An American influencer and her English boyfriend have lifted the lid on the different words they use to describe the same thing – even though they speak the same language.
Ella McFadin, 25, grew up in Newport Beach, California, while her beau James, 31, hails from Chiswick in West London. They now live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after meeting two years ago through a dating app in New York.
Earlier this year, the couple went viral on TikTok after pointing out the glaring differences between American and British English. The video was so popular that she became a follow up this week.
In the same format as the original, Ella threw out a word commonly used in the US and James responded with the British equivalent.
Ella McFadin, 25, grew up in Newport Beach, California, while her beau James, 31, is from Chiswick in West London
The American influencer and her English beau went viral on TikTok this week after pointing out the glaring differences between American and British English
“The first one I think drives him the most crazy is Americans saying, ‘I did it by accident,'” she explained. “It’s by accident,” James interjected. “You do something by accident, not by accident.”
“I caught myself doing it now. When I say ‘on’ by accident, I change it to ‘through’ because I realize that actually sounds more correct,” she admitted.
When Ella pointed out that Americans say broccolini, James said the vegetable is known as tender stem broccoli across the pond.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before,” she replied.
French fries vs. chips, chips vs. chips, popsicles vs. popsicles, and candy vs. candy were other food-related differences they highlighted.
Ella said if you wore a puffer vest, James would call it a waistcoat.
“A haircut he would call a beret,” she continued.
That sounds bad coming from an American [mouth],’ he joked.
In the video, Ella threw out a word commonly used in the US and James responded with the British equivalent. For example, she says fries, when she calls them chips
“The first thing I think drives him the most crazy is Americans saying, ‘I did it by accident,'” she said. “It’s by accident,” James interjected. ‘You do something by accident, not by accident’
James also calls a braid a plait, but there was some confusion when Ella asked him the British word for bangs.
“We’d say pony,” he said.
“No, you say fringe,” she objected.
“Pony and fringe are different things,” he explained. “Fringe is a different hairstyle than bangs.”
“I don’t think so,” she replied before continuing.
She later shared in the comments that James admitted he was confused and “thought bangs only meant side bangs.”
Ella went on to explain that while Americans put a ‘full stop’ at the end of the sentence, British people refer to the punctuation as a ‘full stop’.
James also calls a bathing suit a bathing suit instead of a bathing suit, but he noted that he would also say bikini if someone was wearing a two-piece suit.
The couple has been together for two years now and they are still learning new words and phrases that are completely different in their two countries.
The American-British couple went viral earlier this year when they shared the different words and phrases they said despite speaking the same language
Ella and James fell in love after meeting two years ago through a New York dating app
The couple now live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, halfway between their two home cities
“We were swimming in the pool where we’re staying now, he said, ‘Your best stroke was a front crawl,’ and I thought, ‘What the hell is that?'” she recalled. “We’d say freestyle.”
Ella added in the caption that she says sunscreen while James says sunscreen.
The video was viewed more than 400,000 times in one day and hundreds of people shared their thoughts in the comments.
Many Americans commented that it is grammatically incorrect to say “accidentally,” and that it should be “accidentally.”
“I’m not sure why you say ‘in’ an accident, I’ve always said ‘by’,” one person replied. “I think you’re saying it wrong lol.”
“Accidental is grammatically correct!!!” someone else pointed it out. “I’m passionate about this lmao.”
“I think it’s because we say ‘on purpose’ so people got ‘accidentally’ confused,” concluded another American.