British and American English

I'm addicted to Dr House, the TV series. Although it runs on German TV, I can't watch it in German. The dubbing is fantastically done, but I have to hear Hugh Laurie's original voice. He's a brilliant actor and he's funny. Unfortunately, a lot of the humour is lost in translation. And a lot of the medical terms are lost on me in German.

Hugh Laurie is a quintessential British actor who stars in an American series. He's a rare example of someone who has crossed the cultural divide and made it. This doesn't mean that he can understand Americans all the time, however.

This was clear when he was a guest on Ellen Degeneres's show. Ellen is an American comedienne who has a talk-show five nights a week. She's a funny American — he's a funny Brit. They were hilarious together.

The focus of the show was the difference between American and British slang. These are the words they focused on:

British slang

• chin wag
• chuffed to bits
  

American slang

• flossing
• ba-donka-donk
• shawty
  

What do you think the words mean? Watch the video to find out — then try our test on British and American English. (If you can't watch the video, you can still try the test.)

Deborah Capras