesome is very American but in this case you would use it in British English
I wouldn't I would use amazing number 9 this is an expression that again you
might come across in American films or television series but you will not hear
it used in British English to be ripped ripped now as far as I'm aware ripped is
referring to a guy having a fit body not a girl a guy so he is uber ripped could
you say that tell me if you're American otherwise to just describe someone a man
as being ripped means they have a fit body but fit in British English could be
used in a more colloquial way in slang English to say that a man or a woman has
a fit body as an attractive healthy body so you could say wow she is so fit or he
is really fit but you wouldn't say he's ripped in British English it just sounds
very strange and it sound very very American so you choose
guy ripped or fit a woman fit but not ripped I don't think you can say that I
think it's kind of maybe it's talking about ripping their shirt because
they've got so much muscle it's American slang and finally number
10 a little bit like uber and awesome sick and this is something that I've
seen in hashtags in American social media television films etc but sick is
kind of like amazing great cool fantastic but I would never use that is
sick I wouldn't say that about something in a positive way if I'm talking about
sick I'm gonna vomit so for me again amazing awesome brilliant fantastic fab
Brill what else would you say right that's it what a short sweet lesson for
you but I hope it was interesting if you would like to know more about British
and American slang let us know in the comments box below and as always try and
share some slang that you have learnt with us as well
or you can of course use some of these slang words in sentences below make sure
that you personalize the language what would you describe as being uber or
awesome or sick have you ever crashed out after a party when was the last time
you had to shoot off don't forget to make sure that you understand which is
British and which is American thank you so much for watching and don't forget
there are plenty more lessons where that came from
click one of these to learn more about British slang and expressions we've got
some strange ones thanks for watching bye