American living in UK 'devastated' after hilariously misunderstanding popular saying
Brits possess a treasure trove of quirky idioms that often baffle people from other countries.
An amusing example of this was shared by an American man who recounted his experience with British expressions on TikTok, where he became a viral sensation due to a hilarious misunderstanding while trying to assimilate into UK culture. Marc Sebastian, who spent most of his early 20s in London, thought he had nailed "British slang" but ended up comically mistaken. He believed that his British friends were constantly warning him: "Don't go telling porcupines."
He explained the misunderstanding: "I heard it enough that it started to build this narrative in my head. I was like, 'Do Brits think that porcupines are blabbermouths?' They think that they're these spiky rat snitches. The more that I heard it - and I didn't check in any further about the saying - I could then see it. I was like, you know what porcupines do look like they'd be telling the town's gossip."
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It wasn't until Marc used the phrase himself and was met with bewildered looks from his friends that he realised his error. What he had misheard all those years was actually "don't go telling porky pies", a classic British saying signifying not to tell lies - a fact that had eluded him for quite some time.
He elaborated: "They were like, 'Are you trying to say don't go telling porky pies?', and I was like, 'What?'. They said that a 'pork pie' is like a lie, so the saying is supposed to be 'don't go telling lies'. Don't go telling porky pies was the saying.
"I was upset! I was more upset as someone who loves animals I now had to unlearn this narrative inside of my head of porcupines being these evil snitches. Then I got even more mad at myself because I didn't even do the research to see that porcupines aren't even indigenous to the UK, they don't even live there. So British people wouldn't even know the persona of a porcupine."
Marc's clip sent waves of amusement across the internet, with Brits chiming in to offer a proper education by highlighting that the phrase comes from Cockney rhyming slang, where "pork pies" refers to "lies". As one viewer chimed in: "UK slang is next level and I'm so glad I grew up on it and can understand these weird little nuances."
Another chimed: "This whole video took me out. As a Brit, we should now have the porcupine saying as well because I love the story you constructed so much." In contrast, a less amused comment read: "This was painful to watch as a Brit."