Weird Words My British Partner Says

[@Dragonblaster1]

We do use "living room" in England. I use that term myself. I suppose it's a question of social class at birth and where you grow up, like many linguistic differences in the UK.

[@richardcastro-parker3704]

I call it living room too

[@HappyAitch]

Living room or front room 😁

[@jeg1972]

Also Living Room here!

[@jillhobson6128]

Living room or sitting room. Lounge sounds very posh!

[@grahvis]

Lounges are only found in hotels or pubs. Homes have living rooms, or if there is also a dining room, sitting rooms. I call it a sitting room. :-)

[@joegoss30]

The way Brits talks about time causes problems on the continent as well. I worked for a couple of months in Amsterdam and the local boss was a Brit. She would say "let's meet up at half eleven." The Dutch and Germans on the team would show up at 10:30. The Brits & Irish would show up at 11:30.

[@joshbrailsford]

I seem to remember from German language lessons at school that in Germany they would effectively say 'half to...' in the same way we say 'half past...', so that doesn't surprise me. I guess they thought 'half eleven' was 'half to eleven'.

[@Phiyedough]

I suppose if the same boss gets a job in USA and says "Next meeting on 6/7/22" the Americans will turn up on June 7th and the Brits and Irish will arrive on July 6th!

[@davenwin1973]

When I was younger, growing up in Gary Indiana USA, my teachers taught us on how to tell time with an analog clock, and we not only had to tell time by exact time, but also to tell time by saying for 12:15, by saying a quarter past 12. 12:30 as half past 12. 12:45 as a quarter to 1. For anything in between, 12:25 was 25 minutes past 12. 12:50 was 10 minutes to 1. We however were not taught what Americans call, military time, which for PM, it's 13:00 for 1pm, 18:00 for 6pm, 23:00 for 11pm, and midnight is 0:00. I know what Americans call military time is used in Europe, but not by all Europeans. I used European as a broad term for this part. Now why most Americans say exact tine now, is because many young people don't know how to read an analog clock. Overtime, some schools stopped teaching kids how to read an analog clock, and even many schools replaced all the clocks with digital clocks. I keep analog clocks in my house on purpose. I just can't find a new clock radio with an analog clock.

[@MartinParnham]

@@joshbrailsford That’s right. I did A-Level German and definitely remember “halb seben” being 6:30, which was proper confusing.

[@sarkybugger5009]

@@davenwin1973 Precisely this. When I grew up, digital clocks just weren't a thing, so you learned to tell the time on an analogue clock. Ditto when we learned French. @Alanna Brits would never say "half past" without specifying the hour, unless the hour was implicit in the context... Personally, I would just say something like "See you at half four," skipping the implied "past" altogether. Also, when I were a lad, the cinema / movie theatre was called _the pictures._

[@barrygower6733]

I don’t recall ever calling it a ‘cinema’, it was always ‘let’s go to the pictures’.

[@oldfossil8670]

My mother corrected some 70 years ago when I was 6 that ships and pubs have lounges, home have sitting or living rooms. It was important that I took my language lessons from my parents and not the maids!

[@JustS0meK1dd]

We actually do use the word "paper towel", but specifically referring to the dispensed individual sheets that you find in some public toilets. Kitchen roll is the name for the kitchen specific roll, but generic paper towels are still a thing. Fun video!

[@kamelionify]

Paper towels here are the blue things from a dispenser in a public or workplace washroom

[@tomgauntlestrange]

yeap this so so true.

[@lancepeacock7156]

They were just called blue rolls at my workplace

[@JustS0meK1dd]

@@lancepeacock7156 Ah yeah, the big blue rolls for use in pubs, restaurants etc are called "Blue roll", but that's a specific type of kitchen roll. I'm just talking about the white kitchen rolls you buy in supermarkets for home use.

[@RalphBellairs]

I feel that in British English "Paper towel" refers to the hand drying towels (usually green or blue) that you used to get in public toilets from a dispenser (i.e. not on a roll). Might be me just being old fashioned though!

[@MetalRocksMe.]

I think that too.

[@tazz1669]

I would use that too as a Scot

[@grahamsmith9541]

I agree.

[@frankmitchell3594]

Yes, paper towels are not kitchen roll. Kitchen roll is a roll of paper. Paper towels are usually folded flat

[@MartinParnham]

Yes, that’s what I think of when someone says paper towel.

[@Anvillius]

We use the word pants as a slang word meaning a bit crap too. "that film was utter pants!"

[@raindancer6111]

To me paper towels are the individual things dispensed for hand drying in the washing area of public conveniences. Kitchen roll is the tear off roll found in kitchens as opposed to the toilet roll, the tear off roll found near the toilet. I tend to say living room or front room rather than lounge. A lot depends on the type of home you have. My grandparents had a living room which was like a kitchen/diner but the cooker, sink etc were in the scullery. Their front room was the parlour, that was only used for guests. I expect there are many local variations on these names.

[@dbracer]

The plans for my (ex-council) flat describe the kitchen as the scullery. A late 40s era design. I would say that this use is completely gone now, except to refer to stately homes, where the scullery seems to be a secondary food preparation room. I suspect that there is regional variation on the use of words for the living/sitting room, although national media and increased dispersal of people from their region of origin will blur this. Alanna also notes the use of "Movie" and I think that "Film" is dying out here due to the influence of US online media. Similarly, when was the last time you heard anyone say "railway station"? It's all "train station" now.

[@mccpcorn2000]

As a Brit, I can say I've been saying "living room" my entire life. Lounge is what posh people say lol, or maybe the parlour

[@CowmanUK]

Very posh people refer to it as the drawing room, where you withdraw for the day.

[@graememorrison333]

Actually, 'lounge' is very non-U

[@DadgeCity]

Lounge is the opposite of posh. Posh people have sitting rooms.

[@haroldmerewether1224]

I just say front room.

[@davidhamm7909]

I’m sitting here in the drawing room.

[@mumfnah]

I say 'front room', as that's what grew up with. Even though it doesn't really make sense when it's just one room, like a lot homes got rid of that wall to make a larger "front" room

[@alantheinquirer7658]

In old houses, like the one I grew up in, there were double doors between the lounge/sitting room/front room and the dining room. The old habit was to seat guests for a short period in 'the lounge' until the servants had set up the dining room and first course, when they'd open the double doors between them.

[@mumfnah]

@@alantheinquirer7658 yes I recall some friends' houses where they had the evidence of where a partition wall was, but now just one large room going from front to back of house... But still just called "the front room". I never knew that purpose though, interesting 👍

[@nbell298]

Interesting to hear your take on this. Though there is huge linguistic variation throughout the UK. I've never used lounge, it's living room or front room. I use film and movie interchangeably and although I would fully understand the phrase 'washing up' I always refer to it as doing the dishes. I feel like like the word fortnight is just as specific as two weeks when you understand that it means two weeks! The reason we don't call kitchen roll paper towel is because paper towels are what you get in public toilets and in schools (traditionally use a wet paper towel to cure all ailments in school!). I feel you've been a little unfair in your bit about time because of course we don't just say, 'let's meet at half past' and somehow telepathically know what time we mean, we would always say the hour as well. We're just taught from school age how to tell time using that system. Also, I'd say it's more common to use the phrase 'half 5' rather than 'half past 5'

[@ramcade9405]

Also, in the UK we say 'pictures' as well as cinema (I say picture house)

[@God-ck5yo]

Language is an endlessly fascinating topic, isn't it? I think the "lounge", "sitting room", "living room" differences are more class-based or region specific than transatlantic, much like "settee" or "sofa". Funnily enough, I use "washing up" and "doing the dishes" completely interchangeably but never noticed until you mentioned it this video.

[@Bodneyblue]

You could also say "front room".

[@petermartin2987]

Yep. Its definitely more a class issue in the UK. 'Living Room' is working class English. 'Lounge' is more middle class. But the upper class wouldn't use the word 'lounge'. This is the basis of U and non-U English. The working classes and upper classes, in the UK, usually, but not always, make the same choices linguistically. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

[@wessexdruid7598]

My MIL (Upper Middle Class Scot) had a drawing room.

[@baylessnow]

Settee or Sofa? No mate, I have a couch. Well, two to be precise. 😉

[@andalltheangelssay212]

We say wash the pots

[@gastrickbunsen1957]

I confused my granddaughter when I asked did she want to go to the pictures, and had to explain it was the cinema. Next time I asked if she wanted to go to the flicks. I don't think she's ready for the flea-pit yet, she'd never step inside a cinema again. Paper towels were very unabsorbent and found in public toilets and pubs.

[@Kalamain]

"Flicks" was very common to me in the 70s and 80s in Manchester... More common that "Cinema". I wonder if that is a generational AND regional thing?

[@mystified1429]

@@Kalamain gotta be generational - all through the late 50's onward.

[@mystified1429]

You need to experience IZAL toilet roll

[@tiggerwood8899]

@@Kalamain We used to say Flicks or flea pit. I used to go 2 or 3 times a week. My mum worked at the Odeon in Blackpool

[@tiggerwood8899]

@@mystified1429 Or newspaper and outside loo's 😂

[@Kardiac]

Interestingly, I'm from Northern Ireland and I've always used living room. A film is a "filum". Clothes can be in the wash basket if they haven't made it into the washing machine yet. Doing laundry in the washer would just sound strange. We also wash pots, pans, cutlery, not just dishes when we're washing up. It's all encompassing! :P Kitchen roll or toilet roll, either explain the room they live in. On a similar topic..cling film, 'cause it clings. Sarin wrap sounds like a chemical weapon!

[@brentwoodbay]

Many Canadians also pronounce it 'filum' I wonder why!

[@Kardiac]

@@brentwoodbay It's one my other half has taken the p out of me for in the past (she's English). Maybe historically a lot of us made it over there and it stuck!

[@pierrewave7235]

I worked with a guy from N.I. and he used filum for film, another one I remember was parr for power, is that usual?

[@Kardiac]

@@pierrewave7235 I may possibly try to deny it but my other half assures me that yes, i speak like this lol.

[@hydywirralterrier]

Defo kitchen roll. Paper towel is normally what's found in public toilets/work places. They come out of a dispenser usually atached to the wall.

[@davidmarsden9800]

I've heard and used "doing the dishes" since childhood in the 1960s/1970s myself and others and would say it was common in Northern England at least. The "half past" " quarter past/to" is how we were taught as young children to read the clock, so it's ingrained in us. Although these days depending on the situation we do use the 5:30 or 17:30 with or without hours as well which is either a military or European influence.

[@lucyhardman2267]

If you want to be even more confused, Germans use "half" in reference to time, too - but they use it differently. When the British use "half", we add the half hour on to the last full hour (half an hour PAST the hour). When Germans use "halb" they subtract the half hour from the next hour (essentially, half an hour TO the hour). So to say 6:30, Brits would say "half six" but Germans would say "halb sieben" ("half seven").

[@nickjeffery536]

I also usually say "living room", but also sometimes "front" or "sitting" room

[@reriuqne0-ny1er]

Only pubs and hotels have lounges. Private houses have living rooms or sitting rooms; if you are posh you may have a drawing room and some are quaint enough to have parlours. Lounges are declasse

[@BOABModels]

'Movie' comes from 'Moving picture' which is a bit of an antiquated term when you think about it. Similar to calling it a 'Talkie'! 😅 I know most feature films aren't on physical film anymore but for a very long time they were. We get 'Cinema' from Greek via French and it comes from the word to move, 'kinein', the same root as the word 'kinetic'

[@jackx4311]

Fortnight probably goes back a along way, Alanna - it's a corruption of 'fourteen nights'. As for 'pants' . . . an American friend from Georgia really embarrassed himself in public. We were in a shop in the Cairngorms (Scotland) which sold mountain climbing and hiking equipment, and he noticed another customer who was wearing a very well made pair of Harris tweed breeches. So what does he say? "Nice knickers, man!" . . . and then looked very puzzled by the sniffy look he got. (me) "Knickers, Frank?" (Frank) "Yeah - like, knickerbockers, right?" (me) "Over here, they're breeches, Frank - knickers mean what you call 'panties' . . . " (Frank) "Omigoooooood . . . "

[@christoguichard4311]

We've always said "Front Room"...but I think thats maybe a Londonder thing. "Film"...yes. Also... "Pictures"...for cinema. 😆

[@davenwin1973]

I used to use the word Front Room as a kid, because the older generations used that word. It's still used by some Americans. I started using Living Room as I got older. You'll hear some Americans use the word, Family Room, which is basically a second Living Room in a house, and usually in the back of the house on the main floor. Not all homes have a family room, including my home.

[@LemonChick]

The pictures - yes!

[@christoguichard4311]

@@davenwin1973 I'm English 😁👍

[@golach420]

I think lounge is regional - we use living room mostly in Scotland. Possibly similar to how garage is pronounced differently around the country. 😆

[@barrowc]

Great video, Alanna! I'd add a different twist on cinema vs. movie theatre and go with "the pictures" instead. As in, "is there anything on at the pictures tonight?"

[@Elwaves2925]

I've definitely used 'pictures' in my youth but now it's cinema and either movie or film.

[@jfergs.3302]

Or, as we used to say, 'fancy going to the flicks'. Though maybe I'm showing my age here :)

[@stevelknievel4183]

When my Mum said that when I was a child, I always used to think she was talking about going to an art gallery.

[@calibrax]

We also sometimes say "sitting room" instead of "lounge", and "go to the pictures" instead of "go to the cinema". Also, we use "paper towels" for individual towels which are made of paper but are not on a roll.

[@Malfie657]

Great video Alanna, and it isn't as clear-cut as all that even! I'm British but always talk about the living room rather than the lounge, and yet I don't go to the movies or to see a film...I go to the pictures! Isn't language interesting?!

[@morganetches3749]

My working-class grandparents say lounge - they also call pudding “sweet” - i think it’s a more working-class thing

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂 Incredible!

[@Rudromukherjeenerv]

Yes! Definitely the pictures!

[@krissyg7026]

Yep definitely the pictures.

[@brentwoodbay]

Yes. it can be confusing how this English Language is spoke.

[@davidtalbot941]

It's living room or front room where I live, I don't think anyone here would call it the lounge. "Fortnight" comes from "fourteen nights". It's definitely not antiquated here, still in regular use.

[@kawangkwok5262]

English is not my mother language, living half English speaking city,.In schools I used to learn American and British words together, and here no one know which word belong to British/ American. It is really fun keep watching your videos, to differentiate word that mean the same thing. Keep doing the great work!

[@mikeysaint4368]

For us in the UK kitchen roll and paper towels are two different things. Kitchen roll is what you have in your home and workplace for mopping up spills and drying your hands, whereas paper towels are specifically for drying hands and they're usually in a paper towel dispenser in a public or work toilet. Which obviously opens up the whole "toilet" versus "restroom" and "bathroom" difference. You don't usually go to the toilet to have a rest, and if a toilet doesn't contain a bath it's not a bathroom. And that brings up another difference. We call a "bathtub" a bath - the "tub" part is superfluous.

[@Musician-Lee]

Im British, and I think we use living room and lounge interchangeably. Film, yes. Movie, no! Laundry is a commercial factory that you send your washing to. Yep, my shirts are in the wash! Great video again Alanna.

[@martinlaffey328]

Tyneside ( Geordies) I. Sitting room 2.Film 2b. We go to the Pictures. 3.Pants. 4.In the wash. 5.We do the dishes. 6.Half 5 7.Fortnight. 8.Kitchen towels. Paper towels are in pub toilets for eg for the drying of the hands.

[@gerardacronin334]

In Ireland 🇮🇪 we would call it the living room or the sitting room, but never the lounge! In Ireland a lounge is found in a pub. The sitting room is where we would watch a “Fillum”! 🎥 My trousers 👖 are in the wash and I do the washing up (wash the dishes) every day at half past six. I’m going to Spain for a fortnight’s holiday (not a vacation). I use paper towels though.

[@CraigSteelyard]

Some people also call it a front room

[@norabradley9108]

Lounge - I think of airport. Sitting room at home.

[@wilmaknickersfit]

I'm Scottish and was hoping someone would say that they watch a filum! 😎

[@IamOllytech]

I grew up calling it a front room, because the living room is usually but not always, at the front of the house

[@Tampo-tiger]

My mum taught us that the word 'lounge', referring to the living room, was unbelievably common. I have never used it except when talking about a hotel lounge.

[@Sparrowhawk1962]

In the old days pubs had a lounge, where you'd take your girlfriend and a bar, where you'd drink with your mates.

[@longbeardbobson4710]

It is so uncouth. It is called the 'drawing room'.

[@tomdid1]

I'm English, but never say lounge, I've always said 'living room'. I also rarely say 'Cinema', I'll usually say I'm going to the 'pictures'.

[@billydonaldson6483]

In the north we say living room. Pants is also used up north as well as trousers, comes from the Italian Pantaloons. It’s 5 past, 10 past, quarter past, that’s how we were taught the time as children. Paper towels are what you use to dry your hands in a public toilet.

[@nat3007]

The word keks was used for trousers which is incredibly region specific.

[@jazz847]

We say 5.30 etc! We also say “half five”. I don’t think I ever just say half past! You can’t tar the whole UK with the same brush! A lot of the things you’ve referred to we use interchangeably, eg, lounge/living room, film/movie. Love your videos by the way!

[@j9lorna]

Thing is we don't get baffled by your terms because we've absorbed your TV shows and films. I was in Oregon for a few weeks and came back completely changed with an uptick at the end of sentences so it doesn't take very long to change.

[@poohbear1085]

I’ve only ever heard people say half past, quarter to etc when the hour is obvious eg “I’ve just missed the train what time is the next one?” answer “half past”. Otherwise it would be eg half past eleven or half eleven.

[@AdrianBawn]

I find your take on Lounge interesting. As a brit I've always considered Lounge the American word as its always used in tv and film, and "living room" is rare used except maybe in VERY up market houses. In the UK i think most people would call it "living room".

[@LiqdPT]

Lounge isn't really used in America as a room in a house. Sometimes a restaurant has a bar area that's referred to as a lounge (or, it can be used to refer to a bar in general, though I think that's outdated and tends to imply 60s Las Vegas with a crooner singing). It could also refer to a piece of furniture (like a chaise lounge, though you wouldn't ever just call it a lounge)

[@rosemarielee7775]

Sitting room was the term I grew up with.

[@JAY61ish]

Some call it ..The Sitting room too

[@AdrianBawn]

@@LiqdPT I mean, it might not be so common now, but in the 90s when i grew up pretty much all US tv shows used to refer something like "sitting on the COUCH in the LOUNGE watching the TV" and UK shows would have said something more like "sitting io the SETTEE in the LIVING ROOM watching the TELLY". Things change over time though, and i think the US and UK variations of a lot of words have merged, or in some cases have even flipped.

[@LiqdPT]

@@AdrianBawn I grew up in the 80s. I don't recall ever hearing this.

[@stephenparker6362]

Hi, Alanna, that was funny. Its always entertaining hearing you say British words. I just noticed when you wave your hand there is a reflection of it in your YT award, I've never noticed it before. Video was very good.

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Thanks Stephen!!

[@ukpaullouis2708]

I totally understand using English words in the UK and blending in but I also have very positive reactions to me using Canadian words as it usually sparks up a conversation especially when meeting new people. I see it as a bit of fun sometimes using both as it can be kinda fun. Another Fun video from the only Canadian in her village! 😁😁

[@kevinparkes417]

My generation don't go to the cinema, we go to the pictures. And when I was a kid only posh people had a lounge. We had a front room and a dining room - we lived in the dining room and were only allowed in the front room on Sundays and Christmas. And as well as half past and quarter past I will still sometimes say five-and-twenty past or five-and-twenty to instead of 25 past or 25 to. Am I getting old? Great vid as always.

[@clairesouter7116]

This reminds me of a time when we were in the US and someone asked my hubby what the time was he replied “half four”. The American guy looked at him like he was speaking a different language - which suppose he was in a way!

[@jamesforrest8993]

I had exactly the same experience with a French friend! I would say "half four, quarter to six" etc without thinking and she had no idea what I was talking about. When I explained it she actually got mad and thought I was making it up to fool her. Another thing they say up North Newcastle etc is "while". For instance where I would say "10 till (until) 6" a Geordie would say "10 while 6"

[@bconn3652]

@@jamesforrest8993 That made me laugh. I suppose if you didn't know it would sound like you were just saying random equations, like "half four" = two? I'm from up north and we would say "10 ta 6".

[@blackporscheroadster-yw8hb]

@@bconn3652 10 TU 6 ooop north.

[@kdog3908]

@@jamesforrest8993 "While" is more of a Yorkshire thing. North east (Gerodie) would be 10 til 6 or just 10 6. E.g "Shift yuh on mate?" "10 6" or "10 til 6" (I'm from Northumberland....For arguments sake "Geordie adjacent") 😁😁

[@HardingNo1]

In the days before everyone had a television we had a sitting room where we spent most of our time and a front room which was rarely used, kept clean and tidy, used perhaps on Sundays or when we had guests.

[@lizbignell7813]

I would only use the word lounge in reference to hotels or airports, houses have sitting rooms. Paper towels are more used in public loos here.

[@RaymondOreFineArt]

I'm from and still live in south London and I would always say 'living room' I think all versions can be found all over the country.

[@jimboll6982]

Reception rooms , Front Room,

[@jillhobson6128]

Front room comes from when terrace houses were two up two down. The back room on the ground floor was the kitchen area and the sitting room. The front room was only for very formal occasions.

[@andrewmurray9350]

Hi - as a British born 68 year-old who has lived in the US of A for the last 23 years I love your insights on Brit versus North America culture - they sort of make me homesick! Did you realize (oops spellcheck changed the s to a z) that you used the Brit term jumper to mean a sweater? It was one of the first faux pas I made when I told my colleagues I was going to put a jumper on, here a jumper is a woman's dress. Another is in the US they refer to a shopping cart, I used the Brit term trolley - "I'm going to get a trolley" - they woman I was with thought I was going to catch a bus.

[@afpwebworks]

It’s fascinating how some people change their vocabulary and their accents and others don’t. I don’t think it happens deliberately it’s just organic. My brother has lived in Indiana, USA for 40 years and my wife’s sister lived in upstate New York for over thirty years and neither of them have picked up accents or much vocabulary in all that time. On the other hand I absorb accents almost instantly. After half an hour on the phone to someone from Tennessee I’m saying “y’all” and “bless her heart” and rolling my tongue on the R sound And my brother and I have much the same upbringing and genetics.

[@matc6221]

I never thought about the lounge/living room thing before, but I have used living room all my life and never say lounge.

[@Randomthingsfromanautisticguy]

If you haven't already done one, you should do a video on British accents, there are different ones every few miles!

[@mothmagic1]

Someone once commented that the accent changes every ten to fifteen miles. With some counties the change from on to the other occurs in five miles or less.

[@mumfnah]

Going Cinema, or to the Pictures. And I'm going there to watch a film. ..."movie" always sounded very American to me, but I hear it a lot from mates even

[@josefschiltz2192]

Well, we always called such places a 'sitting room'. However, since mine is overrun with books, and bookshelves, I just call it the library.

[@pattheplanter]

If I had such a room it would be the Study.

[@josefschiltz2192]

@@pattheplanter Yes. I wanted a decent desk. I had to abandon one at the old house. Sadly, I've not been able to replace it. I feel a room called the Study should have a decent old desk. Note: When I started to move the old one, fine brown powder issued forth.

[@pattheplanter]

@@josefschiltz2192 A desk and a pet raven, preferably.

[@josefschiltz2192]

@@pattheplanter Very Poe!

[@gamingtonight1526]

Lounge is a posh way of saying "living room" from my working class perspective. Fortnight - just think of FOURteen NIGHTs.

[@joshbrailsford]

Yeah, I use the term 'living room' - 'lounge' has always sounded weird to me - but I use it interchangeably with the term 'front room', I guess because in a typical English suburban house the living room is at the front of the house, facing the street.

[@HappyAitch]

Yes I use both too

[@rosemarielee7775]

I wonder why the word 'parlour' fell out of use.

[@bobblebardsley]

One of my favourite USAmericanisms (yes I know that's not Canada) that I stumbled upon was when I told an American friend I had put my trash out "for collection" and she was shocked because (to her, not necessarily all Americans) "put out for collection" means very specifically to put something out to be taken for charity. On an entirely different note, when I was a kid we didn't have a living room or lounge, we had a 'front room' and the dining room was 'the other room'. The front room/the other room is literally the only thing we ever called them for years and years. Even when we were in the dining room and not in the living room, we still called the dining room the 'other' room.

[@andrewmyerscough9397]

My Serbian wife calls it a lounge room. She also calls trousers pantalone, as that is what they are called in Serbian. The best bit as she is now fluent in English, she went for her tests with the British Council in Belgrade before coming here. When she was answering questions from the examiner she used Lancashire dialect in her answer, and the examiner who came from Manchester asked at the end where I came from as my then future wife had used my pronunciation of certain words. Likewise I speak Serbian with a Belgrade accent which always gets a smile when I converse there.

[@chrisstaves1473]

Where I come from (Northern England) trousers have always been called pants!

[@matc6221]

True a Kitchen roll, isn't always used in the kitchen. At the start of the very first lockdown I have to use one in the toilet 🚽 💩 lol

[@stevelknievel4183]

In my experience, when half past gets used by itself, it usually refers to the next one unless a specific hour has just been mentioned.

[@RobbofromCronulla]

I reckon the time thing is generational. I confuse my kids when I say a quarter to five. They look at me blankly until I say 4:45.

[@howardkey1639]

Oh Alanna, the complexities of trans Atlantic communication & the great paper towel & kitchen roll problem, the ultimate conundrum. For me Kitchen roll is what you use in a kitchen and paper towels are what you dry your hands with in a toilet/ washroom at work. Also I still like to say I'm going to the flicks to see a picture or just going to the pictures. 🙂

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

Having gone to school (at least up to age 13) in the UK, I would never use the term lounge for what may sometimes be the living room, and at others, the drawing room. One finds a lounge in an hotel, not at home! I also learned the term den whilst at a Canadian university, and there I could really lounge about. I think the "half past" thing may be generational in Canada. My late mother was from Alberta and used to say that. She also said things such as "five and twenty to....". However, my oldest son and his family who live in BC now say 11.30, but sometimes also say "quarter past". Strange!

[@DaveBartlett]

You're right Alanna, it's Living Room, or Sitting Room, (or Drawing Room, if you're posh!) 'Lounge' is a room in a pub, not a room in a house.

[@RGRG3232]

We say living room or den here in the US...I always hated the term "pair" of pants, I mean it's a single piece of clothes. You're always so upbeat and pleasant. Mr. Naps is very lucky to have you in his life. 😊

[@lauraarcher1730]

Maybe because it has two legs?

[@BrianMale-k7c]

We also say pair trousers in the UK Strangely you can’t buy a single trouser

[@johnrhodez6829]

Comes from way back when underware actually was to leg bit tied together at the waist. Oh and sometime when I was a kid people 'went to the flicks' a reference to the silent film days when the frame rate was slower, and there was a pronounced flicker on the screen despite a five bladed shutter.

[@jamesforrest8993]

The Lounge thing is relatively new actually. In Victorian times , depending on your social class, you had a Front Parlour or Drawing Room (from Withdrawing Room, where the females withdrew to after dinner). Drawing Rooms were for the Posh people. The Parlour was a strict dividing line between the Middle Class and the Working Class . The difference was that Working class people (if they were lucky enough to have one) would put all the best furniture in the Parlour and only use it " for best" (ie to receive visitors or perhaps on a Sunday) and actually live around the kitchen table. Whereas in contrast Middle Class folk would use the space daily.

[@rthompsn2007]

"Mr. Naps" - I love it! Does that make you Ms. Adventures? On topic, as a Canadian my word choices closely match your own (though I've picked some British-isms from my wife's parents over the years.) One difference is that I'm completely cool with half past, quarter to and so on, though the hour is always mentioned. One thought: I'm from an older generation, and it seems to me that time described in specific minutes eg 8:20, 8:25, 8:40 became common with the advent of digital watches in the 70s.

[@richardcastro-parker3704]

Paper towel is what I would expect to find in a public bathroom and kitchen towel or paper is as the name suggests found in the kitchen.

[@bdwon]

Fascinating and wonderful! Will you do more of these "weird" word videos?

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Sure can! Thanks for watching!

[@bobblebardsley]

@@AdventuresAndNaps It would be great to hear the other side of this, eg really common words/things in Canada that we just don't have in the UK. Arugula/rocket, cilantro/coriander, milk in pouches etc.

[@michaeldaly3254]

I like what you say and I like how you say it, especially your British accent. I'm from England and you're right, fortnight does sound historical. Cheers Allanah, good work!

[@garywallace8521]

Up North some may refer to washing up as I’ll do the pots!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

No way!! 😂 That's incredible

[@JosephHaig]

For cinema and movie theatre my parents say 'the pictures'. I don't know how common that is, though.

[@johnnyenglish5976]

Ye pictures for me too or possibly the flicks although not used much these days

[@BitsBytesBobs]

I lived in Nashville for three years with my American gf. Over time, we both morphed into a variation of British/American - both of our accents and use of language had changed over the years of being together. Even today, I still find myself saying movies and oddly decorating I was in a DIY store asking for Calk - they thought I had gone nuts!

[@Mrs.J87]

Great video as always! Speaking of voices and accents....my husband is slowly losing his beautiful English accent. Hes been here in Canada for almost 13 years. But every time we go back to England, it comes back just as thick as the day we met. God I miss it there...😞

[@greyman3515]

The funnier one is eraser and rubber. Used in a number of comedies over the years.

[@Rjhs001]

All your vids are so enjoyable Alanna. We also sometimes say half-five for the time 5:30. Please do another vid where you say the word 'Yorkshire' as in Yorkshire tea...I love the way you say that word 😁

[@shaunw9270]

I've always said Living Room. I always thought Lounge is what Londoners call it , although a lot of traditional pubs used to have a bar and a separate lounge , which was less scabby with comfy chairs lol. Sitting Room & Drawing Room are just for the posh 😅

[@sie4431]

Londoners say living room, I think

[@shaunw9270]

@@sie4431 Maybe it's the accent ..My mate from Strood, Kent calls it lounge and I always used to call him a Cockney when we were kids lol

[@LemonChick]

My Mum and Dad are Londoners, me too but never lived there and instead am on the south coast, and we all use "living room".

[@grahvis]

When I was young we had a drawing room, though it was really used more as a dining room.

[@shaunw9270]

@@LemonChick I live in Bristol, always been Living Room in our family but I've heard younger people here say Lounge too.

[@raibeart1955]

Hi Alanna, More differences in language in The UK. - It’s a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht. Translation It’s a nice bright moonlight night tonight. All the best to you and yours.Rab

[@naitchb16]

This vid made me laugh so much because it reminds me of my US friend and I and we love to “correct” each other. She’d say “vacation”, I’d say “you mean holiday”. I’d say “pavement”, she’d say “you mean sidewalk”. Out of your examples I think I nearly always say living room 🤔 Thank you for this fun video, Alanna!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂 Thank you!!

[@tazz1669]

Just seen a clip of a comedian saying the Americans had to call it a sidewalk as they kept getting knocked down so it's a clue to walk at the side not down the middle 🤣

[@mikebassett1663]

I think that in England pavement technically refers to the highway which is bordered by a footpath. Not that it matters much. I am surprised that nobody mentioned drawing room but I never had one short for withdrawing room when the ladies would withdraw from the dining room to let men smoke and drink alone. Times past.

[@eddievision]

Here In the North if your going to the cinema we would also use the term; going to the pictures, also living room would be referred to as the front room. North American English is basically more descriptive...

[@kerendn]

In Hebrew we also say (to translate to English) "five and a quarter" "five and a half" "a quarter to five". We can sometimes say "and a half" or "and a quarter" while omitting the hour, similarly to the British "half past". But that's rare, only in a context where it's very clear what time we mean. Like "I leave work at five. So you'll pick me up at and-a-quarter?"

[@davidcartwright8029]

Also, the older generation in Britain (by which I mean those of a pensionable age) tend to say "five-and-twenty past" or "five-and-twenty to". That could be very confusing if you're not used to it!

[@trickygoose2]

@@davidcartwright8029 My grandparents used to say that, but my parents, who are now in their 80s, don't.

[@j.wellens5660]

@10:54 - just on from a preamble along the lines of ' I use my own version in my own place' - " but when I'm at home, in my own flat !"

[@GemDotThirteen]

Great video, I personally say living room & I flip between film & movie... Fascinating how accents & vocab change based on who you interact with! Now you've pointed out the way we say times, it seems weird 😂

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Cheers Gem!!

[@davenwin1973]

To me, film is for taking pictures of still images or recording moving objects, and for this type of film (not readily available anymore) records sound. For where I see a movie in public, I usually say movie theatre (always spelled this word the British way), or occasionally cinema. I don't hear cinema as much these days. If any says theatre to me, it means to me that it's for seeing live performances.

[@andymcgarty3099]

Great examples. When I visited the US for work in the late 80s I used to wear braces on my trousers (Gordon Gecko style). A receptionist once commented how she "loves your suspenders". Which to us Brits are the device to hold stockings up! Hopefully I didn't have a look of horror on my face as I quickly realised she meant my braces. And the whole Pants/Trousers always makes me smile.

[@MartinParnham]

I watch a couple of menswear channels on KZbin which are run by Americans. It’s all pants, suspenders and vests instead of trousers, braces and waistcoat, which I still find weird. To their credit, one channel often refers to the British terms. I think they do use the word trousers over there as well but for more specific types of formal “pants.” 😀

[@stephenphillip5656]

"Two nations divided by a common language". The differences between British English & North American English is a source of endless confusion & humo(u)r!. Pronunciation & usage will always be different. I do try to use North American terms if I'm speaking to someone from across the pond- most recently when I met a couple from South Carolina whilst I was in the Cotswolds last week & hoped that they were enjoying their vacation. As always Alanna, love your "take" on British life. Have a great week.

[@lioninwinter9316]

I don't know about Canada but in the USA we go "on vacation" not "on holiday". Holiday would specifically refer to a named traditional holiday like Christmas, Easter, Independence day or that kind of thing.

[@CowmanUK]

Vacation is rarely used in the UK, it's always "holiday". Christmas, Easter etc would be "Bank holidays" here.

[@AdamPurcell]

Suddenly this channel sounds like a detective programme, featuring Ms Adventures and Mr Naps. Together they fight crime!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

😂 love it

[@veganmommydeehealthandwellness]

I really look forward to your videos! Super entertaining and I’m learning a lot of fun facts!

[@alexvaraderey]

''Things Mr.Naps says'' - that sounds like it should be a quote from a Stephen King novel

[@MartinParnham]

I thought it was going to be an endearing tale about a cat , or something!

[@Sr19769p]

😂

[@tonys1636]

Cinema from Cinematograph Theatre, from the early days of cinematography, the Lumiere Brothers in the late 19th, early 20th. century. Kitchen Roll to differentiate from Paper Towels that used to be found in public toilets before electric hand dryers or rollermatic towels. I can well remember the many feet of roller towel on the floor because the rewind mechanism had jammed, or the floor covered in wet paper ones.

[@jameskelly8586]

But in N. America we also use cinema for the film itself--ask Mr. Scorsese. It's the picture, movie, motion picture, film, cinema--depending how elitist you want to be. So climb upon ol' Becky's back and let's ride to the picture show.😁

[@tonys1636]

@@jameskelly8586 The use of and modification of imported words is very common in UK English, in this case French. Not surprising as English is derived from four major ancient languages plus local tribal ones and unlike some countries there is not a Govt. department to regulate and standardise the use of language as in France.

[@MagentaOtterTravels]

How has your partner changed his voice? I’ve only been here six days so far on this trip, and I was already noticing myself using that lilting intonation of British English today 🤔… especially when asking questions!

[@alantheinquirer7658]

'Fortnight' comes from the very old phrase 'fourteen nights'. 'Movies' comes (obviously) from 'moving pictures'; 'cinema' comes from the old name 'cinematograph'. 'Movie theatre' refers to the days when films were shown by itinerant firms - the town's stage theatres were the most appropriate place to show them. :D

[@paulhanson5164]

I use both terms for most of the examples you've given. There are so many different names for items and the names have so many different meanings. I'm sat here with a ( bread ) roll in front of me, now I could call it a roll, but I might say Cob or Bap, I use all 3 at various times, I don't think about it I just say whatever word comes to mind first. But if I were to admire your Baps and ask if you fancied a roll you may well have a cob on...and if you understand that line without the aid of Google you've mastered English English😉

[@sarkybugger5009]

Top notch word play, young Sir. Have a thumb up.🤣🤣🤣

[@sarkybugger5009]

Thinking about it, you'd be barm-y not to offer her a finger, too. I'll get my coat...

[@thelastpilot4582]

I was born in England to a working class family. We had 3 rooms on the ground floor Kitchen, Bathroom (no toilet in here) and the Living Room. Lounge mainly came in when people started buying there own houses and became snobbish. If you have no dinning room you have a living room and eat in there. So you are partially right.

[@eanjamesmogg9488]

To be honest in Wales we used the Lounge for when guests came around so no one entered that room and most would say Living room but as the years have gone on and most have knocked two rooms into one we now say living room, and for years in my youth as I had an Irish mother I used to say filum (see below) now I just say the Pictures and used to get told off for saying filum lol, and Pants is a derivation of Pantaloons which turned into Britches then Trousers then to Jeans lol so catch up you Merikans lol oh and Paper Rolls arggh! lol I buy my kitchen rolls in bulk from Amazon which has on the wrapper around it and on the plastic covering Kitchen Rolls! But trying to search for it when I start running out I enter in past orders Kitchen Rolls no such entry so I enter Rolls and nope again so I enter Kitchen same no item found so I think surgical and Paper Towel and it pops up and you ask why surgical ahh that's what I used to order when I worked in my local Hospitals Theatre for the operating tables was paper towels and they were 2½ feet wide by about thirty odd feet long but in metric lol oh and blue, you might have noticed them in your GPs surgery on the Doctors exam tables lol, love the show always makes me chuckle keep it up 😎

[@leestirling4623]

I'm in Wales and only heard posh English use the word lounge lol

[@mssoliloquy3001]

I think the time thing comes from how we were taught to tell the time. The big hand is half past the hour, the little hand is between four and five, making it half past four.

[@ShaneH42]

Hailing from the southeast of England I expected to fully side with your partner here but I have to disagree on “lounge”. That sounds awfully posh, I’d call it “living room” or “sitting room”, but hey, that’s Kent for you. 😝 As for the rest, I can forgive you given your upbringing. You’re welcome. 😂 Thanks for another entertaining vid Alanna. Here’s hoping Mr Al Gorithm shows you some love 🙏

[@anhistorian7255]

It was the front room in our family, even though it was at the back of the house. 😁

[@Elwaves2925]

As a Midlander I agree on lounge and even sitting room sounds posh. Living room is what we use, with the other non-kitchen downstairs room being the front room. Because it's....err....at the front.

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Cheers everyone!!

[@auldfouter8661]

The village I grew up in ( in Scotland) had a picture house and it was built in 1913 , so one of the early ones really . It was definitely never called a cinema - those were found in the bigger towns and cities. I think in Scotland we do the dishes more than the washing up. Factories used to synchronise their holidays , so that they all closed at the same time- hence the Glasgow Fair Fortnight , in the second half of July. Locally the holidays were the first two weeks of july.

[@redmille1000]

If you want to confuse someone under the age of 40 substitute Flicks for cinema, wireless for radio and ten Bob bit for a 50p piece!

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

I'm confused already lol

[@KingOuf1er]

Until quite recently, I used to visit my local bank (until they closed the branch down grrr!) and cheerily ask the teller for ‘a bag of shillings and a couple of bags of florins please, my good lady’! (For Alanna, shilling = 5p, florin = 10p)

[@williamnethercott4364]

Pubs have lounges. Houses have living rooms, sitting rooms or front rooms.

[@EASYTIGER10]

This is the first time I've heard Alanna refer to her partner as "he". So that clears that one up😆

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

You should join us on Twitch, he's a regular character!

[@hairyairey]

@@AdventuresAndNaps Can we see him there though? We're getting desperate now, some of us might give up hope and unsubscribe! 😂

[@Tom_YouTube_stole_my_handle]

I think he should remain a shadowy figure of intrigue and debate.

[@hairyairey]

@@Tom_KZbin_stole_my_handle I think it would be interesting to hear from him what it's like to live with a Canadian.

[@michw3755]

I thought I caught a glimpse of him in a shop window in a recent vlog about Rochester but couldn't quite pause it just right damn it! I'll keep trying 😂👍

[@101alexs]

One of the things I love about use of language is using it descriptively rather than prescriptive. I don't care whether the signs in a supermarket say 10 items or less, I know what they mean. In the laundry /wash etc I'm happy to use each and every one of them.