- [Both] Hi, we're Joel and Lia!
- And today we're talking about British sayings
that Americans don't understand,
or a lot of Americans don't understand.
(silly singing)
- So this is an article written by The Independent,
which is a British newspaper here in the U.K.,
which I don't read really, do you?
- No I don't read it but I sort of
see their articles online flying around.
They get shared a lot of the time.
- They do. - They're very sharable.
- Very shareable, very, very socialist.
Americans probably wouldn't like it,
they'd be like (hissing)
- Ooh. (hissing)
(laughs)
- But, yeah they've written this article
so we thought we'd go through it.
You guys know slang is our specialty.
We love words, phrases. - Absolutely love slang.
Love it. - The word buoy, we love it.
- Buoy!
(laughing)
- Slang just forms a culture, doesn't it?
It's nice. - Yeah, we love it.
So you might have heard some of these before
but I'm pretty sure some of them,
we haven't spoken about on this channel.
But even if you have,
we're original. - Stick around.
- There'll be new content, new banter,
that sort of thing. - New banter.
- So, sit back, relax, and get triggered.
- What was that phrase you thought of earlier?
- Scarfing banter.
See, do you know what that is?
It's when you scarf your food down really quickly.
- It's what this channel is, scarfing,
and bantering. - Scoff and banter.
Yeah, food and chatting, basically.
- So before we get started, thank you very much
to Squarespace for sponsoring this video.
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- Anyway, let's get on with the video.
- So the first one, lost the plot.
They've lost the plot, she's lost the plot,
he's lost the plot.
What are people talking about?
Who's losing what?
- Yeah, I lose the plot quite a lot, do you?
- You lost the plot today.
It's Monday here, here in the U.K,
everywhere it's Monday.
Joel said, "What day is it?
"It feels like Friday."
He's lost the plot.
- Lost the plot.
- Not like, and I know that actually
you could sound like,
you've lost the plot, like the plot of a story,
but you've just lost it.
- You've gone crazy or
you're mad cause you can use it with angry, can't you?
- [Both] Oh, they've lost the plot.
- Yeah, we got into an argument, he lost the plot.
- Yeah, but then I think mainly it
would be stupid wouldn't it?
- Yeah, usually it's to do with that, yeah.
- I love that. - It's a good one, isn't it?
- I don't even think of it as being British slang,
I'm just like-- - Oh, she's lost the plot.
- Lost the plot. - Absolutely, yeah.
- So the next one is donkey's years,
I haven't seen her in donkey's years.
- Donkey's years.
- [Both] Oh, it's been donkey's years.
- I haven't been to Chichester in donkey's years!
Donkey's years is a long time,
if you hadn't guessed. - A very, very long time.
Not just like, oh, I haven't been there in
a few weeks, or a few months.
It would have to be, like, donkey's years.
- Yeah, in sort of multiples of,
I don't know, I would say, anything
over five years is donkey's years.
- Yeah, donkey's years. - But I don't know why,
do donkeys just live for a long time
or something? - Yeah maybe.
- Like, what is it about donkeys that made
Brits ever say donkey's years?
- Well, it says here the phrase was
underscored by the belief that donkeys live a long time,
which can be true, and have very long ears.
(both gasping)
Oh, I wonder if it used to be donkey ears.
- Well yeah, Cockney rhyming slang, donkey's ears.
- Years. - Yeah.
- [Both] Donkey's ears is years.
- We've got a video all about Cockney rhyming slang.
We'll try and link it up in the cards this video.
Go and watch that if you're interested
in Cockney rhyming slang.
It's so interesting.
- If not, just Google Joel and Lia Cockney rhyming slang.
I'm sure it'll come up.
- Yeah, it'll come up straight away.
- 'Cause we'll probably forget,
let's be honest. - Yeah, be honest.
(laughing)
- That's so cool, donkey's ears, years.
- [Both] Ears, years.
- It's so confusing,
Brits are weird. - Apples and pears.
- [Both] Stairs.
- There's loads, it's really fun.
We'd love to get a proper Cockney on the channel,
wouldn't we? - Yeah!
- Come on then, tell us a bit more about--
- Come on, Cockney!
- Come on, Cockney, make them laugh!
This one, quit ya whinging.
- Oh, 'cause I wasn't sure if it said whining or whinging.
But both of them are British but--
- Oh, yeah, quit ya whinging, I think that's whinging.
Quit ya whinging, it's always raining in London.
When somebody's whinging, it means that
they're whining, or crying.
I didn't even realize that was slang.
That's how much I've heard that.
- So you can be a whinger as well.
- [Both] Such a whinger.
- Just someone who complains, you're whiny.
I would say you're moany, but moany means
means something different in the U.S.
- Oh yeah. - So don't moan,
moan means like, oh don't, just stop complaining.
- Moaning, whinging, it's all
the same. - Nobody likes a whinger.
No one likes a-- - But,
I love a good whinge, don't you?
- You do, yeah.
You really do. - Oh stop it, shut up.
- You love moaning.
It's fantastic, it's part of your personality.
(laughs)
He loves complaining, it's fantastic.
- It runs in my family.
- Do you love a whine?
- Not whining, 'cause whining I think is the same as
whinging, in terms of like, you're going on a bit.
But it's like high-pitched whining.
Like, if you were to whinge, you'd be whining,
I'd be whinging I think.
- Oh, okay, yeah, I'd be high-pitched.
- 'Cause you're more like,
"Oh, Joel!"
Like, stop whining.
- Fantastic impression. - Very good impression.
- Joel when he does any female.
(high-pitched whining)
- Okay, so the next one is, oh, he's such a chav.
And we said this in the video about chavs.
- Such a chav, yeah. - Because my,
Vera, my friend who's from Texas,
she doesn't know what a chav is, we had to,
me and her husband, who's also British,
had to explain to her what a chav meant.
And we were trying to think of what the
American equivalent of a chav,
and we just didn't really know what it was.
The only thing we could come up with was white trash.
- Really, that's so interesting.
Yeah, like, chavs are so unique to Britain
that you can't describe a chav.
But didn't it once stand for something?
- Council house and violent, or something.
- Right, so not very nice. - We should say,
it's a horrible word, you shouldn't really
describe anyone as a chav. - No.
- The only time I will is when I'm
not being very forgiving or patient or nice,
and I've lost the plot, and I've gone a bit crazy,
and someone has, like, bashed into me or something.
I'll be like, "Such a chav,"
if I feel like they deserve it.
- Yeah, like, or you see someone steal something
from someone, you're like, "Oh, what a chav."
- The only way to explain it is that they are opposite
of someone who's very classy.
So you've got this image of someone who's just very classy,
they've got manners, they're very nice, they're very kind,
and then you've got someone who doesn't have any manners,
hasn't been brought up very well,
doesn't say their P's and their Q's.
- Doesn't say P's and Q's.
Often is associated with antisocial behavior,
a bit of a troublemaker, maybe at school, growing up.
- Look, even The Independent says white trash.
- [Both] "It's essentially the British version
of white trash, and should be used sparingly."
- So, those were The Independent's words,
- [Both] Not ours.
- So don't come for us.
- [Both] It's The Independent.
- If you Google chav, and then go on images,
you might be able to get an idea for what a chav is.
- But we're not responsible for anything that comes up.
- Oh here's a good one.
You've thrown a spanner in the works there, haven't you?
So, if someone throws a spanner in the works,
it basically means they've shaken up the situation.
They've thrown something in
that changes the potential outcome.
- Yeah, or like, you've messed up the plans.
- Yeah, you've thrown a real spanner in the works.
- Like, everything was working nicely.
- Cogs were turning. - And you've thrown
a spanner in, and now everything's going to--
(singing)
- Yeah, that's what I would say, what do they say?
"When you throw or put a spanner in the works,
"it means you've ruined a plan."
- [Both] Yeah.
- A spanner is the word for a wrench in England.
- Oh yeah, so it's like you guys saying
you're throwing a wrench in the plan.
- Sorry, forgot that a spanner is its own word as well.
- And like, if you're really Cockney,
you might call someone a spanner.
Oh you're such a spanner. - Yeah.
He's such a spanner isn't he.
That might be someone, like, a little bit,
you're such a spanner, you've not got
all your brain cells - Or, like, ditzy.
Spanner. - Yeah, a bit ditzy.
- Okay, so the next one is let's have a chin wag.
- Let's have a chin wag. - Oh I love that.
But isn't where you,
That's what chin wag is - Chin, wagging.
That's so weird. - It's such a weird phrase.
It just means a chat.
- Yeah, to chat, like your chin's wagging like that.
- Oh is that what it is?
- Yeah, a chat is a chin wag.
- Oh, 'cause you're opening your chin.
- Yeah, a chin wag.
- Interesting, I was always like, you don't
do that when you talk. - I wondered why you did that,
such an interesting way of thinking about it.
- 'Cause you know we do this, with our noses.
I thought we'd do that with our chins.
- Chin wag.
(laughing)
So, meeting up, having a chin wag, having a chat,
usually over coffee or tea, just usually.
Usually gossip is involved in a chin wag.
A chin wag, you associate a bit of gossip,
wouldn't it?
- Also, yeah, a chin wag, you wouldn't,
if you're talking to someone that you didn't
enjoy the conversation, you would never say
oh, I had a chin wag with that person.
A chin wag is always like, oh, I had like a cheeky
little chat with someone. - A chin wag.
- Yeah, cheeky, that's another word. (laughs)
- Yeah, cheeky, yeah? - Yeah, that's another.
There's plenty of videos on our channel
about the word cheeky.
- But you would never describe a boring chat as a chin wag.
Really I think it's always like a bit of a (clicks tongue)
Oh, I was catching up with an old mate, we had a chin wag.
- Yeah, I saw Joel down the market, we had a chin wag.
- [Both] Yeah, something like that.
- The next one we absolutely love,
and we use it quite a lot I think.
It's I'm chuffed to bits.
- Honestly - I'm chuffed!
I'm chuffed with that!
- I remember when we mentioned this on the channel.
- What'd we say? - I can't remember what video,
but everyone was like, "What is chuffed to bits?"
They just didn't know.
They thought it meant sad, I think, like
- [Both] I'm chuffed to bits.
- That's like, the opposite of what it means.
- When we walked into this room, we thought
oh this is very lovely.
We were chuffed to bits!
We thought this is really nice.
- Equally, you can just be chuffed, like
- [Both] oh I'm chuffed, I'm chuffed with that.
- Joel had a Pepsi Max in our workplace earlier.
- Oh I was chuffed with that. - He was chuffed.
I was like, oh I bet you're chuffed, aren't you?
He was thrilled. - I was well chuffed.
- He was booming, what's booming, he was,
- Buzzing. - Happy, buzzing.
That's the word, thank you.
- But yeah it just literally means I'm so happy.
- Yeah, chuffed. - Chuffed, I'm so happy.
- Chuffed. - Yeah, I love it.
- Hope that helps.
- So the next one is that's manky.
If something's manky, - Oh, manky.
(both groaning)
- That's mank. - I remember when it sort of,
I first started hearing this word through school, like,
oh, don't eat that, that's manky.
That banana's gone manky.
Manky's like, it's gone a bit gross.
- Moldy, gross, but then didn't it turn
from manky into just rank?
People being, that's rank. - Rank, rank.
- And that means the same thing, like just gross.
- Oh it's rank, yeah. - That's rank.
- But you smell something that's gone off, that's rank.
It's not always about food though.
- No, manky could be like, you could describe it as a room.
If you went to look around, you're renting a house,
an estate agent shows you around, there's damp everywhere,
like dirt on the floor, you'd be like oh it's manky.
- It's a bit rank, yeah, either of those.
Yeah, agreed. - Your old house,
with the bedbugs, that was manky.
And the last one is describing something as a doddle.
Oh that's a doddle. - Absolute doddle.
It's like something that's a walk in the park.
It's very easy. - So easy.
- Oh, that homework was a doddle to do.
I mean, not like kids really use
it that much. - Or a kid wouldn't
be like that exam was a doddle.
- No, that's more of an older generation, isn't it?
A doddle is a task or activity that is extremely easy,
though the origin is unknown and dates back to the 1930s.
- Oh wow. - So there you go.
It's still a little bit used, but I wouldn't say
it's that common amongst our age.
- I don't think I'd ever say it's a doddle.
I'd say it's well easy, mate. - That is well easy.
Oh, it's a walk in the park.
- I wouldn't even say walk in the park.
- I would say it's a piece of piss.
- Oh, I'd say piece of cake. - Piece of cake, yeah.
- See, why would you say piece of piss, or,
piece of cake is lovely, piece of piss is--
- It's not very nice.
That's a piece of piss.
Oh yeah, built that IKEA table,
piece of.
- Or they'd say piss easy.
- Piss easy, I like that one.
I don't use that, is that an American one?
- No, they don't say piss. - Oh, you don't say piss?
- I think they say pissed meaning angry.
- Oh, right! - Do they say that
meaning angry? - Yeah,
I'm pissed, it's angry.
But, if something's a piece of...
it's very easy.
Oh, that exam, piece of...
- We've said it enough times.
- Yeah, now I'll be quiet, like hush hush.
(shushing)
- But those are all the ones we're gonna go though guys,
there's many more. - So many more.
- If you enjoyed it, let us know.
Give the video a thumbs up.
Leave some more slang down below,
or what you thought it meant.
I love reading what you guys think that they mean.
- Yeah that's the best bit.
And let us know if you want a part two,
we might be able to do more on this,
if there's enough interest.
- Yeah, oh, these are a doddle to do.
- Oh, these are a doddle! - Honestly!
- They're an absolute joy, we're chuffed doing these kind
of videos. - Yeah we're well chuffed
aren't we? - We love it,
it's like having our own TV show.
- Yeah, we can just have a little chin wag on camera,
we love it. - What do you do for a job?
We just have a chin wag. - Just have a chin wag really,
- With the camera and the light on.
- [Both] Yeah.
(laughing)
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(bell chimes)
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See you next time. - See you.
- [Both] Bye!
(silly singing)