18 Uniquely American Phrases That Non-Americans Love

1.7K

If there’s one thing you can say about the countries of the world, it’s that we’re all unique.

• Each has its own social and cultural norms (here are some interesting ones)
• Different countries have their own unwritten rules
• Their residents even know what their stereotypes are to outsiders (we’re not exempt, by the way. There are several ways you can tell a tourist is American)

Even countries that speak the same language will have different words for different things. A video was made a while back about how people from the US, UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand – all different English-speaking countries – had different words for certain objects and concepts. Take a look:

Sometimes our differences in what we say can make for some delightful conversation. For example, I have friends in the UK who insist I’m a “cheeky monkey” (I tend to agree with them). “God Bless America, but God help Canada to put up with them!” is a favorite proverb of mine from our friends “oop north.” And I love that “Good for you!,” (U.S.), “Well done!” (U.K.) and “Good on ya!” (Australia) all mean the same thing.

There are several uniquely American idioms, sayings and phrases that people from other countries particularly enjoy:

‘Ants in Your Pants’

I’ve always loved this one because it so perfectly visualizes what someone who can’t sit still would look like — Cami Z.

‘Barking Up the Wrong Tree’

When I was a child, we had a dog who stayed outside most of the time. He would chase the various animals in the area and on more than one occasion, he would bark up the wrong tree. Decades later, I too have missed the mark and done the same thing. — Emil K.

‘Break A Leg’

“My first impression of the phrase was not a very good one. I heard it in the movie ‘High School Musical’ and I was confused. It sounds like something negative but it has a positive and a motivating connotation.” ― Baig

‘Couch Potato’

“I just love the visual behind this one, like, what does this even look like?” ― Mitch H

‘Eager Beaver’

I just like how it sounds. — Mia P.

‘Elephant in the Room’

I like how this appears in my brain. Something so obvious. So huge, that it almost takes up the entire room. — Soa R.

‘Guilty Pleasure’

“I find this expression intriguing because I don’t think the concept of having a guilty pleasure even exists in Brazil. I have never heard a Brazilian put those two words together. But now that I know this expression, I can think of many things I do that I could call a guilty pleasure!” ― Virginia L.

‘Hang In There’

“I love [it] mainly because of the imagery it creates in my mind. I begin to picture myself hanging somewhere until I’m attended to. That’s a bit funny.” ― Firdaus B.

‘Hella’

“I love the word ‘hella.’ It originated in the Bay Area, where my wife is from, and it’s very distinct in San Francisco and neighboring counties. My first impression was that it reminded me of the Australian version of the word ‘heaps.’ We use ‘heaps’ to mean a lot of or very, so ‘hella’ is like the American equivalent! It’s short, concise and to the point, which is what Australian slang is all about.” ― Jules H.

‘Hold Your Horses’

I’ve always been fascinated with the concept of old fashioned American cowboys. And I’d think of them on their trusty steeds, wanted to go, go, go. But the cowboys make them wait. Sometimes it’s not so easy to wait. — Paloma S.

‘Monday Morning Quarterback’

“This hits me personally because I always have a good answer for every problem everyone has…. after they have solved it.” ― Eli S.

‘A Piece Of Cake’

“Knowing what this one means comes with two bonuses: First, the phrase reassures me that the situation or problem is not a difficult one. The second bonus is that it gives me the image of chocolate cake in my mind. This phrase is reassuring and yummy at the same time.” ― Olga A.

‘Plenty of Fish in the Sea’

If you think about it, there are lots of fish in the ocean. So if one doesn’t work out, it just takes some patience until the next fish comes along. I can relate to that. — Samuel N.

‘Rain On My Parade’

“I love it because it’s something all women can identify with. When I first heard it I loved it. It has a nice ring to it.” ― Fawaz 

‘Ride Shotgun’

“I remember reading a book when I saw a phrase like ‘I’m riding shotgun.’ I genuinely thought the guy had a shotgun on him and felt it weird because it didn’t fit the plot. I wrote it down and read on to see whether that would turn out to be something important. When I finished the book, I looked it up on the Internet and giggled. Why would people associate the front seat with a weapon? Is that really a habit, people riding with shotguns?” ― Sousa

18 Uniquely American Phrases That Non-Americans Love‘Squeaky Clean’

The reason I like it is the unexpectedness: We usually determine cleanliness by visual signals. A clean object is usually shining, or clear or bright, but the word ‘squeaky’ makes us hear how clean that object is!” ― Irina Z.

‘Under The Weather’

“I use it every time I’m ill. Especially in work correspondence, it feels like the most professional way to communicate an illness.” — Ipinmi A.

‘You’re Bulls**tting Me’ (And Other Instances Of Verbing)

“One of the things I love most about the American language is that we can turn almost any noun into a verb. I just found out that this action has a name: verbing. This is fascinating! Verbing does not exist in my native language (Brazilian Portuguese).

What I like about verbing is that it makes communication easy and to the point. I remember an anecdote from about 10 years ago when I had just moved to NYC. I passed by two young women on the street and overheard one of them saying, ‘They bulls**tted me.’ That’s when I realized that any noun could be turned into a verb.” ― Langhammer 

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary