'I had no idea.' American expat confused by everyday Australian expression, causing an embarrassing conversation
In a two-minute video posted to TikTok, Maura Sheahan, who goes by the username @mauradorable, revealed how she had interpreted the phrase literally, and planned to show up to a restaurant in her best dress.
'So, I call up the restaurant trying to make this reservation,' she recounted to her followers.
"We don't actually do reservations - we just do first in, best dressed."
"I'm like, what do you mean first in, best dressed?" Maura said.
"Like, am I going to show up in there and [the restaurant staff will] be like, 'Oh, that is an ugly outfit. You're in the back by the kitchen. Send this girl to sit by the trash cans where no one else can see her.' That's what I'm thinking."
She went onto to say that at her work she had recounted the saying, and she was mortified to reveal that the saying was Australian for 'first come, first served'
The TikTok video drew over 280,000 views and hundreds of comments – many laughing at the hilarious misinterpretation of the common expression.
Many Aussies replied saying they were stunned to hear that 'first in, best dressed' was a uniquely Australian turn of phrase.
"I never knew that saying was only heard in Australia," read the most liked comment, which had received over 2200 likes.
Another Australian added that they "genuinely thought this was a common saying".
One Aussie even conceded that Maura's response made sense if you'd never heard the saying before. "[W]hen you think about the expression you made a very logical conclusion," they wrote.
According to podcast Aussie English, the term comes from Old English, which was coined for a family that shared clothes.
An Australian teacher wrote that they had made the "mistake" of telling their international students 'First in, best dressed" before taking them out on an excursion.
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