In a surprising revelation of cross-cultural appreciation, Americans and individuals worldwide expressed their fondness for certain British turns of phrase.
Though the English language is common across numerous countries, Brits have a distinctly unique flair for expressions. Lingoda reports English serves as an official language in 67 countries and an additional 27 non-sovereign entities.
A viral thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, has seen global users share their favourite British idioms. Bypassing more familiar expressions such as “it’s not my cup of tea”, as well as “it’s all gone pear-shaped”, commenters favoured more everyday colloquialisms.
The conversation was sparked by a post from X user Meera who simply remarked: “British people actually ate with ‘you lot’,” leading to widespread agreement. A respondent said: “You lot might be top 3 phrases.”
The discussion quickly gained momentum, with the original post being viewed more than 19.5 million times and prompting hundreds of responses eager to highlight beloved British slang. One commenter stated: “‘Do you reckon’ ‘taking the p**s’ ‘f*** all’ all go insanely hard.” While another concurred with: “Can’t be a**ed.”
Chiming in, someone added: “‘Can’t be a**ed’ is up there too.” Another individual shared their adoration for “personally I love ‘what are you on about’,” while another weighed in with: “Look at the state of it,’ and ‘are you mad’ are top tier as well.”
User Faze chimed in: “‘Do you reckon’ slaps.” Another expressed their fondness for this phrase, attributing it to their devotion to Love Island: “And ‘do you reckon,’ ‘that’s a cop out’.. lol I watch too much Love Island.”
One individual simply tweeted: “I’m not being funny but,” alluding to how many Brits might initiate a complaint or start airing grievances about an issue they’re disgruntled with.