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There probably isn't a country in the world that can escape stereotypes about its people. The French are all snobs, Germans are all incredibly organized and love rules, the Japanese are really hard workers, and all Australians eat is shrimp on the barbie. Americans are probably the most stereotyped people of all.
Especially online, the Internet is ripe with folks having all kinds of opinions about those who live in the U.S. of A. In one thread, people shared their opinions prompted by the question, "What are obvious immediate giveaways that someone is an American?" The answers ranged from quite wholesome ones like the enviable social skills many Americans might have to more quirky ones like the all-American condiment – ranch.
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#1
When they use burgers per bald eagle instead of km/h.
Raquel Mencke 11 months ago
Clearly, they have not seen the bananas for measurement conspiracy.
MushroomHead22 11 months ago (edited)
this isn't funny. and not because you mention 2 very american things, but because literally no american has ever said anything remotely close to this.
Oerff On Tour 11 months ago
Something Americans are doing not quite good at
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#2
They try to explain to me, an Italian, that they're just as Italian as me because their great great great grandfather's second cousin's aunt was italian, then proceed to lecture me on what being italian really means, then tell me I'm wrong about my own country and culture.
arthbach 11 months ago
Iampenny, and the Scots. I wonder if the same will be true of Koreans, and Indians is a few generations. The people who claim they are that nationality because of a genetic link have totally failed to understand how important the culture and cultural immersion is. Eg, the new Doctor Who is Ncuti Gatwa is Scottish. Sure, he was born in Rwanda to a long line of Rwandans, but he grew up in Scotland, and is culturally Scottish. We claim him as one of our own. There are people in Boston, USA who might been 100% Irish genetically, but that doesn't make them Irish. They didn't grow up and assimilate the cultural norms, the expectations etc of Ireland. And they often don't take into consideration that a lot has happened in Ireland since the Great Famine; the Boston-Irish are a distinct cultural group, and have a different shared history than the actual Irish.
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DeoManus Argentem 11 months ago (edited)
As a country of majority immigrants, we don't have an answer that satisfies everyone. My paternal grandparents both came from Netherlands, my maternal side is mixed of German and various Scandinavian origin, but has been "American" since the late 1700s... I call myself "American" because both my parents and myself were born here... But then I am certainly not "Native American" (eg, Seminole, Pueblo, Cherokee, Iroquois, etc, etc.) What am I? Can't please everyone or anyone, heh. Edit: and still more people will get upset, saying, "but America isn't just one country it's two continents! (Or one, depending on where you went to school)" lol
Michael Largey 11 months ago
Instead of claiming "I'm Irish" when I was in Belfast, I said "My four grandparents immigrated to America from here."
Verfin22 11 months ago
My Italian father emigrated here in the 50's. My only claim to his heritage is my skin color and love for the cuisine. He never even taught me the language, except curse words.😆
The Mediterranean Fruit 11 months ago (edited)
In my opinion, an American can only say that they are Italian, Irish etc. If one of these applies: both of their grandparents were born and raised in Italy, one of their parents immigrated from Italy, they grew up in Italy or they are more than 50% of that ethnicity. I'm an American, but I am 90% Norwegian. I've never been to Norway, and I don't speak the language. If someone asks me, I don't say that I'm Norwegian. But that is my heritage and that's where my roots are. Because being American is a culture and a lifestyle, it's not an ethnicity.
Richienotsorich 11 months ago
You never hear of 'British Americans' or 'English Americans'...always African American, Irish American or Italian American.
#3
When they think liberals are the far left.
Nils Skirnir 11 months ago
US liberals would be center right in Australia or Japan, far right in NZ, and far left only in Hungary.
Jrog 11 months ago
Only because Hungary is the flaming trashpile of Europe.
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KatSaidWhat 11 months ago
Libtards is an expression I have come to really hate. Yeah, sorry I want rights that aren't about guns and female body control.
Antoinette the Red 11 months ago
Or, Liberal Tears. We can't collect Republican tears 'cause they are made of corrosive acid.
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Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
USED to be, GOP and Dems were able to acknowledge good ideas, no matter who had 'em. I mean Nixon signed the EPA into law fer cryin out loud.
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
I'm an American who knows better. Many Americans would think I'm a socialist. But what I really want is a return of the policies both parties offered during the 70's and 80's.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
The US Liberals would be mid Right in Sweden. We have eight major parties, and they would be to the right of six of those parties.
Michael P. 11 months ago
In Canada, it's often implied that Conservative party is more left wing than the U.S. Democrats, pre-2016 of course. The Conservative party is a mix of red and blue Tories. Red Tories being the fiscal conservative and socially liberal types while blue Tories were both the fiscal and socially conservatives, or true blue conservatives as they call them.
#4
Displaying a huge U.S. flag on their vehicle... In the U.S.... Never quite understood the concept behind that one. No joke it baffles me.
Janissary35680 11 months ago
On the vehicle, in the yard, on the house, on the roof, on the dog, on the cat... Just about anywhere there's room for a flag basically.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
But if a liberal uses the American flag in some sort of protest, the patriots have a hissy fit.
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DowntownStevieB 11 months ago
Trust, it baffles us in the U.S. too. It's like a sure-fire sign you're a little member Trumper.
Frances Pitchoune 11 months ago (edited)
Why be ashamed of your flag? It seems like a new fashion in the world... (By the way, I'm Canadian)
David Morgan 11 months ago
I don't think the argument is that Americans should be ashamed of the flag - it's just curious that the flag is given so much prominence. Being proud of the country it represents is taken as the default of citizens in most countries, so they don't need to keep drawing attention to it.
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Dusty's mom 11 months ago
American flags have become a symbol of white supremacy. Symbolic chips on the shoulders of certain whites who dare you to say anything about them. They're ready to "defend the flag" against those they think are enemies. They've ruined patriotism for me. I love my country, but not - never - in a way that minimalizes other people. It's the people and land we need to defend - not a piece of bunting.
Nicola Roberts 11 months ago
I'm not sure if just my opinion (it's not something I usually discuss) but I feel any nationalism, especially with flags is synonymous with far right ideologies. Patriotism no longer means support for your country but a dark hatred for anything that isn't you. I think this is world wide not just the US.
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Diana Lucas 11 months ago
Many of us Americans also think them flying flags off their vehicles is idiotic as well. Only a certain subset of Americans do that, and we all know what group that is.
Maris madness 11 months ago
I guess we learned nothing from the divide this election caused and are going to continue with the hatred and name calling if those with different opinions
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Dar Mal 11 months ago
after 9/11, I made a comment that the last time I saw that much flag waving was in 1936 Germany... The ROTC instructor did NOT appreciate that!
BarfyCat 11 months ago
In that era I put on my online dating profile "do not message me if you have an American flag bumper sticker on your car." It was a good way to weed out the bad apples.
Load More Replies... #5
My friend (Australian) walked into a McDonalds in the US and there was a man sitting at one of the tables reading a Bible and openly wearing a gun around his waist. That is a uniquely American combination.
Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
Remember, non-Americans, this varies widely state to state. Thankfully, I live in Massachusetts where there is none of this nonsense.
Tyranamar Suess 11 months ago
What states have you visited? Anywhere down south? Or say, in the Indiana region?
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Robert Beveridge 11 months ago
Was at a duct tape festival (yes, and it was awesome!) with my son, who was then 10. Stopped to get something to eat, tland concessions was also using the same tent as the biergarten. Which made it wonderful watching a guy open-carry pound two and a half beers while we were eating our brats...
Orange Panda 11 months ago
Tell me he was in the south without telling me he was in the south.
MushroomHead22 11 months ago
again this is how to spot an american. spotting them in america is not what this is about.
Tyranamar Suess 11 months ago
This is why I'm willing to pay extra to live in California. Expensive as hell, but great weather and it's a blue state. Although I live in a notoriously republican county.
#6
When they say they are in Europe and not France, Germany etc.
Janissary35680 11 months ago
(Looks at date app on phone) "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium".
Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
When people make generalizations about the US and not Massachusetts, Texas, California, Colorado, etc. Here's the thing folks- for many people i the US it is a goal/dream to go to the continent of Europe and visit one or several countries and so in their mind, they are going to Europe and are excited about it. Lighten up...
Parmeisan 11 months ago (edited)
[Edit.. on second thought I see that you probably were turning it around on them on purpose. But I will leave my embarrassing comment here because I'm not a fan of deleted comments but... oops.] It's funny because you're commenting on the one that talks about making generalizations about Europe instead of France, Germany, etc. They are literally talking about being annoyed by the thing you are saying you are also annoyed by. As a Canadian I totally get the part about just wanting to visit any country in Europe but your first sentence is still hilarious.
Load More Replies... Nitka Tsar 11 months ago
Well… their country is literally called America. United States of America, sure, but everyone shortens stuff like that. Everyone calls my country just Germany instead of Federal republic of Germany.
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Lena Flising 11 months ago
Yup! Europe have lots of different countries. Sweden has little in common with Turkey or Hungary, for example, and Portugal is nothing like Russia.
Queeqec 11 months ago
Turkey is not European, as 97% of Turkey is Asia and only the remaining 3% is in Europe.
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Jonas Fisher 11 months ago
C'mon, for years Brits used to refer to the rest of Europe as "the continent." And who is it that a person is talking to while in Paris that the person would have to mention where they are?
SDLT010 11 months ago
I'm American and know the difference between The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Load More Replies... #7
Deliberating whether or not to go to the hospital after a serious injury.
Jane No Dough 11 months ago
Hmm, live the rest of my life in poverty or take my chances with Death?
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
Would you rather die of infection or starvation?
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Cindi Antrobus 11 months ago
Bankrupt my self or see if I can out smart death. I most likely will try and out smart death.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
I live in Sweden, and our right-wing government (half of which are still to the left of the US Liberals) wants to turn us into Little USA. They intend to make prescription medication more expensive. Our poor retired people will be forced to choose between food and medication. Meanwhile they have given themselves and other filthy rich people a tax-cut.
#8
VOLUME.
aural89:
In a museum in London where everyone is speaking quietly, and then BOOM, an American accent out of nowhere just catches you so off guard.
ewoofk:
You hear most of them before you see them.
Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
I was in Hiroshima recently at Peace Museum about the nuclear bomb that annihilated Hiroshima. Very solemn and dead quiet... until some people started speaking Portuguese loudly. Every culture has its rude and loud people.
DeoManus Argentem 11 months ago
Heh, my buddy and I (US Americans) were travelling by train between Luxemborg and Switzerland having a polite conversation with a much older British man in our quad, when we heard very loud folks behind us chatting - the Brit was telling us he'd bet us anything they were either Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian.
The Mediterranean Fruit 11 months ago
I hope I wasn't too loud when I was in Europe. I was aware that Americans are typically louder, I tried to be considerate and be quiet.
LilDumpling 11 months ago
I didn't know i was a loud talker until I was given hearing aids. Oops
Evelien Stijger Martens 11 months ago (edited)
I am Dutch and iften i find my fellow countrymen shamefully loud, like they want you to know they are there and own their space, only outlouded bij Americens
Evelien Stijger Martens 11 months ago
I am Dutch and i fund my fellow countrymen iften samefully loud, like they want the world to know they are there and they o2n their space, only Amerikans are louder.
Bill 11 months ago
Wow are that many of us really that loud? I'm sorry. I get it, my ex wifes parents only had one conversational volume, screaming at each other, it was surreal man. I'm pretty soft spoken so you wouldn't notice me unless you spoke to me first or I dressed or acted like a tourist or wore a MAGA hat or some silly s**t. But if you see a guy in blue jeans and a T-shirt looking quite smoked out. That might be me.
Keith Lancaster 11 months ago
Part of the problem here is that we only notice the loud Americans.. I know for a fact that lots of people from the USA are not loud and rude but, the ones who are give al the others a bad name.
Jonas Fisher 11 months ago
The flaw with this reasoning (and so much of other arguments) is that the reasoning is circular. "Americans are loud, so loud people are American, and quiet people are not American." I like the extra reasoning that all of these observers know for sure where any accent comes from, too.
#9
Talk of freedom while also worrying about the constant fear of medical bills.
CanadianDimes 11 months ago
I’ll take “communist” medical systems over the freedom to get shot, thanks
Michael Largey 11 months ago
In America, "communism" is any government program that helps people you don't care about.
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Abdullah Abd Rahman 11 months ago
Ordinary Americans have been screwed by their politicians, Democrats or Republicans, who are in cahoots with their rich supporters in the private medical industry or in Big Pharma. Richest country in the world, but doesn't have socialised healthcare. What a scam !
Ripley 11 months ago
And failing to recognise that many other countries enjoy the same freedoms . . .
joseph legatt 11 months ago
Most studies, and yes even by Americans, have the U.S. pretty far down on the freedom scale.
Load More Replies... Lena Flising 11 months ago
Thinking European countries don't have Freedoms, while holding active shooter drills in schools.
Heras buddy 11 months ago
To some they only care about the freedom to have their guns. Politicians distract them with gun rights as they take away other constitutional rights and no one notices. And it's only going to get worse. Next wave is the American political refugees.
Betsy S 11 months ago
But if they deem you solvent, you'll still have to declare bankruptcy because they only treat you free if you have a very basic need and you have exactly 0 dollars to your name.
Load More Replies... #10
When they’re in another country (vacation, business etc) when a local asks them where they’re from they say their state instead of their country. I’m sorry but not many people in Brazil know what a “Delaware” is.
shelbywhore: 'The Midwest' of what, exactly???
Atom Bohr 11 months ago
Or they tell you where their ancestors are from. No, you're not German or Italian if you, your parents, grandparents etc were born in the US
YukiChou 11 months ago
Exactly. If you don't have the passport of said country, you're not of that country. You may be of German, Italian, etc descend, but you're not from that country.
Load More Replies... Orange Panda 11 months ago (edited)
To be fair, that's an every day question, so referring to a state is pretty normal for us. You can help the conversation along by asking what country and if they're polite, they'll be a bit embarrassed, apologize, and say USA or something similar.
Jonas Fisher 11 months ago
Why would anyone ask without knowing the US already? Based on these other entries, everyone always knows a person is an American by voice and clothing, right? So if someone is asking, it would be pretty dumb to just say "I'm from the US," wouldn't it?
Kelly Scott 11 months ago
I don't know about other people, but my fascination with my ancestry is because I want to know how they lived before they arrived in the US, what made them want to leave their countries, who do I take after (I look like my Finnish grandmother even though I'm half German), what habits and culture did my ancestors have that they brought over from the old country, and a million more things. I want to find the village in Germany that my grandfather might have lived in and hopefully see through my eyes what he saw with his. Europeans might think this is all silly, but it grounds me and gives me a sense of where I come from, what made me what I am in how I look, think, or feel. My immigrant great grandparents were influenced by how they lived in their respective countries and in turn, influenced my grandparents and parents. I still have a few snippets of German my grandparents said to my mother and that she passed down to me. "Setti hen" "Kasni not verstehe?" "Donder und blitzen" "Stau up".
Lowrider 56 11 months ago
I was born in Delaware. When I moved to California people would ask me where was I from. 99% of the time when I said Delaware, they would ask what state was that in! They must not teach American History in California. Delaware is called the First State. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constituion
Mjskywalk 11 months ago
As an American I’m not sure I could tell you where Delaware is🤷♀️ It somewhere over there {gestures vaguely to the east side of the US map}.
Michael Largey 11 months ago
Well, it is rather small, so you have to hunt for it on the map.
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Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
I'm an Aussie but lived in the USA for 4 years in the early 70s. I was always amused when people asked what was my nationality, and when I told them, they replied "no I mean where are you really from" ? They were only satisfied when I told them my grandfather had come from the Netherlands. They couldn't grasp that Australian WAS a nationality.
#11
When they say,
"My great great great (ect.) Grandparent was Irish, therefore I'm Irish."
It happens way too often and it genuinely annoys a lot of us Irish people.
Dusty's mom 11 months ago (edited)
Heritage means a lot to Americans. Most of us are transplants who seek a sense of belonging. Many of us are very aware we live on land looted from First Americans. We have no rights to their heritages. But roots really matter to many transplants. It isn't the same saying one is American as it is to say "my heritage is Irish" (or whatever nationality). Yes, it is presumptuous to blatantly claim citizenship of ancestral lands, or deny the citizenship of others. But it should not be wrong to embrace one's heritage.
Hans Georg 11 months ago
If you can't be proud about your current nationality, just take that from your ancestors?
BarfyCat 11 months ago
I mean... I'm pretty sure I would be much better off if my ancestors had stayed put instead of going to America. I would have healthcare and my kid wouldn't be doing school shooting drills.
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Igor914624 11 months ago
The missing subtext from Americans is the hyphenated "-American" that we forget to add. Everyone in the United States is from somewhere else. We don't want to annoy anyone, we just want to know our ancestors.
Kelly Scott 11 months ago
Americans say they're Irish, German, etc, simply because it's so much easier than saying, "I have German heritage, I have Irish heritage, etc. By saying we're say, German, we're implicitly saying we have German heritage and why people can't or won't understand that, I don't know. It comes to the same thing in the end.
Frances Pitchoune 11 months ago (edited)
Well, it's pretty cool that they're proud of their origins. I don't see the problem. I wish I was Irish! 😭
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
My great great great aunties third cousins step fathers dogwalkers best mate was Irish, so so am I! /j
Hoi-Polloi 11 months ago
Sorry about that, but there's nothing to be done about it. We're a nation of immigrants, so our national hobby is talking (inaccurately, mostly!) about The Olde Countrie, whichever one it might be. Maybe you Irishmen should start talking about your Tuatha de Danann ancestry in revenge!
MushroomHead22 11 months ago
no one is truly from where they are from. at some point in the past someone migrated to the place you live and started repopulating. thats what happened in north america, and what happened to the rest of the world before that.... that would be like saying you're not irish but really a viking cause thats who migrated there. it can all be traced back. the biggest difference here is that the americans ancestry in american can be traced back to 300 years ago, but the irish date back 10,000 years.
#12
Claiming that they "Don't have an accent," when literally everybody has an accent.
Firm_Knowledge_5695:
I work in a hotel, and anytime I’m talking to the residents and I can clearly tell that they're from America, I always ask them what state they're from. And 99% of the time, they immediately ask what gave it away, and after I tell them it’s the accent, it’s usually followed by, 'I don’t have an accent.' Never fails to make me giggle.
LB 11 months ago
This is similar to how privilege works. You're the reference category so you don't experience that aspect of your experience consciously. There's a documentary in Dutch called "white is also a color" and the person goes around asking people what color they are. It's very interesting to see how many people here feel like their skin is just skin colored.
CanadianDimes 11 months ago
I took a really interesting training course about this where we talked about white as being the default in western countries and therefore “invisible”. It really hit home for me because when I lived in the US, I was treated as a white American despite not being from there - even friends would make assumptions about my knowledge of the US or my cultural perspectives. Being white, a native English speaker, and not having much of a discernible accent to Americans meant my actual identity was often erased. Living in the UK is different because as soon as I open my mouth, my accent makes it obvious I’m not British (plus I live in London so the default assumption tends to be that everyone is from somewhere else)
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Michael Largey 11 months ago
I'm from Philadelphia originally but live in the Midwest. My Midwestern wife has given up trying to convince me that my friends and relatives from back East talk with an accent. I don't hear any accent - except with one, who has enough accent for three people. With her, I need closed captioning.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
You don't hear your own accent. People around you just sound "normal". I used to live in Gothenburg, Sweden, and didn't hear that much of the accent there. Then I moved to Östergötland, and in the beginning I heard a very thick accent in all people there. Now, after 16 years here, I don't hear it any longer, but I DO hear the Gothenburg accent, when I hear it on the TV or in relatives and friends from there. When we moved here, people asked us "Are you from Gothenburg?". Now they say "You're not from around here, are you?", so our accent has probably been "washed out" a bit.
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
I get you, but in my experience, most people can't hear their accent.
Scott Musson 11 months ago
I love when people tell me I have a accent as a Canadian, I always respond with, well, how aboot that eh!
Abdullah Abd Rahman 11 months ago (edited)
Most Americans have an annoying nasal sound when they're talking. Sounds like they're talking through their nose.
Morgan NicGregor 11 months ago
I'm from Wisconsin originally and have the mist understandable American accent, but it's still an accent.
Keith Lancaster 11 months ago
I'm from Lancashire but moved away years ago. Whenever my partner and I went back to visit he would always complain that my accent thickened and he really struggled to understand me. Whereas, I don't think I have an accent.
#13
I am German, and when a woman told me about a sinkhole in their hometown, they said, "I don't know what you measure in, so it was the size of about 2 McDonald's restaurants." that woman is now my Fiancée.
veryvenasaur 11 months ago
I use metric all the time because of physics and such but I still use analogies because I have terrible spacial awareness and someone saying "The field was 15 meters" doesn't mean much to me but someone saying "The field was the size of a school gym" Instantly allows me to picture it.
Manana Man 11 months ago
The one that makes me laugh is the 'olympic swimming pool.' I don't think I've ever seen one except on tv, so I have no idea how big they are. But I hear it all the time. How many people have seen one in person?
#14
Use of the Imperial system.
As soon as someone starts talking about it being 70+ degrees and they’re still alive, foregone conclusion. Same with any use of the word gallon in a modern context.
Multa Nocte 11 months ago
Here in France you are likely to hear British people using an astonishing combination of terms for measurement. They frequently use "miles" for distance and then switch to "stones" for personal weight and then use "pounds" for money. I need to carry a conversion table when I am having a meal with British, French, and Americans.
badger 11 months ago
pounds for money is the freaking currency - you don't use kilograms instead of euros in France.
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General Anaesthesia 11 months ago
You can't expect American cowboys to trade their ten-gallon hats in for 37.85412-liter hats.
Arthur Waite 11 months ago
When I was in High School, I came up with a speed measurement that was more British then Britain: Furlongs per Fortnight!
Lena Flising 11 months ago
I work in freight forwarding, so I often use feet for sea transport containers (standard length are 20' and 40', i.e. 6 meters and 12 meters). So I can relate a bit, if people say something is 15 feet long, I know it's around 4,5 meters long. I've met many people at work who don't know what the ' and " means, and write that the container is 40" long. That's a teeny-tiny container. :) Some people use Fahrenheit when it's hot, but Celsius when it's cold, so it's 70 degrees hot, but below zero cold (and they clearly mean 0 C, not -20 C).
Jon Penryn 11 months ago (edited)
An American friend talked of how many "cords" of wood he used each winter.. Even as an older English guy i have no idea what that means.
nottheactualphoto 11 months ago
Well, 128 cubic feet, of course! A nice round number.
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Hodmi 11 months ago
One of the problems I find is that Americans don't use either metric or imperial systems. They use either the US customary or (sometimes) the US legal system - both of which are different from each other and the imperial system. Trying to figure out what a "cup" is in a recipe yields wildly different measurements depending on what was used - anywhere from 236.59 ml to 284.13 ml.
#15
Having a private conversation that everyone within 20m can hear.
Oerff On Tour 11 months ago
I assume that Americans have problems hearing because of their loud Freedom
Java Addict 11 months ago
I have literally seen shirts that say 'sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my freedom'.
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Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
Sure, because in the states we never hear people fro other countries speaking loudly. Rudeness is not a uniquely American trait folks
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago (edited)
Yeah I was just thinking too, if someone came from a very loud and busy city like New York or Melbourne Aus , I wouldn’t blame for being louder than someone who’s come from a quieter area, I’ve been working in audiology and learnt a lot about ears lately 😂
Load More Replies... Donkey boi 11 months ago
For our friends in the USA; 20m is approximately 11 Taylor Swifts and 2 and half quarter pounders.
meltdavidmcbride 11 months ago
it must be a typo. Americans replace the m with football fields and everyone else replace the 0 with a K. there I fixed it for you.
Sven Horlemann 11 months ago
I am more loud because I am more correct in what I think / believe / do.
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
In America, it's usually teenagers who are thought of as not having an inside voice.
#16
- **Teeth:** Americans are all about cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics, the ones that aren’t are probably not able to easily afford international travel, so we don’t see a lot of Americans without perfectly aligned, iridescent white teeth in the UK or Australia.
- **Talking to strangers:** Americans absolutely love talking to strangers and when this clashes with the British imperative to avoid talking to strangers, I find it kind of hilarious ! I quite enjoy when I see Americans on the tube in london, prattling away to British commuters who look like they are dying inside.
- **Flip flops/sandals:** In warm weather you’ll see Americans wearing leather flip flops. As a flip flop connoisseur (I’m Australian) I spot the American style flip flops a mile away.
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago (edited)
Last time I visited my home town a few yrs ago (Gold Coast au) they have vending machines with cold thongs 🧊 🩴 (flip flops). It made me giggle
Load More Replies... Manana Man 11 months ago
Try New York. A lot of New Yorkers won't speak to you even if you look right in their face and ask them a question. I'm not a big talker but moving to the US south I learned that some people are friendly.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
I'm Australian and hate rubber thongs (flip flops) I always get leather +/cloth ones.
Anna Drever 11 months ago
But then if you’re a kiwi it’s jandals and to us thongs are undies. 😀
Load More Replies... Lew k 11 months ago
Talking to strangers is probably more a being on vacation thing than an American thing. I know people are outgoing with strangers in the Midwest or the south but most people in American cities don't start up random chats with strangers either. I bet rural folks are different from city folks everywhere.
michael blacklock 11 months ago
It is usually just Londoners who don't talk to strangers. In northeast England we talk to strangers all the time. In london if you fell down ill they would step over you, or trample you to death.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
Talking to Strangers - I'm Swedish, and we barely talk to our neighbors. There's a joke about Swedes (or Finns, were fairly similar in this regard) after the pandemic. "Finally, we don't have to stand 2 meters apart any more. We can go back to standing 5 meters apart."
Lynda Murray 11 months ago
That’s got to be a London thing, because oop north, we love talking to strangers
#17
Their sense of 'center-of-the-universe'-dom.
Debby Keir 11 months ago
Well, in some ways every country has that - but also in micro terms - London is the 'centre' of the UK, despite the vast majority of the UK being way north of London, and having somewhat different values.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
London IS the center, time-wise. Greenwich Mean Time is the Zero, the rest of us are +something or -something. I live in CET, so +1.
Load More Replies... Jrog 11 months ago
Also, but with a different spirit. Chinese think of China as the center of the world because their government want it to be the case eventually. American think of the USA as the center of the world because their whole education revolves around it.
Load More Replies... #18
If they complain about the portion size of their meal being too small.
Janissary35680 11 months ago (edited)
And you can recognize a European in a US eatery when they look at the plate and say "I just ordered one portion". 😄
🇫🇮 Goth Nurse 🇫🇮 11 months ago
THIS SO MUCH! I lived in Texas for a while and travelled around the US. It was a culture shock, when I ordered tea and a slice of carrot cake. It wad like 666 times bigger than a slice I am used to. And people were big!
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KatSaidWhat 11 months ago
My friend who loves food had to start ordering from the kids menu when she was in the States.
BarfyCat 11 months ago
That's terrible! The kids menu has all the worst stuff! In the U.S. we take home the portion that we couldn't eat!
Load More Replies... Orange Panda 11 months ago (edited)
Um, do you guys not believe in left overs? You really don't have to eat the whole thing.
Julie S 11 months ago
That's the thing I like about Americans they always ask for leftovers in the UK people are actually embarrassed to ask for leftovers.
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Dorma Hughes 11 months ago
I am American and the largest portion I was ever served in a restaurant was in Germany.
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago
Yes same, but it was a German restaurant in Australia, the Weinerschnitzel was almost the size of a boogie board and my beer was way to big for me to even get a 1/4 through it
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UpupaEpops 11 months ago
This happened to me in Canada. Portion sizes are very small where I'm from. 3 scoops of ice cream is roughly 1.5 scoops in Canada. I didn't know that, so I asked for 5 scoops... I've got a hilarious picture out of it.
#19
Tipping.
Maymundo:
Every time I visit my relatives in Italy, they say, 'Don’t ruin it for us.' They don’t want the whole tipping thing to catch on.
Søren Schilthauer 11 months ago
Funny. Years ago i went to Italy and discovered that the menu price wasn't the actual price - there was a mandatory 10% service surcharge.... So essentially a 10% mandatory tip
Annik Perrot 11 months ago
Was the same in France, a few decades ago, with a 10% 'service' fee added to the bill, to remunerate the servers, until à law said it had to be included in the posted prices. There was some grumbling at the beginning, and now it's just the way it is.
Load More Replies... Lena Flising 11 months ago
Here in Sweden, we tip if we are a large party, or if we are impressed by the service. The staff get a living wage, they get as many sick days as they need, and they get five weeks vacation (at least three of those consecutive during the summer months). Parental leave and leave to care for a sick child are mandatory.
Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
Good for them ! We (Aussies) don't want the dreaded tipping curse to infect us either.
ANTIVICTORIA 11 months ago
In America companies grossly underpay our servers so it's up to the customer to subsidize their income.
#20
British man once told me he knew I was American because I was wearing a baseball cap backwards.
Dcman333444:
This is what I was told when my brother and I went to England, Singapore, and Australia years ago. People all immediately identified me as American because of the baseball caps.
Smalltoid 11 months ago
I always wear my cap backwards when I'm running, both to keep my hair out of my face and to prevent my cap from blowing off in the wind. In any other situation, I will wear my cap properly.
Load More Replies... keyboardtek 11 months ago
Some Americans are proud of looking and being stupid. They hate anyone who is educated, successful, and intelligent. They are proud to be anti-science. They brag about never reading books. It is a requirement for joining MAGA and supporting Trump.
The Mediterranean Fruit 11 months ago (edited)
I want to know how a 7 or so year old girl was able to tell that I was American when I was in Germany. I was with my host family who were from the Netherlands, and she picked me out. I wasn't talking, so it couldn't have been from my accent. The only thing that I can some to is that it was probably my clothes. I was wearing jeans, deck shoes, and a raincoat. (but my host sister was wearing something similar) I didn't have any name brand stuff, and no logos were showing.
Nils Skirnir 11 months ago
But as an American overseas, Americans most often are the ones with backward caps. Especially if over 25.
Load More Replies... #21
I said 'y’all' when I went to Europe. Immediately outed myself.
Donkey boi 11 months ago
The Irish version is 'Youse', although some of us have been known to us 'y'all' as well.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
I didn't realise 'youse' was said outside of Australia. Here it's a sign you are a bogan.
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Chirp 11 months ago
I adopted it decades ago when our company bought a Texas company and a bunch of employees came on board. It's very precise
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Sathe Wesker 11 months ago
Did the same to myself as a Canadian in America by saying “eh” at the end of my sentence.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
In Swedish, we have the word "allihop", which roughly means "all of you" or "all of them".
Bill 11 months ago
They say youse almost exclusively in Pennsylvania and Mass. Maybe elsewhere but that's where I've been.
Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
Re : comment below. So that's where "youse" came from ? Aussies "use" "youse" too. Not to be confused with "ewes", because we have plenty of them too.
Richienotsorich 11 months ago
Y'all is acceptable when you are referring to a group of people but y'all use it y'all the time in y'all wrong context...y'all.
#22
If the U on their keyboard is dusty.
Dorma Hughes 11 months ago
We also drop the unnecessary ue at the end of words like catalog and dialog. And we have checks, not cheques.
Dame Cherry 11 months ago
it should be under "English- Simplified" on menu options
Load More Replies... Bill 11 months ago
I have and always will pronounce Graham as Gram. I grew up eating gram crackers it's engrained in my soul. The only cicumstance I can think of where pork and beans and bologna is acceptable breakfast fare was in housing unit 3 cellblock 6.
Bill 11 months ago (edited)
Oh and my U isn't dusty because I write lectures on the British culture of colonizing us then being butt hurt for 200 years so now they just make fun of our words and food so I tend to type "unnecessary" quite a bit. :)
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#23
Small talk. I'm not much of a small talk person even as an American, but I tried to be polite and chat with a cashier at a market, and he looked baffled and didn't really know how to reply. Americans will chat with anybody and everybody, especially if you're from the South.
Rachel Pelz 11 months ago
Hurts no one, honestly. For a cashier, it may be awkward but otherwise, it's a small period of potentially annoyance versus two people feeling connected, human, amused, understood, whatever. One of my late mom's highlights were little chats with tourists from the US.
Jennifer Germain 11 months ago
I really can't hate this, honestly. We are all in this together, why not be pleasant and friendly. I am not American but a generally friendly person. Quick friendly 20 second exchange never hurt anyone.
Michelle C 11 months ago
True! We simply want to be kind to others and hope that they will be kind to us in general!
michael blacklock 11 months ago (edited)
It's definitely a southern England thing. North easterners will share a few words whenever they pass through a door or any small interaction. It makes the day so much better.
Julie S 11 months ago
No it's a London thing we are very friendly in the south.
Load More Replies... #24
Ranch.
kelliwk:
I stopped at at a steakhouse in Frankfurt, and a salad came with my meal. They asked if we wanted Italian or American dressing. American was ranch.
And yesterday I learned that Cool Ranch Doritos are called 'Cool American Doritos' in certain parts of Europe, and you bet your a*s I’m taking a selfie with a bag when I go."
Jane No Dough 11 months ago
I loathe ranch dressing and don't understand it's popularity. It's as if people who like it have to be zealous about it, as if they're in a Ranch cult.
Hoi-Polloi 11 months ago
It's a counter-reaction to all the people who sneer at ranch for being "too boring" or "too whitebread" or whatever. Buncha snobs, all y'all.
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Bill 11 months ago (edited)
I don't like the alternatives either though, red dressings are too sweet, bleu cheese is kind of an acquired taste, and thousand island is vomit. Just give me a good Italian or at least vinegar and oil.
Michelle C 11 months ago
Not all of us Americans are keen on this dressing or Doritos, either; yuck!! Give me actual food any day.
Donkey boi 11 months ago
'Cool original' in the UK. And if they actually taste like ranch dressing, I'm not sure I'd enjoy that on a lot of foods. Chilli maybe...
#25
Talking to strangers in public. After living in Germany for two months I was horrified when a stranger on the bus commented on my shoes.
HeeseungsAce:
Yup! Went to Florida, and when I went shopping I was wearing a skirt, and a girl maybe a few years older than I was commented on how she loved my skirt. Would NEVER have happened in Denmark, that’s for sure.
bbgorilla 11 months ago
I'm sorry but I love getting a little compliment and I enjoy giving them as well, and they are always genuine
Ariom Dahl 11 months ago
Don't be sorry. I'm an Aussie living in a large town and it's common for complete strangers to give compliments.
Load More Replies... Antoinette the Red 11 months ago
Enter a ladies room in any club in the US 'round midnight and you'll experience female bonding like no where else. We're all besties in front of the mirror for in about 2 minutes.
Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
Used to be the same in Oz. Not so much in cities and burbs these days, but still alive and well in country towns. It's a nice, friendly thing to do and helps create that "village" atmosphere we've lost.
Kelly Scott 11 months ago
I'm an introvert, but I'd totally talk to someone in another country. If you don't, how else would you learn the accent and the slang?
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago (edited)
In NYC, we're like that. I was training a colleague who was from Latin America, and his insistence on talking to every stranger we passed on the street was a huge annoyance to me.
#26
They try to communicate with people who speak different languages by speaking English really slowly and making way too many hand gestures.
arthbach 11 months ago
It's a very English trait too. I suspect it is true of many people where most of the population are monolingual, or where there is one language everyone speaks, and if you know that one language you assume everyone will be able to understand.
Load More Replies... Donkey boi 11 months ago
Nah, they don't deserve all the blame for that. All English speakers do it. I love it most when a thick Scots accent speak slowly to an Southern Englishman, makes me smile every time because I can understand them both.
Michael Largey 11 months ago
I used to ashamed of English-speakers who did this. However many people in Europe have been trained in school to speak English, but it still is just their second language. So slowing down and making expressive gestures may actually help in that case. If you come up to me and start talking in my second language (Latin), feel free to talk very slowly and do any pointing that would help.
veryvenasaur 11 months ago
Speaking slowly isn't bad. When I was in France I had to keep saying "Parle plus lentement sil vous plait." (Speak more slowly please) because I was having a hard time keeping up.
Pernille 11 months ago
If they are still speaking too fast, try using doucement instead. Somehow doucement sometimes means slower.
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
Our Danish exchange student's parents came to watch their daughter 'graduate' US school. At the open house we hosted, my BIL was there and in speaking with Camilla's dad, raised his volume level by several decibels..her dad spoke english well, and was puzzled. I...was amused.
Lena Flising 11 months ago
Talking louder and LOUDER might work too, right? I saw this on a TV show about emergency workers in England, so it's not just Americans.
Michelle C 11 months ago
That also makes those of us who are bilingual or multilingual look ignorant. My fellow Americans, if you have done this, please stop!
SolitaryIntrovert 11 months ago
You have to be careful they are not using the wrong gestures. LOL
#27
Covering things with assorted cheeses of the liquid persuasion.
BarfyCat 11 months ago
We do have real cheese in addition to the plastic cheese. I can't remember the last time I had the plastic cheese.
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A C 11 months ago
America has such diversity in food and flavor. This is a very unfair and inaccurate sentiment that needs to die.
M O'Connell 11 months ago
One of my favorite things recently is watching youtube videos of British folks trying REAL food from the US. It's wonderful to see the cultural exchange happening.
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JuJu 11 months ago
No! Do not compare a well crafted and aged cheese with american liquid yellow stuff. Most of it wouldn't be allowed to becsold as cheese in Europe.
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Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago (edited)
Guilty as charged. I'm American and i love me some liquid (melted) cheese.
#28
I'm an American that works for an international company. Europeans are often amused by how we describe distances. Instead of saying, "we're x number of miles from that city ", we'll say, "we're two hours away" , or "that's a four hour drive". They're also universally blown away once they realize how big the US is.
arthbach 11 months ago
It's also fairly standard to measure distance in hours in Canada and Australia. I'm interested, do Russians and Chinese people also measure in hours?
Janissary35680 11 months ago (edited)
Turkish villagers used to measure the walking/donkey-riding distance between villages by the number cigarettes smoked.
Load More Replies... Donkey boi 11 months ago
I measure distance by time because it makes more sense. 10 miles in London could take 45min in some parts. In North Norfolk you can cover 60mph, and it's a country mile. My mam in Surrey lives 7 miles away AKA 20 mins.
CanadianDimes 11 months ago
We do that in Canada and everyone does it in London, too, because depending on where you are in London, driving/busing 1km could take a few minutes or half an hour
Janissary35680 11 months ago
"Where and when" you are. And not just in London but in any big metropolis.
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Agat 11 months ago (edited)
I really don't understand this idea that we somehow don't get the size of the USA. Europe neighbours Russia so it's not like we're shocked that another country is "a bit bigger" 😅 And RU is almost two times bigger than the US so the scale is there. But yes, Europe is rather small while RU, CA, CN and the US are muuuuch bigger (just listing the four biggest countries in the world in order). Edit: I know that RU lies in Europe *and* Asia, what is above is a mental shortcut, though technically incorrect.
arthbach 11 months ago
Agat, last time I used https://www.thetruesize.com/ I was shocked by how small the USA was. I'd heard too many times about how Europeans vastly underestimate the size of the USA. Using The True Size showed me the USA was roughly the size of Australia. I was expecting it to be twice the size!
Load More Replies... Janissary35680 11 months ago (edited)
One reason the 1945 conference signing the United Nations charter was deliberately hosted by the US in San Francisco and delegates from Europe were taken there from the East coast by train was to convey the message of just how big the country was geographically.
Nils Skirnir 11 months ago
It was a power flex to cow the largely already impoverished other nations
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Tomato Smudge 11 months ago
My longtime friend in Malaysia sometimes looks at weather news for the US and tells me to be safe even though she keeps forgetting how big the US is. I'm in the Pacific Northwest and nowhere near Florida state or whatever hurricane states but lemme just say it was funny googling the distance in kilometers and realizing how many results tell me distance in hours instead. I just wanted my friend to not worry LMAO
Julie S 11 months ago
I never understand how big a "block" is in America. I watch American films or TV shows and someone says "I had to walk 6 blocks!" I have no idea if that's a long way or not.
Zoe Duddle 11 months ago
Lots of Americans really don’t like to walk. It varies but ‘a block’ is about 1/20th of a mile. So 6 blocks is about half a kilometre or just over a 3rd of a mile. A laughably short distance.
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Kristine Condon 11 months ago
I think that varies from state to state, county to county, city to city etc. I've lived all over the US and have found that in areas heavily congested with traffic, people will say the distance instead of the time- because 2 miles could take 10 min or 2 hours.
#29
I am an American and was at a restaurant in France. They brought me warm soda in a glass. When I asked them for ice, they brought a tiny bowl of ice with a little set of silver tongs and put two ice cubes the size of sugar cubes into my glass, which melted immediately, lol.
aspidities_87:
Are you me? This was my exact experience. We stopped at a little café in Marseilles, and it was sweaty and hot, so I wanted a lemonade and asked for ice. They did this little song and dance with the bucket and popped a single cube into my drink. I watched it melt in two seconds and just quietly said, ‘Merci.'
Kelly Scott 11 months ago
Well, if you'd put a decent amount of ice in your drinks, it wouldn't melt as fast. And who wants to drink warm Cokes anyway?
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Donkey boi 11 months ago
Did you go somewhere without electricity? I had no problem finding chilled cans/drinks in France.
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago
They could be used to super chilled, in bars I’ve been drilled for serving cold beers that “weren’t cold enough”. The opposite of the nightmare people who demand “extra hot coffee” but still just as whiney.
Load More Replies... Adrian 11 months ago
I hate how much ice Americans put in drinks. It dilutes the drink and gives me a headache.
Dilly Dally 11 months ago
for the most part you can just ask for no ice, like I do
Load More Replies... Janissary35680 11 months ago
In "Innocents Abroad", Mark Twain has some funny rants about European frugality with respect to soap.
General Anaesthesia 11 months ago
Twain died 114 years ago. I type that for no real reason, just a fact :)
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Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
I'm American and I never get ice in my soft drinks. But I insist on them being nice and cold.
Learner Panda 11 months ago
On the other extreme, bars sometimes freeze their glasses and also add ice to your drink.
GlitterPanda 11 months ago
I'm American, but I agree with the Europeans on this one. I've never been a fan of ice or overly cold drinks.
#30
Gleaming white teeth, using the words restroom, sneakers and soda.
Rachel Pelz 11 months ago
My non-US kid wanted to have sneakers -a word we adopted in Germany- and kept pronouncing it "Snickers". Went into family history ;)
Orange Panda 11 months ago (edited)
This one was cute! In the US, we have regional variations on what we call soda as well. The two biggest are soda and pop. A smaller group calls them all coke. If they did not, in fact, want coke but a root beer or something when in a soda or pop region, they get confused when they get a coke because that's not how their region works. Us wacky Americans! :D
Uncle Schmickle 11 months ago
Bathroom ..... what ? do you want a shower ? I've found WC is commonly used in Europe. When I was volunteering on a tourist steam train railway, an American asked where he could find "the John". Because I had lived in the USA, I knew what he meant.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
In Australia (unless states have regional differences I'm not aware of) we call them soft drinks.
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Learner Panda 11 months ago
Growing up we had a bathroom with a bath and hand basin and a *separate* toilet. Confused my young cousin when he asked for the bathroom, meaning the toilet!
Anna Drever 11 months ago
For me as a kiwi it’s the use of the term ‘going to the bathroom’ when you actually mean going to the toilet or loo. What if the bathroom doesn’t actually have a toilet in it and the loo is in a separate room? 🙂
nottheactualphoto 11 months ago
Even worse, people might think you were in the navy.
Load More Replies... #31
Commenting "BuT it'S SuMmeR" whenever anyone from Australia posts about doing winter activities in June or July. This is a pretty consistent theme on TikTok, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened elsewhere.
KDS 11 months ago
I swear the U.S. government is trying to make Americans as dumb as possible I was taught how the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres worked when I was in grade school.
joseph legatt 11 months ago
The less educated the population is the easier it is to control.
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Dilly Dally 11 months ago
I learned this in grade school as well, it's just that us Americans as a population are, in fact, lazy and have really bad memories, and we don't want to go poking around in there and uncover anything that's better left undiscovered.
#32
When they talk about the 2 kinds of political ideologies.
Heras buddy 11 months ago
Our political parties have made it nearly impossible for a third or fourth viable political party to exist. We may only have one in 4 years. Instead of a little mustache he'll have orange hair.
Hoi-Polloi 11 months ago
Oh, don't you worry. We've got just as many factions as sophisticated Europeans. Just we have those fights to see which one runs the party this year. Think of it as forming the coalition *before* the election!
#33
They either carry huge backpacks for a 1 day trip into the jungle or carry nothing and walk in barefooted.
dark_blue_7:
Bruh, I've seen people carry huge backpacks just to the office and back. I don't understand the phenomenon, but you're right.
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
One of the funniest posts on this site: "Dude rocking the back pack, camel pack and walking stick wearing robust hiking shoes, my daughter did it in crocs and carrying her dolly..chill".
Hoi-Polloi 11 months ago
Emergency backup supplies. My backpack has a book in it, a soda, and a phone charger. Used to have a little packet of cookies, but those got eaten.
#34
As my mexican wife says.
you americans will talk to anyone. just walk right up and before you know it they are your buddy from so and so place and you are going off with them for a while.
#35
Soccer and football.
KDS 11 months ago (edited)
Well soccer is short for Association football but that was a mouthful to say. The word was first shortened to assoc then it was soc then it was changed to soccer.
Huddo's sister 11 months ago
Aussies will usually (unless they are big fans) call it soccer too.. We have to distinguish it from our football. There are arguments over what football is depending on your state though (I'm from Victoria so it's Aussie Rules/AFL but my cousins live in New South Wales so it's rugby) so adding a third would be even more annoying.
Manana Man 11 months ago
Well I don't think we're going to go around calling it 'American football' when were in America. I think most people know what other countries mean by 'football.' The sport is popular in the US. Particularly as a participation sport in school. Football not so much because most people don't enjoy pain.
Donkey boi 11 months ago
'Football not so much because most people don't enjoy pain'... You made laugh, thank you. We call American football 'slow rugby with padding'.
Load More Replies... #36
When I was in Austria, one of the locals said you could always tell who the Americans were because they were the only ones jaywalking.
Dilly Dally 11 months ago
Me and my family were some of the only ones NOT jaywalking when we went on a trip to somewhere.
Boredandsomea 11 months ago
Jaywalking is not a crime in a lot of countries, so instead of watching trafficsigns you watch the traffic and act accordingly.
Petra Schaap 11 months ago
ok so i AM american. and all the people in my town are too. Loads of them in Glasgow and Stockholm too! (why these cities even have red lights)
Adrian 11 months ago
Brit here, living in California. This one surprises me as you'll get a ticket for it here so everyone uses the pedestrian crossings
Michael Largey 11 months ago
For jaywalking in California, you're either issued a ticket or a death certificate.
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#37
Im Canadian, generally americans are far less reserved and love small talk.
Verena Fiori-Jambor 11 months ago
Hi, how are you doing’? I’m great! Fantastic, have a good day.
Frances Pitchoune 11 months ago
I'm Canadian. I lived in France for a year and I felt really really alone. One day, I came across a group of American tourists. I followed them for a while because it made me feel good to hear their accent and see them act "American". It's insulting for a Canadian to be compared to Americans. But what do you want? We're neighbors!
Lew k 11 months ago
Really? We get Canadian snow birds by the 10s of thousands in my city every year and the one defining characteristic is they can't stop talking. Honestly I used to install services in some of the seasonal rv parks here and I hated doing Canadian customers installs because they will follow you around talking your ear off the whole time you're trying to work. Friendly as all get out but in the most obnoxious way possible for people who are working under time constraints.
#38
“Aluminum”.
Agfox 11 months ago
We stayed with some friends in Minneapolis. The husband was a charter boat captain & mentioned something called a 'booee', which we discovered was their pronunciation of 'buoy'. In Australia, we'd only ever heard it pronounced 'boy'. We never found out if that was a friends pronunciation, a Minneapolis pronunciation or a US in general pronunciation
Michael Largey 11 months ago
"Aluminum" in the US. "Aluminium" in the UK.
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#39
"So what do you do for a living?"
You can't talk to an American without jobs eventually coming up.
Lost Panda 11 months ago
This one isn't solely American. The Japanese will do it too, and when they find out you are American or a person who speaks English they instantly think you're a teacher.
arthbach 11 months ago
Lost Panda, it's a very UK thing too. the standard introductory questions are: what's your name, where are you from (if you don't have a local accent), what's your job, and how do you know person X. I'm a rebel, and refuse to ask about a person's job. Instead, I ask about their interests. There's so much you can learn from others just by getting them on to their interests.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 11 months ago
It's a standard non-personal personal question. If you started a conversation with a stranger by asking "Do you use he missionary position much?, you'd be striking a different tone.
#40
To be fair I’ve said “the US” or “America” to people in foreign countries asking where I’m from and they always say “yeah obviously, but where in the US”.
Tucker Cahooter 11 months ago
Probably why the people in the earlier item would say "Delaware"
CanadianDimes 11 months ago
One thing I’ve picked up on that helps differentiate Canadians and Americans (if you’re not sure of the accent) is Americans will generally say “America” and Canadians will say “the States”. I have heard some Americans say this, but infrequently
#41
The accent.
Alewa 11 months ago
There is a general American accent that non-Americans pick up on, and then there's the subcategories (which not everybody can distinguish)
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Multa Nocte 11 months ago (edited)
This will sound odd to many of you, but in France it is often difficult to tell primary English speakers by accent alone who is American and who is English. In my area of France (southwest) everyone assumes that someone with an accent is from England unless they use a word like "bandaid" vs. "plaster."
Orange Panda 11 months ago
Nope, it makes perfect sense. I have a hard time distinguishing some Aussie accents from Brit ones.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 11 months ago
When I moved to the Midwest from Philadelphia in 1961, people most frequently guessed my Philly-Belfast accent to be Australian. Probably because they had never heard an Australian accent before.
#42
Pre-Covid having hand sanitizer clipped to their backpack. Not sure that’s still as accurate today.
Nexrosus:
God, I was always so jealous of the people who could afford cute-a*s fancy Bath & Body Works hand sanitizers that clipped to their backpacks. That s**t was like $5 for the really chic small, glittery, cutesy ones all the popular girls had. You know what, Valerie? S***w you and your red velvet sparkle cake hand sanitizer backpack clip.
Petra Schaap 11 months ago
jezes someone has issues... Ive always had a hand sanitizer on my backpack. Available on every airport drugstore on every european airport, to start with. I have a real cool pink one gel holder now that cost me about an euro in Germany. It holds a small gel bottle, another euro. Look at me being fancy.
Orange Panda 11 months ago
I'm just trying to figure out what she was trying to cuss. That doesn't work with the bad S words I know.
#43
The weirdest stereotype I have heard while living abroad is that people from the United States always slam car doors. You can always tell someone is from the United States because of how hard they shut the car door.
sturmwesen 11 months ago
hu... or maybe they grew up with an old Renault and are used to it...can't really shake the habbit after 30 years
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
Must be the people who had mid seventies Monte Carlos or T- birds. Damn doors weighed a couple hundred pounds, HAD to slam them and every so often grab the very end and pull up with all your might to align them.
Load More Replies... Oerff On Tour 11 months ago
That's because a car door from an American car weighs more than a typical European or Asian car.
Trillian 11 months ago
I live next to a large apartment building with a fairly big parking lot and let me tell you. EVERYONE slams their car doors. Especially in the middle of the night. And how many doors does a car have anyway???
Orange Panda 11 months ago
In the middle of the night, around 10. Broad daylight, 4. :D
Load More Replies... Igor914624 11 months ago
I have an old Jeep that you have to slam the doors on to get them to close completely. On my other cars, I don't do that.
#44
Very straightforward.
Donkey boi 11 months ago
Are we talking about their city planning or highways? Cos I quite like the simplicity of it.
Geoffrey Scott 11 months ago
Yes, we(US) were lucky enough, and had enough space to design from scratch and not adapt to what's there. Though I've found in NC very few cardinal layouts (N,S,E,W). Imagine, if you will, an Eisenhower type plan in today's world (much as I hate to admit Hitler had one good idea, ie autobahn). Conservatives would be screaming about cost, liberals screaming about needing that money for more parks or LBGT programs.
Load More Replies... #45
Dude , man.
keyboardtek 11 months ago
Only if you are from California. Nobody elsewhere uses dude after they have become adults.
Carrie B 11 months ago
I dude everyone, and I grew up in OK and TX. I'm 52.
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Kelly Scott 11 months ago
Occasionally, there's a use for "dude". I use it when I'm specifically calling someone out. "Dude, really?"
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
I'm a New Yorker in my 50's, and I call people dude when they're getting on my nerves.
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
Yeah but dude is common in your part of the country.
Load More Replies... #46
Trying to communicate with other languages by just speaking english but slowly and making way too much hand gestures.
#47
British lady once told me she knew I was American because I was drinking a Coke straight from the can,no straw.
Hans Georg 11 months ago
Only in Britain. Never seen someone do that in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy or the USA.
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Dusty's mom 11 months ago
We're being shamed about using straws these days due to excessive plastics, so maybe sipping from cans is more earth friendly?
#48
Chunky sneakers, standard t-shirt, blue jeans and a backpack.
Donkey boi 11 months ago
At least their t-shirts actually have a sleeve that covers the top of your arms. The ones in the UK are glorified vests with shoulder coverings.
#49
When they walk around like they just slammed a space probe into an asteroid.
#50
They scream yeeeehaww and shoot to the air.
Vidas Zlioba 11 months ago
I can't think of a better way to start a day. Maybe whiskey first, then yeeehaww, then shoot into the ground? It's safer.
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Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
When having aex alone, I yell LEEEEROY JENKINS.
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Roberta Surprenant 11 months ago
Objection! I admit to yelling yee haw, but have only fired a gun once in almost 70 years. If we hadn't been in West Virginia that once wouldn't have happened. Fired at target, not person.
Craig S. (EvilSausage) 11 months ago
In New York, we replace that with stabbing strangers who make eye contact with us (j/k).
Kelly Scott 11 months ago (edited)
I'm still laughing about the time at an equestrian showjumping competition, one competitor was quietly leaving the ring and at the same time, Karl Cook (the next competitor) came in on his horse which was crowhopping along with the announcer going "Yeehah!" in a very somber ring in Florida. If the shoe fits, people, it's marvelous!
What do you think ?
Hans Georg 11 months ago
The standard "europe mind can't comprehend" is in the pipeline.
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Brobro McDuderson 11 months ago
Lol, I haven’t been to BP in probably a year. Removed it from my fave list due to all the negativity and bashing. Came back on impulse…and nothing has changed lol. 75% of the posts are negative and rage-bait. And the same old US bashing, even the comments in this thread are the same as every weekly US bashing thread used to be. Nice to see nothing has changed 🤣. Man do I miss the old BP.
Anony Mouse 11 months ago
But they also have celebrity news, tabloid trash, and buzzfeedish shopping articles now!
Load More Replies... Pencil 11 months ago
Why all the comments about how Americans will "talk to anyone" or love "small talk"? What's wrong with that? Maybe we're just culturally friendlier or more curious about other people. It's not some inherently negative thing. If someone assumes every friendly person is uncultured swine, maybe they're just pretentious and intolerant.
Bill Evs 11 months ago
I thought exactly that too. I've been to the US a few times and loved how friendly Americans were. It was so refreshing.
Load More Replies... Java Addict 11 months ago
For the millionth time, America has real cheese too. It is not all that plastic yellow stuff. So tired of having to repeat this.
Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
There are twats from every county. I hate these articles. There is a real sense of entitlement in so many of these... ugh
Hans Georg 11 months ago
The standard "europe mind can't comprehend" is in the pipeline.
Load More Replies... Brobro McDuderson 11 months ago
Lol, I haven’t been to BP in probably a year. Removed it from my fave list due to all the negativity and bashing. Came back on impulse…and nothing has changed lol. 75% of the posts are negative and rage-bait. And the same old US bashing, even the comments in this thread are the same as every weekly US bashing thread used to be. Nice to see nothing has changed 🤣. Man do I miss the old BP.
Anony Mouse 11 months ago
But they also have celebrity news, tabloid trash, and buzzfeedish shopping articles now!
Load More Replies... Pencil 11 months ago
Why all the comments about how Americans will "talk to anyone" or love "small talk"? What's wrong with that? Maybe we're just culturally friendlier or more curious about other people. It's not some inherently negative thing. If someone assumes every friendly person is uncultured swine, maybe they're just pretentious and intolerant.
Bill Evs 11 months ago
I thought exactly that too. I've been to the US a few times and loved how friendly Americans were. It was so refreshing.
Load More Replies... Java Addict 11 months ago
For the millionth time, America has real cheese too. It is not all that plastic yellow stuff. So tired of having to repeat this.
Christos Arvanitis 11 months ago
There are twats from every county. I hate these articles. There is a real sense of entitlement in so many of these... ugh
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