People Online Listed 30 Things Americans Are Familiar With, But Europeans Can’t Relate To
While both the US and Europe are mostly considered Western cultures, and they are deemed neighbors from across the pond, there are still some substantial differences between the two that people just can’t stop pointing out because they are curious and they want to partake in this cultural learning experience.
Reddit user u/Dependent-End5909 turned to r/AskReddit with the question what is something Americans have which Europeans don't have? Over 21,000 comments later, the post went viral with nearly 22,000 upvotes and over 60 Reddit awards.
110-volt outlets, huge refrigerators and garbage disposals were just some of the many great things Reddit pointed out, so strap up and start scrolling to see the best answers found in the post. And while you’re at it, vote, comment and give us some examples of things.
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Ulf67 said:
The Grand Canyon
dimacq replied:
Oh yes!!!! And I’d say the whole system of National Parks is just amazing! Open 24/7 (unless some weather or gov’t shutdown), maps available, trails laid out, camping spots designated… It’s the most treasured and inderappreciated thing in the US, IMO.
The Grand Canyon is so big that it only looks like a canyon in certain places. I prefer narrower canyons (Walnut Canyon is also in Arizona and is less crowded).
Space. I love spending time in Europe, but man, it is amazing to come home and have hundreds of thousands of square miles of just open country to explore, hike, ride, camp, etc...
A lot of it isn't even in national or state parks (which are also amazing).
"Refrigerators the size of my flat." - every European who has seen my moderately-sized refrigerator
No-Dark-9414 said:
Florida Man
Ilmara said:
Europe has Polish Man and Russian Man.
Mourning doves. They're cute and chubby, and their boo-hoo-hoo songs sound like wooden flutes.
Mourning doves are rural areas' pigeons, but much, much nicer to have around. They are monogamous and mate for life, and their call is lovely.
Ranch.
Like why is it so good, why don’t we have it. And can we please exchange boris Johnston for a bottle. He’s be good in your circus
Trek1973 said:
Good Mexican food
burningfirelily replied:
Man so im a Mexican who wants to move to a European country but my biggest fear is losing access to ingredients to make my food and also having to endure whatever the heck people in those countries believe is "authentic" Mexican food.
Legal right turn on red, I don't always agree with Jeremy Clarkson but in this instance he's correct that's it's one of the US's greatest contributions to society.
Drive in EVERYTHING! Drive in Starbucks, I’ve head Drive in Banks, that’s so crazy to me
Drive-in liquor stores, pharmacies, food.....I'd trade in all those drive-ins in for drive-in movies. Wish they would come back everywhere like it used to be!
Root beer is a popular beverage in the United States. Visitors from Europe frequently comment on how "strange" it tastes.
The road splits in two. It's a beloved American ritual that foreigners are unfamiliar with. Imgur
I tried it once. It tasted like cough medicine that had been carbonated. No thanks.
zephyr1004 said:
We have a high drinking age at 21.
UnilateralWithdrawal replied:
Europe is definitely more laid back. I’ve been to manufacturing plants in Germany where beer is sold out of vending machines.
I do wonder sometimes if having a high drinking age or even maybe just having an age restriction at all possibly does more harm than good. Not saying we should be giving our children shots or anything but just making it such a taboo and not really discussed thing in family life outside of don't do it. When people finally can drink whether legally or through just having the means we typically overdo it and don't have a good sense of how to moderate (or want).
Pancakes with maple syrup.
...date German, and she is super confused why there is so much sugar in the American breakfast. Go to the U.K. and there is none...go to Amsterdam where pancakes are practically the national specialty, and they are mostly savory!
Not entirely. We have loads of sugar maples in New England, and a thriving maple syrup business. Vermont, in particular, controls its inventory and the quality thereof much like European wine and cheese standards are controlled. My daughter taps our sugar maples every year; we get about a gallon per year.
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In Germany, pancakes with sugar and apple sauce are a popular sweet lunch for kids, same as milk rice with sugar and cinnamon or semolina porridge and cherries. Our pancakes are unleavened though and taste different.
Pancakes and maple syrup definitely exist in the uk - you can either get maple flavoured syrup which is cheap, or get the good proper maple syrup that costs way more - I prefer the proper stuff.
I guess the difference is it's not an everyday breakfast thing. In Australia it was mostly a 'sweets' aka dessert thing, until the influence of America in, I'm guessing, the 70s. Now it's can be either sweets or breakfast (usually on a weekend, especially after a sleepover).
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Well, I visited Scotland and had some really nice proper Scottish Breakfast. I guess you can count fruit pudding as something sweet :-) but with black and white pudding, haggis, sausages, bacon, beans, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms there is not much space for anything else. except maybe toast :-D Did I miss anything? God, I love that food.
OPmay be referring to the Full English Breakfast. Aka a fry-up. Arguably less unhealthy than the full sugar cereals (since baked beans contain natural fibre, as well as sugar in the sauce). It IS possible to do a healthier version by grilling the meat and poaching the egg and get low sugar beans.
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Less sugar is actually more healthy, I'd say that's a plus. Nonetheless, maple syrup from your Canadian neighbor is delicious
You are wrong. Pancakes and maple syrup has been colonised. Many restaurants here in africa offer it, or something similar. And it's perfectly acceptable to have sweet stuff for breakfast. Well, not breakfast cereal, as W***y Wonka says, that's pencil shavings.
BOOOORRRRED PANDA IT IS A CHARACTER IN A NOVEL NOT GENITALIA YOUR ALGORITHM IS LAMEEEEE
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New York State (not New York City) has lots of sugar maples, in Western NY State where I live (between Buffalo and Rochester) there are half a dozen maple farms within 30 miles of here. It's a big business for many people. Yes pancakes and maple syrup is sugary for breakfast but you'd also have meat such as bacon or sausage with it, and fruit, you wouldn't have pancakes and syrup by itself.
American breakfasts are very sweet I agree with her there. A donut or cinnimon roll is not brealfast
Sugar was a popular cash crop in the New World, making it regularly available over here and it became a staple ingredient in our cuisine as a result. That’s my top of the head, no research explanation for why American dishes have so much sugar
Well let’s give our Canadian neighbors credit. Authentic Maple syrup is a Canadian staple.
To all the people claiming cultural appropriation, I would say one of the greatest things about the US is that it's a melting pot, combining and putting our own spin on culture from all over the world. Immigration has and does define us as a people, sometimes in terrible ways, but also in wonderful ways!
Dutch people pour syrup all over their pancakes. It just isn't maple syrup.
I gained 4 kilo's when visiting a friend for 3 weeks in the US. They really expect you to eat 6 thick pancakes for breakfast.
I hear this a lot from visiting Europeans, but I don’t really know anyone who even eats breakfast on weekdays. Did they seriously get you up and expect you to eat six pancakes daily? Maybe they were trying to treat you? We’re they farmers? A slice of toast and coffee is taking some special me time most days.
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We Americans don’t know the definition of savory. Never heard the word before.
Eh? UK we don't eat a cooked breakfast everyday. That's a treat. Most people will have a very basic brekkie. Cereal (with or without the added sugars - depends on what you buy), porridge or toast.
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Garbage disposal units are installed beneath the kitchen sink.
I had one, once in Melbourne, I turned it on to play around with it, but never used it. I can just walk and scrape my plate into a regular bin just fine 😆
Automatic ice dispensers in your fridges. It's such an American thing you only find it on fridges that are labelled "American style"
AC. Been back a forth a lot, AC.
I live in Florida and without AC you could die of heat stroke. It’s not throughout the entire country though. When I went to Carmel (near Monterey) they didn’t have AC. As a Florida girl I was shocked.
OkAnteater9569 said:
At home or somewhere else, they have screens on their windows.
blackwe11_ninja replied:
You mean mosquito screens? We have them too. In my city you would have to be insane not to have one.
Just found this out on another post: our own graves. Apparently graves are often dug up and reused in Europe and Australia. They’re owned by the government and will not always be yours. The only reason why we don’t do the same is because we are a younger country and we haven’t run out of room to bury people yet.
I worked for a US firm (I’m From the UK). There are many differences, but the one that used to cause so many problems was the term “Fortnight” - not commonly used in that part of the US, so they used “Bi Weekly” for the same thing. Except in the UK that means twice a week
I always find myself finding everything cheaper in america online stores than in european stores. Especially with hardware, woodworking, light machinery.
As many pointed out, USA don't include sales tax in the price. But then again as others pointed out, its only 6% whilst mine is 25% on all goods at home. So USA prices are still comparatively low even when included American 6% tax. It would only be worth to order tho if I actually lived in USA tho because of import duties.
PixieBaronicsi said:
College sports
Oneinchwalrus replied:
This one I'll give you. Universities play each other in sports, but nowhere to the scale in America. For football (soccer), most players can be in clubs' academies from the age of 5/6, finish school at 16 and then just go straight into reserve/first team squads, whereas in America they play sports in school, university, then get picked up by clubs
However, the bad thing is that college sports raise millions in profits, but amateur sportspeople don't get any of it.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Why are they trying to spread jelly on the peanut butter like a sociopath.
Bigger portions/sizes. As an example I think a small or regular pb jar is probably considered large in European countries.
Perfect conditions for road trips. Nice roads, no border control, gas stations, sights, motels. Its perfect.
24 Countries With Better Infrastructure Than America (https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-with-better-infrastructure-2013-3?IR=T ) While the U.S. benefits greatly from the sheer size of its economy, excellent universities, flexible labor markets, and innovative businesses, it's falling behind on the overall quality of infrastructure. The U.S. ranked 25 in this category, falling behind countries like Saudi Arabia, Spain, and South Korea. France ranks 1st for quality of roads and 4th for quality of railroads. It ranks in the top 30 for all categories and fourth for overall infrastructure. Source: World Economic Forum
As a middle (or east?) European who was in the US 16 years ago, amazing sweets selection! Please send Twizzlers to Slovakia!
AioliEnvironmental58 said:
Outlets with 110 volts
-Reddit_Account- replied:
We have 220v outlets as well, but they’re usually reserved for applications that actually need it like dishwashers and washing machines.
Next time you clean behind your washing machine, look at the plug - it’s a much different one from the one you usually see on walls. That’s a 220v plug.
On your breaker box you’ll also notice that the breaker switches for those appliances are twice as thick.
either 220 or 240, I forget the exact number. Point is, you have plugs that have twice the potential of normal US wall plugs.
Note: this post originally had 36 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
My experience of Americans (over 22 years and citizenship) is that they tend to think that everything they have is "the best" and that nobody else has it. I have been told the following things are exclusively American and don't exist anywhere else in the world: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, best education system, best social life, best income, best medicine. I find these arguments are generally made by people who have never been outside North America. Nothing you say will convince them otherwise.
*snort* most of America's stuff was made somewhere else lol
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I bit of research could have been done on this, very few of these are actually unique to the US, many are available all over, if they're unusual then it's through choice more often than not - especially the food related ones
My favorite american expression is "As American as apple pie." I think it perfectly summarizes american mentality given the fact that apples are not even indigenous to the Americas and people in Europe had been making apple pies for thousands of years.
As Irish as potatoes, then? As Italian as tomato sauces? both used for *thousands of years* before Europeans got them, but they're seen as iconic even in Europe, of European nations, to which the plants are not indigenous? .... We inherited the mindset from our European ancestors, as you can see.
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it's at least not a "here's what sucks" article, but really there have been sooooooo many of these. is the internet really this out of content?
My takeaway, which is from someone who *has* traveled outside North America: People from abroad have ideas of what is "American" that can be just as false as any ideas about any country held by an American. Assuming beer is "just German" is just as silly as thinking maple syrup is only Canadian, for example. And yet... People fall into these stereotype traps anyway.
You are right, but I always thought maple trees that give mape syrup only grow in Canada and some of the Northern parts of the US?
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Several decades ago, a relative from France worked in San Francisco for two years. His two favourite aspects: big breakfasts and calling his bosses by their first names. His ex-wife did not adapt. She brought her biases and left a year later, biases and lack of English intact. Too bad. I'm happy for their kids, though. Both learned English and one now works as a medical translator.
That's sad, SanFran is one of those places that has a good reputation outside USA for being more openminded and cultured etc.
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I wish Goldfish Crackers were more available in Ireland. They’re my favourite.
Was made by an American? Because most of the things are available in any country lol
Gonna get downvoted but America and Europe arn’t the only continents on Earth...
I've heard lemonade is hard to find in Europe (maybe just the UK?). Apparently you get Sprite if you ask for a lemonade over there.
forgot school shootings and morons that argue against gun control even after school shootings
but heaven help you if you bring a waterbottle or nail file onto the plane... omg. Potential terrorist. But ignore billybob McHickson over here with his AR15.
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I'm surprised nobody mentioned orange juice! I lived most of my life in Florida (US), though spent most summers based in the Netherlands while also travelling throughout all "western Europe", and some countries in " eastern Europe", and I've never tasted any orange juice outside the US that I'd even consider drinkable! The joy of a glass of 100% Florida orange juice is just amazing, whether you juice the oranges yourself or get it from any of the ubiquitous breakfast restaurants around the state that juice on site or even right at your table! I can deal with the lack of spicy foods in Europe (specifically Tex-Mex or Caribbean) because there is so much other good food available, but no good OJ?! The horror!
I've been told it's the opposite for apple juice. I wonder why we can't all agree to make good juices. lol
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Then there's leaving a tip at a restaurant. Also, I was suprised my niece & nephew who live in Scandanavia had never heard of or seen red hot dogs or fireflies/lightning bugs.
How are we the only ones that have hummingbirds? They are magistic as fk.
aN ArTiClE CoMpArInG ThE UsA To eUrOpE??? wHaT A UnIqUe aNd tOtAlLy oRiGiNaL AnD NoT AnNoYiNgLy rEpEtAtIvE IdEa! /s
My experience of Americans (over 22 years and citizenship) is that they tend to think that everything they have is "the best" and that nobody else has it. I have been told the following things are exclusively American and don't exist anywhere else in the world: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, best education system, best social life, best income, best medicine. I find these arguments are generally made by people who have never been outside North America. Nothing you say will convince them otherwise.
*snort* most of America's stuff was made somewhere else lol
Load More Replies... I bit of research could have been done on this, very few of these are actually unique to the US, many are available all over, if they're unusual then it's through choice more often than not - especially the food related ones
My favorite american expression is "As American as apple pie." I think it perfectly summarizes american mentality given the fact that apples are not even indigenous to the Americas and people in Europe had been making apple pies for thousands of years.
As Irish as potatoes, then? As Italian as tomato sauces? both used for *thousands of years* before Europeans got them, but they're seen as iconic even in Europe, of European nations, to which the plants are not indigenous? .... We inherited the mindset from our European ancestors, as you can see.
Load More Replies... it's at least not a "here's what sucks" article, but really there have been sooooooo many of these. is the internet really this out of content?
My takeaway, which is from someone who *has* traveled outside North America: People from abroad have ideas of what is "American" that can be just as false as any ideas about any country held by an American. Assuming beer is "just German" is just as silly as thinking maple syrup is only Canadian, for example. And yet... People fall into these stereotype traps anyway.
You are right, but I always thought maple trees that give mape syrup only grow in Canada and some of the Northern parts of the US?
Load More Replies... Several decades ago, a relative from France worked in San Francisco for two years. His two favourite aspects: big breakfasts and calling his bosses by their first names. His ex-wife did not adapt. She brought her biases and left a year later, biases and lack of English intact. Too bad. I'm happy for their kids, though. Both learned English and one now works as a medical translator.
That's sad, SanFran is one of those places that has a good reputation outside USA for being more openminded and cultured etc.
Load More Replies... I wish Goldfish Crackers were more available in Ireland. They’re my favourite.
Was made by an American? Because most of the things are available in any country lol
Gonna get downvoted but America and Europe arn’t the only continents on Earth...
I've heard lemonade is hard to find in Europe (maybe just the UK?). Apparently you get Sprite if you ask for a lemonade over there.
forgot school shootings and morons that argue against gun control even after school shootings
but heaven help you if you bring a waterbottle or nail file onto the plane... omg. Potential terrorist. But ignore billybob McHickson over here with his AR15.
Load More Replies... I'm surprised nobody mentioned orange juice! I lived most of my life in Florida (US), though spent most summers based in the Netherlands while also travelling throughout all "western Europe", and some countries in " eastern Europe", and I've never tasted any orange juice outside the US that I'd even consider drinkable! The joy of a glass of 100% Florida orange juice is just amazing, whether you juice the oranges yourself or get it from any of the ubiquitous breakfast restaurants around the state that juice on site or even right at your table! I can deal with the lack of spicy foods in Europe (specifically Tex-Mex or Caribbean) because there is so much other good food available, but no good OJ?! The horror!
I've been told it's the opposite for apple juice. I wonder why we can't all agree to make good juices. lol
Load More Replies... Then there's leaving a tip at a restaurant. Also, I was suprised my niece & nephew who live in Scandanavia had never heard of or seen red hot dogs or fireflies/lightning bugs.
How are we the only ones that have hummingbirds? They are magistic as fk.
aN ArTiClE CoMpArInG ThE UsA To eUrOpE??? wHaT A UnIqUe aNd tOtAlLy oRiGiNaL AnD NoT AnNoYiNgLy rEpEtAtIvE IdEa! /s
