American-British couple reveal the different words they use to describe the same thing

Americans speak English, but sometimes for Britons, it can seem as though they’re speaking a foreign language – and vice versa.

To highlight this, American influencer Ella Rose McFadin and her English partner James made a fascinating TikTok video demonstrating the different words they use to describe the same thing.

Ella, 25, is from the Californian city of Newport Beach, while James, 31, is originally from Chiswick in west London. The couple, who have been dating for two years, live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Striking a chord with Ella’s 121,000 TikTok followers, their video went viral, earning more than a million views and racking up nearly 90,000 likes.

In the clip, she says: ‘Since James and I have been dating I’ve kept [note] on my phone of the things we say differently as an American and an English lad.’

American influencer Ella Rose McFadin and her English partner James made a fascinating TikTok video demonstrating the different words they use to describe the same thing 

The couple, who met in New York on a dating app, then go on to break down the words and turns of phrase that they say differently – for instance, while Ella says the ‘trunk’ of a car, James says the ‘boot’ of a car.

When Ella says the word ‘sidewalk’, James responds with the word ‘pavement’, prompting Ella to reply: ‘That’s so weird!’  

Parking lot versus car park, gas versus petrol and vacuum versus Hoover are other examples that the couple points out – though James notes that Britons also use the word ‘vacuum’.

Elsewhere in the video, Ella says to James: ‘I would say “I’m going to take a shower”, you would say “I’m going to have a shower”.’

Taking to the comment section, TikTok user Ashleigh wrote: ‘As a Brit in America, this is my life.’

And user Lia Sioumkas said: ‘My boyfriend is also from England and I’m Canadian. Every day, we discover things we say differently but I’ve also adapted to his way of speaking too.’

The couple, who have been dating for two years, live together in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Speaking to MailOnline Travel, Ella shared a few more phrases that differ between the pair – she says sunscreen while James says sun cream, she says ‘on accident’ while he says ‘by accident’, and she says band-aid while he says plaster.

The content creator, who has 190,000 Instagram followers, also shared her thoughts on Britain, as she travels there a few times a year with James. 

She says: ‘I loved the UK. London and New York feel similar to me in many ways but the free health care and school systems seem much better over there. I want to raise my kids over there so they have the cute little accents.’

Ella notes that James, who works in the food and drinks industry, moved to the U.S for the job opportunities and ‘loves the weather [there] compared to the UK’.

She adds: ‘However, it is much more expensive here for basic needs (like toilet paper and juice).’

To see more videos from Ella, visit her TikTok account and her Instagram account.