A handy guide to 3 common American phrases

###Some 680,000 Brits share the U.S. with their American cousins. They all speak English, but do y’all understand each other?

Americans and Brits share a lot of commonalities: a love of spectator sports, hard work ethic and, oh yeah, the English language. Yet many Brits will find themselves scratching their heads at various American idioms and expressions. Here’s a quick guide to three of the most common.

Clutch

While you might be quick to assume that 'clutch' refers to a women’s hand bag, all sports fans in the U.S. know that clutch means getting "exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.”

There were only 2 seconds left in the game when he hit that jump shot. LeBron James is so clutch.

####Shooting the breeze

An American might proclaim that they’re spending a lazy weekend with friends, “just shooting the breeze.”

They most likely haven’t brought out rifles at a windy shooting range, but are rather engaging in idle chatter. The saying did, however, originate from the Wild West when cowboys with extra time on their hands would fire into the sky.

####Chump change

'Chump change' refers to a small or insignificant amount of money that you aren’t concerned about.

The term first popped up in the mid 20th century and is widely used across America.

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