Wasn't a butterfly originally a flutterby?

The difference in the way the French origin words 'fillet' and 'herb' are pronounced between British and American English is also of note.

A kitchen tidy... a rubbish bin specifically for the kitchen...

"American fries" are very different from "french fries". American fries are made by taking a cold baked potato (Jacket potato for the Brits), slicing it into 1/4" (6-7mm) circles and frying them in a frying pan (or on a griddle). Done with raw potatoes, they're called either "home fries" or "raw fries". I spent 30 years working in or adjacent to F&B, and I have *never* heard the term "American fries" used to describe french fries.

My favorite portmanteu is from a quiz show where each category is represented by a character, sometimes partially animal based. So of course the category is called Portmantoad.

In England we pronounce “route” as “root”, but Americans pronounce it more like “rowt”. In England we use that pronunciation for the word “rout” which means “to beat comprehensively”, often used in sport. So do Americans also use the word “rout” and if so do they pronounce it the same as they pronounce “route”?

My “wasband” started an import company called FOB (“freight on board”) which he also had on his car’s license plate. Some people were offended because it was also used for “fresh off the boat”

I'm pretty sure "champing" is pronounced "chomping", not as in "champion", although I guess it's the same root from French and they would pronounce "Champion" as "Chompion" (however, because we're English we don't make any sense with our pronunciation and pronounce each 1 differently) ... "chomping" is the Americanised version, so it is technically still correct. It's the same word spelt differently, so I'm not even sure it is an actual eggcorn

What's wrong with 'holidaying'? (E.g: holidaying abroad') Do young people in the UK all say 'vacationing' now? If so that's happened in the last 20 years or so!

turducken?! A food word that starts with turd? 'ucken!

Oh good grief, I worked on ships in Alaska in my twenties and lived aboard sailboats for over twenty years. No real mariner is going to have a tizzy fit about informally referring a ship as a boat. Usually its only insecure farmers who are so pedantic due to their personal naval insecurities. I am using farmer in the traditional sense to refer to anyone not raised with boats and, yes, I know most landlubbers today don't grow up on farms. Keep your bilge pumped and soak up the oil. We like our ocean clean.

Whoop of Gorilas as defined by Gerald the Gorila NTNN

Surprised, when you were talking about "Ca Va?" you didn't bring up the very British greeting "Alright?", which like Ca Va? can not only can be answered with an "alright!" but is also a shortened form of "are your turds alright?" ... not a lot of people know that ... I think ... I might be wrong about the last bit ...

Now we have t'Internet, British English has at most 50 years before it is completely extinct. Witness for example, the number of UK-based motor KZfaqrs who use American terms - gasoline (petrol), firewall (bulkhead) , shifter (gear lever), fenders (wings), muffler (exhaust), dampers (shock absorbers), even hood (bonnet) and trunk (boot), windshield (windscreen), blinkers (indicators), high beams (main beam), gas pedal (accelerator), oil pan (sump), etc., etc.. And that's only one discipline!

This is utterly fascinating to a retired English teacher. Wish I had had this decades ago. Thanks to both of you. Your skills blend beautifully.

Sounded like Samuel Johnson was talking about Australians.

On Nantucket Island, Gaol persists - only as the historic structure.

I'm not convinced by the interpretation of 'innocent' as 'not knowing,' given that 'innocent' has Latin origins while 'knowing' appears to be of Germanic origin. In fact, as far as I understand, the Latin word 'nocens' means harming. Therefore, 'innocent' in this context should imply causing no damage.

Now i know what vaskebjørn means here in Norway, it is a raccoon, although there aren’t any to be found in Norway.

Best way to answer the phone in years gone by: 'It's your dime!'

Regarding "whelming", it looks like it was a word in at least 1836, since it appears in the lyrics of a hymn composed in that year.

Where I live we use trash, rubbish, garbage, litter and refuse. One advantage of being Canadian is that we use words from England and the US, but I still get bothered by US chips. Chips should be French Fries, not potato chips.

My favourite, is quay versus key for a dock.My friend from Texas wanted to go to Queen's Kway in Toronto because he had heard so much about it. I told him it was Queen's Key. We pronounce Quay as Key to confuse American tourists.

My particular brand of nerdy yet southern US vocabulary would use each pronunciation of niche more like homonyms, a recess in a wall would be the American pronunciation and a niche in the market or an ecological niche would be the British Pronunciation

Loving this series; in the wrong order ;)

My particular flavor of nerdy yet southern US vocabulary uses each pronunciation depending on the definition. A niche refering to a recess would be the American pronunciation, and a niche in ecology or in 'the market' would be the British.

these two are adorkable

Still is in London

I stumbled upon Words Unravelled for the first time a couple of days ago. I absolutely LOVE the interaction between the two of you! I subscribed during the first episode and intend to find all the others you have made TO DATE! :-)

As a music teacher I'm fighting a losing battle against the Americanism 'pinky' instead of 'little finger'. Just about all the children I teach use the former, while I stubbornly reply with the latter! :D

My wife bought a "fanny pack" before going to Ireland. I suggested she call it a "butt bag". She didn't. I didn't know Irish people were so giggly.

If you said "ciao" here in America people would think you're trying too hard to be unique. It's not a normal word to use at all.

There was a guy on TV in the 70s who used to say "It's ginormous". I suspect a lot of people my age have grown up thinking it's a real word. Can anyone remember his name? I think he did science stuff for kids?

I always thought of Posh as being upper class, rather than necessarily rich - and these are not always the same thing. In both directions - a rich person is not necessarily upper class or posh, and vice versa.

I was surprised that she would never say the trash person for the people who come by in the heavy duty truck and pick up all the trash in the cans, or garbage if you prefer. Where I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and '60s the vehicle was called the garbage truck and the guys who operated it were called the trash men. There was no implication that they were of low character or had bad taste.

19:25 In NE Scotland I call the folk who collect my bins 'scaffies'. Also here's one to add to your bread roll list Rob - 'Softies'. Our local baker sells baps, Glasgow Rolls and softies which are quite similar. There must be some technical distinction in relation to ingredients and baking process but the most obvious differences are that their baps have a dusting of flour and the Glasgow Rolls have more of a crust.

I thought the term "French fries" referred to the potato's cut.

I was purposefully saying "in-your-window" instead of "innuendo," trying to be funny; my young friend thought I was saying it correctly, and started using "in-your-window."

It's a shame you enver mentioned 'junk' and 'dhow' - as in the Chinese and Arab ships, a couple of my favourite nautical words.

​ @rahb1 Perhaps you should actually watch the video before leaving negative comments for others. My comments were directly to the point of what was being discussed in the video, why people used to say "click" and now more often say "clique".

A Bowl in a China Shop.

A senior trade unionist being interviewed on TV.... "There have been a lot of allegations made this week and we will leave no stone unturned until the allegators have been found". 🤣

I simply love listening to these discussions. Thank you!

When I was younger I heard "Congress of Baboons", but now I found out the correct term is "Troup of Baboons". I still think the first is more correct as a political commentary. Is this a Malapropism? or an Eggcorn?

Absolutely outstanding discussion. Spot on with every one of the observations. As someone who has spent decades on either side of the Atlantic I concur 100%. A couple of items for potential future consideration: The English pronunciation of garage (ie. "garridge") versus the typical American: "gah-rahge". I've heard that Brits pronounce it that way to deliberately obscure it's French origin. Similar to way Americans don't pronounce the "H" in "herbs", while Brits do. Conversely, some British people will say "an hotel" - dropping the H, in a way that few, if any, Americans would do. On the making-Rob-blush scale: The way different Americans and English people refer to the room where human excretory functions are performed. Americans will say "bathroom" - even if the facility in question has no bath. They'll also say "restroom" or even "powder room", even if little resting or powdering takes place there. The English word depends, somewhat, on class distinctions. Brits generally use the word "loo" with, in certain circles, the use of the word "toilet" viewed with a certain amount of dislike, if not outright scorn. Brits will buy "loo roll." British manufacturers have no problem using the phrase "toilet paper", while American companies prefer the somewhat euphemistic "toilet tissue." Go figure! (An outright Americanism....) And much more: Vests and knickers, for instance. Make sure you remember which side of the pond you're on before using these words!

The word, f**k, has its equivalent in German (and in other Germanic languages, I presume) where it orininally just meant "to rub", quite aptly, if you think of it.

Fun fact: the antonym of salutation is valediction

I don't think Rob considered how many words could make him blush when deciding to make a podcast with Jess, the author of Words From Hell. They have very different reactions to "naughty" words, but that's one of the things that make the podcast great. Two very knowledgeable people bouncing off each other and sharing what they know, wonderful!

As an American, I've always enjoyed, "Why Can't the English?" from My Fair Lady where the high-class British linguist sings, "One common language I'm afraid we'll never get / Oh, why can't the English learn to / Set a good example to people whose / English is painful to your ears? / The Scotch and Irish leave you close to tears / There are even places where English completely disappears / Well, in America, they haven't used it in years".

I once heard a BBC newsreader say "Hyper-bowl". 🤣