Comedian and national treasure Peter Kay left American viewers baffled after using a very British idiom during the new Wallace and Gromit film.
Kay stars in the Christmas Wallace and Gromit flick Vengeance Most Fowl, which saw the return of villain Feathers McGraw.
The new Wallace And Gromit film sees the evil penguin, who was first seen in 1993’s Bafta and Oscar-winning short The Wrong Trousers, return to seek revenge on the inventor and his loyal beagle.
The story involves Wallace’s latest creation, a “smart gnome” named Norbot which is designed to do any kind of gardening task or “gnome improvement” around the house, but fails to impress the inventor’s silent companion dog, Gromit.
It is the first project in the long-running animation to be released in a decade.
Kay provided a minor issue for directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham during an improvisation in the recording booth.
In one scene, his character Chief Inspector Mackintosh exclaims: “Flippin’ Nora!” – a common phrase used in the North of England but unknown to the directors.
Mr Park told The Sun: “Peter ad-libs quite a lot. At one point, he’s astonished at something and shouts: ‘Flippin’ Nora.’ One day we did get a note back to ask: ‘Who is Nora and why is she being flipped?”’
But Mr Crossingham told the newspaper that they managed to convince Netflix bosses that the idiom is not rude but an “innocent turn of phrase”.
The film premiered on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Christmas Day and will be available globally on Netflix on January 3.
