Posh English Words vs Basic English| British English Vocabulary

Right... how posh are you? In today's lesson we'll  be looking at posh versus well common, standard,   basic English. English that probably you or i  actually would usually use in today's lesson 28   variations of basically the same word  how posh are you out of these 28 words   how many do you use the posh equivalent not  the basic common one i'll tell you for starters   for me i definitely don't use all of the posh  words and i certainly don't use all of the basic   so do make sure you comment below let me know how  posh you are remember this is a little bit of fun   helping you to understand some of the  nuances the differences in the english   language like most languages depending on  where you come from your educational level   the language you choose to use there is more  than one word for the same thing depending on   which class system you might come from or  indeed mix with or even just being able to   socialize in different situations this vocabulary  just highlights some of the differences in   british english depending on perhaps your  educational background or your class and   indeed some of you may even completely disagree  with this list however it has been researched   and has come from an etiquette expert the expert  not being me that is so without further ado let's   have a look at these everyday english words posh  versus basic and see just how posh you might be right number one this is a bit of a no-brainer  alcohol would be considered the more posh upper   class and booze the slang informal the language  of the more i don't want to say lower classes   but standard everyday people like you all  right so alcohol or booze which do you use   in terms of speaking not drinking obviously now  number two this is an interesting one bubbly   bubbly now bubbly is most definitely used by  more of the upper classes in a posh situation   trying to sound a little more sophisticated  but what i didn't realize is that the term   bubbly was created to avoid saying prosecco  traditionally champagne is the more sophisticated   upper class drink choice of alcohol but these  days prosecco has become a lot more popular   one personally because i prefer the taste and two  it tends to be a lot cheaper so first of all which   do you say bubbly or prosecco and indeed which do  you prefer champagne or prosecco of course you can   also now use bubbly to refer to champagne but  traditionally this was the reason why the word   was created fun fact for you there right number  three old yes we don't want to be saying old   there's lots of negative connotations with the  word old and indeed even vintage apparently   is more the language of the common people  instead the upper classes prefer to use the word   antique antique referring to obviously an item an  object something that has particular value because   of its age so you wouldn't refer to a clock as  being old you'd say well it's an antique clock   of course if it is just a piece of  old rubbish then you might number   four a very popular word these days actually a  popular food or fruit is it a fruit i think so   avocado avocado now avocado using the full word  is considered to be more upper class i say avocado   does this make me up a class not really the more  informal common basic english would be avo i   would actually argue that most people tend to use  avocado avo feels a little bit more informal slang   like if you will so from my point of view avocado  is pretty standard i wouldn't necessarily say   there's anything upper class about it number  five basement go figure basement so when we're   talking about different levels in a property  in a building you would refer to the basement   if you are more upper class and lower ground  if you're more basic common standard english   really you can see that there's not a massive  difference between some of these but again this   is a list created by an expert an etiquette expert  so if you're wondering what the differences are   between these words nothing it's purely to  do with your lexical choice and essentially   whether you consider yourself to use more formal  english or more basic day-to-day so basement and   lower ground number six a full english or  an english breakfast what does that include   eggs bacon sausages hash browns what else blood  pudding not sure about that one anyway many   of you who have visited stayed in the uk know  that we are famous for our english breakfasts   rather unhealthy but great after you've been  having a little bit of booze the night before or   alcohol depending how posh you are anyway if you  are staying in a rather posh hotel in london and   you want to order an english breakfast rather than  say english breakfast or full english you could   say a cooked breakfast minimal difference there  guys really it does seem a little bit ridiculous   but there you go upper classes tend to use  cooked breakfast rather than full english   or english breakfast right number seven this  is a great one especially if you're italian   latte latte or cappuccino or frappuccino or  mochaccino or whatever kind of word you want   to refer to as a coffee or type of coffee you want  essentially if you are more upper class apparently   according to the experts you're more likely to  simply ask for a coffee okay keep it simple keep   it classy keep it actually in this case more basic  but essentially lattes and cappuccinos apparently   are more for us common folk particularly this is  actually more accurate i think in italy they don't   tend to have many of these different types of  coffee they usually just have an espresso a coffee   a simple basic coffee rather than the faf  and caval of what we have here essentially   what you can get in starbucks basically so i'll  have a coffee i'll have a latte which do you use   okay number eight and this is a great one and  actually i'm going to apply a general rule here   film and movie now most of you will scratch  your heads here and go well movie is american   english and film is more british english bingo  exactly right essentially in more sophisticated   british english avoid americanisms avoid american  pronunciation american vocabulary whether that's   things like sidewalk or cookie or i don't know  but essentially you would say film never movie so   which do you tend to use again i would actually  say here it's nothing to do with how posh or   sophisticated you are it's really how influenced  you've been by the american language and in fact   we have massively i certainly hear myself saying  movie as well as film interchangeable really   i don't think i'm posh enough to steer a clear i  don't think i'm really that sophisticated to not   use any americanisms what about you which words do  you prefer to use in american english and which do   you prefer to use british and do you really think  it makes a difference how sophisticated you are   i'm done i'm done i'm finished this is actually  more of a kind of grammar point here but   i'm done i've completed something it's definitely  more colloquial more spoken in formal english so   basically more basic whereas saying i'm finished  is perhaps more sophisticated ish it's more   correct essentially i'm done more colloquial more  informal i'm finished more upper class number ten   hello versus hey hey is much more colloquial and  basic hello is perhaps showing a little bit more   respect and perhaps actually more useful in  more formal situations more posh situations   so hello and hey number 11 long forms versus short  forms clearly longer forms are going to be more   formal and more posh invitation versus invite did  you get an invite to the party did you receive an   invitation to the party there's a good one a lot  of words like get these kind of verbs that have   multiple meanings have a more formal equivalent  so get receive um what else gets a good one   actually i'll put a link to a get lesson an old  one at the end of this video number 12 iphone   no no telephone or even mobile phone but  iphone referring in fact to brand names   tends to be a big no-no amongst the upper classes  it looks a bit vulgar a little bit like you're   trying to show off that you've got an expensive  phone so telephone mobile phone but not iphone   or whatever kind of mobile you might have refer  to it as a phone telephone rather than the brand   number 13 a little bit of a controversial one  i've referred to this word in previous lessons   lavatory or lu tends to be the more upper class  however someone did point out that bathroom is   also an acceptable alternative a perhaps more  formal alternative and of course saying toilet is   a big no-no amongst the upper classes particularly  because the meaning of toilet actually comes from   the french word toilette i guess and toilet  is seen to be rather vulgar a bit too graphic   referring to the actual place that you go to  the bathroom i guess so the chair essentially   avoid it if you are and actually i would say this  is a good general rule toilet where is the toilet   it's much better and i definitely do this ask  can i ask where the bathroom is could you show me   where the bathroom is or lavatory but i would tend  to say bathroom to be more polite what do you use   toilet lavatory lou or bathroom number 14 another  one that is really referring to grammar may i have   and can i have now may i have is considered to be  a little bit more polite can i have ears perfectly   polite perfectly acceptable but may i again  more formal perhaps in a more formal situation   where you don't know people particularly well  may i have a glass of wine may i ask you where   the toilet is no the lavatory no the bathroom you  get the idea there's a lot of language to get your   head around here to understand the difference  between what is considered perhaps more polite   and posh i don't like that word really um and what  is considered more basic general daily english   15. napkin and soviet same thing same difference  napkin is more british so considered to be more   posh and serviette i actually think  doesn't make any difference to use   either or but serviette i think is the more  french word it comes it's derived from french   so we're looking the british upper  classes are looking to use british english   16. pudding which do you use pudding upper  classes or sweet or afters more basic   or pudding again minimal difference guys but i  am curious to know which one you prefer to use   pjs pjs oh when it's cold and it's rainy i love  to stay in my pjs all day if possible but pajamas   is what the upper classes would refer to actually  total rubbish because i use pyjamas and i'm   definitely not upper class i don't say pjs 18.  banter banter a little bit of banter is great fun   where you are joking annoying each other taking  the mickey out of each other mocking and this   is banter essentially banter would be the more  general day-to-day common english and repartoo   re party would be the more formal i definitely  don't use repartee i would use banter 19. sitting   room drawing room although you don't really use it  for drawing so go figure versus lounge and living   room big no-no because lounge and living room  is considered to be common and sitting room more   what the queen would basically use she has a  sitting room i have a lounge number 20 sofa sofa   upper class hmm not sure about that seti and  couch are considered to be more basic more   common english but again i would say i use sofa  it's really a preference a choice that you can   make so it's not really going to sound terrible if  you say oh what a lovely couch what a lovely city   instead of sofa it's not a big deal but you can  start to understand the very slight nuances and   differences between formal posher english and  everyday kind of basic common english number 21 a   great one deliveroo uber eats um what's the other  one i use oh i can never remember it just eat okay   do you fancy a delivery no basic english common  again referring to kind of brands and services   takeaway takeaway again i don't even know how  often the rich upper classes get a takeaway   but they wouldn't use delivery or they  wouldn't say delivery they'd say take away   so such a bizarre one but one that's considered  to be the more modern differences between posh   and basic english so do you say let's get a  delivery or do you say let's have a takeaway taxi   or uber which would you use i am more likely to  use taxi but that tends to be because we don't   have ubers would you believe it in bournemouth  so uber the more common uh basic english   the english of the common folk and taxi  for the more sophisticated upper classes   would they really get a taxi though  or would they have a limo i don't know   23 this one actually goes back to what i  think is actually the rule for americanisms   term versus semester when we're talking about the  academic calendar school terms or school semesters   semester would be more common but actually i  would say that this tends to be more again british   versus american english the british more formal  is term half term three terms in a year whatever   it might be and the american word semester i  have not heard people use semester in the uk   however i'm not at school anymore so it might be  that this americanism has become more ingrained   in british english i definitely use term  as a british university teacher as someone   that's part of kind of the academic crowd  if you will we all use term not semester   24 really random we've gone from term and  semester to toasty a sandwich that is toasted   with maybe cheese or tuna or whatever inside no  toasty is basic more common and toasted sandwich   is the more upper class do they have a toasted  sandwich would they even use this language   i don't know do you get me do you get me try  pronouncing it that way dear do you get me   so get again is one of those verbs  that has multiple meanings and it's   a word that tends to be more spoken in more formal  writing academic english you wouldn't use get   now this is perfectly acceptable in spoken  everyday english basic english if you are more   formal more posh in spoken english as well as in  written formal english you're much more likely to   say do you understand me do you understand me so  get versus understand 26. uni or university uni or   university again long form versus short form  uni more basic university more sophisticated   again i didn't make up this list guys i did  some research and this is according to a british   etiquette expert what or pardon now this one  surprises me because for me pardon is the more   polite word to use when you need someone to repeat  what they said or you didn't hear them but in fact   what is considered to be more upper class pardon  more basic english the only reason i know this   is because it was in the crown where the queen no  no no princess margaret correct somebody and says   don't say pardon or sorry say what i don't know  why if you're posh and upper class please can   you explain why what is more polite and posh than  pardon pardon to me seems like the logical choice   and finally number 28 wine or vino now vino  is obviously the italian word the the european   word for wine why is it then that wine is  more sophisticated and vino is more basic   i guess when you say vino you're trying  to sound cool i don't know cultured but   wine no is the more formal proper word to  use in british english obviously if you're   italian if you're from a country that uses the  word vino rather than wine then that's pretty   standard for you and doesn't actually refer  to a class difference in the language at all   so there we have it 28 differences variations in  english basic versus posh common versus formal um   and essentially these are based on another  person's idea of what is more formal posh english   not mine okay so before you start complaining  and saying well you're not posh totally agree i   am not particularly posh sometimes not posh at all  and certainly there are many of these words that i   actually choose to use either or it doesn't make a  lot of difference to me this lesson was really for   a little bit of fun and to just highlight that in  every language you will find variations variations   in pronunciation depending on the region and the  class and the educational level of the individual   and of course vocabulary like in today's lesson  so just to be aware of those differences don't   stress don't think you've got to use all the posh  words to sound more sophisticated and intelligent   that is really not the case as long as you are  speaking clearly fluently and confidently you're   gonna do great thank you so much for watching  comment below let me know how many of the 28 words   you use in the more posh way you  know what i mean how posh are you

Channel: Love English with Leila & Sabrah

Views: 22,820

Keywords: Love English with Leila & Sabrah, Love English with Leila & Sabrah YouTube, YouTube Love English with Leila & Sabrah, learn English, love English, English, English with Leila, English with Sabrah, British English

Id: HLOSIMeDNTY

Length: 21min 0sec (1260 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 06 2021