I'm from Texas and my husband's from Lancashire... these are the English phrases which baffled me most

A US woman living in the UK reveals the British words and phrases she was "baffled" by when she moved - including "lollipop lady" and "taking the mick".

Ashley Jackson, 42, moved from Austin, Texas, USA, in April 2022 with her husband Andi, 40, from Preston, Lancashire, after they wanted “better opportunities” for their children Levon, six and Matilda, four.

placeholder image — Ashley Jackson / SWNS

Since settling into life in Stretford, Greater Manchester, she had to learn British phrases including “lollipop lady”, “arse” and “taking the mick”. Ashley feels Brits are “great” at abbreviations and enjoys “dissecting” the language.

The librarian said: “You guys are really great at slang and I absolutely love it. So many words pop up in daily conversation and I take note, or I’ll look to my husband and he’ll explain to me. Taking the mick – I think my mother-in-law, Pam, first used that term.

“I was like, ‘What? Where are we going? What are we doing?’ I’ve come to find out lots of variations of words and phrases. The first one that came to mind was lollipop lady. I realised it was a crossing guard and was like, that’s so cute."

Ashley has “so many things” she loves about the UK and discusses them through her posts online with viewers. She said: “Other words I don’t understand are ‘chalk and cheese’. ‘Gordon Bennett’ is one I hear a lot and ‘bobs your uncle Fanny’s your aunt’.

“I’m infatuated with how creative everyone is with their language here and I like dissecting that. A lot of people give me the etymology of words which is great. It helps me get to know culture more and I guess help me feel I’m fitting in more and learning the culture.

“You’re embedded in history, the culture, everything is more kid friendly. The nature is more a part of everyday life. There’s lots of green spaces, it feels like a more genuine authentic place. I don’t really know how to explain it. I just feel like its organic and natural and comes from a place of history. The dialects comes from where you live - everything has a story”.

She has shared clips on social media of words she has learnt about and her thoughts on them. Ashley said: “A lot of this I post about is kind of hoping for an explanation from the community and who better to ask then the Brits themselves."

Although Ashley says she misses home, the rainy weather in the UK is something she is “really happy with” as a change to the heat in Texas. She said: “I find a lot of people are enjoying my content as I’m talking about the positives of living here as oppose to the ‘UK versus USA’ stance.

And people are always commenting saying they are ‘thankful for me seeing the little things in culture and not taking advantage of it”.