15 Things Californians Say That Make Brits Cringe Every Time

Americans and the British have been needling each other about words for a couple of centuries now, and it shows no sign of stopping.

Some of Californians’ most ordinary expressions, the ones you’d never give a second thought, are the very ones that make a British person set down their tea and sigh.

Here are the phrases that do it every time.

“Can I Get a Coffee?”

Walk into a London café and order this way, and you’ll feel the temperature drop.

To American ears, “Can I get a” is just how you order.

To a British ear, it sounds pushy, like you’re about to reach over the counter and grab it yourself.

The polite British version is “Could I have” or “May I have.”

America’s way of ordering coffee is catching on with younger Brits, though.

A 2025 YouGov survey found that 16% of British 18-to-24-year-olds now order this way, against just 4% of those over 65.

“Soccer”

Here’s the one that starts fights.

Call football “soccer” around a British fan, and you’ll get a lecture about how the rest of the world knows the sport’s real name.

Except here’s the kicker: The word “soccer” was British to begin with.

University of Michigan professor Stefan Szymanski traced it to England in the late 1800s, where posh university students coined it as slang for “association football.”

The Brits used it themselves for decades before deciding it was an American crime.

You’re welcome to remind them. Just stand back first.

“I Could Care Less”

This one annoys grammar lovers everywhere, but the British take it personally.

The phrase is supposed to be “I couldn’t care less,” meaning you care so little it can’t go any lower.

Drop the “n’t,” and you’ve said the opposite of what you mean.

Americans say it the broken way all the time. The British almost never do.

That same YouGov survey found just 2% of Britons would use “I could care less.”

The other 98% are still shaking their heads at us.

“Awesome”

To an American, a sandwich can be awesome. So can a parking spot, a weather forecast, and a fairly average Tuesday.

The British save their enthusiasm for occasions that earn it.

When everything is awesome, they figure, nothing is.

Hand a Brit a cup of tea and say “awesome,” and you’ll get a small, pained smile.

They’ve got their own word for mild approval. It’s “lovely,” and it works on everything from a sunset to a ham sandwich.

“Reach Out”

Nothing makes a British inbox cringe like an American who wants to “reach out.”

To them, it sounds like corporate mush, the kind of phrase that escaped from a sales meeting and never went home.

They’d rather you just “get in touch” or “drop them a line.”

“Touch base” gets the same eye-roll. So does “circle back” and “let’s take this offline.”

The British have plenty of their own office nonsense. They just didn’t sign up for ours.

“Math”

The British don’t do “math.” They do “maths,” with the S, and they will not be letting that S go.

Their logic: “mathematics” is a long word with an S on the end, so the short version keeps it.

Your logic: Who needs the extra letter?

Neither side is budging.

Say “do the math” to a Brit and watch them physically resist correcting you.

Sometimes they manage it. Sometimes they don’t.

“My Bad”

Owning up to a mistake with “my bad” strikes the British as oddly incomplete.

Your bad what, they want to know.

To them, it sounds like slang that wandered off before finishing its sentence.

A proper apology gets a proper word, like “sorry” or “my mistake.”

The British apologize constantly, mind you. They’ll say sorry when you step on their foot.

They just want the apology to be a whole word.

“Period”

End a statement with “period” for emphasis, the way Americans do, and a Brit will be briefly lost.

“I’m not going, period.”

To them, that dot at the end of a sentence has a different name. They call it a “full stop.”

So “period” to British ears means a stretch of time, or a woman’s menstrual cycle. Not punctuation.

“Full stop” does the same job, and you have to admit it sounds more final anyway.

“Have a Nice Day”

The American “have a nice day” is meant warmly.

The British hear it and immediately wonder what you’re after.

To them, that bright, automatic cheer from a stranger feels like a script. They prefer their pleasantries a little more reserved and a lot less toothy.

It’s not that they’re unfriendly. They’ll happily chat about the weather for twenty minutes.

They just don’t trust a smile that comes standard with the receipt.

“Gotten”

Tell a Brit you’ve “gotten used to” something, and you’ll watch a little wince cross their face.

To them, “gotten” sounds like English from three centuries ago, which is about right. The British dropped it and kept plain “got.”

Americans held onto the older form.

Funny thing is, their own young people are bringing it back.

The 2025 YouGov survey found 55% of British 18-to-24-year-olds now say “gotten,” compared with just 9% of those over 65.

“Pants”

This one has caused more transatlantic blushing than any phrase on the list.

In America, pants are trousers. In Britain, “pants” means underwear.

So when you compliment a British man on his nice pants, you’ve told him something you didn’t intend to.

While we’re here, a “fanny pack” is a minefield all its own over there. The British word for that little waist pouch is “bum bag,” and you’ll want to use it.

Trust us on this one. “Fanny” does not mean over there what it means here.

“Step Up to the Plate”

Americans reach for baseball without noticing.

We touch base, we throw curveballs, we cover our bases, and we knock things out of the park.

The British don’t play baseball, so these phrases sail right over their heads like a fly ball they never learned to catch.

Tell a British coworker to “step up to the plate,” and they’ll nod politely while having no idea what plate you mean.

The BBC once noted that American sports talk is where the two languages drift furthest apart.

A few cricket terms would lose us just as fast.

“Restroom”

Ask for the “restroom” in Britain, and you may get a puzzled pause. Nobody’s resting in there.

Americans tiptoe around the word “toilet” with all sorts of polite stand-ins. Restroom, bathroom, washroom, the little boys’ room.

The British find this funny, since a “bathroom” with no bath in it makes no sense to them.

They’ll point you to the “toilet” or the “loo” without a hint of embarrassment.

Over there, the room gets called what it is.

“Erb”

Order a dish with “erbs” in it and a Brit will gently wonder why you’ve gone silent on the letter H.

Americans drop the H in “herb,” following the old French pronunciation.

The British put it right back where they think it belongs, with a good firm “Herb,” like the fellow next door.

It’s the same gentle tug-of-war you get with “aluminum.” Americans use four syllables.

The British insist on five and an extra I, calling it “aluminium.”

“Zee”

It comes down to a single letter, and even that we can’t agree on.

Americans end the alphabet with Z, pronounced “zee.”

The British end it with “zed.” To their ears, “zee” sounds like a cartoon bee took over the schoolhouse.

One letter, and it tells a British person where you’re from before you’ve finished the sentence.