An American content creator who is familiar with the UK and British culture has pointed out one word he says makes no sense to Americans but it is widely used by Brits
An American man who has visited the UK many times shared one word that doesn’t make sense to people from the US. Although Americans and Brits both speak English, there are some variations in how they use certain words and the meaning of these words.
The English language is spoken in a number of countries around the world but there are differences, including the vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. Kalani Smith is a TikTok star and content creator from Tennessee, USA and is famous for his reviews of British culture, particularly the cuisine. As he has travelled to the UK a lot, he has picked up on some British quirks.
In a recent video on TikTok he spoke about one word people from the UK commonly use that Americans don’t understand, according to him.
He said: “There’s one British word that makes absolutely zero sense to Americans. My name is Kalani and I’ve spent a lot of time in the UK and one word that it took me a minute to get used to was cheeky.”
Kalani explained that in America if someone describes a person as ‘cheeky’ they usually mean “sarcastic or rude” but in the UK there are “so many effective uses of the word cheeky.”
The content creator gave some examples of how ‘cheeky’ is used in Britain, including a “cheeky pint”, “I’m going for a cheeky smoke” and the famous “cheeky Nando’s.”
He added: “It turns out that cheeky means something a little fun, a little naughty, a little spontaneous and the Brits have mastered its usage in this context, like you probably shouldn’t but you are going to anyway.”
The TikToker elaborated that a good use of ‘cheeky’ is if you’re on a diet and you go out to get a “cheeky sausage roll.”
Kalani described this as one of the “fun differences” in the English language between the UK and America as it involves taking the same word but using it in a “vastly” different way.
He ended the clip by asking Brits about their use of the word ‘cheeky.’ In the caption of his post, he wrote: “This British word makes zero sense to Americans.”
The video has garnered thousands of views, likes and comments, with viewers quickly joining the conversation.
A Brit in the comments section simply explained: “Cheeky = a cute naughtiness.” Another user said: “If a child is being cute you can say she’s being cheeky or look at that cheeky face or it can mean the opposite.
“If a child is giving backchat you can say stop being so cheeky!” A fan of the term ‘cheeky’ chimed in: “Cheeky is such a great word.
“Cheeky monkey is a bit of taking the p***. The cheek of her or him can mean pushing your luck. Cheeky chops for a mischievous toddler or child.”
A fourth user shared: “I say cheeky so and so when someone says something sarcastic.”