In a delightful twist, it appears Americans really do love some of our phrases.
Despite English being widely spoken internationally, it’s the British turns of phrase that really capture the imagination, according to Lingoda which reports English is the official language in 67 nations and another 27 non-sovereign entities.
Now people on social media are sharing their favourite British idioms, after a thread on X, formerly Twitter, went viral.
The online exchange was ignited by an observation from X user Meera who innocently posted: “British people actually ate with ‘you lot’,” sparking a wave of virtual nods. One enthusiast commented: “You lot might be top 3 phrases.”
This comment thread quickly picked up steam, with the original post racking up over 19.5 million views and spawning hundreds of comments from users keen to share their fondness for British colloquialisms.
One admirer expressed: “‘Do you reckon’ ‘taking the p**s’ ‘f*** all’ all go insanely hard.” And another agreed: “Can’t be a**ed.”
Joining the fray, another participant admitted: “‘Can’t be a**ed’ is up there too.”
Someone else voiced their love for “personally I love ‘what are you on about’,” while yet another person highlighted: “Look at the state of it,’ and ‘are you mad’ are top tier as well.”
User Faze added: “‘Do you reckon’ slaps.”
Another fan revealed their affection for the phrase, putting it down to their Love Island habit: “And ‘do you reckon,’ ‘that’s a cop out’. Lol I watch too much Love Island.”
One Twitter user posted: “I’m not being funny but…” referencing the typical way many Brits might begin a complaint or express dissatisfaction about something.
