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Someone Asks “What’s An Obvious Sign That Someone Is American?” And 30 People Don’t Hold Back
Sometimes all it takes is a second to guess where a person is from, be it their looks, their accent, their behavior, or something else that gives it away. Often affected by customs, cultural norms, or widespread behaviors, they tend to do things they might not even realize are representative of their home; but for people around them, they are pretty clear telltale signs.
Redditor u/Frosty-Ad3575 recently turned to the ‘Ask Reddit’ community, seeking to learn what things people consider obvious signs that someone is American. Netizens’ answers covered everything from the way people stand to how they greet each other, among other things, so scroll down to find them and see what might give away that a person comes from the United States.
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#2
Claiming to be of a certain nationality (e.g. Irish), but can't even locate the eponymous country on a map.
#3
They'll use any form of measurement other than metric. Freedoms per eagle is a popular one.
#4
They assume everyone knows about american geography, politics, news etc. but they know nothing about any other country.
#6
Referring to 'Europe' as if it were a country.
#7
I'm Canadian and the biggest giveaway to me that someone is American is simply in their spelling. For example, we would spell it "the colour grey", and Americans would spell it "the color gray." We use paycheque instead of paycheck, and neighbour instead of neighbor. Our vernacular is very British.
Random Jackass 1 year ago
The bald eagles told us the U's were superfluous, so we just ran with it.
#8
Talking about the extortionate cost of healthcare and the struggles of navigating the health insurance system.
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
The tax alternative to pay for national health care is not only cheaper but also means you can't get ripped off by insurance companies for the same level of care. It also stops pharmaceutical companies from price gouging
#9
When asked where they’re from. They instantly say the state not the country.
C. S. 1 year ago
The US is so big and diverse that if we say we are from the US it doesn't actually tell the person anything about us. Each state is culturally unique so it makes more sense to us to say where we are actually from.
BunnyofDoom 1 year ago
A lot of other countries are also culturally unique based on where you are. I think the main problem is that saying the state or cuty doesn't tell a lot to a foreigner. Most of times they (we) don't even know that was a thing or anything about that city/state.
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DB 1 year ago (edited)
If they're from New Jersey they will also tell you the exit number off the New Jersey Turnpike.
Neal Dallmer 1 year ago
The Northern and Southern parts of New Jersey are VERY different from each other culture wise. So much so that there's been a huge push to specify Central New Jersey when discussing the north and south. It's kind of amazing for such a small state of the union (but also the most populated per square mile) can have such distinctly different areas.
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Geoffrey Mason 1 year ago
Depends on where I am. If am in the US I say "Minneapolis". If I am in a North American country I say "Minnesota". If I am in a different continent, I say "USA, about 800 km west of Chicago".
hearditontheX 1 year ago
I live in Texas and when we hear about something weird crazy etc we cross our fingers and say please please let it be Florida. BC if not we're next in line
Tegan Maher 1 year ago
I'm from Florida and do the exact opposite when I hear about something especially awful/crazy/redneck. "Please let it be Texas because if not, it's gotta be Florida!" Lol
Load More Replies... Kelly Scott 1 year ago
Yeah, I'd say what state I was from, too, after flashing my bright white teeth at someone and asking for some ice in my water and telling everyone I'm Irish.
Neal Dallmer 1 year ago
Then proceed to talk loudly over everyone in the room.... but we're very friendly when we do it. Lol
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Awesome At Being Autistic 1 year ago
Nah I'm from California and I consider myself a Californian before American.
Aisling Raye 1 year ago
I mean...going by GDP, California would be the world's 5th largest country so I'm pretty okay with saying I'm a Californian over saying American.
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Donkey boi 1 year ago
I prefer this! I can tell from your accent you're from the states, if I'm asking, it's because I wanna know which part.
WindySwede 1 year ago
I would say Sweden, not Europa/EU. Not the same, but same geographical princip?
2CentSally 1 year ago
Yeah I'm from kansas. Visiting Ireland, people would ask us where I'm from and I would just say "the states" and they would want to know which one because they "know several of them" (usually just the major coastal places, NY, CA, WA etc) and I tell them Kansas and they're just like ohhh I don't know that one.
Wendy Kubas 1 year ago
Never thought it would be so difficult to read a 3 word sentence? I'm assuming you're trying to state you're from Texas?
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Michael Largey 1 year ago
Well according to this whole thread, you already knew we were from the US when we were three blocks away.
ExposedRoot 1 year ago
And someone who has traveled through several countries in Europe I agree with most of not all but this comment seems to cancel out the complaint of using Europe as opposed to a specific country.. You complaining about Americans using the term Europe as opposed to a particular country and in the same breath complaining about Americans stating a specific state as opposed to a country.
Mike D 1 year ago
My experience is that people from large metro area's tend to say "I'm from L.A." or Boston or Denver or maybe "the Chicago area", or "I'm close to St. Louis" . . .
Neal Dallmer 1 year ago
When traveling overseas for southern New Jersey. convenience sake I would say I'm from NYC though I'm about 90 miles away in southern New Jersey. Problem solved!
Load More Replies... bigoldthor 1 year ago
This is really simple to me. If I'm traveling outside of the US, I say I'm from the US. Then, if they ask for more information, I'll tell them state, city, etc. If I'm in the US, I tell them what state, and so on.
Captain Kyra 1 year ago
Can I explain? The states have different cultures almost as extreme as different cultures from country to country. When they identify the state they are from, they're telling a bit about who they are.
Paul Gerrard 1 year ago
And often xpect the whole world knows the football or sport team is the idaho fuctards who won last years season.... with the red parrot mascot.
Keira Pendragon 1 year ago
I like these ones that are quirky. We already know this place sucks and produces a c**p ton of sucky people. It's nice to be able to pretend for a second we can also just be quirky.
Marla Singer 1 year ago
Yes it's because there's a lot to be gleaned about a person based on which state they're from. If I'm found out to be from the States, you better believe I want people to know I'm from a progressive part of the country
DeoManus Argentem 1 year ago
It depends on where I am. If I'm in western Europe or South America I'll say I'm from Miami, if I'm in eastern Europe, levant, Africa, or Asia I'll say I'm from the US. If I'm in the US, I'll say I'm from Fort Lauderdale, if I'm in south Florida I'll say I'm from Pompano Beach, if I'm in Pompano Beach I'll say I'm from Snug Harbor, if I'm in Snug Harbor I'll name my street. It's all about familiarity or even the context. When I'm in Europe, for example, most people I encounter would say "Rome/Roma" not Italy, or "Berlin" not Germany, etc etc - the nearest most commonly recognizable city to the audience. Heck, about five years ago (obvs not now) I had a coworker who said she was from "Russia", so I asked what part because I'd been there, and she said, "well, actually Ukraine", I said "that's not Russia" and she just shrugged and insinuated it was easier to just say Russia.
Robert Canon 1 year ago
I lived w a German Family in the 80s and they considered themselves Bavarian
Krod Mandoon 1 year ago
So sorry that we have some states bigger than most countries, which leads not only to drastic geological differences, but more importantly, different cultures, and I don't want to be confused for a Californian any more than they would want to be confused for a Virginian.
MaximumKarmaSaint 1 year ago
If we said the country we'd just say USA, and that doesn't tell you much, saying the state allows specifics.
Jeff White 1 year ago
Of course. My home state of Michigan (middle of pack in the U.S. in area) is basically the same size as Italy or Greece. When asking someone from Europe where they are from, I have never had anyone say "Europe", they say the country. Because we are the "United" States, it's same concept. And cultural differences are much wider than within a single European country, so again saying the state is more informative. Michigan is different than Texas which is different than Utah and so on. This is a good thing and we're basically proud of it, so that what we're going to tell you.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
to be fair, America is a huge country practically the size of Europe so I'd say this one is fair.
MR 1 year ago
That's a factor of how our States, if not United, would be considered separate countries. It's less weird than one might think. A person in Europe would say they're from their nation, not the EU. Same sort of thing. And this is kind of foolish to add to this list as if they said they were from the U.S. they'd be giving away where they're from. I mean, this is quite literally answering the question.
Mushy “MushyWaffle” Waffles 1 year ago
well we have states larger than some Euro countries. Culture differences between states can be as huge as difference between Euro countries.
DE Ray 1 year ago
We have counties larger than some Euro countries. Los Angeles County, which is by far not the largest in the US, is about the same size as Kosovo, which is by far not the smallest country in Europe.
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VioletHunter 1 year ago
You can tell people that, but then they will likely have no idea that that's a US state or if they do know they won't know where it is located. When you are in an international group just say your country of origin when asked unless you are from an internationally well-known place.
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VioletHunter 1 year ago
You might want to look up the definition of country because it very much is a country.
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#10
When I lived in Estonia, a local once told me that if anybody smiled and said hello unsolicited on the street they knew “that person was either drunk, crazy or an American.”
I laughed and said, “In this case, it might be all three!”
#12
Anything under 4 hours is “close by”.
jayhitter:
Everything is Europe is around the corner if you're from the US. I can drive the whole day and not leave my state but in Europe I can pass through 4 countries in that same time frame.
WindySwede 1 year ago
Me thinking in Swedish 🤔 maybe 4h across, but not lengthwise.. Then 23h by car
#13
As an American man, I’ve been told repeatedly by European and Asian friends that we simply take up space (not by being fat) as though we’re entitled to it. Men in other countries apparently don’t claim the same personal space we do.
#15
Apparently the CIA trains American agents to not lean on things if they go undercover in foreign countries because Americans lean on anything they can while standing around.
#17
I was in Germany this past summer and I realized smiling at everyone you make eye contact with is very American. When I went to London on the same trip they seemed less weirded out by it but would awkwardly return the smile.
I was taught to always start with a disarming smile. Never realized it was American.
TCW Sam Vimes 1 year ago
The casual openess and friendliness of US citizens is one of the positive traits we could learn something from
#18
Immediately asking someone what they do for a living when meeting them. Our jobs and work are our entire identity.
#19
To me - it is the habit of choosing convenience over all else (note that my observations are mostly of people who consider themselves middle class). Small example - if you need to wipe down your kitchen counter, Americans always reach for a paper product while back in India, it would always be a cloth towel. Reason for Indians to use cloth - it is reusable and hence, economical. Americans using paper - it is more convenient. Transport - wait a half hour extra for train or drive... the Americans in my group always chose to drive and the Europeans and Asians chose public transit. Lunch at work - most Americans in my group but lunch every day, even if it is a simple deli sandwich. Most non- Americans bring homemade lunches. Now I don't make value judgement about how people spend their money but the way they gravitate towards convenience first and only then consider finances, environmental impact, etc.
MadMonkey 1 year ago
This is not a defense, but an observation as an American living somewhere in Europe. Americans will take public transit when they can (sometimes), but it's considered a lesser mode of transportation for ... I don't know why, frankly. Also, the US was built, from the 40's on, to be accessible to cars. Public transport in local or regional areas was never something the governments on any level invested in or even thought was necessary. More highways = everybody gets where they want to go to them. So now the US is stuck with an infrastructure that is largely built around cars and there are ZERO plans to make trains, trams, anything like a national and local grid of public transport like those that exist in the Netherlands or several other European countries. I fly home sometimes and think, "Oh, I'll just get the train that runs from airport to home town...oh yeah, those don't exist here."
#20
At least in Finland, I find them as quite friendly, easy to get with and genuine. They aren't afraid to ask questions if it is not clear to them and say the things that matter. Of course shoes, laughter and the way they carry themselves without thinking much about what others would say.
Shannon Hawks 1 year ago
That's cos Finland is one of the best places to live with great people also
#21
In the touristy cafe-restaurant I worked at:
1. If they asked me for the nicest spot we had
2. If they asked me my recommendation without seeing the menu first
3. I would walk to the table, and they would say right away "hey how are you doing?". This one threw me off a lot at first. Why is this person asking me how I'm doing?? I'm just there to take the order. I got used to it, and I think they found my awkwardness to it cute.
4. They would ask my name when I greeted them and took their order
NB I'm Northern European
Cynthia Wilson 1 year ago
Here in Portugal everyone is greeted with "Bom dia! Tudo bem," basically "Hello! How are things?" I find that Americans do not do it as often.
#22
Americans outside America will often claim that people are Scottish-ing or Italian-ing wrong because their great great great grandfather came from Scotland/Italy. I have been corrected on my Scottishness by an American who claimed direct descent from a famous Scot who had no children. On the other hand I also find Americans to be incredibly open and friendly and kind and generous. US tourists seems to be of two opposite types.
The Doom Song 1 year ago
I was born in Scotland, and I grew up in Australia. I like to refer to myself as Australian coz I've been here my whole life.
#23
I was told, "Americans carry water bottles around like they're worried they'll never have access to clean water ever again."
#25
I’m half Italian and my biggest pet peeve with American culture is Americans are averse to walking
Inb4 “American cities aren’t walkable”. That’s true to a point, but Americans a big country. There are still walkable places and even in the instance where something is, people prefer to drive. I used to walk 30 minutes to class from home and people thought I was crazy.
I also used to be an Uber driver. Many people I picked up were college students that didn’t want to make the 10-15 minute walk from the off campus dorms. I’ve had friends ask to drive to places that are only 10 minute walks. It’s kind of pathetic.
Lame Llama 1 year ago
Once again depends on Where's they are from. My friends from NYC are still not big on driving after living in Europe for years.
#26
They cut their food, then switch the fork to their right hand and put the left under the table while eating.
XL shirt on an average guy (6 ft 172 lbs / 1.82m 78 kg) also trousers with enough room for another person.
#28
Good taste in music, intolerance of monarchy, and near cult-like worship of pizza.
#29
Expecting to drive to everything.
WindySwede 1 year ago
well, without sidewalks, bike lanes and the strange zoning laws this is just the common thing?
#30
Baseball cap... even on an infant riding in a pram.
The Doom Song 1 year ago
Here in Australia plenty of people wear baseball caps. It's not an American thing guys
#31
Everyone is ignoring what OP actually asked and giving subtle signs that someone is American. Here's an obvious one: they have an American accent.
#33
Some of the coolest friends I have but damn do they use time to express distance like oh I am 10 minutes away from you and they mean driving not walking nor biking which annoyed the hell out of me at first.
Meilin Kai 1 year ago
Because 5 miles of highway and 5 miles of inner city have a huge time difference.
#34
I’m from Ireland, we get a lot of American tourists and you can spot them a mile away. It’s not just clothes but their demeanour. Everything is “awesome.”
Geoffrey Mason 1 year ago
Well, in fairness, we're in a foreign country. Everything really is awesome.
#36
They ask for a side of Ranch.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
This American hates ranch dressing. Vinaigrette all the way. I thought I hated salad, no I just hate ranch and grew up in the USA.
#38
My friend went to Germany recently, and what people said about Americans is you can spot them a mile away because they’re the ones wearing pajamas in public. Apparently in other countries, at least Germany, they dress a little more formal and in less baggy clothes than we do in America.
helen anderson 1 year ago
I'm American and I think it looks bad to wear PJ'S in public. You can't take 2 mins to put on jeans to run to the store? I never understood why the public needs to see your Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer pj's?
#41
Walking and eating. Ain't nobody in America got time to just eat, gotta be doing something else too or you're wasting time.
Kevin Snyder 1 year ago
No other countries have markets with street food? You don't know what you're missing.
#42
Ironically enough, Americans are the least bigoted people and are the most hospitable of any culture. The only caveat is that they are often taken advantage of and things can turn to s**t pretty quickly. Also, everyone trolls Americans for having as much love and respect for their own country and culture as anyone else has for their own countries and cultures. It’s almost as sensitive as talking about politics and religion.
#43
Going to a nice restaurant, the theatre, opera, and people wearing long shorts, sneakers, and getting told they can't come in. (Seen it happen loads of times). In Florence (Italy), in a local restaurant renowned for their tripe dishes. The loud American table asked for gluten free pasta, all ordered cokes, and didn't like any of the (amazing) food. One of the parties walked out crying because the waiter was "rude." S**t like that.
BrownTabby 1 year ago
In New Zealand I go to nice restaurants in long shorts and sneakers and get let in. :) We don’t take ourselves too seriously here.
#44
My high school French teacher (who was born in France and grew up there, in Germany, and in Italy) gave us a whole list. Here are the ones I remember: Americans in foreign countries always walk around looking up at everything, whereas most locals and non-American tourists spend more time looking down. In short, as she put it, "Americans always walk around like you deserve to be there." Americans also wear sneakers everywhere, whereas other people often wear shoes. Same for t-shirts when others would wear something with a collar. There's also the whole shoes-in-the-house thing, which is also a dead giveaway. Most Americans will try English first before switching to the local language. This annoys a lot of people who otherwise know English but need a second to readjust in their minds, at which point the American has moved on to garbled guidebook phrases. She never said anything about leaning on things, from what I remember, but in college there was an Australian exchange student living in our dorm. He made fun of us for that a lot. But by the end of the semester, he was doing it too.
Donkey boi 1 year ago
Americans look up, because the architecture is different and they are seeing something new. Locals already know what the buildings and vaulted ceilings look like so don't need to look up. It has nothing to do with 'walk around like you deserve to be there'. As for the sneakers/trainers, they are exploring somewhere new! Let them have comfortable foot wear. I wore trainers in the states, boots in Costa Rica, and wellies in Yorkshire.
#45
Americans in Asia (where I live) have an unmistakable and utterly misplaced air of entitlement that has to be seen to be believed. If you've never witnessed main character syndrome up close then take a holiday to Asia and observe Americans in action.
#46
This is American tourists in Europe focused. They tend to look like they're either: 1. Preparing for survival in the wilderness despite being in the middle of a big city: bucket hat, sunglasses, bigger backpacks, shorts, running shoes, big water bottle, visible bottle of sunscreen somewhere etc. and so do their kids. 2. Trying a little too hard with dressing like what they think the fashion of the country is (stereotypical example beret and stripes in France). European tourists tend to dress more classy-casual/like they're just going for a regular everyday walk through the city. What gives away a European tourist (in Europe, at least) is usually just the camera. And beside the frequently mentioned loudness everywhere and being overly friendly, also: - downing their coffee in a café in 3.7 seconds and moving on unlike most Europeans that properly sit down and enjoy it - their kids always seem to be wilding around and needing more discipline to stay by their parents side - the childlike excitement they have when using public transport (especially buses for some reason) like it's a modern wonder they've never seen or experienced before - always looking like they're in a hurry.
VioletHunter 1 year ago (edited)
Now I'm imagining some tourist casually walking around in a beret and striped shirt, holding a baguette, trying to blend in with the natives. 🤣
#47
They don't realize just how beautiful America's landscape is. They travel all over the world to see beautiful far away places but meanwhile, in their backyard, they have breathtaking areas. Talk to any American and the last place they wanna travel is around America, one of the most beautiful places on earth. HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW?
#48
Americans will bus their own fast food table. In other countries, people will leave their trash.
grotesqueer 1 year ago
I don't know what these "other countries" are, but I can tell you Finland isn't one of them.
#49
How they pronounce Arab names. You might be asking this goes for most Native english speaking places BUT compare places like London which has a very prominent Muslim (and by default Arab names) population to say.....a town in Arizona. I say this because I had just watched an episode of a lawyer show, and they had to defend a client who's from Iraq, so they were also talking to friends and family with clear Arabic names, and they essentially butchered nearly every single one of their names with American vowels.
What do you think ?
Emma S 1 year ago (edited)
Stop attacking Americans. It's not funny anymore and has gone past a joke into blantant xenophobia. Yes, there are people there who act entitled and lack understanding of other cultures, but those people exist in every country in the world. I'm British and can confirm they certainly exist here as well. Some British people still act very entitled in Europe. I saw people getting upset at Schipol airport because they had to wait in the bigger queue when going through immigration like they didn't vote for it.
Tams21 1 year ago
I totally agree, BP is starting to cross an ugly line with with these constant articles about the US.
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sofacushionfort 1 year ago
Thank you, all non-USA pandas who respond to these articles with nuance, reason and actual empirical knowledge of the topic
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
I'm originally from the United Kingdom and I find listicles like this just flat out cruel. I actually just wrote a note to BoredPanda letting them know that they are alienating their reader base and ruining the integrity of this site with cruel listicles like this. They'll probably never read it though because they couldn't care less about their readers.
Load More Replies... LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
Jesus freaking Christ, BoredPanda. What the hell has happened to this site? It is nothing but AITA listcles and nasty stereotypes aimed at your readers. You have totally lost what this site used to be. Do you think it is funny to constantly stereotype and attack your readers from a specific country? Must be nice to get paid to insult people, Migle. Do you even listen to your readers anymore or care what they have to say? I have family in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Denmark and let me tell you there are entitled people all around the world. Stop alienating and insulting your readers--it's freaking petty and immature. I'm sorry, BoredPanda writers can't even call themselves writers when all they do is copy-and-paste c**p like this from Reddit.
Rostit. . 1 year ago
wait, but they do write some little drivel in the middle that no one ever reads because why would you? (i fully agree, they are not writers, they are click bait posters). I wish I had the drive to submit a " 140 dumb things that "writers" on BP believe"
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LuckyLouise 1 year ago
Pretty sick of the American bashing theme on BP. Not the first time (or tenth). Think I’m done with this site.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I really wish BP would go back to cute animal pictures and wholesome threads. I'm tired of the xenophobia. I'm tired of recycled Reddit posts. I'm tired of the angst. I'm tired of the nonsense. The Bored Panda community is by far the best. If BP loses that, it's nothing. A shame BP seems to be trying to "unalive" itself.
maswartz 1 year ago
This, I started coming here because of the cute stuff. I don't want to see nonstop AITA things about people being horrible. I don't want to see stuff torn off of reddit!
Load More Replies... digitalin 1 year ago
I was kind of hoping this list was going to be more like "Americans eat slices of pie starting with the corner, not the crust" or "When Americans count on their fingers, they use their thumb last, not first" or "Americans will ask for the salad before the main course, not after" or other quirky things (I don't know if these are actually true about Europe, I've just heard them) that would be interesting, and not the standard "Americans are loud, fat, and only speak English" stuff that's been beaten to death here.
maswartz 1 year ago
The worst part of these is you just KNOW BP would be too terrified to run even half as many articles about other nationalities.
MaximumKarmaSaint 1 year ago
The worst part is they'd actually probably defend those countries, and then go right back to America-Bashing.
Load More Replies... Mushy “MushyWaffle” Waffles 1 year ago
Wow 90% of these are completely untrue. Most of these take obscure stereotypes, add in a little vitriol, and regurgitate. This list is garbage.
Dave In MD 1 year ago
How to know if someone is non-American, they are obsessed with how Americans measure things or what we call things. Yes we know you call a different sport Football, no we are not going to call our game "American Football" in our own country when talking to other Americans.
Scorched Goat Policy 1 year ago
How do we report these as being bigoted and inappropriate? BP censors some ridiculous stuff, but when it comes to writing bigoted and xenophobic articles, that's just fine, apparently. Maybe it's time to just ditch this site.
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
Scorched Goat, I've tried countless times to report how nasty and cruel listicles like this are, but BoredPanda does nothing. If you want to try, you can click on the "contact" button. Once in the "contact" page, select "report post". You can provide the URL of this article and explain how you find it xenophobic and hurtful. Maube even enough people write something, they'll stop posting things like this.
Load More Replies... Rocco MZ 1 year ago
I live a New England East Coast City VERY popular with tourists from all over the world. It's not Boston either. We can spot tourists a mile away by the way they dress, act, talk, and how they observe things. For whatever reason, they seem to know I live here because people always stop and ask for directions or recommendations. And yes, some of them are annoying. But I also know that they aren't a true representation of everyone from their county. This site has gotten so anti- American that I'm about done with site.
QUINN SANE 1 year ago
Seems more like a passive aggressive list of things Americans do that bother others.
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
Ah, yes the "'Americans are so ignorant" they laugh, as they make ignorant generalizations." Look, I'm the first one to make fun of my nation and it's people but many of these are asinine, lack self-awareness, and/or just massive assumptions or projections. Thank you to those that offer thoughtful, useful criticisms. That understand that while we don't have nearly the largest population that we're a massive country that operates less like a country, like yours, and more like the EU or UN. That we're not homogenous and the differences between Americans are some of the most extreme. We can take criticism and friendly ribbing, but reading the same tired, lazy comments from the same type of people we're generalized as can be annoying. I'm sure you can understand, for which I thank you.
Lucy 1 year ago
It’s like they’re obsessed with us, can’t leave us alone. “We’re all better and too cool for Americans, but let’s group together and tear them down like jealous high schoolers on the regular” I mean what else does this behavior say. I lived overseas for years and loved it! They can say whatever they want, our culture has permeated everywhere I travelled to. They tease our military presence, but who would your country call if someone bombed your country? I don’t think my country is the greatest, we’re actually in shambles…but the xenophobia towards us in BP is ridiculous and I’m over it. Get off our d***s.
Jeremy Bundy 1 year ago
Just started posting. I love my country. There's a lot of s**t I don't agree with, but I was raised to respect everyone, until they give u a reason not to. Really easy to judge people. Keep that in mind.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
aaahhhhh this was so stupid, i guess i must be REALLY bored that i didnt just ignored it
Erik Granqvist 1 year ago
I have never met anyone from USA here in Sweden that was not nice, friendly and open to our culture. Of course you can tell they are not from here - but that is part of the charm.
Exotic Butters 1 year ago
I just skip these ones. Honestly I don't care if someone pegs me as American. I am American and glad to be American. I dont care what Europe thinks lol.
David Paterson 1 year ago
It took me a long time to realise, but Americans speak English with correct grammar. Australians will um, ah, and finish a sentence in the middle, even politicians. Londoners abbreviate everything, so for instance the sentence "do you have a light?" Is simply pronounced "I". Indians run words in sentences together so a complete sentence becomes one word. But Americans speak complete sentences with perfect grammar.
Dirty Shirt 1 year ago
I'm American and welcome humorous or interesting critiques, even if they might hurt my feelings. This is just dumb.
Papa 1 year ago
In addition to anti-American, there also seems to be an anti-capitalism bias here. There have been several times when someone would post that capitalism is horrible, I would respond that yes, it's got its issues, but what alternative do you propose?, only to have my reply mysteriously disappear (as this one probably will).
Rostit. . 1 year ago
that is not a thing. No one I know has a loyalty to a burger brand. you either talked to the 3 people who do or are making things up. again this is not a thing.
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Exotic Butters 1 year ago
You accept the premise that Americans are rude and horrible and we need to be more like some other people group. I disagree with that premise and so find your post to be absurd.
Load More Replies... LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
So you think that constantly bashing and stereotyping part of your reader base is alright? Hmm, I'm not even from the United States and I find the amount of listcles BoredPanda posts stereotyping readers from the U.S. pretty darn disturbing and I'm liberal as all hell. Also, telling people to calm down when they are fed up and annoyed isn't very nice.
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MaximumKarmaSaint 1 year ago
The problem is that we accept criticism from ourselves. If I said your country was terrible, listed a bunch of fake reasons, without ever going there, generalizing your country's entirety, then would you be mad? The people who can criticize a country are the people from/in that country, the same reason why if I criticized china with generalizations, I would be called a racists.
Load More Replies... Emma S 1 year ago (edited)
Stop attacking Americans. It's not funny anymore and has gone past a joke into blantant xenophobia. Yes, there are people there who act entitled and lack understanding of other cultures, but those people exist in every country in the world. I'm British and can confirm they certainly exist here as well. Some British people still act very entitled in Europe. I saw people getting upset at Schipol airport because they had to wait in the bigger queue when going through immigration like they didn't vote for it.
Tams21 1 year ago
I totally agree, BP is starting to cross an ugly line with with these constant articles about the US.
Load More Replies... sofacushionfort 1 year ago
Thank you, all non-USA pandas who respond to these articles with nuance, reason and actual empirical knowledge of the topic
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
I'm originally from the United Kingdom and I find listicles like this just flat out cruel. I actually just wrote a note to BoredPanda letting them know that they are alienating their reader base and ruining the integrity of this site with cruel listicles like this. They'll probably never read it though because they couldn't care less about their readers.
Load More Replies... LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
Jesus freaking Christ, BoredPanda. What the hell has happened to this site? It is nothing but AITA listcles and nasty stereotypes aimed at your readers. You have totally lost what this site used to be. Do you think it is funny to constantly stereotype and attack your readers from a specific country? Must be nice to get paid to insult people, Migle. Do you even listen to your readers anymore or care what they have to say? I have family in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Denmark and let me tell you there are entitled people all around the world. Stop alienating and insulting your readers--it's freaking petty and immature. I'm sorry, BoredPanda writers can't even call themselves writers when all they do is copy-and-paste c**p like this from Reddit.
Rostit. . 1 year ago
wait, but they do write some little drivel in the middle that no one ever reads because why would you? (i fully agree, they are not writers, they are click bait posters). I wish I had the drive to submit a " 140 dumb things that "writers" on BP believe"
Load More Replies... LuckyLouise 1 year ago
Pretty sick of the American bashing theme on BP. Not the first time (or tenth). Think I’m done with this site.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I really wish BP would go back to cute animal pictures and wholesome threads. I'm tired of the xenophobia. I'm tired of recycled Reddit posts. I'm tired of the angst. I'm tired of the nonsense. The Bored Panda community is by far the best. If BP loses that, it's nothing. A shame BP seems to be trying to "unalive" itself.
maswartz 1 year ago
This, I started coming here because of the cute stuff. I don't want to see nonstop AITA things about people being horrible. I don't want to see stuff torn off of reddit!
Load More Replies... digitalin 1 year ago
I was kind of hoping this list was going to be more like "Americans eat slices of pie starting with the corner, not the crust" or "When Americans count on their fingers, they use their thumb last, not first" or "Americans will ask for the salad before the main course, not after" or other quirky things (I don't know if these are actually true about Europe, I've just heard them) that would be interesting, and not the standard "Americans are loud, fat, and only speak English" stuff that's been beaten to death here.
maswartz 1 year ago
The worst part of these is you just KNOW BP would be too terrified to run even half as many articles about other nationalities.
MaximumKarmaSaint 1 year ago
The worst part is they'd actually probably defend those countries, and then go right back to America-Bashing.
Load More Replies... Mushy “MushyWaffle” Waffles 1 year ago
Wow 90% of these are completely untrue. Most of these take obscure stereotypes, add in a little vitriol, and regurgitate. This list is garbage.
Dave In MD 1 year ago
How to know if someone is non-American, they are obsessed with how Americans measure things or what we call things. Yes we know you call a different sport Football, no we are not going to call our game "American Football" in our own country when talking to other Americans.
Scorched Goat Policy 1 year ago
How do we report these as being bigoted and inappropriate? BP censors some ridiculous stuff, but when it comes to writing bigoted and xenophobic articles, that's just fine, apparently. Maybe it's time to just ditch this site.
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
Scorched Goat, I've tried countless times to report how nasty and cruel listicles like this are, but BoredPanda does nothing. If you want to try, you can click on the "contact" button. Once in the "contact" page, select "report post". You can provide the URL of this article and explain how you find it xenophobic and hurtful. Maube even enough people write something, they'll stop posting things like this.
Load More Replies... Rocco MZ 1 year ago
I live a New England East Coast City VERY popular with tourists from all over the world. It's not Boston either. We can spot tourists a mile away by the way they dress, act, talk, and how they observe things. For whatever reason, they seem to know I live here because people always stop and ask for directions or recommendations. And yes, some of them are annoying. But I also know that they aren't a true representation of everyone from their county. This site has gotten so anti- American that I'm about done with site.
QUINN SANE 1 year ago
Seems more like a passive aggressive list of things Americans do that bother others.
JayWantsACat 1 year ago
Ah, yes the "'Americans are so ignorant" they laugh, as they make ignorant generalizations." Look, I'm the first one to make fun of my nation and it's people but many of these are asinine, lack self-awareness, and/or just massive assumptions or projections. Thank you to those that offer thoughtful, useful criticisms. That understand that while we don't have nearly the largest population that we're a massive country that operates less like a country, like yours, and more like the EU or UN. That we're not homogenous and the differences between Americans are some of the most extreme. We can take criticism and friendly ribbing, but reading the same tired, lazy comments from the same type of people we're generalized as can be annoying. I'm sure you can understand, for which I thank you.
Lucy 1 year ago
It’s like they’re obsessed with us, can’t leave us alone. “We’re all better and too cool for Americans, but let’s group together and tear them down like jealous high schoolers on the regular” I mean what else does this behavior say. I lived overseas for years and loved it! They can say whatever they want, our culture has permeated everywhere I travelled to. They tease our military presence, but who would your country call if someone bombed your country? I don’t think my country is the greatest, we’re actually in shambles…but the xenophobia towards us in BP is ridiculous and I’m over it. Get off our d***s.
Jeremy Bundy 1 year ago
Just started posting. I love my country. There's a lot of s**t I don't agree with, but I was raised to respect everyone, until they give u a reason not to. Really easy to judge people. Keep that in mind.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
aaahhhhh this was so stupid, i guess i must be REALLY bored that i didnt just ignored it
Erik Granqvist 1 year ago
I have never met anyone from USA here in Sweden that was not nice, friendly and open to our culture. Of course you can tell they are not from here - but that is part of the charm.
Exotic Butters 1 year ago
I just skip these ones. Honestly I don't care if someone pegs me as American. I am American and glad to be American. I dont care what Europe thinks lol.
David Paterson 1 year ago
It took me a long time to realise, but Americans speak English with correct grammar. Australians will um, ah, and finish a sentence in the middle, even politicians. Londoners abbreviate everything, so for instance the sentence "do you have a light?" Is simply pronounced "I". Indians run words in sentences together so a complete sentence becomes one word. But Americans speak complete sentences with perfect grammar.
Dirty Shirt 1 year ago
I'm American and welcome humorous or interesting critiques, even if they might hurt my feelings. This is just dumb.
Papa 1 year ago
In addition to anti-American, there also seems to be an anti-capitalism bias here. There have been several times when someone would post that capitalism is horrible, I would respond that yes, it's got its issues, but what alternative do you propose?, only to have my reply mysteriously disappear (as this one probably will).
Rostit. . 1 year ago
that is not a thing. No one I know has a loyalty to a burger brand. you either talked to the 3 people who do or are making things up. again this is not a thing.
Load More Replies... Exotic Butters 1 year ago
You accept the premise that Americans are rude and horrible and we need to be more like some other people group. I disagree with that premise and so find your post to be absurd.
Load More Replies... LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
So you think that constantly bashing and stereotyping part of your reader base is alright? Hmm, I'm not even from the United States and I find the amount of listcles BoredPanda posts stereotyping readers from the U.S. pretty darn disturbing and I'm liberal as all hell. Also, telling people to calm down when they are fed up and annoyed isn't very nice.
Load More Replies... MaximumKarmaSaint 1 year ago
The problem is that we accept criticism from ourselves. If I said your country was terrible, listed a bunch of fake reasons, without ever going there, generalizing your country's entirety, then would you be mad? The people who can criticize a country are the people from/in that country, the same reason why if I criticized china with generalizations, I would be called a racists.
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