14 British driving words that confuse Americans

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  • čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
  • Today we look at some of the more interesting British words about driving!
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Komentáře • 2,4K

  • @QALibrary
    @QALibrary Před 10 měsíci +350

    The only strange thing about this channel that get British people confused is why have Evan not passed 1 million subs yet?

    • @unknownseriesmax
      @unknownseriesmax Před 10 měsíci +14

      @@alicemilne1444 As a british person I can tell you that I find it very strange that you thought it was necessary to voice your opinion, because I honestly find it quite odd.

    • @unknownseriesmax
      @unknownseriesmax Před 10 měsíci +3

      @@alicemilne1444 Hmm. I don't think I ever mentioned if my comment was odd or not. But I don't think this matters to be quite honest.

    • @21_f_aus
      @21_f_aus Před 10 měsíci +2

      As an Australian, with British Ancestry, I also find it strange more followers...

    • @21_f_aus
      @21_f_aus Před 10 měsíci +2

      ​@@alicemilne1444I find the word cringy, cringy🤷🏼‍♀️
      If you find him cringy then why are you here?

    • @john_smith1471
      @john_smith1471 Před 10 měsíci

      He very likely has 1m+, but many followers don’t subscribe, channel creators can see the stats, views, likes, patreon, adverts and no YT strikes all help monetise.

  • @KoeiNL
    @KoeiNL Před 10 měsíci +699

    A hand brake is not for emergencies only. Its used for parking so your car doesn't roll away, technically you could also keep it in a gear instead (also advised to do both on a steep hill). If you have never learned to drive a manual I can understand the confusion though.

    • @TheEulerID
      @TheEulerID Před 10 měsíci +218

      It's almost never for emergencies. That's what the main brake is for. The parking brake makes a particularly bad job of stopping in an emergency.

    • @Serenity_yt
      @Serenity_yt Před 10 měsíci +34

      Also for cars without hill starting assistance you depend on the hand brake else you're stuck there or roll backwards before getting your foot on the gas. And in automatic cars (or at least our ambulances) you use the hand break for the Motorweiterlaufschaltung (continuing engine running sth. Basically you can leave the engine running but still close your car and you need the key to get it moving forwards again for theft prevention.

    • @TheEulerID
      @TheEulerID Před 10 měsíci +36

      @@Serenity_yt Indeed. It's not really an emergency brake except in the extremely rare case that main brakes have failed, which is very rare with modern dual-circuit brakes.

    • @the_pi_th_horseman
      @the_pi_th_horseman Před 10 měsíci +13

      @@TheEulerID the "Emergency" comes from when your main brakes fail. Very rare with modern cars, but it used to be a good thing to have in the back of your mind that you had a mechanical way to engage the brakes if your Master Cylinder blew and dumped all your fluid on the road.

    • @Torauth
      @Torauth Před 10 měsíci +74

      The Emergency Brake thing explains why you get so much footage of Americans getting out of cars and then said car rolls away whilst driver does a delivery or something. In the UK if you're still for more than a few seconds you put the hand-brake on.

  • @davidcroucher6262
    @davidcroucher6262 Před 10 měsíci +321

    What you said about "emergency brakes" explains why there are so many more videos of cars rolling backwards being chased by their owners on foot from America than everywhere else.

    • @detran09
      @detran09 Před 10 měsíci +7

      We use parking brakes

    • @emmsdm
      @emmsdm Před 10 měsíci +67

      ​@@detran09I'm confused. The handbrake IS the parking brake. Do you have separate parking and emergency brakes? Why make the distinction?

    • @davidcroucher6262
      @davidcroucher6262 Před 10 měsíci +32

      @@detran09 Thanks for bringing this up, I was just thinking this morning I swear I have heard Americans use the term "parking brake". Is that a different term for the same thing or something entirely different? In the UK we are taught to use the "hand brake" every time get out of the driver's seat.

    • @sodorflubbs5000
      @sodorflubbs5000 Před 10 měsíci +7

      That must be because they forgot to put their automatics in park.

    • @theatheearthkiller5281
      @theatheearthkiller5281 Před 10 měsíci +7

      @@emmsdmlol this is 100% logical, but it’s really because they didn’t put their car in park, but rather put it in neutral instead. Damn automatics. Lol - people that drive stick here DO use emergency brakes.😂 but this is funny.

  • @Inselmann2000
    @Inselmann2000 Před 10 měsíci +67

    Just for fun, in Germany the indicator is called blinker. But the official word is "Fahrtrichtungsanzeiger". That translates to "driving-direction-indicator".

    • @achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233
      @achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233 Před 10 měsíci +1

      also the hand-break is called Handbremse :) which translates to hand-break

    • @thomascarroll9556
      @thomascarroll9556 Před 9 měsíci

      @@achimdemus-holzhaeuser1233 in the U.K. a “hand-break” is a serious injury or if you were ambidextrous, it could be a rest for one hand whilst you used the other.

  • @jazzzzdude
    @jazzzzdude Před 10 měsíci +75

    The handbrake is also referred to as a parking brake. Number plate's proper name is registrationplate because it is the number/letters that is used to register the car with the DVLA. Technically a pacement is any surface that is paved. What people commonly call a pavement is actually the footway to distinguish it from a carriageway. ( I used to be a highways engineer.)

    • @Leenapanther
      @Leenapanther Před 10 měsíci +1

      Does that mean the registration plate is bound to a specific car? You can't put it on a different one? Where i come from you own that plate and can put it on every car. There are even auctions for special numbers.

    • @Milkster1
      @Milkster1 Před 10 měsíci +8

      ​@Leenapanther that's correct. Unless you pay for a custom plate. But even then a plate can only be used on one car. I guess its probably possible to swap plates but you have to do it officially.

    • @NineLivesburra
      @NineLivesburra Před 10 měsíci

      I also grew up using footpath for Pavement. Especially confusing when some towns have a street named Pavement.

    • @jazzzzdude
      @jazzzzdude Před 10 měsíci +4

      @@Leenapanther you can transfer a plate to a different vehicle but both vehicles need to be reregistered with DVLA first. Otherwise you get prosecuted for fraud or some similar offence.

    • @bencarpendale
      @bencarpendale Před 10 měsíci +1

      I don't think I have ever heard the word "footway", if I really didn't want to say pavement I would say footpath but that sounds really weird when referring to a path beside a road

  • @EmilyCheetham
    @EmilyCheetham Před 10 měsíci +686

    We say lollipop person because the sign is in the shape of a lollipop. We say zebra crossing because the crossing is black and white stripes. They make sense.

    • @graemeclifford6358
      @graemeclifford6358 Před 10 měsíci +94

      When teaching young children where it is safe to cross a road, surely it is sensible to use language they easily understand. A lady holding a lollipop is simple (childish)

    • @EmilyCheetham
      @EmilyCheetham Před 10 měsíci +21

      @@graemeclifford6358 it’s not always a lady that’s why we say lollipop person nowadays and not lollipop lady. Also what’s simpler than lollipop person? Besides the ones around where I live only worked around schools in the morning and at school finishing times. So kids are taught about zebra crossings, traffic lights, and other types of crossings too.

    • @Inucroft
      @Inucroft Před 10 měsíci +28

      Correct, regards a former Lollypop Man.

    • @Wizard0fDogs
      @Wizard0fDogs Před 10 měsíci +26

      Plus lollipop people are around kids so it also makes sense the name is more playful

    • @Inucroft
      @Inucroft Před 10 měsíci +6

      @@graemeclifford6358 *grumpy male lollypop man noises* :P

  • @everestbc7007
    @everestbc7007 Před 10 měsíci +65

    Pulling the hand brake in an emergency sounds like the fastest way to heaven

    • @graemeclifford6358
      @graemeclifford6358 Před 10 měsíci +5

      As a young driver, i used to enjoy doing "handbrake turns" ... i wonder what americans would call that manoeuvre ????

    • @frankshailes3205
      @frankshailes3205 Před 10 měsíci +3

      @@graemeclifford6358 A bootleg turn, also known as a smuggler's turn, powerslide, or simply bootlegger...

    • @DjDolHaus86
      @DjDolHaus86 Před 10 měsíci

      @@frankshailes3205 A powerslide would surely be using engine power to slide the car, no?

    • @SarahDawes
      @SarahDawes Před 10 měsíci +1

      ​@@graemeclifford6358 When I was learning to drive my dad took me out in the old '56 Morris Minor out to a mate's paddock to get me to practice "skid correction" by using a "handbrake turn" to full effect. XD

  • @WritingsOfQuill
    @WritingsOfQuill Před 10 měsíci +42

    As a fellow American, I'm always amused how much so-called "American" dialect I learn from Evan that is actually just East Coast and/or New Jersey. And how often that coincides with me and my Western American neighbors using "British" terms. I'm going through *roundabouts* on the daily here. XD

    • @ninaradio
      @ninaradio Před 9 měsíci +4

      Agreed! Here in Tennessee, we also say roundabout. Also, hand brake is a pretty interchangeable with emergency brake here (and I was taught to always use it every time you park, whether or not there’s a hill); we say traffic light or traffic signal every bit as often as we say stop light; and I’ve never even heard anyone say “emergency lights-“ or use blinker to refer to that-I’ve only heard that called the hazard.

    • @thomascarroll9556
      @thomascarroll9556 Před 9 měsíci

      @@ninaradio I think the hazard lights is one of the most I’ll thought-out features of a cars system, that could easily have been done much better in, especially in non-America-land where we use amber indicators/blinkers. At the moment if you can’t see both sides of a vehicle you can’t be certain if they have their hazards on or just an indicator, what they could have done would to have had the hazards flashing at a faster irregular interval and/or the indicators and brake lights flashing alternately, that would be a very clear which signal was being utilised. It would be particularly helpful when parked cars have their hazards on (I know that’s not the proscribed use but people do use them that way) and other motorists don’t know if they’re going to pull out.

    • @mbatatok-tokngogo2711
      @mbatatok-tokngogo2711 Před 4 měsíci

      That's really interesting to read, because I was just thinking about how he does the same thing in regards to the UK as well. For example, when he said pavement, I imagined a 'blacktop sidewalk'. But then he showed the photo and made a joke about crumbling infrastructure with tree roots coming through it, and I remembered that he lives in London. That's a very London thing. Towns outside London just have pavements made of blacktop asphalt, with no trees in them. It's only London that usually has pavements made of stone/concrete with trees in them. For what it's worth, these are much nicer to walk along than ones without any trees.

    • @katieingridfalcon4960
      @katieingridfalcon4960 Před 3 měsíci

      Cap Region NY, we say roundabout. I believe family extended family in GA does thanks to us. Traffic circles are those circles of “sidewalk” in the middle of an oversized intersection that are used for traffic claiming.
      Also the number of times Brits insist that Americans think “curtain” is the fancy word for “drapes” is wild.

    • @salt6831
      @salt6831 Před 2 měsíci

      Yup!

  • @abrr2000
    @abrr2000 Před 9 měsíci +19

    as a train nurd, I have to point out that the "guards van" and the "caboose" actually serve two very different functions.
    • The guards van was where the guard sat and adjusts the breaks to ensure the chain couplings are kept taught enough to stop them jumping off the hooks and decoupling the train. (since we stoped using chain couplings, the guards van become extinct)
    • The caboose as well as being where the break man operates from, is also a mobile office space for filling out paperwork, a break room and bedding area for the crew. Because they often operated trains where there were none of those things.

  • @DylanSargesson
    @DylanSargesson Před 10 měsíci +384

    Zebra Crossing is a particular version of what Americans would call a crosswalk.
    The other versions are Pelican, Puffin, Toucan and Pegasus

    • @growley333
      @growley333 Před 10 měsíci +29

      Yes I was looking for a comment on this. It depends on if and what type of lights and signs are by the crossing too. I think zebra is the most basic so just the black & white stripes on the road? And others have the yellow lollipop flashing beacons or traffic lights by them etc.

    • @kiradotee
      @kiradotee Před 10 měsíci +7

      ​@@growley333some are for pedestrians and cyclists.

    • @kgames3563
      @kgames3563 Před 10 měsíci +37

      ​@@kiradoteetoucan crossing - two can, which is the crossing where pedestrians and cyclists can cross

    • @luelou8464
      @luelou8464 Před 10 měsíci +32

      @@kiradoteeAnd horses in the case of Pegasus crossings

    • @bidentity69
      @bidentity69 Před 10 měsíci +32

      @@growley333 The yellow lollipop flashing beacon is called a Belisha beacon .

  • @philpalmer8684
    @philpalmer8684 Před 10 měsíci +152

    Regarding "lollipop person". I think, Evan, that you are missing the historical perspective on this as is probably also true for anyone under the age of 50. You must remember that the vast majority of urban children in 50's and 60's UK walked to school on their own so it was really important that they only crossed the road by the wardens (I think when advertising for the job, local authorities use the term crossing warden). So the name was used to make the warden more friendly to children. Which child wouldn't remember instructions about a lollipop lady even if they didn't hand out confectionery?
    I started school at the age of 5 in 1959 and walked or ran the half mile there on my own after my mother walking me for the the first couple of weeks and it was very strictly drummed into me that I should always wait for the lollipop lady before crossing the road.

    • @BucksCycleCam
      @BucksCycleCam Před 10 měsíci +43

      Important to note that, since there's no such thing as 'jaywalking' in the UK, lollipop people aren't confined to guarding marked crossing points. They're actually much more important when they're not at a Zebra, since they have the power to stop vehicles to allow pedestrians to cross at any point on the road.

    • @Draiscor
      @Draiscor Před 10 měsíci +14

      I always thought it was because their sign is shaped like a lollipop 😅

    • @lunaangeleclipse9745
      @lunaangeleclipse9745 Před 10 měsíci +11

      I think even young people get it. I'm gen z and I remember my primary school made sure to introduce the kids to the local lollipop person who manned the nearest crossing to the school.

    • @andrewpeacock8762
      @andrewpeacock8762 Před 10 měsíci +5

      @Draiscor this, this is why i have always referred to them as lollipop ladies!

    • @nicolad8822
      @nicolad8822 Před 10 měsíci +4

      The vast majority of of urban children still do walk to school, the younger ones more often with parents these days maybe.

  • @claudioferrara4455
    @claudioferrara4455 Před 10 měsíci +8

    Handbrake: it’s called the same in other European languages (e.g. freno a mano in Italian, freno de mano in Spanish), and here in Europe they teach you at driving school to ALWAYS use it when you park your car, not only when you park uphill. Hence not “emergency”!

  • @billydonaldson6483
    @billydonaldson6483 Před 10 měsíci +40

    The verb ‘career’ means to move swiftly in an uncontrolled manner. Careening in English means cleaning the hull of a ship, they used to roll sailing ships on one side and careen the the hull then roll them over onto the opposite side and careen the other side.

    • @cigmorfil4101
      @cigmorfil4101 Před 10 měsíci +5

      Moving swiftly in an uncontrolled manner from job to job is your career...

    • @cactusparty023
      @cactusparty023 Před 10 měsíci +5

      I haven't heard anyone in the UK use career, everyone i know would say swerve

    • @david672orford
      @david672orford Před 10 měsíci +2

      I believe "career" was also used to describe the movement of a runaway horse.

    • @wta1518
      @wta1518 Před měsícem +1

      Career means to move rapidly, and has been confused with careen by the Brits since the 1920s. Careen means to move from side to side, sometimes while careering since the 17-1800s.

    • @ktj383
      @ktj383 Před měsícem

      @@cactusparty023 I’m British I would probably say veer off or swerve like you say

  • @streyyk5799
    @streyyk5799 Před 10 měsíci +40

    Tommy Cooper joke: I was driving up the motorway and my boss phoned me and he told me I’d been promoted. I was so shocked I swerved the car. He phoned me again to say I’d been promoted even higher and I swerved again. He then made me managing director and I went right off into a tree. The police came and asked me what had happened. I said “I careered off the road”

    • @lemming9984
      @lemming9984 Před 10 měsíci

      Titter!!!

    • @inatwirlingram2540
      @inatwirlingram2540 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Can't beat a Tommy Cooper joke 😂

    • @sooskevington6144
      @sooskevington6144 Před 10 měsíci +3

      ​@@lemming9984It made me titter with laughter that Google provided a 'translate to English' option to your comment consisting of the English language word "titter". That the inaccurate translation of 'peeking' was given was even funnier!

    • @lemming9984
      @lemming9984 Před 10 měsíci

      @@sooskevington6144 Snigger! 😃

  • @hesky10
    @hesky10 Před 10 měsíci +95

    Try not using your handbrake in a manual car on a relatively flat and see if it doesnt roll away on its own accord.
    Given that british cars are manuals (stick shift) as standard the handbrake is mandatory to avoid your car rolling away. A handbrake is extra security if you have an automatic vehicle. Ive driven both manual and automatic here in the uk and always used the handbrake as its ingrained from learning to drive

    • @leilasimon2057
      @leilasimon2057 Před 10 měsíci +4

      Yes, I think this is a big difference!

    • @really-quite-exhausted
      @really-quite-exhausted Před 10 měsíci +3

      My parents literally just bought their first automatic car and have spent every journey reaching for the handbrake when at junctions and traffic lights and then remembering they don't need it anymore. I can't drive at all so I just sit in the back seat and laugh at them 😂

    • @utha2665
      @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci +3

      I've never had to use my handbrake in an emergency either.

    • @elemar5
      @elemar5 Před 10 měsíci

      I can't think of an emergency where you would use the handbrake. Unless you need to do a 180.@@utha2665

    • @mytube001
      @mytube001 Před 10 měsíci +4

      @@really-quite-exhausted I use the normal foot brake at stops. I might turn off the engine and pull the hand brake if I know it's going to be a long wait, like at a rail crossing when the train takes a while, or if there's extra traffic lights for some roadworks.

  • @frogandspanner
    @frogandspanner Před 10 měsíci +6

    3:36 *Career* : The word comes from a road/racecourse/carriage. A career, as in a job that develops according to a plan, fits in with that, but so does _to career_ , which originally meant to charge at top speed, lance under arm, tilting at one's opponent.
    *Careen* means to tilt over one's vessel in order to remove barnacles and other unwanted accretions. It can be wet in UK, but our cars tend not to accumulate barnacles, so we rarely careen them.

  • @lachlanhunt
    @lachlanhunt Před 10 měsíci +19

    In Australia, we mostly follow the UK words, but with some differences.
    Calling a lollipop man/lady a crossing guard seems strange. We almost never have them at crossings like they do in the US. They more often work at roadworks, controlling traffic.
    We usually call the middle traffic light Orange, but Amber is technically the name of the specific colour. I think they might use a different colour in America because photos of American lights do look more yellow than ours, which definitely look more Orange.
    Indicators are often called blinkers. We never call them turn signals.
    Sidewalk/pavements are usually called foot paths.

    • @louisemorris1581
      @louisemorris1581 Před 4 měsíci

      I’ve seen a few lollipop people outside schools in NSW but the official title is school crossing supervisor. I would refer to them as lollipop man/lady but I’m English born.

  • @kaleklol
    @kaleklol Před 10 měsíci +101

    I'm American -- from the Midwest but lived in California a while too -- and I use "traffic light" and "roundabout" most naturally. I've never been to the UK.

    • @SilentRiver00
      @SilentRiver00 Před 10 měsíci +17

      Ah! I was looking to see if anyone else had said this already! I'm American too - born/raised in North Carolina - and I've only ever used "traffic light", personally. I've heard both of course, but "stoplight" always makes me think of the lights that only flash red, even though I know that's not what it means lol.
      I used to use "roundabout" and "traffic circle" interchangeably back when they were pretty rare in the area, but now that they're much more common I always say roundabout...mostly cuz it just rolls off the tongue easier, I think. 😄

    • @ginny93en
      @ginny93en Před 10 měsíci +1

      Same

    • @therealpbristow
      @therealpbristow Před 10 měsíci +5

      There's a major road in Cheltenham we sometimes jokingly refer to as "the red light district"... As in: "13 sets of traffic lights in a row, and all of them red." =:o}

    • @roguechevelle
      @roguechevelle Před 10 měsíci +2

      I just commented this too and I'm from Florida.

    • @NickCBax
      @NickCBax Před 10 měsíci +6

      Yup. I thought this for several of the words. This is one of those things that is pretty regional in the US.

  • @rklrkl64
    @rklrkl64 Před 10 měsíci +159

    You missed some parts of a car that are different: bonnet vs hood, windscreen vs windshield, accelerator vs gas pedal, shock absorber vs damper, sill vs rocker panel, boot vs trunk, wing vs fender and exhaust pipe vs tail pipe being the most obvious.
    Other driving differences: motorway vs highway, petrol vs gas, car park vs parking lot, crossroads vs intersection, multistorey car park vs parking garage, sleeping policeman vs speed bump, lorry vs truck, diversion vs detour, cul-de-sac vs dead end, caravan vs trailer, dual carriageway vs divided highway, estate car vs station wagon, level crossing vs grade crossing, give way sign vs yield sign, central reservation vs median and saloon vs sedan.

    • @garygcrook
      @garygcrook Před 10 měsíci +1

      I noticed you didn't use 'Bumper vs Fender' even though Fender as in 'Defender' is the American word.
      Is it because Americans have taken to using Bumper, as saying "bumper-to-bumper" for a traffic jam sounds better than "fender-tofender"?

    • @SilentRiver00
      @SilentRiver00 Před 10 měsíci +21

      Just for the record, a cul-de-sac and a dead end aren't actually the same thing (afaik)...
      A cul-de-sac is when the street ends in a wider area where you can just drive around in a circle in order to go back the way you came.
      A dead end is when the street literally just stops, and usually looks like the street was supposed to keep going but just didn't for whatever reason.
      At least, that's how I've always understood it as an American, and hearing both used all the time.

    • @bobtheskutterbot
      @bobtheskutterbot Před 10 měsíci +2

      Great list! Where were you 15 years ago when an American asked me what the median was called in British English?

    • @salamanda11
      @salamanda11 Před 10 měsíci +12

      I’m sorry SLEEPING POLICEMAN??

    • @conlon4332
      @conlon4332 Před 10 měsíci +8

      @@salamanda11 Yeah, although people also say speed bump.

  • @philippabrealey1310
    @philippabrealey1310 Před 10 měsíci +17

    Amber light. It was introduced before plastic could be made any colour you want. So they had to use glass and the colour it made wasn't really yellow, more orangy brown. So it was called amber which was a better description of the colour.

    • @polyvg
      @polyvg Před 4 měsíci

      Possibly oddly, UK railway signals show yellow - not amber. Possibly they were introduced a bit later when they could make them really yellow?

    • @lolzlolz102
      @lolzlolz102 Před měsícem

      @@polyvg It's a definition thing rather than being about absolute colour. "Yellow" has been used to describe a caution signal ever since the first days of railway signalling with police constables and flags.

  • @hiiamelecktro4985
    @hiiamelecktro4985 Před 10 měsíci +3

    I was specially told by driving instructors that you NEVER use hand brake for emergencies.
    They said that the ABS system will stop working, making you lose all control over your vehicle while braking.
    I was told “press the brakes hard and try to avoid hitting the things your braking for”

  • @vipperblaze8923
    @vipperblaze8923 Před 10 měsíci +110

    there are 4 different types of crossing in the UK and 3 of them are named after birds
    there's the zebra crossing (named after the black and white stripes)
    there's the pelican crossing (a light crontrolled crossing where you press a button and wait for the traffic light to turn red and then it starts beeping at you, used to be spelled pelicon because PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled)
    there's the toucan crossing which is what allows bicycles to cross (you can learn this by saying "two can cross" and these generally have a separate light for bicycles and pedestrians)
    finally there's the puffin crossing (similar to pelican crossings but with sensors that detect if pedestrians are crossing slowly and halt traffic for longer and will also cancel a button press if the person who pressed it walks away or crosses early)

    • @utha2665
      @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci +1

      Well, there you go. I was wondering what the difference was, thanks for explaining.

    • @growley333
      @growley333 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Which one is the crossing with an orange flashing ball on a black & white striped stick on each side but no🚦?

    • @niallblack2794
      @niallblack2794 Před 10 měsíci +17

      ​@@growley333that's a zebra crossing
      Also for anyone wondering. The highway code explicitly explains why each is called what it is. They've added some more. Like I swear from when I last read the HC that there's a Pegasus crossing which is when they have the bit for horses too. So if you're in the country and they have a separate horse path that then gets to a crossing and it has buttons for the lights at regular pedestrian height and also at the height for someone mounted on horseback.

    • @katrinabryce
      @katrinabryce Před 10 měsíci +12

      @@niallblack2794 You will mostly find pegasus crossings in London around Buckingham Palace / Hyde Park / Green Park.

    • @garygcrook
      @garygcrook Před 10 měsíci

      To an American these would all be Crosswalks, to a Brit these are all different under the Highway Code and for safety.

  • @_AndrewYee
    @_AndrewYee Před 10 měsíci +72

    The plate on a car in UK is officially called registration plate, although many do say number plate

    • @iNightra
      @iNightra Před 10 měsíci +2

      Yeah I've always just called it a redge plate

    • @roguechevelle
      @roguechevelle Před 10 měsíci

      that makes sense.

    • @TheErador
      @TheErador Před 10 měsíci +2

      ​@@iNightraa Reg. Plate then.

    • @DavidNewmanDr
      @DavidNewmanDr Před 10 měsíci +6

      Australians say reggo

    • @neuralwarp
      @neuralwarp Před 10 měsíci

      Technically, a Registration Mark in the UK. Everyone says number plate. And Guernsey does just use numbers.

  • @davidhendrie6935
    @davidhendrie6935 Před 10 měsíci +17

    The colour "Amber", named after the gemstone, has a distinct orange tinge to it. Definitely not yellow. It has been the traffic light colour since introduction in 1926. I believe the actual shades of red, amber and green are standardised.

    • @nuneatonolly
      @nuneatonolly Před 10 měsíci +3

      Yep, amber is quite a specific shade between orange and yellow. Personally, I really like the colour - and love the fact that we call it amber in the UK 😄

    • @K-o-R
      @K-o-R Před 10 měsíci

      For fun, a railway signal is referred to as yellow.

    • @catgladwell5684
      @catgladwell5684 Před 8 měsíci +2

      and we couldn't have had the snappy little "don't be an amber gambler" phrase if we called it orange, "Don't be an orange .... er".

    • @sinkingkitchen
      @sinkingkitchen Před 5 měsíci

      in the Netherlands we just call the light orange lol

  • @kokliangchew3609
    @kokliangchew3609 Před 10 měsíci +17

    I'm Malaysian and there's a word we use here to mean to reverse a vehicle which is a cross between a nautical term and pidgin English. It is "Gostan", and it is derived from the nautical term "Go-astern", i.e., to move backwards or behind a ship. As to how it became common usage here, nobody knows, although it might be the British Navy influence here :)

  • @BillySugger1965
    @BillySugger1965 Před 10 měsíci +114

    If you really want to know Evan, (and I suspect you don’t), the reason we use amber lights in the UK is because green and yellow are surprisingly close to each other on the colour spectrum. I once had to deal with products being manufactured with LEDs that were supposed to be yellow and green, but actually looked exactly the same. So amber, being a little further towards the mid point on the spectrum between red and green, is less likely to be mistaken for one of the other two colours. This may also be an issue for people with certain kinds of colour blindness, but I’m told amber doesn’t help people with red/green colour blindness. But presumably such people are fucked by traffic lights anyway, so I dunno…

    • @neuralwarp
      @neuralwarp Před 10 měsíci +11

      It can be a problem. For me, red amber green and also yellow street lamps are all just shades of ginger. But you do get some distinctly reddish reds and bluish greens. Not a problem in daylight because you can tell by the position.

    • @barvdw
      @barvdw Před 10 měsíci +16

      it's why traffic lights almost everywhere are standardised to have red on top and green at the bottom. Everywhere? No, there is a nation that has warded all attempts at standardising road signs...

    • @ser132
      @ser132 Před 10 měsíci +6

      in Canada, the lights are amber, but everyone says yellow. I remember when I was taking the test multiple choice test to get my learner's permit years ago one of the questions had the choice of amber, and I was like, "wtf is an amber light" lol.
      Everyone just calls it a yellow light, even though it's actually amber.

    • @MissesLykaa
      @MissesLykaa Před 10 měsíci +15

      @@ser132 in the Netherlands we call it an orange light, which is probably the same as amber lol, but I've never heard of someone referring to the middle colour as yellow

    • @ShirinRose
      @ShirinRose Před 10 měsíci +4

      But why is it called amber and not orange?

  • @emilynolf
    @emilynolf Před 10 měsíci +19

    Having lived in Indiana, Iowa, Texas, and Kentucky, I’ve primarily heard of circular lanes of traffic being referred to as “roundabouts.” I have also heard the term “traffic circle,” but roundabout is definitely more common in my personal experience.

    • @havtor007
      @havtor007 Před 9 měsíci

      So if i understand this correctly a Traffic circle is not the same as a roundabout, in how you enter and exit it.
      Traffic circles is why there is so few roundabouts in America because they are less safe and far worse then roundabouts.

  • @potterlover96
    @potterlover96 Před 10 měsíci +5

    I love the BMW driver joke, no idea if that's a thing in America or something Evan has picked up here but it's so true 😂

  • @garygcrook
    @garygcrook Před 10 měsíci +50

    The actual British equivalent of a Caboose is called a Brake Van.
    Both were designed to act as additional braking on cargo trains as they didn't have brakes on each car back then.
    This feature was combined into other carriages on passenger trains.
    A Guards Van/Car is usually a Luggage carriage used/manned by the guards on British trains, and isn't necessarily the last car.

    • @alistairburgess8688
      @alistairburgess8688 Před 10 měsíci

      Close but not 100%. Brake Van and guards van are interchangeable, BR standardised to BV but thr GWR called them guards vans. For coaching stock it's call.a Brake coach, with there are many types, it's nothing to do with the guard but what coaches have a hnad Brake. All loco hauled passengers trains must have 1 handbrake fitted vehicl in the formation.

    • @tonysheerness2427
      @tonysheerness2427 Před 10 měsíci

      I thought a Caboose was a food wagon on the back of train.

  • @davidgould9431
    @davidgould9431 Před 10 měsíci +29

    I had (many, many years ago) an American colleague who did his very best to not "park on the pavement" by pulling his car onto the, erm, "sidewalk". The traffic warden was very amused and amazingly understanding when he heard my colleague's accent.

  • @aaronshade90
    @aaronshade90 Před 10 měsíci +32

    Mic 2 (the one used for most of the video) is definitely better. Sounded cosier whilst Mic 1 was louder and startled me slightly. if that makes sense!
    Great video Evan as ever! 💜

    • @samtibbitts
      @samtibbitts Před 10 měsíci +3

      Also, mic 1 is picking up/amplifying a lot more sizzle or higher frequency sounds from your voice. That might make you slightly easier to understand but is not flattering.

  • @archie-127
    @archie-127 Před 10 měsíci +7

    As a brit living in Germany I love watching your videos; they give me a sense of love and nostalgia in a very uplifting way. Along with some educational kicks in the caboose to remind me that the unexpectedly learned things in a day are always the best; bet ya caboose on it! 🎉😂 my new word of the moment, thank you Evan!

  • @rhillsgamer4121
    @rhillsgamer4121 Před 10 měsíci +76

    I live in the US and I have never referred to a roundabout as a circle. That one had actually surprised me as I am not sure I have ever heard someone refer to one as a circle

    • @Abi-bi6cb
      @Abi-bi6cb Před 10 měsíci +6

      I assume he shortened the term 'traffic circle'?

    • @eddymccabe5351
      @eddymccabe5351 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Whilst I’d agree with you in general terms, I grew up (in Dundee, Scotland) half a mile from a roundabout. There were shops nearby, and the immediate area, due to the presence of the “roundabout” was known as “The Circle” - in fact a fish and chip shop was called “The Circle” chippy. However, no other roundabout in the city was afforded this title.

    • @arthurerickson5162
      @arthurerickson5162 Před 10 měsíci +9

      Evan claims that he grew up in the great State of New Jersey. Here in NJ, we do refer to roundabouts as “traffic circles” or just “circles.” Once common, they were replaced by “jug handles” to help cross “Jersey barriers” (essentially concrete fences used on divided trunk roads). Also, in the NJ Driver’s Manual, the middle color in a stop/go traffic signal is referred to as “amber!”

    • @rhillsgamer4121
      @rhillsgamer4121 Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@arthurerickson5162 I was just surprised. The language that he learned in NJ is usually fairly similar to the language that I grew up with in NY (not the city)

    • @TheDJHoller
      @TheDJHoller Před 10 měsíci +1

      I've heard them being called a "rotary", but that was only on a TomTom SatNav by one of the American voices

  • @utha2665
    @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci +45

    Emergency brake, really? It's everyday use is a hand brake, here in Australia we also call it a park brake, which really is what it is designed for.
    Sidewalk, pavement, even better footpath.
    Interesting note, in South Africa they call a traffic light a robot.
    Always interesting and fun as usual, Evan. Thanks.

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci

      In America it is also called a parking brake, but it is required to be tested at inspection for emergency use, if the hydraulic brakes fail while driving. That is the main purpose. Look inside a Toyota Kluger in Australia, 2019 model or older. The parking brake has a pedal, not a hand lever. In America say footpath for a packed dirt pathway, but if paved, we often say walkway, when it is not along side of a street, which then would be a sidewalk.

    • @brogicus
      @brogicus Před 10 měsíci +4

      In the UK a footpath would be the thing hikers walk on (e.g through a field / up a mountain)

    • @fsujavi16
      @fsujavi16 Před 10 měsíci

      In CA we call it an emergency brake, hand brake, or parking brake. All the same thing.

    • @continental_drift
      @continental_drift Před 10 měsíci +2

      @@brogicus I've heard that in some videos on CZcams and realised where footpath came from In Australia, Not all footpaths are paved and those that are are still called footpaths.

    • @JTScottOfficial
      @JTScottOfficial Před 10 měsíci

      We do refer to it as the parking brake in the UK as well. When we park.

  • @melissaroscher1080
    @melissaroscher1080 Před 10 měsíci +3

    Also, parking brake is used.
    When I found out about how the brits used the hand brake at stop lights, I started doing it, and as my feet have aged, I find myself doing quite often. I hope I have a car that will always has a nice mechanical hand brake. These new digital ones would just get broken.

  • @phillshas1935
    @phillshas1935 Před 10 měsíci +4

    Evan. I love the etymology of words...
    Career means to move rapidly at a fast speed, often used in jousting where it lead to Career Off, meaning the jouster suddenly moved in another direction (probably due to a big pole hitting his ribs!).
    Career also evolved into a course of travel for a professional, hence Career in the employment sense.
    The etymology of Career is also directly linked to Carraige and Car.
    Careen however comes from the french word Cariner, to expose a ships keel.
    I guess both USA & UK are both correct 👍

    • @eattherich9215
      @eattherich9215 Před 10 měsíci +1

      Careen sounds like some awful butter substitute.

  • @royboivin
    @royboivin Před 10 měsíci +26

    american here and we always called it a hand brake... the emergency brake is usually referring to the one you have to push down with your foot and you pop it back up with your hand under the dash. Also grew up saying career when meaning swerving. I think most of these words are dependent on what part of the states your in.We also have a lot of roundabouts never heard anyone call it a circle. Again I think this is probably based on what ever location you were in durring your time in the states.

    • @nightwishlover8913
      @nightwishlover8913 Před 10 měsíci

      Brake...

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci

      The legal term is usually emergency brake under most American vehicle codes and regulations. That's its main purpose, regardless if it is foot or hand operated. It is required in case the regular brakes fail while driving.

  • @gwtreece
    @gwtreece Před 10 měsíci +27

    Roundabouts are becoming more common in the US. In Missouri, they continue to add roundabouts and diverging diamond interchanges. I’ve never heard them called a circle.

    • @lynn69jackson
      @lynn69jackson Před 10 měsíci +1

      The irony is that an American invented roundabouts but they never seemed to catch on there.
      I think since mythbusters proved that traffic flow at junctions is more efficient with roundabouts that they are beginning to become more popular.

  • @ComfyCherry
    @ComfyCherry Před 10 měsíci +6

    ahhh yes, the emergency situation we all know so well... parking your car.

    • @eattherich9215
      @eattherich9215 Před 10 měsíci

      😂😂😂

    • @airborne63
      @airborne63 Před měsícem

      In the US, because of poor driver training and handing out of Drivers' Licences like candy.......parking a car...IS an 'emergency situation' for many Americans. as they don't seem to be able to do it correctly.

  • @davidhendrie6935
    @davidhendrie6935 Před 10 měsíci +3

    "Pavement". This goes back to the days of horse-drawn transport in our towns and cities, where the only paved areas were for walking on. The roads were originally just dirt, then "cobble stones" became the norm. Even though the roads are now paved, the term for "where you walk" has stuck! You can still find some cobbled streets preserved up here in Glasgow and Edinburgh. 😀

  • @darkora_
    @darkora_ Před 10 měsíci +227

    Evan continues to teach us the differences between English (Traditional) and English (Simplified) 😅

    • @frankshailes3205
      @frankshailes3205 Před 10 měsíci +11

      Whose tradition though... a lot of American English is closer to what the UK used to use in the 17th and 18th centuries.

    • @TheZacman2
      @TheZacman2 Před 10 měsíci +3

      If you've actually taken the time to watch his videos, he gives several examples of how American words denote more specificity about what is being referred to, while British words for the same things are more general and could be interpreted in multiple ways. Please explain how you characterize this as the simplification.

    • @Wizard0fDogs
      @Wizard0fDogs Před 10 měsíci +15

      ​@@TheZacman2 Chill dude, 'tis but a joke. But also, at the end of the video Evan literally says in the US a roundabout is just called a circle, couldn't get much more simple than that, additionally have you seen how Americans spell "realise" and "colour" they simplified it because apparently silent letters were too difficult for them lmao

    • @SamuelCasey2007
      @SamuelCasey2007 Před 10 měsíci +5

      ​@@Wizard0fDogsI think simplified is more relevant with scientific terms where ph is replaced with f (sulphur) and extra vowels are removed like foetus or faeces

    • @BrianRonald
      @BrianRonald Před 10 měsíci

      Noah Webster has a lot to answer for this. @@frankshailes3205

  • @terben7339
    @terben7339 Před 10 měsíci +7

    Careen is used to describe dragging a ship out of the water onto a beach and tipping it over onto its side. This is done to scrape all the fouling off its bottom. It comes from the Latin word 'carina', keel in English.
    Career means to move at full speed, out of control, in non-US English.

  • @ronhill2
    @ronhill2 Před 10 měsíci +1

    The handbrake is used in the UK because most of our cars are manual ( stick shift ) so if you don't use the handbrake your car without a park position could roll away. Even when left in gear the car can overcome engine compression and move.

  • @monmonmonsta
    @monmonmonsta Před 10 měsíci +5

    In Aus there's a lot of pride over having a manual licence as well although it's pretty common now for people to go auto only.
    I prefer driving manual except in terrible traffic, you have better control over the car and I feel more tuned in so I enjoy that more

  • @EmilyCheetham
    @EmilyCheetham Před 10 měsíci +10

    We say Amber light in uk as many are amber (like the gemstone Amber) coloured not yellow. In other words they have an orange ish tint to them.

    • @utha2665
      @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci

      Here in Australia we sometimes refer to the amber light as the orange light.

  • @AbiGail-ok7fc
    @AbiGail-ok7fc Před 10 měsíci +9

    The Dutch call the middle light of a traffic light "orange". And in the Netherlands, the light is orange, not yellow.
    Amber is a shade of colour between yellow and orange.
    Also, in the Netherlands, the lights are officially called "verkeerslichten" which translates to "traffic lights" (so, the UK term). But most people will say "stoplicht", meaning "stop light" (the US term).
    And the Dutch use "Zebrapad" (zebra path) for the crossing. But the call the lollipop man a "Klaarover" ("Ready over" or "Clear over")

    • @gdclemo
      @gdclemo Před 10 měsíci +1

      In Japan, green traffic lights are called blue for some reason, even though they are all green (if I remember correctly, this is hearsay)

  • @THEEblindman
    @THEEblindman Před 10 měsíci +3

    The hand brake is used as an everyday brake in the UK as there are a lot more manual (Stickshift) cars that will roll backwards on small inclines at stops, plus its used a lot as a parking brake when you leave the car parked unlike automatics which dont roll back on small inclines and have a park position on the gear selector. so here we call them the "Handbrake" and "footbrake"

  • @spielpfan7067
    @spielpfan7067 Před 10 měsíci +3

    "Hand brake" is the literal translation for the German word too. "Handbremse". Also "number plate" can be translated literally to German "Nummerntafel". Also "Zebra crossing" can almost be translated literally, in German we say "Zebrastreifen" (zebra stripes). So you can see that English English is closer to German in that sense than American English.

    • @wfjw
      @wfjw Před 10 měsíci

      @spielpfan7067 that is true

  • @daveayerstdavies
    @daveayerstdavies Před 10 měsíci +8

    In an automatic car you could say the handbrake is for 'emergency' but in a manual car you need the handbrake for every hill start, not just 'emergency'.

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci

      It doesn't matter what type the transmission is if the regular brakes fail, while driving, not parking. That's the reason it is called an emergency brake and is required to function properly at vehicle inspection.

    • @Phiyedough
      @Phiyedough Před 10 měsíci +1

      In practice you use it for every start because it saves having to assess every place you stop for its flatness.

    • @daveayerstdavies
      @daveayerstdavies Před 10 měsíci

      Why name something that has multiple uses after the specific use that it will probably never experience? @@BrandonLeeBrown
      The handbrake is also used as a parking brake as manual transmissions don't have 'Park'.

  • @b34m270
    @b34m270 Před 10 měsíci +11

    In French the official term for traffic light is feu tricolore which means tricolor light, but for some reason it's basically always called feu rouge/red light, even when it's green

  • @PugalshishOfficial
    @PugalshishOfficial Před 10 měsíci +1

    I have lived in America my entire life and I have always called from traffic lights, roundabouts, and indicators

  • @r3cy
    @r3cy Před 10 měsíci +1

    i thought it went without saying that ''lollypop person" is such a cute and silly name because its a role specifically created for interacting with young children. "pay attention to the lollypop lady" and "pay attention to the road safety officer" are wildly different vibes to be throwing at a toddler. 😆

  • @nathangamble125
    @nathangamble125 Před 10 měsíci +8

    In British English, careening is cleaning the bottom of a boat.
    I also always understood "caboose" to be another term for "sleeping car", entirely separate to the guard's wagon.

  • @neskire
    @neskire Před 10 měsíci +17

    I am a Canadian/American and I have always called it a "parking brake". I live in New Zealand now and the "sidewalk" is called a "footpath" here. The area I live in (Wairarapa) has no traffic lights, only stop signs, give-way signs (yield), and roundabouts.

    • @r.brooks5287
      @r.brooks5287 Před 10 měsíci +1

      We (UK) call it a pavement when it's paved and next to a road, everything else, including pavements, are footpaths.

    • @user-pe1uf6iz9w
      @user-pe1uf6iz9w Před 10 měsíci

      As an American/American (of the 70’s), we called it a parking brake too. Mostly foot operated, but sometimes mounted on the dash. Modern handbrakes and bench seats were simply incompatible.

    • @michaelclark3192
      @michaelclark3192 Před 10 měsíci +1

      I was baffled when driving in Canada (from Australia) when there were signs saying put your 4 way flashers on in bad weather on the highway. I'd never heard that in my life but I realised it meant the hazard lights.

    • @annabelholland
      @annabelholland Před 10 měsíci +1

      When it comes to the word 'highway' in the UK, it means any public road (including motorways), pavements or cycle paths although it is commonly used in official and legal documents and not really common in colloquial speech. An example is 'All motor vehicles shall have insurance, tax and MOT (unless exempt) when being driven or parked on the *highway*' The US may also use highway to refer to the above, but its commonly used to refer to a motorway.

  • @stevesretroloft
    @stevesretroloft Před 10 měsíci +5

    In some places the Roundabout can be called an island (Midlands mainly). Not to be confused with a traffic island (those bits that appear in between carriage ways)

  • @southvillechris
    @southvillechris Před 10 měsíci +1

    In the UK, most cars are manual transmission (shift stick), which means the handbrake is essential when you stop on a hill - say at traffic lights, otherwise the car will roll backwards. Most cars in the US are automatic transmission, so the car doesn't roll back, and most of the time you don't need the handbrake.

  • @JV-pu8kx
    @JV-pu8kx Před 10 měsíci +21

    I've heard "flyover" used to refer to the long, swooping, curved bridges for the ramps at freeway interchanges.
    Americans call it a "Parking Brake," as well.
    In my experience, Americans use "roundabout," more than "circle." However, my home town has a "traffic circle." The primary difference is in a roundabout, everyone has to yield to traffic in the circular intersection, while a traffic circle will have stop signs or lights at either the entrances or inside the circle, if it is big enough. My traffic circle has one stop sign, three yield signs, and two gas stations. ( 😮 I may have doxed myself. 😟 )

    • @georgeadams1853
      @georgeadams1853 Před 10 měsíci +6

      In New England, they're called "rotaries". Curiously, many of them aren't even circular.

    • @stevelknievel4183
      @stevelknievel4183 Před 10 měsíci

      My roundabout has no Stop or Give Way signs and the only traffic lights are for the adjacent pedestrian crossing. What it does have though is a Art Deco Ferrari/Maserati dealer (that's the building not the cars!) which was used a few years ago as a filming location in one of the episodes of the David Suchet series of Poirot. I too may have just doxed myself.

  • @ernestestrada2461
    @ernestestrada2461 Před 10 měsíci +10

    As a child our family moved around and I would pick up the local accent. I'm just amazed that after 10 years you haven't picked up a British accent.
    My partner went to Canada for a week and came back speaking like a Canadian.

  • @BomberFletch31
    @BomberFletch31 Před 10 měsíci +1

    "Caboose" meaning one's rear end? Suddenly, that line in Star Trek: First Contact in which Lily told Picard, "watch your caboose, Dix" all makes sense - 27 years later!

  • @NineLivesburra
    @NineLivesburra Před 10 měsíci +3

    It's also known as a registration plate. Also the original plates only had numbers but with more cars on the road, the letters crept in and the first two represent the town where the car was registered. For example vehicle with a plate beginning YH20 was registered in York in 2020.

    • @craiggerhardstein7305
      @craiggerhardstein7305 Před 10 měsíci +1

      in the United States they just go in order. you will see plates with the same letters in the same order but different numbers like you will see 315 HDP then will see a 461 HDP and numbering and letter system varies from state to state. some states make you get a new plate when you buy a new car and some states let you transfer the plate to the new car or if you own multiple cars but don't always drive them all you can just get one plate and then go to the DMV and transfer the plate to another car.

  • @roguechevelle
    @roguechevelle Před 10 měsíci +14

    I'm from north Florida we also call it a "roundabout" and a "traffic light" here. I've never heard it called a circle before but there are so many differences in regions in the US.

  • @carrieann5714
    @carrieann5714 Před 10 měsíci +16

    Where I grew up in the US, we used the term roundabout. The term handbrake would be in reference to what’s on a bicycle.

  • @peabody1976
    @peabody1976 Před 10 měsíci +1

    I live in an area of the US with traffic circles **and** modern roundabouts, and the difference is that the modern ones are smaller, while the circles are much larger. In other areas of the US, those large circles would be called "rotaries" (looking at you, Boston).
    And I grew up with family -- including my Jamaican mother -- that used certain British words to describe cars: indicator (blinker/turn signal), windscreen (windshield), bonnet (hood), and boot (trunk).
    Also, something I finally got once I visited the UK years ago: amber lights are used both to signal a coming red (as in the US), and a coming green (because of how many manual cars there are, you have to give drivers time to shift).

  • @Abi-bi6cb
    @Abi-bi6cb Před 10 měsíci +1

    I think the "emergency brake" difference is because Americans are used to automatics, which have a "park" function. Manuals left in neutral will roll, so the handbrake is actually the only type of brake engaged. You can leave the car in first gear for added security, but the handbrake is always engaged.
    Also lollipop persons have this name because the stop sign they hold resembles a lollipop.

  • @better.better
    @better.better Před 10 měsíci +22

    Amber is a specific color of yellow bulb, and even here in the states if you go to an automotive store, you would be asking them for an Amber bulb if you wanted to purchase a replacement. since you been away for awhile, you probably don't realize how many intersections have been replaced with roundabouts. here in Albany NY they've been going kind of nuts with them over the last 10 years, and there places where there's several in a row. and it goes either way on what people call them. some call them "roundabouts" others "traffic circles"... a lot of places especially replacing jughandles with roundabouts. there aren't many jug handles where I live, but I do remember encountering them when I visited my grandmother in New Jersey before she passed.

    • @ToothbrushMan
      @ToothbrushMan Před 10 měsíci +3

      Try going to Milton Keynes in the UK. Every single junction is a roundabout. Seriously. They are everywhere.

    • @utha2665
      @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci +7

      What is a jug handle?

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci

      Yes, but in America, the driving laws usually refers to the caution light as being yellow.

    • @neiloflongbeck5705
      @neiloflongbeck5705 Před 10 měsíci +1

      ​@@ToothbrushManno they're not.

    • @garygcrook
      @garygcrook Před 10 měsíci +4

      There was that Mythbuster episode where they compared a roundabout to a four-way junction with lights, the Roundabout was shown to be faster and more efficient.
      Such experiments and studies might be why Roundabouts have been increasing in the US.

  • @blackrosenuk
    @blackrosenuk Před 10 měsíci +17

    I live in the states and am American.
    1, It's a roundabout. I sometimes hear "traffic circle" (like

    • @annaburch3200
      @annaburch3200 Před 10 měsíci

      Parking break!!! Yes. That's the other term I was looking for!! Thank you. 👍

    • @PoolOfTrees
      @PoolOfTrees Před 9 měsíci

      In the UK we often shorten "the traffic lights" to just "the lights" too, e.g. "turn left at the lights".

    • @XBluDiamondX
      @XBluDiamondX Před 7 měsíci

      @@PoolOfTrees Interesting, we also informally call them lights too. Only difference I'm used to is people say "turn left at the light" instead of using the plural version of it.

  • @DaraelDraconis
    @DaraelDraconis Před 9 měsíci +1

    The other BrE term for a caboose, which also sheds some light on why we barely _have_ terms for it, is "brake van" - but it's rarely used for reasons similar to the reason you don't see a caboose that often on an American train any more either. Modern trains have brakes on every carriage/van/car/&c, controlled centrally from the cabin. Before this arrangement was standard, though, American trains would routinely be longer and heavier than British ones, and consequently more likely to need extra brakes in addition to the ones on the engine. Hence: the caboose or brake van, a piece of the train with extra-powerful brakes at the end opposite the engine, operated manually by a member of the train crew (the guard).

  • @FeatherWing162
    @FeatherWing162 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Over here, the Guards Van is also called the Break van. They aren’t used on modern trains anymore though. You only find them on older style freight trains using trucks from say, the 1950’s. You don’t find them on passenger trains either as they have a section on the rear coach for the Guard.

  • @xANN28x
    @xANN28x Před 10 měsíci +24

    Here to say I liked Mic 2 better. Also, great video. I love these vocabulary videos so much.

  • @AnthonyBurnett
    @AnthonyBurnett Před 10 měsíci +21

    As a Canadian from Ontario, I would usually refer to the very rare roundabouts I encounter as "traffic circles". Just saying "circle" sounds incomplete. I'd be asking "What type of circle are you talking about?"

    • @LivvyAlexW
      @LivvyAlexW Před 10 měsíci +1

      Same

    • @utha2665
      @utha2665 Před 10 měsíci +3

      Are they like crop circles? 🤭

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci +3

      On the CAA AMA website, they state that Alberta makes the distinction, between roundabouts and traffic circles and has diagrams of both types of intersection as they are defined in Alberta and how the rules differ.

    • @annaflitz2838
      @annaflitz2838 Před 10 měsíci +2

      Funnily, they are called "Kreisverkehr" in Germany - 'circle traffic'. I've always thought "Verkehrskreis", 'traffic circle', would be a more appropriate name. Sometimes people shorten Kreisverkehr to Kreisel, which literally means spinning top.

    • @stuffyouotterlistento1461
      @stuffyouotterlistento1461 Před 10 měsíci +2

      I'm from the American South, and yeah, "circle" sounds a bit incomplete or slangish. You could say, "pull into the circle up here", and that sounds right, but if you just refer generally to circles, it sounds off.

  • @legalpenguin2194
    @legalpenguin2194 Před 10 měsíci +1

    an American friend of my dad's was in the UK in the 60s, walking along by a road when a policeman on a loud hailer told everyone to get onto the pavement. So, being a law-abiding citizen, he got off the sidewalk and onto the pavement where all the cars were. The policeman was not understanding.

  • @benjibatch
    @benjibatch Před 10 měsíci +1

    A flyover is usually refers to a bridge that carries vehicles whereas a a bridge just for pedestrians would be called an overpass/underpass

  • @clivemortimore8203
    @clivemortimore8203 Před 10 měsíci +4

    Evan mentioned about the British love of manual gear boxes. I have a full motor bike licence which entitles me to drive a 3 wheeled car with a manual gearbox. Following a motor cycle accident, where I smashed up my left elbow, I needed a car licence very quickly as I was not going back on my bike. With a then very painful left arm and my wife already having an automatic car I took the easy way out and learned to drive an automatic car. So I am now in the situation if a car has four wheels and a manual gearbox it is illegal for me to drive it but with one less wheel no problem.
    And before anyone ask, yes I did own a Reliant Supervan Three, just like Del Boy's but it was purple.

  • @MeppyMan
    @MeppyMan Před 10 měsíci +30

    I was showing my American friends around here in Australia, and I used the phrase “heaps of parks down there” when telling a stranger where they could park. My friends were baffled and years later they still say that to me like I was being silly. 😂
    Also it’s a footpath.

    • @kayelle8005
      @kayelle8005 Před 10 měsíci +8

      I mentioned to my American friend that I was going to Chuck a U-ey. That was a fun conversation. That expression is now one of her favourites.

    • @kasroa
      @kasroa Před 10 měsíci +2

      "heaps of parks", like a large quantity of parks? Those large areas of grass and trees usually found in cities and towns? Yeah it is silly.
      A footpath? Those paths in parks that allow you to walk on a solid surface instead of grass, dirt, stones or other natural surface? Yeah but they can be anywhere. A pavement or a sidewalk is specifically next to a road.

    • @MeppyMan
      @MeppyMan Před 10 měsíci +1

      @@kasroa heap of parks as in plenty of car parks/spots.
      Footpath is a sidewalk/pavement.

    • @michaelclark3192
      @michaelclark3192 Před 10 měsíci +6

      ​@@kasroait's all footpaths in Australia whether it's beside a road or in a park. We also have bike paths that let you ride your bike on them in a park or if they're painted on the road are just bike lanes.

    • @susanwestern6434
      @susanwestern6434 Před 10 měsíci

      @@kasroa Sometimes they can be footways as well as pavements in the UK.

  • @martinnyberg9295
    @martinnyberg9295 Před 10 měsíci +1

    2:04 ”Emergency brake”? Are you serious? In the booklet that comes with cars it’s a PARKING brake. 😂

  • @erin-iq8tm
    @erin-iq8tm Před 10 měsíci +1

    i think the reason we use a handbrake more is because it's helpful for clutch control especially on hills and when still new to driving. I always use mine at red lights to make sure I don't roll back into the car behind or stall when panicking and trying to get going without slowing anyone down. in the states they use automatic so it's not really as useful

  • @jemhams
    @jemhams Před 10 měsíci +10

    To answer your last question: I think mic 1 sounds crisper and it's easier to distinguish between words but it's also a bit sharper which makes it a bit unpleasant. Mic2 feels smoother but also a tiny bit more muffled. I was watching on my phone without headphones and would be just fine with either tbh.

  • @craigbryant9925
    @craigbryant9925 Před 10 měsíci +7

    In South Africa, as usual, you could use all these words interchangeably and be well understood but we also have a few that you might like.
    Traffic light =Robot
    Indicator = Flicker
    Mic 1 is a bit more vibrant.

  • @Showsni
    @Showsni Před 10 měsíci +1

    My granddad calls indicators "trafficators". Which I think was the term when it would literally make a little flag pop up on the side of the car to imitate you sticking your arm out to show which way you were going.

  • @dee-annegordon5959
    @dee-annegordon5959 Před 9 měsíci +1

    As a Canadian my vocab is a wonderful mix of both. Sometimes we use the British, sometimes we use the American, and just for the fun of it sometimes we use both interchangably.

  • @Thaumar
    @Thaumar Před 10 měsíci +10

    In the Netherlands we have Red, Orange and Green traffic light, and they are definitely not yellow and I don’t remember ever seeing a yellow traffic light in the uk. Amber is a nice description for the orange-ish color, maybe in the US the color is actually yellow, I don’t know, but in the UK (like in the Netherlands), the middle color is not yellow. Also, in the Netherlands the official term is Traffic Lights, but most people refer to them as Stop Lights, but I agree traffic lights is a better description.
    And I have never used an Hand Brake as a Emergency Brake, that sound ridiculous, what kind of emergency would that be? Also, in modern(ish) cars most of the times it’s reduced to a button, basically only uses as a parking brake, also in a automatic transmission car. Driving stick is fun, gives you a sort of feeling of being in control of a machine I guess, but automatic make soooo much more sense, I mean, it’s perfectly capable of shifting gear by it self, why wouldn’t you want to make it easier for yourself. In the Netherlands a car is even called an Auto, it better be able to at least shift automatically I would say.
    Ok, back to sleep…

    • @PippetWhippet
      @PippetWhippet Před 10 měsíci

      Having had all three types of gearing, I can answer the question about why not - it’s because automatics never choose an appropriate gear for what’s about to happen. Sharp corner coming up, your auto doesn’t know and so doesn’t choose the correct gear for the corner until you’re in the corner. Maybe if you slow down to cornering speed (with your brake pads, because it’s not going to engine brake for you) well in advance, it will choose the correct gear eventually and you can apply your mild acceleration for the safest turning of the corner once it’s done that but in a manual, that whole process is so intuitive that most people don’t realise they are doing it. Cvt is superior to both though, always in the perfect gear as you have smooth infinite gearing.

    • @Thaumar
      @Thaumar Před 10 měsíci

      @@PippetWhippet well I agree, driving stick definitely has the benefit of a humans capability to preemptively shift gear, and therefore make for a more optimized driving of a car, reducing fuel consumption and reducing pollution from using the brakes and when done well can result in the most fluent and continuous driving experience. And most people are very well capable of learning to do these ‘extra’ tasks so automatically that it’s not a real burden, proven by the many people having no problem driving stick still today. I like driving stick, it’s just that driving an automatic (or cvt, or electric) feels so much more logical and obvious. Not the driving itself per se, the idea just makes more sense; so much more simple and straightforward. I switched to a 6 gear automatic a couple of years ago and found I could change my driving habit to fit this cars characteristics and fortunately my car is able to reduce speed enough when letting go of the gas to be useful in approaching corners, I can use the breaks way less than I expected. Not the same as with a stick, but still. It also made me a less ‘aggressive’ driver, with a stick I was accelerating much faster, shifting gears fast to get to the cruising gear. Now I just accelerate more calmly and more fluently, and I go of the gas earlier to slow down when approaching a corner, crossing or traffic lights so I have to break less. With 6 gears the shifting is almost unnoticeable and I rarely feel the car is not responding appropriately because it’s in a wrong gear. This is of course not the same for all cars and may very well be not the general experience when diving an automatic transmission car. And in the end, all this and more is definitely also achievable with a stick shift. I wouldn’t say automatic transmission is ‘better’ then stick shift, but I still think a car without stick shift and clutch is easier and more logical (at least for most use cases); one pedal to go faster, another to go slower, it just makes sense.
      Anyway, the future looks to be (stick) shift free, so… way are we talking about this? 😉

  • @sarahealey1780
    @sarahealey1780 Před 10 měsíci +15

    Many years ago when satnavs were still very new, I purchased one while in the US as they were cheaper thereat the time, I loaded the UK maps onto it, but it kept the US language it called motorways highways and roundabouts rotisseries, which always made me think of chicken when it said it 😂

    • @SamanthaJoe
      @SamanthaJoe Před 10 měsíci +4

      Rotisseries?! That's hilarious. 😂 I want that sat nav! Which also is a fun word too because Sat Nav is UK where in US we'd be more likely to say GPS.

    • @lisahenry20
      @lisahenry20 Před 10 měsíci +2

      My first experience with a satnav was when we went on holiday to Florida and hired a car. We always made fun of how it said different things.

    • @TheErador
      @TheErador Před 10 měsíci

      It was rotary on early TomToms with the US voices

    • @TheErador
      @TheErador Před 10 měsíci

      ​@@SamanthaJoeGPS is a bad term though, as the GPS part is only what tracks where you are, whereas satellite navigation expresses the fact that it's more than a simple GPS which can only give you a position and potentially a compass reading for north, satnavs have route planning and often traffic information systems too

    • @luelou8464
      @luelou8464 Před 10 měsíci

      I mean motorways are highways, although so are bridleways so that doesn't mean much.

  • @empressmarowynn
    @empressmarowynn Před 10 měsíci +1

    A zebra crossing refers to a very particular type of crosswalk though. Regular ones are at stoplight intersections and are just the two straight lines. Zebra crossings have the stripes to make them more noticeable because they are used mid-block where a driver might not be anticipating one. To make them safer they're supposed to have those flashing lights that are activated by pedestrians but not all (at least in the US) have them. There's a zebra crossing I use frequently and I've nearly been run over numerous times because drivers here have no clue you're supposed to yield to peds on them. I wish driving instruction was more strict here because far too many people have a license when they don't understand a single thing about driving.

  • @Atlessa
    @Atlessa Před 10 měsíci +1

    In German, Handbremse (=Hand brake) is used in common language, but the technical term is Feststellbremse (~parking brake, literally: fixing (the car in place) brake) since that's it's primary purpose.
    Yes, ONE of it's uses is to have a fallback in case the Betriebsbremse (=service brake) fails for some reason.
    :D

  • @Inucroft
    @Inucroft Před 10 měsíci +4

    Hi Evan, I use to work as a Lollypop man(back in my 20s, bringing the average age down of my job into the 50s XD).
    I worked 5.83hrs a week, and got 20p danger pay.
    Not all of us are assigned at a Zebra crossing, as it depends on where the school is and the road

    • @iNightra
      @iNightra Před 10 měsíci

      Yeah ours were specifically at places that had no crossings - but where everyone coming from that direction would need to cross so they would stop the traffic for you as at most zebra crossings its unnecessary as the cars stop anyway

  • @JustAnotherPerson4U
    @JustAnotherPerson4U Před 10 měsíci +22

    Calling the handbrake an emergency brake in the US makes no sense to me.
    Because if you needed to break in an emergency, you'd slam your foot on the foot break since if you used the handbreak suddenly there's a good chance you'd spin out of control and get into a bigger accident. I mean, both are dangerous. But I think it was drilled into me that having the handbreak on was worse.

    • @jitmancanth6698
      @jitmancanth6698 Před 10 měsíci

      But hand brake turns are essential for good rallying etiquette!

    • @Mekrinel
      @Mekrinel Před 10 měsíci +3

      I think it might be a regional thing as well. I grew up in western New York and learned to call the hand break a 'parking break'

    • @fergy1442
      @fergy1442 Před 10 měsíci +1

      Probably because most American cars are automatic so have a Park mode. where as here in the UK it's used as a brake when the car is stopped ( or for handbrake turns).

    • @JustAnotherPerson4U
      @JustAnotherPerson4U Před 10 měsíci

      ​@@jitmancanth6698i have NEVER heard of a handbreak turn nor been taught it when I was learning.

    • @billyhills9933
      @billyhills9933 Před 10 měsíci +1

      The whole emergency thing is baffling - you use it all the time. Parking brake makes more sense but handbrake is best.

  • @TheEggmaniac
    @TheEggmaniac Před 10 měsíci +1

    A manual car, that is with one with automatic gears is considered something your granny might drive, in the UK. Just about everyone in the UK drives a car with a a gear 'stick.' You can react much quicker to changes of speed, caused by driving conditions and traffic, if you have a manual gear box, rather than an automatic one. For example you can accelerate much faster if you can manually change the gears. An automatic gear box is much slower to react.

  • @malice6081
    @malice6081 Před 10 měsíci +1

    2:19 as an American. I call it parking brake, hand brake, e brake, emergency brake, automatics third pedal (pickup truck parking brake)

  • @Drobium77
    @Drobium77 Před 10 měsíci +3

    also, the middle of a freeway(motorway) in the UK is called a 'central reservation' as opposed to 'the median' in the States

  • @joepiekl
    @joepiekl Před 10 měsíci +53

    I've heard that a traffic circle in the States was actually something different (not the one that you showed in the picture). Rather than giving way to the people on the roundabout, there were stopping places on the circle and you had to give way to people coming onto it. Way more dangerous because people are coming into potential crash zones at a higher speed. It's apparently one of the reasons why the US had so few roundabouts for so long, because they had a bad experience with traffic circles.

    • @stephenlee5929
      @stephenlee5929 Před 10 měsíci +3

      That's my understanding too, we (UK) and parts of Europe also had these and they were dangerous here too, though safer than a crossroad (4 way junction). I think we and Europe replaced them in the 1960's with the roundabouts. We do have traffic light controlled traffic circles (with part time signals) for when the lights are not in use they are roundabouts, when the traffic is heavy and roundabout would become block traffic lights control the flow.

    • @ceej8736
      @ceej8736 Před 10 měsíci

      No the people coming into the circle yield to the people inside already. They are just dangerous cus people are idiots and try to drive around them the wrong way. No stopping inside the circle.

    • @BrandonLeeBrown
      @BrandonLeeBrown Před 10 měsíci +3

      In the US every place has, "official" names for different types of intersections. Speed humps were invented by a Brit and he would royalties paid to him when they were constructed. Some places in America do make the distinction between speed humps and speed bumps, but some other American places don't have a separate legal term for speed humps and technically call them speed bumps. The same for roundabouts ,traffic circles and rotaries, as most places in America use the same term, whichever they choose, for all three. Some places in Canada do have technical differences between roundabouts and traffic circles. Most places in America don't bother with adding different legal and technical terms for similar traffic items. In continental Europe, before EU, the convention was that traffic already in a circle had to yield to traffic entering the circle. After EU, most EU countries adopted the circle rules of Britain and America, where traffic in a circle is considered already in the intersection and traffic entering a circle has to yield to traffic already in the intersection. This was considered safer by EU, than the older traditional European traffic circle rules. In the circle = in the intersection. This has been the rule in America and Britain for a long time. I remember before EU, people would start fist fights in Belgium and France, for not yielding to a vehicle entering a circle. The circles didn't change in Europe, only the circle rules changed.

    • @katrinabryce
      @katrinabryce Před 10 měsíci +1

      Yes, and the US does have some roundabouts as well, not anything like as many as in the UK or France.

    • @evancendrowski687
      @evancendrowski687 Před 10 měsíci

      From what ive heard, in the us, a traffic circle is 1 lane while a roundabout has multiple lanes. Google maps will say traffic circle for one lane ones, i havent been through a multiple lane one in a while though, now im curious if google maps will still say traffic circle or switch to roundabout

  • @lemonladyYT
    @lemonladyYT Před 10 měsíci +1

    I thought Americans called it a 'parking brake' which makes sense.
    Caboose doesn't work in the UK because Guard's Vans were rarely at the back of the train. These days they often only have a small cubicle within a passenger car or next to the buffet or bar.
    Indicator lights also blink. When you switch the 'hazards' on it's the same bulbs and we do then sometimes call them blinkers.
    Tea - Cuppa, chai, rosy lee, char, brew. In fact, there's even a brand called Charbrew. 😊

  • @davidbugler4597
    @davidbugler4597 Před 10 měsíci +2

    Paved pedestrian walkways were common in urban situations before the roads were routinely paved -- gravel, cobbles, macadam -- so the pedestrian paths were and are 'pavements'. In rural situations we still have plenty of unpaved footpaths at the side of the road, which are obviously pedestrian pathways but are definitely not pavements. For some reason we don't call them 'mudbaths' though we probably should.

  • @Bel_Chymes
    @Bel_Chymes Před 10 měsíci +4

    @2:13 ish minutes. I have seen so many CZcams videos about cars rolling down off drives in the us. We don’t have that problem because as Evan states in the states it’s used as an emergency! - We park here in the uk & put the hand brake on to stop the car rolling away. (Amazon drivers!). 😂😂

  • @alwynemcintyre2184
    @alwynemcintyre2184 Před 10 měsíci +3

    I think this is a fact the licence plate is linked to the owner of a "car" in the US, the number/registration plate is linked to the "car" that's registered with it at least in Australia, NZ and the UK. Let me know if I'm not quite right.😊

  • @jasonandreoli4135
    @jasonandreoli4135 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Traditionally it was only possible to manufacture coloured glass in a handful of colours, one if those colours was called Amber glass because it resembled natural Amber so when it was used for traffic lights the name stuck.

  • @thomascarroll9556
    @thomascarroll9556 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Regarding cars and career, when used in a uk motoring situation it’s usually in the past tense ‘the care careered off the road” as an adjective.
    In my US driving experience (New England) roundabouts are referred to as rotaries - in uk roundabouts are also used for carousels. Black Top in UK would be called Tarmac (a combination of tar and the Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam).

  • @dougsheehan3585
    @dougsheehan3585 Před 10 měsíci +4

    Always funny that the vanguard is at the front of an army/movement, but the guards van is at the back of the train.
    I don't get out much.

    • @lulusbackintown1478
      @lulusbackintown1478 Před 10 měsíci +1

      I must get out as little as you because that has always thrown me too and I read military history, I defo don't get out enough!

  • @Solaire.Solaire
    @Solaire.Solaire Před 10 měsíci +8

    For the pavement one, as a Brit I mix up these:
    1. Pavement
    2. Path
    3. Side of the road (side a’ the road in my accent)

    • @SuperVlerik
      @SuperVlerik Před 10 měsíci

      in Ireland i would say 'footpath'

    • @tommyc23101986
      @tommyc23101986 Před 10 měsíci

      Up North Causey from shortening Causeway

    • @angelavara4097
      @angelavara4097 Před 10 měsíci

      I say the same.

    • @badspecgamer128
      @badspecgamer128 Před 10 měsíci

      @@SuperVlerik I'd use footpath for marked paths out in the country like tow paths 'n that

    • @lisahenry20
      @lisahenry20 Před 10 měsíci

      I tend to use path to refer to footpaths, basically the green dashes on maps. I also tend to use it for bridleways too (green lines on maps that you can take horses and bikes on). I tend to use bridleway if it's somewhere that I am going on my bike and so need that distinction.

  • @martinchampion6467
    @martinchampion6467 Před 10 měsíci +1

    The biggest reveal from this video was that Evan has only just found out a tea is called a brew

  • @kod8104
    @kod8104 Před 10 měsíci +1

    I’m a bit gobsmacked that Evan doesn’t really get the main purpose of a handbrake: it’s an essential park of parking, making sure that there’s no risk of the car gently rolling downhill when you aren’t in it. Also essential for hill starts in a manual car. Also, definitely prefer mic 2, a much richer sound.