Do you have a skeleton in your closet? Are you always knocking on wood? Do you always
toot your own horn? What's going on here guys? I have no idea! So in a minute I'm going to
teach you eight idioms that Brits and Americans say differently. I can't wait for this one
guys, so let's get going.
Welcome to Eat Sleep Dream English, if you haven't met me before
my name is Tom and I teach fresh modern British English so that you can take your English
to the next level and achieve your life goals whatever they may be. Now let's get straight
to number one. Now in British English if we want to say that we wanted to avoid bad luck
we would say 'touch wood'. Now in American English it's to 'knock on wood'. Now the idea
is the same, we are saying it so that we can avoid bad luck but we are using slightly different
verbs. So say you are sending a birthday card to someone, to a friend and someone says to
you 'Do you think it will arrive on time?' You could say 'touch wood'. Touch wood like
you hope to avoid bad luck. You hope to get good luck so you'd say touch wood. In American
English knock on wood. So an expression to say you are hoping for good luck or to avoid
bad luck. Now in British English if you have an embarrassing secret in the past we would
say that you had a skeleton in the cupboard. So the skeleton is the embarrassing thing.
The embarrassing story or the embarrassing event and obviously the cupboard, that's where
you put it when you hide it so no one finds it. So in British English we have a skeleton
in your cupboard. In American English it's in the closet. So a skeleton in the closet.
Same meaning just a slightly different place to keep your skeleton. 'I could never run
for Prime Minister because I have too many skeletons in my cupboard.' Yeah, that's probably
true but I think that's probably true for most people, right? We all have a few skeletons
in our cupboards or in our closets. So a skeleton in the cupboard in British English, a skeleton
in the closet in American English. Number three is a brilliant one. In British English
if you want to talk about your achievements, if you want to boast, if you want to say how
great you are we would say to blow your own trumpet. That's right, you blow your own trumpet,
you talk about how great you are. In American English, I believe it's to toot your own horn.
Now perhaps there is some flexibility here. Maybe we now say toot your own horn or to
blow your own horn or to toot your own trumpet. It's probably become quite mixed but I thought
it was an interesting one and a great idiom to know. Guys I don't want to blow my own
trumpet but I did say that this would happen. So there you are saying you know i don't want
to say how right I was but I'm going to anyway. So to blow your own trumpet or to toot your
own horn. If you want to talk about high periods and low periods especially in terms of numbers
then we would say peaks and troughs. Peaks being the high periods, troughs being the
low periods. In American English they would say peaks and valleys. Think about a mountain
or a mountainous landscape, you have your peak is the top of the mountain and you've
got the valley which is the low land. So very similar, peaks and troughs, peaks and valleys,
they both have the same meaning. So for example 'This year has been full of peaks and troughs
for the business'. So there have been some very high points for the business and some
very low points. In my favourite film the Big Lebowski they talk about strikes and gutters.
The same idea. The good things and the bad things. You can play about with it, I'm sure
there are a few other phrases you can use to talk about the high points and the low
points. So as I say it could be about numbers or it could be about emotions or just happy
times and sad times, good times and bad times. Any contrast you want to make you can use
this phrase, peaks and troughs. In British English if you don't completely believe something
because you think it might not be true you could take it with a grain of salt. In American
English that would be to take it with a pinch of salt. Again very similar, to be honest
I probably use both, I don't even know which one I use. So for example 'Did you hear Andy
wants to move to Australia?' 'I'm taking it with a grain of salt.' So I'm not fully believing
it, maybe because I know Andy and I just don't think he'll move there. Or maybe I have other
information that suggest he won't go but yeah I'm not fully convinced that he will do this.
So it's a good response to information that you don't fully believe. In British English
if you think that there is unnecessary anger about something that isn't that important
you could say it's a storm in a teacup. In American English it's a tempest in a teacup.
I quite like that. A tempest in a teacup. Because a tempest is essentially a storm,
another word for a storm so the same idea but different word. So for example 'I've heard
that there was an argument in the board room today but I think it was just a storm in a
teacup.' So I think there was just a lot of anger but it wasn't about anything important,
it was a misunderstanding or something like that. But yeah not that important. In British
English if something is a problem and it's going to stop something else from happening
we would say to put a spanner in the works. A spanner is a tool, the spanner here is the
problem and it's stopping whatever is supposed to happen. So for example maybe you are supposed
to be going camping and then you suddenly look at the weather and you are like 'ahh
have you seen the weather?' 'The rain is going to put a spanner in the works.' So the rain
is going to create a problem for your camping trip. In American English it would be to throw
a wrench into the situation or to throw a monkey wrench in to the situation. Now it
doesn't mean the situation is completely ruined. There is still a chance that it could happen
but this is just a problem on the way to completing it.So let's talk about Brexit I mean yeah
Brexit is happening here in Britain. The British government were trying to organise a deal
with the EU and then the chief negotiator from Britain quit their job and so that was
a spanner in the works. Ok, it didn't stop the situation, it didn't stop the negotiations
but it created a problem so yeah it can relate to a lot of different contexts and subjects.
And the final one, in British English we use a phrase a drop in the ocean to say that a
small amount of actually what is needed. So for example you know I can donate ten pounds
a month to a certain charity but it's a drop in the ocean. It's a small amount compared
to what's actually needed which is much larger. Now in American English I believe they use
that phrase but I think they also say a drop in the bucket which of course has a very similar
meaning, right? A drop is a small amount and a bucket is a larger amount so it is essentially
the same thing here that a much larger amount is needed but we can only give a small amount.
So for example 'Yesterday I gave a homeless guy a sandwich. Now I know it's just a drop
in the ocean but at least I did something.' So there I'm saying that I know that helping
one person with some food on one day is a small amount compared to the actual problem
which is the large amount. so yeah again you can use it in lots of different contexts.
Alright how was that guys? Did you enjoy that? Did you know all those idioms? Do you know
any more idioms that are different between British English and American English? Let
me know in the comments below. If you are an American viewer and you have any other
idioms that are slightly different to British idioms let me know, I would love to learn
from you guys. Remember guys I've got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday helping
you take your English to the next level. Check me out on Instagram, check me out on Facebook
but until next time guys, this is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.