British Couple Reacts to 15 American Phrases That Totally Confuse Brits

British Couple Reacts to 15 American Phrases That Totally Confuse Brits
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[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence. He told everyone that he wanted everyone to know who he was, so he signed the Declaration with a massive signature so it was obvious it was him.

[@johnscheunemann5630]

He wanted King George to be able to see it

[@SeanP7195]

And it’s a beautiful signature too. Fantastic penmanship.

[@MarkM58]

All US Navy ships have their name on the stern (back of the ship). The USS John Hancock has a facsimile of his signature on the back of the ship! Google it. It is very unique.

[@AnnieDC304]

See it without his glasses on.@@johnscheunemann5630

[@kittallmadge]

She should be embarrassed not to know that.

[@MrPenguinLife]

Look up a photo of the Declaration of Independence and see which signature jumps out at you, and you will see why John Hancock became slang for your signature.

[@jmrocks49]

She doesn’t seem to know her own American history very well.

[@MarkM58]

I was thinking the same thing. Not a very educated American when it comes to our history and culture.

[@tvc1848]

@jmrocks49 You win the thread!! 😎

[@markmyers5881]

It seems like the sort of thing you'd want to look up before making a video on it.

[@irishpanic]

She didn’t really know what Monday morning quarterback was either

[@garysturner1]

Yup. Not a good choice to explain the American euphemisms.

[@BillGraper]

The terms "Freshman, Sophomore, Junior & Senior" are also used in high school. 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th grades.

[@jimwilcox2964]

And there is the Super Senior taking 5 years for a 4 year degree. May have changed majors part way through, just didn't take enough credits, or had to retake some class

[@phantom629]

congress also

[@nrrork]

I'd say the distinction is much more important to high school kids, too. 2-3 years makes a lot more difference at that age.

[@dansdiscourse4957]

I don't want to scroll down to see if anyone answered this so I'll just say it here. None of the terms get shortened except for freshman. It's often shortened to frosh.

[@DanDroidx]

Fun Fact: Sophmore is a modern derivation of the Greek "sophos" (meaning wise) and moros (meaing "foolish"). So, a sophmore is a 'wise fool', having some education but not a lot of experience.

[@tvc1848]

Phrases that completely confuse Brits…. and also the American sent to explain them! 🤣

[@mikeg.4211]

NFL games are mostly played on Sundays, so a Monday morning quarterback is someone saying what they would have done after it's already happened.

[@trolllol5862]

Exactly, Sunday Night football is usually the time so monday morning is like way after.

[@kevinhayden4605]

Yeah, she fails to fully explain this.

[@marvindoolin1340]

My understanding is that it goes farther back than TV football broadcasts and refers to the Friday night high school game being discussed when everyone returns to work on Monday.

[@neutrino78x]

mikeg, that's what she said.... She was explaining the meaning, not necessarily the etymology.

[@mikeg.4211]

@@neutrino78x I understand that, but in this case, the etymology is kind of the inextricably intertwined point of the definition. She doesn't seem to understand that most NFL games are played on Sunday, which is the reason that the word "Monday" is part of the phrase.

[@wadeheaton123]

John Hancock signed the Declaration of independence so large, saying, "So King George can read it without his glasses on."

[@kathycuster1714]

That's what we were taught.

[@hollytooker507]

Right! Not the Constitution!

[@Jmac1962]

Opposite type of phrase to New York Minute would be "a country mile", when some old farmer tells you the place you're looking for is a mile up the road, but it's actually at lot farther.

[@CharlesGriswold]

It might actually be as far as over yonder.

[@edwinsteele221]

​@@CharlesGriswold you are correct. It's over yonder across the holler

[@tachyon8317]

I thought the opposite of "new york minute" would be "island time".

[@NathanMN]

It's also a good song by Don Henley.

[@shivag73]

@@CharlesGriswold Just passed where the red barn used to be.

[@Jmac1962]

"The whole nine yards" originally came from the fact that American fighter planes in WWII had ammo belts for their machine guns that were 27 feet (9 yards) long. So for a pilot to come back to base saying he'd shot the whole nine yards, he'd used all his ammo fighting the enemy.

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

No The phrase is older than both World Wars

[@freemandefender1238]

@@ZedrikVonKatmahl I believed it originated from rural Indiana at the turn of the 20th Century. Supposedly a neighbor asked how large was his garden and he responded I used the whole nine yards in front of his house.

[@joshsmith4512]

no one knows, but most likely went back to the days of sailing ships, but I've also heard the world war 2 story the mast full sail , give it the whole nine yards🤷‍♂️

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

Supposedly it’s because bolts of cloth are nine yards long.

[@michaelschroeck2254]

Bolts of cloth.

[@LizJasonHEA]

Plead the fifth is more specific than what they said. In American law you have the right to refuse to answer a question during a trial if you are going to incriminate yourself. In other words if what you say is going to get you in trouble you don't have to say it in court under oath. I've always thought however that using the 5th amendment basically means you are admitting that if you do answer the question you're going to say something that's going to get you in trouble. But that is one of our protections we don't have to incriminate ourself. It is up to the prosecuting attorney to prove you are guilty..

[@LauranCHB]

Not just in court but with ANY interaction with govt. Police, etc

[@edwardbietsch993]

Basically you can't be forced to testify or make statements against yourself. A very important American right.

[@tvc1848]

@@LauranCHB Boom! 👍🏼 In court, on the side of the road talking with the police or whatever. If the government asks then you don’t have to answer.

[@NathanMN]

But it's also used as slang how the original video explained it. I've used in that sense many times, with friends or family, but I've never had the reason to use it in its literal, legal sense.

[@tvc1848]

@@NathanMN 👍🏼 Absolutely. Great point. Most of these words or phrases are metaphors or colloquial language. I was a police officer for 37 years and never heard anyone say anything about the Fifth Amendment (they simply said that they refused to talk) except as a joke and that was usually from coworkers. It’s like “for the birds” doesn’t actually mean to give something to the birds.

[@BWheble]

You grill from underneath your food. You broil from above your food. Grill = fire under food. Broil = fire above food.

[@pwbeagles]

exactly right, heat from above anyway.

[@mikehermen3036]

Barbecue from the side !

[@BWheble]

@@pwbeagles my bad you can also broil with electric range/coils

[@nyrockchicxx]

With a gas stove you broil from below. The flames are above your pan of food in the broiling drawer at the bottom of the stove.

[@pwbeagles]

that's true it's under but it's still above the food@@nyrockchicxx

[@billchmelik5697]

The plural of y'all is all y'all

[@msgroogrux]

I enjoy "all y'all" for the plural

[@tvc1848]

Y’all is plural. If it’s one person then it’s simply “you”, even in the south. 😃

[@billchmelik5697]

@tvc1848 it does not follow a strict grammatical interpretation. So y'all are incorrect.

[@tvc1848]

@@billchmelik5697 Y’all isn’t singular. Maybe in today’s narrow world where a person was to be addressed as “them” and “they”. 🤣🤣🤣

[@billchmelik5697]

@tvc1848 now that's funny! Thanks for the laugh! But I heard it used as singular (and plural) for over 60 years, and yes, it is very possible that the contraction has slightly different uses depending on local use. 😉

[@wingfootmcnova9130]

Saying "I plead the fifth" in regular conversation is more of a joking way to say you're guilty without admitting it directly.

[@marieneu264]

"Monday morning quarterback" is an informal term that refers to someone who analyzes and comments on events after the fact. It's often used in a derogatory sense.

[@Jmac1962]

Comes from the fact that a majority of NFL games are played on Sunday, and on Monday mornings all the guys at work are discussing the game and how their team could have won if this or that had happened

[@marieneu264]

@@Jmac1962 I agree!

[@tvc1848]

@@Jmac1962 Ding! Ding! Ding! 😎

[@80sGamerLady]

We say "knock on wood." If we said "touch wood," it would sould like an euphemism 😂

[@joeboucher2430]

We are asking the spirits that live in the wood to give us luck. It comes from the Druid religion.

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

@@joeboucher2430 Exactly, which makes it a mystifying thing to ask about as an Americanism. As part of the Celt's druidic religion, it is a pre-Anglosaxon British reference.

[@CliffordHill-mt1lw]

Yeah, one that would probably make you go blind.

[@Paul_Waller]

I always knock my head. It's mostly wood up there 😁

[@monsieurlespaique2333]

An American phrase that I totally love is "If it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck..."

[@itiswhatitis-rn5sd]

Broil is when you cook from the top down and grill cooks from the bottom up.

[@radioactiveblaze1472]

So high heat only from the top of the oven

[@Cubs-Fan.10]

Wrong. It's where extra pots and pans are stored lol

[@Svensk7119]

Didn't know broiling was cooking from the top down.

[@higgme1ster]

@@Cubs-Fan.10 lol I saw what you did there. Wait, that's probably another phrase that would confuse a Brit.

[@chitowntiger1]

It's more direct vs indirect cooking. Broil/grilling is direct. Oven is indirect.

[@gazoontight]

Sophomore literally means "wise fool" - you know just enough to get into trouble.

[@CrashLandon1]

My mom used to word that idea as knowing "just enough to be dangerous".

[@jamesgirard1090]

I did not know that. Thanks.

[@williamherald1418]

Sophomore = "Sophisticated" + "Moron". Someone who THINKS they know everything, but actually still doesn't know very much.

[@busterdee8228]

An 'opposite' twist. In Marines, I was being processed for schooling. I wanted to end up a Flight Engineer (FE), but no one could tell me what the 'feeder' MOS was (it turned out nearly all of them). I was slated to be a jet mech but let them re-assign me to ground radar--not realizing I had just closed the FE door. When I sat down, a LCpl asked me what we were discussing. I told him, wherebye he said: they make a lot of FEs from that. For over 25 years, I never ignored a LCpl's opinion. Basically, they knew their way around but were too junior to escape the consequences of a dumb or corrupted order/scoop.

[@beerisgood25]

The fifth amendment says you are not required to answer any question "If the answer incriminates you". Its basically "if the answer to a question forces you admit guilt to a crime, you don't have to answer it" It does not say that you don't have to answer any question you don't want to.

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

Also used figuratively to dodge a question that would get you in trouble.

[@tvc1848]

Actually the Fifth Amendment does mean that you don’t have to answer questions whether they infer guilt or not. A person is not required to determine if the answer may or may not admit a guilt. A person simply does not have to talk to the government which is usually the police.

[@tvc1848]

@@JustMe-dc6ks You certainly hit the nail on the head. While the origin of the Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination is in the US Constitution on not speaking with the government, it most commonly used as somewhat of a humorous situation. A - Who were you with last night? B - I am taking the Fifth! 😂

[@sherylpond2557]

Plead the fifth is what you say so you don't have to testify where you might/would incriminate yourself.

[@tvc1848]

@@sherylpond2557 Yes but testifying sounds like court and offering testimony. The Fifth Amendment isn’t only for court but maybe that’s what you meant.

[@Adiscretefirm]

It is specifically Monday morning quarterbacking because that's the first day most people go back to work and talk about the Sunday football game "he should have thrown to Jenkins he was wide open"

[@Boodieman72]

The whole nine yards comes from machine gun belts, which are (were) 9 yards long, so you would have fired all the bullets.

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

This is not correct

[@toughbastard]

he is mostly correct, it was in reference to a vicker machine gun attached to a ww1 fighter plane the 400 round belt was 9 yards and thats where the term originated. most people think its a football term @@ZedrikVonKatmahl

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

@@toughbastard It predates the World Wars and the actual origin is unknown

[@john-dm1rx]

There is another take on this. Many cement trucks carry 8 to 10 cubic yards of cement but many trucks were filled to 9 yards. So if you were getting a delivery you would say give me the whole 9 yards.

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

@@john-dm1rx That's worse than the plane BS

[@peterjamesfoote3964]

John Hancock was one of the founders of the country and signed the Declaration of Independence which was an act of treason. Hancock was not the first signer but made his signature very large “so King George would be sure to see it.” So put your John Hancock there means “sign this.” Speaking of the fear of being hung for treason, after signing the constitution Benjamin Franklin said after the signing “Now we must all hang together, or we will all hang separately.” So in the US, which most of us know is a better term than America (lest we offend all the other countries of the American continent), we see all of these founders as heroes.

[@lifeandfaith]

Yes. So King George could see it without his spectacles!

[@inexplicablyleft2729]

"Behind the eight ball" is not common now, but it means that you are in a difficult position from which to succeed. That is, the ball you want to sink is behind the eight ball, and you have to sink yours without also sinking or touching the eight.

[@TrueThanny]

02:20 It only makes sense when you understand that big games in football are played on Sunday. So a Monday morning quarterback is someone who explains how they would have won the game that was lost the day before.

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

I wonder if it is specifically related to pro football. College games are of course generally played on Saturdays. Monday would be the first day back at the office to discuss the weekend's games, so a Monday morning quarterback could be second-guessing either pro or college.

[@TrueThanny]

@@thomasmacdiarmid8251 No clue about what it specifically relates to, but I'm happy to believe it's basically any game played on the weekend. It could just be that Monday is important for being the day people go back to work, and end up at the water cooler to discuss the big game.

[@joncelarier2354]

Monday morning, I'm back to work, catching up on what happened over the weekend, and the home team lost. Tom knows the quarterback should have run the ball, I know he should have handed it off, we all know he shouldn't have passed it on that last play!!!

[@peterjamesfoote3964]

Most of us would actually knock on a tabletop, chair, door or doorway frame.

[@JamesMcOmber]

Or head.

[@marianclough8577]

Or, if there isn't any wood around, whatever is nearest...knock on formica, or glass. etc.

[@michaelmardling3152]

'For the Birds' - It originated as U.S. Army slang in World War II; the original phrase was “that's shit for the birds", but it was altered later to remove the expletive and make it less “vulgar". It came from the observation that birds would often peck at horse manure for seeds buried in it. So the term came to be used to describe something useless or worthless.

[@chuckokelley2448]

Sounds like the origin of "shitbird"

[@Nameless-lk8ld]

Much better answer. I was taught it meant scraps for the chickens and nothing for people to eat, which means worthless as well.

[@DaveM-FFB]

When you come to the USA to visit Washington DC, there is a Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence on the Capitol Mall. I was the construction administrator/manager of that project roughly 40 years ago. Shout out to Tony Volpe, the excellent stone mason who received the contract.

[@tomgardner2638]

We use the same grade terms in High school here as well, not just college. After 8th grade, the last grade in elementary school or grade school, we are high school Freshmen.

[@tcg2ki]

when i went to school 7 8 9 was considered junior high then high school started at 10th grade

[@magnus966]

A "country mile" is the opposite of a New York minute. Cause feels like you don't get anywhere quickly because the scenery doesn't change much

[@chouseification]

Broil DOES NOT mean to "grill". It's specifically a very hot type of cooking, done with a second heating coil above the food turning on. One might broil a steak in the oven for the last few minutes to get a nice crust on it vs just baking it (from below).

[@Dragoncurse4]

From what I've seen, the brits call that grilling. Our grilling is their BBQ.

[@chouseification]

@@Dragoncurse4perhaps yet another case where the same words mean slightly different things across the pond. :P For me, broiling means simply "cooked from above, with intense heat". Most often in my kitchen stove - turn the settings to bake and a lower heating element turns on; flip to broil and a top coil turns on. Commercial restaurant gear a bit more specialized but same idea - intense heat from above. If that's "grilling" to the UK, so be it... of course to a USAican, "grilling" means using some form of charcoal, wood, or gas "grill" - and we cook a variety of foods (mostly meat, but lots more can go on there too) relatively quickly. If we have a modified setup, designed to cook "low and slow", we'd generally say we were "smoking some meat" or "I've got the smoker going".

[@pacmanc8103]

I don’t know what English call the burner elements on the top of an oven that get red hot and can be controlled by the knob (or keypad) to go on independently. Those are broiler elements to rapidly encrust things or ‘broil’ them. Can be steaks - can be meringue on a lemon pie. I didn’t think Brits call that ‘grilling’, but I must be wrong.

[@tvc1848]

@@chouseification It’s not just across the pond. Many Americans refer to cooking over charcoal in the back yard as barbecuing and absolutely believe that is correct. Words can certainly have different meanings in common usage and to many people barbecuing is cooking over an open fire or charcoal. I understand the low and slow stick burners or now pellets grills but to many, that is just smoking as opposed to barbecuing.

[@chouseification]

@@tvc1848notice how I didn't even mention the word you keep suggesting I misspoke on. Nope. That's a whole discussion in and of itself, which I intentionally avoided. I don't want to get in the middle of some Texas vs Virginia sauce war or similar, so was talking about the primary techniques. Yes, there are many many variants :P Also, stay on target - the subject word at hand is "broil".

[@MahaliaMD73]

I’m a southerner from Alabama in the U.S. and we love when anyone says y’all like we do! 😁

[@shivag73]

Heard it growing up in Texas. We use it everywhere in Alabama. First time I heard someone say you'uns in Arkansas, I was completely lost.

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

In New York we don't say "Y'all." We say "Youse guys."

[@drivers99]

When I lived in upper Michigan we say “yous” (plural you). Haha

[@tallondarkfeather9728]

@@drivers99 And from what I recall the Mid Atlantic uses Yinz

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

@@tallondarkfeather9728 I used to think it was Noo Yawk thing, but I've since learned that, or variations of it, are pretty common across the northern part of the country, particularly east of the Mississippi. And it's not nearly as common in New York as it was when I was growing up in the 1960s.

[@ErisRising]

In California we say "DUUUUUDES!"

[@jenniferb7780]

Near Pittsburgh we say "Yinz"

[@joeyrobison6629]

The US Declaration of Independence from Great Britain document features signatures of the Representatives of the Continental Congress. The most prominent signature featured in bold and beautiful script was that of John Hancock's, who was the president of the Second Continental Congress. Because of that signature it led to the expression "Put your John Hancock here!" If there's just two of you, we say Y'all. If we're in a group, we say All Y'all.

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

I don’t think all regions that use y’all necessarily use all y’all. But yes, where we do it’s more expansive and inclusive. Where y’all might be the specific people I’m directly interacting with and all y’all a larger group y’all are a part of (friends, family, housemates, traveling companions …) who are not necessarily all present at the moment.

[@armandosaenz328]

For the the folks in the UK, behind the eight ball wood equate to being snookered

[@rebeccaholcombe9043]

I thought being snookered was being drunk?

[@paulbattson834]

She's the wrong person to explain anything.

[@JEFFwasHERE...]

I've heard every one of these my entire life. I feel some of the terms were from the 50's-70's I'm from the south. Mississippi Gulf Coast. Slice of heaven down here

[@matthewmckeon9557]

Broil is cooking food in the oven but the heating element is on the top of the oven and cooks the food from the top and not the bottem as it is in baking.

[@istiles1]

Y'all is very common where I'm from, you'll hear it throughout the South. Some regions will say You'uns, up North where I went to High School I'd hear You guys or to be very New Yorkie or Philly, Yous guys. [As a language teacher I loved that I could teach 2nd person singular & plural using our colloquialism: You is singular, Y'all is plural.] Some phrases just don't translate well, like 'a hoot 'n a holler' or a 'fur piece' ...

[@janefrost4267]

Y'all has it roots from the Scot Irish that immigrated to the South. Y'all is the shortened term for Ye All. You will here Y'all for 1 or 2 people quite frequently but when addressing a crowd you will most likely hear All Y'all. I have a very large family of 14 sisters and I swear my mother never used just Y'all. It was always All Y'all better simmer down or I am getting the paddle out. You know the paddle was out when she started on the names Tracy Lee, Cathy Ann, Mary Beth, etc....

[@nyrockchicxx]

@@janefrost4267I always knew I was in trouble when my mother used my full, proper name.

[@mstayloronline]

It's the south. It's not "y'all" it's straight up one word: yall. If you're going full southern. If you got a little yank in ya, then you add the apostrophe to be proper.

[@janefrost4267]

@@mstayloronline Or you add the apostrophe if you understand the history of the word or a direct descendant of the Scots that colonized differing parts of the South. Apostrophe spellings of y'all and ya'll were in use in printed form as far back as the mid and late 1800's.

[@franklinshriver8441]

Ive lived in the Northwest my whole life, but once i had a few friends from the South, i just started saying y'all and all y'all, simply because i think it sounds pretty cool!

[@marieneu264]

18:33 “what are ya’ll doing for lunch?” is something I hear daily at work lol

[@georgemacdonell2341]

All y'all jeet yet? my people.🦊

[@nelsonhemstreet3568]

6:00 - John Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence (not the Constitution) and the story goes that he did it very large "so King George could read it without his glasses." 8:25 - My college degree required 5 years instead of 4, and we used "first year" etc. because the five year program did not lend itself to the freshman, sophomore, junior, senior framework. 14:19 - I have always understood that the "whole nine yards" refers to the capacity / quantity of concrete in a mixing truck. To take the "whole nine yards" means you took it all.

[@driver488]

It refers to the length of the combat load of ammunition in a WW 2 plane

[@nelsonhemstreet3568]

@@driver488 I'll buy that. And since Mr. Google says my reference to concrete is "inconsistent with the phrase's history", let's go with yours.

[@Svensk7119]

​@@nelsonhemstreet3568Yes, it's a reference to the ammunition in a WWII fighter plane. When laid out, the ammunition (usually .50 cal, that is, half inch diameter bullets [not the cases]) is twenty-seven feet long, which is nine yards.

[@erikawilliams9558]

I don't see anything saying Hancock signed first, it just referenced how much his signature stood out from the others

[@nelsonhemstreet3568]

@@erikawilliams9558 You may be right. It just may be part of the "lore" that he signed it first. But according to this webpage, he was the first, since he was the President of the Congress. bensguide.gpo.gov/j-signing-delaration#:~:text=As%20President%20of%20the%20Second,the%20center%20of%20the%20page.

[@rebeccaamos7494]

You give your kitchen scraps to the chickens. The stuff you don't want. It's for the birds.

[@dougbowers4415]

NFL Football games are traditionally played on Sundays so people go to work on Monday morning and second guess the decisions made by the actual quarterback the previous day.

[@CaptainFrost32]

Behind the eight ball: Both players have to run their table [stripes or solids] by hitting the cue ball directly into your target in hopes of putting the target in the pocket without the cue ball or eight ball going in. If your angle is blocked by the eight ball, you need to choose a less direct angle that does not connect with the eight ball or miss the target entirely or put the cue ball in the pocket. Sinking the eight ball prematurely is an automatic loss.

[@joebright4607]

It’s often used as a euphemism that was commonly used by mafia type criminals. When caught by the law, they would say they were behind the eight ball. This meant they were in a difficult situation and had to do some creative maneuvering to get out of trouble. Eliminate witnesses, destroy or move evidence, what have you. So expanding from your eloquent depiction of the origin of the phrase, I thought I would just help complete the pathway to the vernacular as a “saying”.

[@webbtrekker534]

You can hit the 8 ball but you must hit your target ball first.

[@Sandman60077]

John Hancock signed the Declaration with a very big, extravagant, and fancy signature that really sticks out compared to the rest of the signatures.

[@countygraybeal6901]

Lol,no,no!! Touch wood means something completely different!! 😂😂

[@steveford8999]

Like when my kids ganged up on me and asked if I ever smoked dope. "I plead the Fifth on that one, guys." To much laughter, btw.

[@donnastafford763]

A couple of mistakes she made. John Hancock was a signer of the Declaration of Independence not the Constitution. These men pledged "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor"--meaning they'd be hung as traitors if they lost the War of Independence. If you look at a picture of the document John Hancock's is the VERY LARGE signature. He was reputed to have made a joke as he signed saying he heard Georgie had bad eyes so he'd sign it large enough for him to read without glasses. Also, Monday Morning Quarterback. She was correct on what it means but the additional context is that the biggest NFL football games was broadcast on TV on Sunday evenings. So on Monday at the office Mr. Know-it-all would second guess all the mistakes of the game to fellow workers-- 20/20 hindsight.

[@steveford8999]

If you look at the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock wrote a LARGE signature. "So the King Of England can read it"

[@gdnick123]

the whole 9 yards came from SCOTLAND because a full uncut bolt of TARTAN cloth was 9 square yards. so a large man would need the whole 9 yards for his kilt and tartan. meaning all of it

[@SalyLuz-hc6he]

It comes from many types of fabric not only tartans. Many different types of woven fabric were sold 9 yards to the bolt. So if you needed a whole bolt, you would just say I’ll take the whole 9 yards. But my great grandfather also used it to describe his experiences as football captain for two years, because to complete a down you needed to go 10 yards. You had 4 opportunities to progress each 10 yards, and if you could not accomplish it in those four tries then you would lose control of the ball to the other team. Often on the first down someone might only progress one yard. So to be successful they needed to go nine more yards. Grandpa would often call this going the whole 9 yards, even though we knew there was actually 10 yards per down.

[@taustin6524]

So they use yards instead of meters to measure fabric? 🤔

[@gdnick123]

in the late 1700's and early 1800's i don't think they had meters yet

[@TikiGuyJay]

The song he referred to with knock on wood is “The Impression That” I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. “Never had to knock on wood But I know someone who has Which makes me wonder if I could It makes me wonder if I've Never had to knock on wood And I'm glad I haven't yet Because I'm sure it isn't good That's the impression that I get”

[@vdussaut9182]

In my high school freshmen were often called “frosh” by upperclassmen, kind of as a teasing/dig nickname. Also “freshman” can refer to a first year politician, and “sophomore” also refers to second in a series, as in a sophomore album being an artist’s second album.

[@pauljacques3804]

Pleading the Fifth means you don't have to answer a question that will incriminate yourself.

[@tomhalla426]

If you ever see a facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, a very prominent and legible signature is that of John Hancock. I think he was the secretary of the convention.

[@CaptainFrost32]

For the birds: If you have loaves of bread too old or dropped to the ground to be edible for humans that it is only useful to break up and feed to random bird in the park or chickens in the pen, it is for the birds. Of no use to a person except as chicken feed.

[@DukeLitoAurelius]

So, back at you guys: one of my favorite British expressions is “porkies,” meaning, lies. Used in a sentence: “He said he was stuck in traffic for hours, but I reckon he’s telling porkies because I saw his car parked outside his house earlier.”

[@jenniferbush41]

She got signature right, but the reason they use his name is because his was the largest signature on the Declaration of Independence.

[@bjchawaii]

Yup, because he wanted the crown to know he turned against them for seizing his estate.

[@kjdickson]

New York Minute = Time from the traffic light to turn green until the time someone blows their car horn to move the car in front of them.

[@janinelloyd7500]

This is the most accurate definition I've ever read.

[@jamesmorgan9280]

I really enjoyed this reaction video. Great!

[@tallgirlhappyme]

*Behind the 8 ball =* pressure to meet a deadline

[@garydomogalla1925]

"Knock on wood" is meant to invoke the spirits that live in trees.

[@betsyduane3461]

Bang for your buck originated in the late 1960s in the military for expenditures for firepower and soon was extended to mean an increased financial return or better value.

[@genew5758]

I'm an American and I have never heard of Monday Morninh Quarterback. Lol

[@DamienWillis]

It's really funny because a fairly popular, inexpensive cut of beef in the U.S. is called the London Broil. (And it seems Londoners have never heard the word "broil.")

[@raamjames1]

"The Whole Nine Yards" In WWII, American artillery belts were 27' long. If a soldier gave the enemy the whole belt, he gave him all 9 yards.

[@chadh.johnson3550]

What is an artillery belt? That is not how that works

[@CliffordHill-mt1lw]

Not artillery, but .50 caliber machine gun belts, Browning M2, also known as the "Ma Deuce".

[@raamjames1]

"Ammo" is what I meant. Not sure why I went with artillery. That would be quite a bit of weight to handle, lol.

[@flashcar60]

I have read that the phrase "whole nine yards" is actually of British origin. If a gent wanted a three-piece suit, it required nine yards of cloth. That predates what some Americans think was the original meaning: 500 rounds of 50-caliber ammunition in a fighter plane are nine yards long.

[@stephenvangelder3893]

I presume you are thinking of "dressing to the nines"

[@GT-mq1dx]

Remember a yard is part of the Imperial system of measurement that you folks do not use.

[@juliaw151]

​@@GT-mq1dxwe folks? We absolutely do use imperial here in the uk.

[@GT-mq1dx]

@@juliaw151 Really? How might that be, the UK and Europe switched to metric decades ago, so can you name me an industry in which you folks use it on scale. Why would you use the Imperial scale of measurement when your industries are based on the metric system? If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but I’ll wait for an answer.

[@juliaw151]

@@GT-mq1dx Well, let's see, we use miles for speed signs, miles for distance, unless you're walking or jogging and then it's km. However if it's a short distance then metres are used such as my house is 80m². Both beer and milk are sold in pints [imperial, not us customary] but the latter legally must have litres displayed on it, unless we're talking milk that is not cow milk and then it's only in litres]. Some people weigh themselves in stone and pounds, while some of the younger gens use kg [like myself], and for babies its lbs and ounces. Feet and inches for height whilst, again, some of the younger gens like myself use cm/m. Some, admittedly, older folk use farenheit though I know of no one personally that does, I just know it's a thing, most people do use centigrade though. Petrol and diesel are sold in litres but fuel costs are measured in miles per gallon [again, imperial not us customary]. These are just a few examples, really we started "going metric" in the 70's but never finished due to cost, i would imagine, and now we live in this hodgepodge of an "officially" metric society but actually things are still quite imperial, annoyingly. The government actually did a poll after Brexshit and their expectation was the opposite of the actual result. They expected we would want to return to imperial completely, as a nation we said quite the opposite.

[@MeanJohnDean]

Back in the day, it was believed that wood had little life forms in it, and you knocked on it to alert them you needed luck.

[@josephdismukes9634]

"Knock on wood" is more of a ward against bad luck. Broil and grill are 2 different things. Broil the heat source is on top, grill the heat is source is at the bottom.

[@Arizona_Gezzer]

I don't recall ever hearing a, "New York minute". Also, my dad always prefixed "for the birds" with a less polite word for excrement. He was in the Navy during WWII and his use of language was a bit colorful.

[@shawntribby663]

John Hancock was the first signer of the declaration of independence, and he signed his signature so large even king George could read it

[@patrickrobinson317]

In the US and Canada most ovens have 2 heating elements - one above and 1 below the rack that you place your food on. Broil uses the TOP heating element, while Bake uses the bottom element. 😊 The Broil setting exposes food directly to the top heating element. It's as if you are literally roasting the food on an open fire with no barrier. This is good for meats, etc. 😊 Whereas, the bottom element is used for baking stuff like cakes, pies, etc that need a more passive heat source. When baking the pan itself serves as a shield from the direct heat that the bottom element delivers.

[@carlajenkins1990]

The whole nine yards refers to a cement truck's contents-nine square yards. My Grandpa had a friend who worked at a cement factory. If Gene didn't dump the entire load of cement-and he had to get rid of the whole load and not clog up the mixer-he would bring Grandpa the end of the load. Grandpa finished his basement one yard at a time.

[@darcyjorgensen5808]

You can also say that you “take the fifth” when you are avoiding self-incrimination.

[@joannebaker4925]

Back in my high school days, we used the term freshie, freshmeat.

[@DaveM-FFB]

Broil has to do with the location of the heat source in an oven. When you bake, the heat source is below or is evenly applied. When you broil, the heating element is above your food

[@lindaryan4148]

I’m an older American and lived outside Philadelphia my whole life. I have never heard of Monday morning quarterback. Am familiar with all the others though. I also use y’all even though I’m not from the south. I hung around with a lot of southerners and picked it up and it never left. Fun video.

[@anonnnymousthegreat]

I grew up in the midwest and i have never heard of monday morning quarterback either. I was so confused on where that even came from.

[@leeleegirl2883]

John Hancock signed his name very large on the Declaration of Independence and stated that he was signing that way so that King George III would be able to read his name without the need of his spectacles (glasses). She is correct though...it means your signature.

[@SinginHigh]

"The whole nine yards" was a directive used in WW2 airplanes ( B-17) etc. and refers to the length of the belts of ammunition. Each machine gun belt was 9 yards long. It was prudent to conserve ammo in protracted missions so you don't use all 9 yards. In other situation it may be best to "use the whole nine yards" So phrases like "go for broke, use the whole nine yards etc. " denote the seriousness of the situation the plane found itself in. My Dad was a B-17 pilot and explained it to me when I was young.

[@OkiePeg411]

I think, waaay back in the day, a whole bolt of fabric was 9 yards. So if someone wanted the entire bolt, they said, "i want the whole 9 yards." It was also used in WWII with the length of an ammo belt. "Hey, we saw those Japanese zeros diving at us, and we have him the whole 9 yards." So that's where the idiom came from.

[@wasamata4u]

According to wikipedia, "The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way." Its first usage was the punch line of an 1855 Indiana comedic short story titled "The Judge's Big Shirt." Some people say it dates back to when square-riggers had three masts, each with three yards supporting the sails, so the whole nine yards meant the sails were fully set.

[@kimwoods7445]

James, I’m loving how excited you are by your accents!!!!

[@douglasw9624]

My family being from the Western US for many generations, I love a lot of the colloquial phases we (and I) use. Examples: "I'm busier than a 3-legged dog"; as I age, my skin is "thinner than grandma's underpants"; "you drive like Barney Oldfield" (early racecar driver); when in a room full of women "I feel like a rooster in a hen house"; What do you want for your Birthday? "A little tin cat-hole to blow on" (not exactly sure what it means but can imagine); when something is unexpected "Well, I’ll be go-to h-ll"; Where we going mom? “to h-ll if we don’t change our ways”; if something is dubious: "That’s a damned-able lie"; "I’m going to see a man about a dog" (when headed to the washroom); When the choice isn't clear "Its six one way, half a dozen the other"; when someone is grumpy " you're like a bear with a sore butt"; Have my mom to thanks for these and a lot of ones I cannot repeat ha ha.

[@shivag73]

One of my dad's favorite. hell in a handbasket.

[@jimpemberton]

Regarding "New York minute" the opposite (kind of) would be a "Country mile" which indicates a distance longer than normal. If a country person says, "It's only a mile or so," that "or so" is much longer than you think.

[@jimpemberton]

You're right on about pleading the fifth. The logic of having a right not to incriminate yourself follows from the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. The onus of proof of incrimination is on the accuser, not the accused. So the accused has a right to remain silent, which is expressed in the reading of the Miranda rights to an accused person. From this, the phrase "plead the fifth" is often used ironically to humorously confess to what everyone knows is true without saying it. For example, a wife might joke to their friends that her husband leaves his socks on the floor instead of putting them in the hamper. He replies, "I plead the fifth." Everyone laughs.

[@torstenheling3830]

Knock on wood is just like saying “Wish yourself good luck”.

[@JustMe-dc6ks]

Comes from the tradition/superstition of knocking on wood to avoid jinxing the plan or expectation you just said out loud.

[@torstenheling3830]

@@JustMe-dc6ks they just say “touch wood” in the UK so it’s the same expression.

[@sakisaotome6753]

I love it when British people ask for explanation for things that were originally British in origin like the freshman sophomore junior senior. Specifically these terms came into American usage from Cambridge where the names had been used since around 1688. I don't know if they still use those terms but at least in 1688 and that is where we got the names from

[@bloemundude]

American football is traditionally played on Sunday. So "Monday Morning Quarterback" just means that it's easy to know what to do when you already know how things played out. It's the same as "hindsight is 20/20". I was taught that "knock on wood" came from the old celts/druids. To knock on wood is to make an appeal to the nature spirits in the tree (mainly oak) to spare oneself from calamity/jinxes.

[@lucindagutierrez6509]

Wow I didn't realize so many not known! Especially about sophomore, seniors would trick freshman. Senior year was the best! For the birds means like "not worth ur time" or knock on wood. I've used these, even "need ur John Hancock" lol it's a beautiful signature. I'm in Tx saying "y'all" Great video ❤ and here we say "the whole enchilada" means same thing. Enchiladas are delicious I can make them.

[@mkshffr4936]

In addition to the New York minute you have the New York reload. When you empty your weapon grabbing a second loaded weapon instead of taking the time to reload the first is a New York reload.

[@garygliddon9070]

The whole nine yards comes from the length of a machine gun belt on a world war 2 fighter aircraft, " I fired the whole nine yards" meaning he fired all his ammo at the target.

[@josephpavone4574]

The whole nine yards is also a reference to bolts of cloth, they came in rolls that were nine yards long so when you say the whole nine yards you went for it all

[@rickmiller4202]

John Hancock's name on the Declaration of Independence was written extra large, "So the King can read it without his glasses." All the signers knew their lives were forfeit after that.

[@Svensk7119]

For the birds is something mildly unpleasant, or worthless. Something you would throw out "for the birds". I think it's a food reference.

[@dirktully4324]

I've always heard it said, "It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback." Meaning it's easy to say what you would have done now that you have the hindsight. And this isn't usually said referring to a game recently played but rather to someone who is always saying "I would have done this", or "I would have done that" in any given situation. Oh really dude? "It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback."

[@Fast_Eddy_Magic]

The 5th amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance! 😂 She's so cute! (The witch stands... invisible... 😂)

[@ajbotte1003]

The Knock on Wood is really old …it was something about checking for evil spirits but turned into don’t jinx it😂

[@richv3543]

Love the facial expressions when you never heard it

[@LadyIarConnacht]

Fun fact - sophomore means "wise fool" in Latin, and to be sophomoric means to be foolish while considering yourself wise.

[@joebright4607]

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were all signing their death warrants at the same time. John Hancock was the first to sign and he signed it beautifully and large and dead center. He stated that he wanted King George to be able to make out his name legibly.

[@tammyphxaz]

4:24 the whole 9 yards, is a war/ammunition reference, ammo, in a war came in a "chain?" connecting bullets in a long line, to feed into a machine gun, and they came in 9 yard increments, so when the gun run out of ammo it means they gave them(the enemy) the "whole 9 yards", is where it actually began, it means you gave them ALL OF IT

[@michelepayton6922]

There are some exceptions to pleading the fifth in court where the judge can compel someone to answer a question/s or be held in contempt.