An American woman has shared the common British and Australian phrase that “surprised” her to learn in a funny video.
TikTok user Monica Patterson shared in a viral video over the weekend that “there’s not much that could surprise me anymore.”
“I watched a video today, and I was very, very, very surprised,” she said in the clip, which has been seen 1.6 million times. “I have been dating my British husband for eight years, married for two, and only today did I find out this.”
She then showed another video from TikToker and writer Brittan Tolford.
“Next time you hear a British person talking any kind of crap about Americans, any at all, ask them what this person’s job title is,” Tolford said in the video, displaying a picture of a woman with a stop sign and a “crossing guard” vest.
Patterson showed the picture to her husband Sam, who said, “Uh, a lollipop lady?”
The answer made Patterson crack up. “No it’s not,” she giggled.
“Why?” her husband wondered.
“That’s what you call a lollipop lady? What about a man?” she asked.
“It’s a lollipop man,” he said.
“You’re joking,” she said.
“No,” he assured.
“That’s real?” she questioned.
Patterson said he “didn’t want to tell me because he knew I’d laugh at him.”
“That is the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “How did I never hear that.”
The clip has received thousands of comments.
“I’m Australian and we say lollipop lady too,” one person said.
“Don’t make fun of our lollipop ladies they are the nicest people ever,” another said.
One person explained, “I think [it’s] so kids understand them. ‘Go to the lollipop lady’ for safety.”
The clip also became viral after being re-posted on X.
“British people, is this real?” the user asked.
One person responded, “They use words like ‘arvo’ and ‘bangers and mash’ of course it’s real.”