I can't see what you did there! How do I do it??

American culture (or whatever part of it you choose to take in) ingrains into its participants choice phrases that help them identify with the group. Some such phrases, like questions of age identification (“How old are you?”), simply separate languages or language groups (e.g. Spanish, literally “How many years do you have?”) and include a lot of people in the group it creates.

Others, however, are more selective and tag the speaker as member of a smaller set. Within these groups, everyone knows the phrase, but the group can be quite small based on the relevant phrase. Examples:

Americans of a certain age and awareness- “It depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

Sufferers of the late 90s-early 2000s- “Who let the dogs out?”

Central Indiana radio listeners- “Hi, Mr. Obvious. Uh, long-time listener, first-time caller.”

YouTube watchers- “We’re on a bridge, Charlie!”

IU fans- “I want them to bury me upside down so my critics can kiss my ass!”

People hopped up on caffeine and writing papers in a dorm room while someone plays Ocarina of Time- “PREPOSTEROUS AMOUNTS OF WASTED TIME! PROCRASTITONE!!!1!” (There might only be three people in this group.)

Depending on your level of involvement in these groups, you might be able to either 1) have these come to mind in almost any conversation (e.g. the popular “That’s what she said!” comment) or 2) change them to apply to random situations. I often twist the above phrases to my will, replacing the “is” with, “It depends on what your definition of the word ‘lunatic’ is,” or describing lots of bold type and CAPS lock as "PREPOSTEROUS AMOUNTS OF WRITTEN STRESS!"

I can’t do that in Britain. I don’t know the well-known British phrases that identify you as part of the group. I’m sure that with time I can make off-the-cuff jokes based on loo-ney bins and Tube vision and other uniquely-England terms, but I haven’t gotten there yet.

I definitely can’t use the phrases I’ve learned in my previous social groups. Every time I want to say, “Hokay, so, here’s de Earth,” I have to remind myself that this might not be a group of people that would understand that reference. I’ve got free reign in my flat and among the other IU students, of course, but if I say out loud that “Charlie bit me!” I won’t get a response. (Or worse, people WILL have seen it and I’ll get a negative response. Like eggs in my face.)

As most of you know, though, I can make a joke, innuendo, or play on words in any situation. (Or at least I try.) My ability to do so in Britain will come in time, and I’ll let you guys know when it happens, because I'll be excited.