American in UK shares ‘cosy’ compliment that ‘feels good’

An American who relocated from the USA to the UK has revealed an unexpected, and particularly British, compliment he received, which left him both surprised and thoroughly delighted. The man, known as YankeeDoodleinUK on Instagram, where he boasts nearly 5,000 followers, regularly shares his experiences of life in the UK, including aspects of British culture he hadn’t anticipated before making the move.

He recently posted a video on the social media platform detailing a surprising compliment he had been paid. In the caption he wrote: “Just checking in with my besties on what your criteria is for this very important role I want to be in the UK. Let me know!”

He opened the video with the overlaid caption: “American in the UK. I had NEVER been called this until I moved here…”

“One of my favourite things about living in the UK is that compliments aren’t given straight as compliments,” he said. “They usually come in the form of banter.

“There’s one compliment that is just straight cosy and just feels good to be called it. It’s called being ‘a good egg’.

“Now, if you called me a good egg before I even moved here I would have been well confused. I would have been like ‘what are you on about?’

“But now it’s what I live for. I live to be a good egg. I recently decided I want to strive to become the UK’s top good egg, and I just want to know what your criteria is to become it.

“This is really important to me because, when I meet a new person, I don’t want to be known as the American, I want to be known as a good egg. So I’m just gonna be filling out my good egg CV. So, if you just let me know what your criteria is so I can write a nice cover letter, write my CV, and send it out to you, that’d be great. I promise to be the best egg I can be.”

Commenters were quick to weigh in with their own thoughts on what they believe qualifies someone for the coveted description, reports the Mirror. One person said: “A good egg is someone whose very insides are like sunshine and it radiates out in little things like their smile, a warm comment, a kind gesture.

“A good egg is funny but never mean, thoughtful rather than a smart-a***, gently entertaining rather than the centre of attention. The goodest of eggs don’t necessarily know what good eggs they are. But everyone around them does.”

Another said: “Helpful, patient, friendly, kind, warm, pleasant. A good egg raises the spirits of the people around them, they volunteer and quietly have a positive impact on their communities and workplaces. They are a good loyal friend.

“They’re not necessarily the centre of attention, they more sort [to] coast through life as an empathetic source of joy. They’re more likely to be an unsung hero, they’ll never skip their round, they’ll probably coach an amateur sport, they’ll mow their elderly neighbour’s grass, and they’ll lend you stuff because they trust easily.”

Someone else wrote: “I’m not sure anyone would call a person a good egg to their face. It’s usually reserved for compliments about you made to a third party. However, ways to increase the likelihood of people saying it about you: put shopping trolleys back even if you didn’t use them, pick up litter, do things for others without expectation of reciprocation, give compliments, don’t have a bonfire when your neighbour has just put their washing out.”

Another put forward their own twist on the expression. “When someone is a really good egg, me and my pals call them a ‘double yolker’,” they wrote. “Sometimes you get a surprise and your egg has two yolks and its always a good time.”

Someone else wrote: “Steve Irwin and David Attenborough are the pinnacle of good egg.” And another said: “I won the ‘good egg’ award at school and collecting that trophy in assembly is still one of the highlights of my life.”