British expat's innocent request leads to awkward misunderstanding in Australia

A British expat was left experiencing an awkward "misunderstanding" after making an innocent request at the local tip which left him, his father-in-law and garbo's all red-faced because of its X-rated meaning in Australia.

The Brit recounted the interaction at the local rubbish tip in Brisbane where his father-in-law asked if the pair could have a "quick root", pointing to a pile of rubbish in the distance, completely clueless that the phrase meant something different in Australia compared to the UK.

The pair initially didn't realise why the worker looked so perplexed replying, "Nah, there's cameras. You can't."

The expat said it wasn't until a week later when recounting the story to workmates did he learn the true meaning of what they were asking. "I didn't think when I came to Australia being English there would be words that can get mixed up," he laughed.

It dawned on the Brit that their innocent request to search through the pile of things was instead interpreted as something much more intimate. "We found out that root means shag," he said.

"In his head, he's [been] thinking, 'What? Are we alright to go for a quick f**k over there?'" he said of the misunderstanding. "They must think, I don't know, that I'm his little toy boy or something."

The Brit said it was his "first little hiccup" since migrating here but appeared in good spirits after sharing details of the interaction online, leaving Aussies howling.

Responding to the video, many Aussies said they too were confused by what the pair had been asking.

"I'm an Aussie, and it took till the end of the video for me to understand what you were actually asking to do," one man said, while another explained a "root around" would have made sense.

It seems the different meaning between the countries has caused confusion before, with others explaining they had their own tale of "rooting" getting them in trouble.

"My British uncle once asked an Aussie real estate agent if they could have a root upstairs," a woman explained, while another said, "My Irish colleague announced to the team she was 'going for a quick root at lunch."

Aussies encouraged the tradie to next time ask for a "squizz", "gander" or "root around" and the worker will know exactly what they mean.

It's not the first time an expat has arrived in Australia and learnt the hard way about the differences between here and their home country. One US woman is now exclusively referred to by a nickname after her name means something else to Aussies.

"My name is Devyn but I go by Dev now because apparently my name means packaged meat in Australian," she said last April. Devon is a sliced meat made from sausages and typically enjoyed on a sandwich with sauce, with the woman explaining it's "similar to baloney so I introduce myself as Dev now."

Another expat from a French-speaking country in Europe compared Aussie humour to bullying as she was taken aback by how brutal Aussies can be to one another, all in the name of lighthearted fun.