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Aren't Japanese similar in this matter? Avoiding confrontation, I mean. We, Polish, love to complain. Meeting a friend and saying "Yeah, everything ok, I feel great" is something we never say. 😂 Sometimes a conversation between two people consist in "boasting" about who has it worse. 😂 So, when you ask Polish person "How's going?", the answer you get will be: "Not great/eh/same old". It means we're okay and happy. 🤣
Love your explanation of "Not great/eh/same old".🤣🤣🤣 Although I am Polish by blood and bone, in this case I am definitely American, which means always happy, never complaining. Best from Gdańsk, Poland.
Some time ago, I wrote a letter on behalf of a friend of mine who had a disagreement with a British airline about a ticket refund. After reading it, my friend found it bland and asked me if I couldn't have been a little more forceful. I had used expressions such as "I'm feeling a bit disappointed", "I don't think your assessment is really fair" "Your answer was not exactly what I would have expected". I answered him I had been very forceful indeed and I was right: the airline answered at once and refunded the full price.
You have been really helpful for me to learn English from basic to advanced... I'm from India and from heart i just wanna thank you.... thanks alot Lucy ma'am
I live in the UK, but am Irish and also lived in Japan so Im fluent in Japanese as well, and this indirectness seems similar to Japan actually. I don't think Irish as indirect as British though, I noticed the more indirectness after moving to the UK for sure. This was in stark contrast to when I went on holidays to Germany, where people were the opposite. I think the US is also much more direct as well.
Yeah, German here. If you tell us to write a date in the calendar, we probably will grab our calendar and search for a good day 😂 good luck to come out of that one 😂😂 I also had a strange moment, when I accidentally get on a private lawn and the owner came around to get me off. (I was like 12 and didn't speak English very well) I told him that I was sorry and his last words were "your welcome". Thar got me confused 😂
Hi bro ,lm just wanna know if there is any word in English that contain a sequence of consonant in the final position more than 4 as in _ccccc????do u know,😢
As a German, I have to say that it's more complicated than I thought. I didn't realise that the cultural differences were so big. Here in Germany, it's considered polite to actually say whether you intend to come or not. How else is the host supposed to be prepared?
I lived 17 years in London, and it is so nice to listen to all this which brings back many good memories. Working in the City, I had some pretty good experiences. I loved it and miss it.
When a German says "Can't complain" he/she means: "I feel great". And when something is considered "not bad" it's "exellent". That' s why coversation with a Brit can be difficult.
You nailed it. What I first thought, too, such an awkward moment for a German just hearing about an alternative interpretation of „not bad“ or „can’t complain“. I laugh about how the French use irony, too. Without doubt in French is about 80% for sure for example 😄
I'm enthusiastically recommending your channel to everyone I meet here in my country Ethiopia, in Africa. Because I believe in your amazing ability of teaching English. ❤❤❤
As a person who values honesty and authenticity and have lived in the UK for almost 20 years still struggle with this bit of British culture.Someone tell me please is it possible to build a trully genuine relationship with the British guy or true friends or perhaps I should take my interests elsewhere? 😅
Pretty easy if you find the right people, I’m English, I have loads of french, Italian and South African friends. You need to put yourself out there and find people with similar interests. It’s not particularly easy for British people sometimes
I was aware this is happening but the level of awkwardness it can create is terrible 😄 German here, having a big doubt it really is the same in many ways with the Americans that also act very indirect. We hate the indirectness because we think it’s so inefficient. But Lucy, what a fun video and what an excellent way of telling including the texts. I am a big fan of your channel and learned a lot from this one, too! - honestly speaking 😄❤️
Thank you oodles for your translations of British into American English. I have warned my son that texting is not the place for sarcasm nor anything which might be taken literally. English is an atonal language whereas sarcasm such as 'I love that shirt meaning you hate it requires tone, emphasis, and an alteration of cadence. Therefore I recommend to all who listen to and 'ADORE' your videos please abstain from using subtext or anything other than what is not open to interpretation. I truly do love your videos but wished to point out to all that in order to be sarcastic (or perhaps passive-aggressive9?0) that I had to capitalize adore in order to imply abhpr.
This video is very interesting. I have to say that in the Italian language too we use a lot of these expressions meaning just the opposite as for English.Or, at least, well educated people do it. Thanks for sharing.
I am from the north of the Netherlands, in one way the people over there can be very direct, no beating about the forest, but on the other hand they absolutely love understatements. If your guest says:-" I once have had something filthier" That means you're a fantastic cook.
Hrmph. I never realize British culture could have this one similarity with Taiwanese culture (which is very much a polar opposite), in that when someone says "let's get lunch someday," it pretty much means it will never happen.
As an Indian (native Bengali speaker ),i can totally relate to your expressions! Lol sometimes we really become mean iwhile dealing with people in our daily lives 😂 nd it's quite funny
I read somewhere that there was a famous socialite, high society, old lady who had a young toy boy who was a Serbian embassy attaché. She was to bring him to the parties, and he was delighted commenting how wonderful, nice and polite British were. The old lady laugh and told him: Oh darling, you have got us completely wrong, as better we treat you as much we despise you.
I love your videos and this one in particular. We Germans put honesty and sincerity on top of any scale of human qualities. Thus, if a friend shows you her new dress you may say "Sorry, but I don't like it" in order not to cheat. She will not be very pleased but you have been honest which for Germans is most important in a friendship. Once I together with a German friend ran into a third who just came from the hairdresser with a pretty weird hairdo. I said "A new hairdo! How nice!" - while my friend silently gazed at the mess on the other woman's head. Later, my friend asked whether I REALLY liked that hairstyle and when I said that I maybe did not like it too much she was upset and asked "Then why did you SAY you do???" I found out that mixing with Brits had obviously spoiled my character.
@@jacekkangaroo4402 I did not mean to say anything like that. I just meant to explain the German concept of honesty and straightforwardness in contrast to the British concept of politeness and harmony.
Hmm... A pretty contradictional video! How could I understand y'all British people correctly?!! Haha!😉 Thank you much, gorgeous Lucy for the awesome English lesson!👍👍👍
Well, it's mind-blowing sometimes and definitely confusing most of the time. This is exactly how we complicate our lives ourselves and then complain about it being so complicated 🤦🏼♀️😅
Lucy, this has been one of the most interesting videos ever! Thank you for claryfing the expressions and British behaviour, which we, foreigners, can be often very confused about. Now, I understand why the cookies I made for the family were "interesting" and yet nobody ate them :-)
@@douwe3300 I am certainly NOT from that town, don't insult me :) True thing you say foreigners always think 020 = The Netherlands. And also in that town itself they seem to think the whole country loves that city and the people in it. I am from The Hague. Also a big city, so maybe it is a big city thing to say what you mean. But I seldom met people that beat around the bush, and in my almost 60 years I met many people from allover the Netherlands.
Oh no! I have to check also for the real meaning of Phrases. Well, thanks Lucy. I love your helpful Content ! In Germany or Austria we would understand it as a Comment. We say it direct. No fakery. Sorry. But your Knowledge is Gold!
Sarcastic = sadistic, rude - I instantly lost all respect I once had for the Brits. They can't behave when they're guests in other countries as well, trashy people
be sarcastic - start 13 wars in the indian subcontinent and write in your history books that you were polite and well mannered briish history curriculum is one elaborate exercise in sarcasm
...Didn't know I had to pull out my Enigma machine to talk to a British person. Now I wonder If any of my conversations meant what we were actually saying or something else. Oh, well. Excellent video as usual. 🤓
I was born into the English language, and this still makes me twitchy - I'm bad at picking up subtle cues. But, I do know that "Let's meet for drinks" can mean SOOO many things and even throws my Brit friends for a loop.
Im living in US for 7 years but i cant speak fluently, I feel shy to speak trying to use American accent,so im learning British accent because is better to understand.
I've been living in the UK for more than 10 years but still learning to pick up those meanings. Sometimes it is quite annoying because I prefer to be straight to the point. Sometimes it is sweet. But I believe, I don't quite understand British culture as I don't know, why to make every little situation so complicated ;-). Just say: "No, thanks, I will not come because I simply don't want to! ;-).
It is so confusing, omg 😂 Now, I am not sure any more of what my British friends mean. If they want it or they don't and they just want to be polite. Well, at least it's never boring.
I think a lot of our culture comes from sayings/phrases we're taught as kids. For example, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," is probably behind our fear of saying something unpleasant to the point that we'll then actively lie about it.
Bilbo Baggins felt very tensely trying to keep "Englishness" of his speech manner when he welcomed the thirteen dwarves by groups at the threshold of his hobit-hole, but he managed to be successful in that)
