53 Times Americans Were Surprised By British Things
The UK and the USA may share a language (mostly) in common, but when it comes to a number of cultural customs, the Atlantic Ocean seems like the smallest thing separating them.
Whether it's their unique accent that somehow carries over into their typing, their obsession with tea, or the fact that they put baked beans on their toast, Brits certainly have a way of making those of us on the Western side of the world scratch our heads with confusion. That's not to say that Americans don't have quirks of their own, but here at Bored Panda, we think Great Britain deserves some special recognition this time around.
Check out the top British moments that left Americans completely stumped below, and be sure to vote for the ones that you're still trying to understand as well.
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I am from the US and I have thought the same thing ( why do we call it math when it should be maths) and always assumed I was just overthinking. Then I learned that Brits use maths and now I feel less foolish. Also, I love eagle fucker. Laughed out loud on that.
Us British can sneak up on you like a ninja in the night or even an iceberg in open water
Translation: Friend it's hard to explain, it's just like one day you will be with your friends having a look in a sports shop (called JD) and you might fancy the curry offer that's on at the local pub (called Wetherspoons) but your friend Calum, who is a legend and awesome will be like "Guys let's go to Nando's (a resturant chain in the UK, cheap and good tasting food, hence it feeling a bit cheeky) instead." and you'll think "Great idea. Let's go for it."
That's probably because they never had to become an independent country.
Why is that so weird to Americans? You know what I find weird? That Americans make everything sickly sweet and have an unhealthy relationship with Maple Syrup. On bacon? Really people?
And you thought us Brits were straight laced and uppity. Mr Blobby is proof, do not mess with the Brits if you don't want the nightmares Freddy Kruger gets when sick.
Due to the common market trade agreements, there was something of a campaign a while back for food terminology in Europe: They basically wanted all British chocolate renaming as chocolate candy because it wasn't pure enough by their standards (too much milk fat and sugar, not enough cocoa).
Actually all over Europe it's pretty common to have your washing machine in the kitchen. If the bathroom is too small and there is no extra room, where else would you put it? Also in some apartments the water/drain pipes for washing machines are installed in the kitchen only, so you really have no other choice.
In the US we usually have a separate room if we can for our washer and dryer, or it is in a closet-type enclosure or the basement or the garage. Not the kitchen. That actually will devalue a property. I understand though as a lot of places in Europe are older and when things were plumbed, it was easier to put in the same location. Older apts and houses in the US can have this on occasion, though it was usually plumbed to the bathroom rather than the kitchen.
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Cannot see why this is weird. What I find weird is Americans not having them and all going to laundrettes like it's the 1970's
Most people do have them, they are just in their own little room or closet.
Load More Replies... That looks like my washing machine. And my kitchen sink . . . And my work top . . . Is this my kitchen?
Today we think, ewww, dirty clothes in my clean kitchen?! 70 yrs ago, my grandma did laundry by hand in large tub in kitchen.
Our houses are smaller. My mum's kitchen doesn't have SPACE for the washer, so it goes in her unusually large utility room. I don't *have* a utility, and my bathroom barely has enough space for a person as well as a toilet, sink and small bath with a shower over it, so if I was to go along with a certain snotty celebrity's recent petition that they should be banned from kitchens, I'd have to put all my washing into a big bag, google for the one remaining laundrette within 10 miles, hump it down two flights of stairs to the car, drive there, pile a ludicrous number of coins into a machine of uncertain performance, then either spend 2-3 hours sat there killing time until it finished, or go run other errands trusting that no-one is going to interrupt the cycle and steal my shit. Or I could put it in the only other room besides the bathroom that has water and high current power circuits provided. Which is after all why it ended up appearing there in the first place, and indeed why it was
(these input boxes are remarkably limited) - - once common to have a bath in there, or in the ground floor sitting room if it was winter (one having a source of hot water and a stone floor designed to be mopped out towards a drain, the other a fireplace). Also found in kitchen - dishwasher, which is a very similar machine when you think about it. Also quite often the main source of hot water and any central heating the property may have...
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In kitchen no other place to put it would love to have a utility room to put it in but British homes are tiny and unless your willing to pay a fortune on a house the only place for a washing machine is the kitchen!
We are fine, our washing powder has tiny blue dots to help us differentiate
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You have to take into account the building regulations too. In some areas of the UK it's illegal to have electrical sockets in the bathroom. So you're limited by where you can put such things. Add to that the tradition that laundry was always done in the kitchen. Back before plumbing, the kitchen was where the fire was, and where the heat was. So laundry was done there too. When washing machines came in, they were automatically installed in the kitchen. It is slowly going out as new homes are built and expectations change, but when it's the way you've always done it and it works, why would you bother?
No electrical sockets in the bathroom? How would I plug in my electric toothbrush or hair dryer?
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U.K. And Ireland don't allow appliances in bathroom so they are in kitchen or separate utility room.
I have a washer and dryer in my kitchen. And oh, I'm an American. :O
Thank you, Kayla, for your comment. When you don't own a house or an apartment where you are free to change things around, you do your best with what you have. Housing standards in Europe are not as high as in the States. In Switzerland, especially where I live near the Lake Geneva, renting apartments are expensive that it's hard to find decent lodging; let a lone one with separate laundry facilities. You're just glad to have an apartment that doesn't cost you half of one month's salary.
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I don't see what's wrong. I'm not British myself but I put my washing machine in the kitchen. *shrugs*
This is because even American hovels have more floorspace than most British houses, and can give up the space to a utility room, or have a basement/cellar. Lovely idea, but mostly wouldn't work over here.
I think most Americans don't realize how small the living spaces are in the UK compared to the US. I was certainly surprised when I visited for the first time. I imagine most Brits would wonder what we need so much space for.
Its because we have newer homes and space isnt a huge issue. Old home in America do this too.
Not exactly the kind of place I'd like to do my laundry in... Ah yes, I just finished tenderizing a steak on this counter top. Now let's fold some laundry! :/
My washing machine and tumble dryer are in my kitchen. Uk here. Don't know how most do it but I take my washing from the washer to dryer, then when finished, take my bundle of dry clothes to the family room/lounge/sitting room (whatever people call it) to fold my clothes there while I watch TV... I iron my clothes in the kitchen to the ironing board, which is also stored in the kitchen. My iron is kept in the cupboard under the kitchen sink... It's the norm to alot of UK homes..
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Throughout Europe and Scandinavia, too. When we lived in Norway our flat had a stackable washer & dryer, sink, toilet and SHOWER all in the same small spot. That's called "takin' care of business".
I'm in the UK and the washing machine and tumble dryer is in the utility room, we are lucky enough to have one and separate kitchen.
I stayed with my Aunt in England and a friend in London. Both had their washing machines in the kitchen. My friend lived in a basement flat, so no garage to put it in. Not sure why my Aunt's was in the kitchen, I never really checked out her garage. What do people in apartments in the US do with theirs? I can't imagine apartments having a big enough bathroom for a washing machine. In NZ we generally have a separate room for them, usually just inside the door to the back garden and the washing line.
The order of preference in America is Laundry room, Utility room, Bath room, Kitchen.
That's all over Europe, too! Ours was like that in Norway. We also had a stackable in the bathroom along with the sink, toilet and SHOWER! I thought that was hilarious!
Uh. Having a shower in the bathroom is hilarious? I'm confused...
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Lots of homes in America do this as well. I moved my washer and dryer out of our kitchen and into the hall which makes more since as that is where are the bedrooms are located, making it less of a walk to put away clothing. Our closet that holds all of our towels, bedding, etc, is also in the hallway.
I have my washing machine in a separate storage room, but my tumble dryer is in the kitchen as there wasn't enough space in the storage room... so we fit the tumble dryer into the built-in slot that was actually meant for a dishwasher (which we don't have). That being said, I would love to re-do our bathroom, get rid of the bath tub and replace it with a shower + space for washer and dryer. But anyway, what I actually wanted to say is that washing machines in the kitchen are not a Belgian thing either, as far as I'm aware.
Our house is too small to have the washing machine anywhere else XD When it's not washing, we use the surface as kitchen working space, or to put clean dishes.
Usually, there are no outlets in the bathroom. That's one of the reasons.
That photo proves nothing, where do the Americans put their washing machines? in the lounge?
Old Levittown homes in Pa that haven't been upgraded still have washers and dryers in the kitchen. Lots of my friends were complaining about it when house hunting.
just a question of plumbs and space. Dont think you can have an appartment in paris, old and cheap with a fucking closet for a washing machine ^^ you re lucky if you have one already! I feel soooooo bless to see mine in my kitchen everyday ^^
not "plumbs", pipes sorry, it s too late to write proper english xp
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My grandfather built a back house on his property in the 1940's and I lived in it for 18 months a few years ago. The kitchen was big with a breakfast nook. The washer and dryer hookups were on one end. Some people just have never lived in an old house or been to a family member's house that didn't have a laundry room. It's so novel to them. lol
Mh, no sorry. Not all over Europe it's pretty common. The cheap housing structure in Britain is rather unique, in other parts of Europe you used to have laundry rooms. This is where the clothes washing would happen, not in the kitchen. British bathrooms don't have power plugs for some weird stupid reason, this is why they have to put their washing machines in the kitchen or in the garage. ;)
Where is the proof this was taken in a kitchen? Also, you do realize you are giving the equivalent of the middle finger right?
Generally smaller homes in the UK & Europe. Lots of people don't have the luxury of a "laundry room". Americans are used to, & expect more space, larger houses etc. They are affronted when they go abroad & find out that not everyone has 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, triple car garage, (pronounce that correctly!) Culture shock, lol!
there's nothing wrong with it.. you could even put it in your bedroom.. your flat, your rules.
Plenty of places all over the world where this is the case. Makes more sense to me than putting it in the basement! Where is more dirty laundry? The bedrooms and kitchen or the furnace room?
I have my washing machine in my kitchen too and I'm American, so I don't really get the hype.
Can't see the kitchen. But it's not uncommon for Americans to put washing machines in a small closet, which, for convenient plumbing, is often just off the kitchen. And I understand that Brits don't have many closets, historically for tax assessment purposes. (Hence, fellow Americans, that's why they use "wardrobes," although I never understood whether they were drobes used during war, or robes used in a ward.) So it makes sense that you'd put it in the kitchen.
Mostly they are washer/dryers, not a good combination, don't work as well.- Hang your clothes out to dry?
Mine is in my kitchen...in AMERICA! I put it there so I dont have to haul clothes up and doen the stairs! ALL about practicality!
We have them in the kitchen in the USA, too. No so much under the counter but in a closet in the kitchen. Only rich people have special rooms for their laundry upstairs and such. Just kidding. It's pretty common to see it either way here; bathroom, kitchen, or separate.
Another thing that is only uncommon to americans. Look at some really old photos of american households form the 20's and 30's, it was not infrequent to see the toilet in the kitchen of the homes that had them. all the water in a house was run to one room, so anything that required water was all set up in one room. Don't know about the rest of you, but I would much rather do my laundry in the kitchen than my personal sit down business.
Another thing that is actually NOT too uncommon in America! Does no one go to other's house? Like 1/3 of my friends house's growing up had washers in the kitchen!
washing machines aside, does anyone else live somewhere where holding those two fingers up that way round means " up yours"?
Mine is in the kitchen everyone I know keeps theirs in their kitchen unless they have a dishwasher and there is no space for both; don't see why that's such a big thing unless your laundry is so out of hand that it cannot fit in one dam laundry basket
Why would you put them in the bathroom?? Everyone is different ffs why do Americans think it's so awful just because it's not how they do it
We have our washer and dryer in the kitchen, behind doors. Very convenient.
I don't find this strange at all. In my current apartment, the washer and dryer are only three steps away from the stove.
I wish we had our washing machines in our kitchens. Most people here put them in the freaking basements and that is a long way to go if you have loads and loads of wash to do. Very sensible putting them (in your kitchen) close to where u need them.
Unfortunately , you missrecognized a washing machine as a Cray XC ... Capture-59...f90797.jpg 
This happens in South Africa too... there's usually a built in space in most apartments where you can stick your front loader in.
It's a space thing. If you have a spare room or enough space in the bathroom, by all means stick the thing in there. But many don't, so into the kitchen they go.
Thinking back on it, all the places I've lived in America either have the washing machine in the kitchen or right next to it.
I am in the US and my washer and dryer are in my kitchen. I enjoy having them there so I can keep an eye on them.
We've been watching Vera, The Loch, Unforgotten, Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey & Shetland and have added so many great new insults and idioms to our speech! It's fun yelling knobhead and calling each other cow. I think I have developed a Scottish, Yorkshire, Puerto Rican accent.
That reminds me of something I read. In germany the waterworks have to perpare for the breaks during important football games.
Makes sense, but.... I'm sure U.S.A. doesn't have the same accent in each state, just like the U.K. accents vary by countries and regions. Even in one single city of London you can differentiate between particular accents depending on the part of the city, no? Sorry, I'm an overthinker. *shrug*
Im british and have never seen, heardor tasted this. And i think it sounds terrible
so... you know those little plastic packs that hot dogs come in have a salty liquid in them, right? They're not vacuum sealed in there all dry.
Yeah, Americans have this weird view of the British. In their TV shows EVERY British person either speaks in a really posh voice or is a cockney. WE DON'T TALK LIKE THAT!
when I first moved to the UK and switched on the TV I learned that this is a show about people who have some complaint that's "too embarrassing to show your doctor". But yeah, let's ALL have a look at that on national TV, why not.
It's correctly pronounced 'aitch', without the aspirant. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/aitch
