In England, we don't say 50 pounds.
We call this 50 quid.
Money appears all the time in daily conversation.
For example, Hey man, have you got a tenner on you?
Sorry lad, I've only got a fiver.
If you don't understand that, then you are missing a very big chunk of British life.
In this video, I'll teach you what nobody teaches you about money.
This is a one pound coin, but what do British people call it?
We call it a quid.
One quid equals one pound.
But what if there are two?
We don't say quids, there is no s, so it's just one quid, two quid, three quid, four quid.
But what about five quid?
Five quid is a fiver.
This is a five pound note.
What can you buy with a fiver in England?
A meal deal, a tuna sandwich, a can of Coke and a bag of crisps.
Meal deals are a huge cultural phenomenon in England.
They are very popular.
Every day, millions of people walk into a Tesco and pick up a sad little sandwich, a bag of crisps and a drink.
And they feel genuinely good about it.
I was one of those people.
I regret nothing.
This is a tenner, a 10 pound note, and at the beginning of this video i gave the example hey man, have you got a tenner on you?
Sorry lad, i've only got a fiver.
Now, do you know what it means?
So if we call five pounds a fiver and 10 pounds a tenner, what do we call 20 quid?
A 20er?
Nope, we just call it 20 quid.
The most common term for a thousand pounds is a grand, and you might hear it in a conversation like Hey Rock, how much is your rent in London?
It's a rip-off.
It's a grand and a half for a tiny flat.
How about yours?
Bloody hell.
Yeah, mine's a rip-off too.
I pay two and a half grand.
Note that there is no S on grand, just like quid.
One grand and two grand.
The smallest currency in Britain is called pence, but we call it p, so we say 10p, 20p or 50p.
Lots of coins together we call change, loose change.
Mario, do you have any change, mate?
Sorry, mere friend.
I don't.
Fair enough.
Do you fancy a pint, then?
Mate, I'm skint.
You might know the word broke, which is the standard universal term for having little money.
But in Britain, we like to do things differently.
We say skint.
I'm skint.
It means I've got very little money.
Skint is a top slang word in the UK.
All right, mate.
You look a bit rough.
I'm skint, mate.
Can't afford a beard trim.
Fair enough.
If you started saying skint, I guarantee you natives would be very impressed with your English.
But what is the opposite of skint?
So if skint means having little money, then loaded, is the opposite.
I am loaded.
It means I've got a lot of money.
Recently, I read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad on my Kindle.
And the author, Robert Kiyosaki, wrote that a lot of people say, I can't afford this.
And he urges us to flip that to a question and say, how can I afford this?
The question opens up the mind to possibility.
Now I had the idea, how can you guys apply this to your English?
A lot of my students say, I'm not good at English.
So I would encourage you to flip that to a question and ask yourself, how can I improve my English?
How can I get better at English?
I'm sure your brain will find the answer now.
It's about time to go for, I think, a lovely coffee at the cafe.
But before I do, let's have a quick scan of our environment.
I am sitting on a boulder.
A boulder is a very large rock and the boulder is sitting in the ocean.
Now, Let's get up and go to the cafe.
Huh.
This coffee is like two quid.
That's pretty cheap.
By the way, be careful with the word cheap.
It can just mean low price, but it can also mean low quality.
So here are some more natural ways British people like to talk about price.
Come on.
Thank you.
The coffee has arrived and the price of these coffees was reasonable.
It was quite affordable.
In fact, these coffees were a bargain.
A bargain is my favorite way to say something that is cheap in a positive way.
That's a bargain.
And for some context for you guys, we are on an island.
And again, no S. We don't say Island or Iceland.
We say island.
It's a silent S.
This is my stick.
They gave me this to scare the monkeys away.
It's very common for monkeys to be coming through this cafe and stealing your food.
Some extra verbs for steal, we would say pinch or nab.
They are slang words in British for steal.
Where are you in the world right now?
Let me know in the comments.
I am curious.
So if a bargain is a positive way of saying something is cheap, then the opposite of that is a rip-off, a bloody rip-off.
Now, a rip-off is when something is expensive and you're a little bit annoyed about it as well.
It's a rip-off.
Now, some alternatives to rip off are pricey or steep.
That's a bit steep.
Now, I don't want the monkeys to steal my food, so let's dig in.
Let's start eating.
After eating, you can ask.
Excuse me, can I have the bill please?
After that, you might want to split the bill with your friends.
Now, I've seen a lot of English teachers teaching let's go Dutch, the English idiom.
But honestly, no one says that.
No one says let's go Dutch.
So here are some more natural phrases that English speakers use.
Shall we go halves?
Nah, I'll get this one.
No, no, no.
Let's split it.
Peach, honestly, don't be silly.
It's my treat.
It's on me.
Oh, Jay, you're such a gentleman.
Right.
Now, let's play a little game.
I'm gonna flip this coin.
You can choose heads or tails.
Heads, I win.
Tails, you lose.
Heads, I win.
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You can practice in a restaurant, in a cafe, in a hotel, and many more.
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Thank you for watching.
Hope you have a beautiful day.
I'll see you next time.