A Canadian man living in the UK has revealed the common British sayings that he finds amusing.
Matt Giffen, 29, moved to London last year after relocating from his home country with his girlfriend, influencer Summer Fox.
Matt, who is also a TikToker and has 340,000 followers on the platform, has since documented himself trying out everything the British capital has to offer – from sampling a roast dinner to visiting Big Ben and other landmarks in the city.
Now, in his latest installment of analysing the nuances of British culture, the TikToker has revealed his top list of hilarious sayings – many of which wouldn’t bat a Brit’s eyelid.
Introducing his line up of comedic phrases, he began with ‘a few sandwiches short of a picnic’, a phrase typically used to denote a person who is lacking in intelligence.
‘First up, a few sandwiches short of a picnic. I’ve been seeing this comment a lot on my videos recently,’ he said in the clip.
‘They’ll say he’s so jokes but also a few sandwiches short of a picnic. What do you mean by that? Because I feel like you don’t want to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic.’
Matt then moved onto the second on his list. ‘Number two, like butter wouldn’t melt – I’ve never heard this in my life until my girlfriend said it yesterday.
Matt Giffen (pictured), 29, moved to the UK’s capital last year after relocating from his home country with his girlfriend, influencer Summer Fox
‘She showed me a picture of this girl she went to school with and said she used to be the biggest bully of all time and now she’s like “butter wouldn’t melt”.’
Matt admitted that he initially believed this meant that she was ‘untouchable or something’, but soon realised it’s true meaning, which most Brits understand to be that someone can look innocent but be the opposite in reality.
‘I probably won’t be using that one in my vocabulary ever, that one sucks,’ he laughed.
Third on the list was a phrase often used by Brits to describe feeling hungry – or ‘Hank Marvin’ as the slang goes.
The TikToker recalled first hearing it at a friend’s house and being completely dumbfounded by it’s meaning.
‘I was at my buddy’s house the other day and his roommate walked in the room and was like ‘Mate, I’m Hank Marvin’, and I thought, I could have sworn his name was Tom. And then it came out that it just means that you’re hungry and starving,’ he said.
Lastly, the Canadian content creator shared his fourth phrase, which was ‘The dog’s b******’.
Matt said: ‘This is a classic, all time legendary geezer quote that I hear almost every time in the pub, I’m not even kidding.’
Matt, who is also a TikToker and has 340,000 followers on the platform, has also documented himself trying out everything London has to offer
‘I think it just means, the dog’s balls – I don’t know why that’s a good thing but that is definitely one that I will be saying myself.’
According to Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase is used for something that is ‘extremely good’, and signifies a compliment.
It’s the second in a series of videos where Matt has shared the British slang ‘that makes me laugh’.
A previous video in the series revealed an additional selection of Matt’s favourite British slang words or phrases.
Those included the phrase ‘f***y’s your aunt’, which Brits used to signify something that’s straightforward or simple to understand.
He also recalled hearing someone be described as a ‘daft cow’, which he said ‘it’s safe to assume you do not want to be a daft cow’.
Commenters were in stitches after watching the video, with several adding classic British idioms that would likely leave a foreigner stumped. One of those was ‘as useful as a chocolate teapot or chocolate fire guard’.
Another pointed to ‘water off a duck’s back’, another popular slang phrase.
Having lived in the UK for a year, Matt has several times shared his thoughts on the differences between British and Canadian lifestyles.
In one video, he revealed the things he most dislikes about living in the country.
Commenters were in stitches after watching the video, with several adding classic British idioms that would likely leave a foreigner stumped
‘As a Canadian in the UK, these are the things I dislike about living in London,’ Matt said, in a video that racked up more than 500,000 views on TikTok.
The first thing on Matt’s list is that, in his opinion, there’s ‘not a very warm culture’ in the UK, adding ‘and that’s just the truth’.
He said that conversations just consist of people asking ‘you alright?’ and answering ‘yeah okay’.
Matt said: ‘As a Canadian, personally, that is a big struggle for me. I’m used to walking to the park and smiling at people. I did that once, and a guy told me to “sod off”.’
His second reason was perhaps unsurprising, as he lamented that the ‘weather here sucks’.
After enjoying a couple of days of springtime sunshine, Matt said he’d begun to look forward to the summer after experiencing a chilly winter.
But his girlfriend, who is British, soon stopped him in his tracks to explain that’s ‘not how it works here.’
Next up was Matt’s ‘constant anxiety’ about getting his phone stolen while out walking anywhere in London.
As an influencer, he explained, it is his job to ‘wander around the city aimlessly and wave my phone around’.
He joked: ‘Do you not think that phone thieves are licking their f***ing chops when they see Matt walking down a street in London?’
He also explained he’d had difficulty grasping just how ‘huge’ the city actually is, saying that it takes him over an hour and a half to see some of his friends – despite them living in the same city.
