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The United States—the land of the free. The home of the brave. And the nation of some very peculiar habits, according to the internet. Other countries in the world are confused by some of the things that Americans do. Like calling tuna “tuna fish” and putting too much cheese on everything. I find it endearing, others find it strange.
Bored Panda has collected some of the best tweets that show how confused foreigners are at what some Americans do. Scroll down and upvote your faves. And be sure to check out our previous post about Europeans who shared what problems are too American for them to grasp.
Culture clashes are nothing new. After all, if every country and culture were the same, there’d be no point in leaving your home, right? (Spoiler warning: due to the coronavirus pandemic, you shouldn’t be leaving your home either way.) Benny Lewis, founder of the Fluent in 3 Months blog, spent 4 years living in the US and has some gripes about the culture. Including how Americans are too politically correct while at the same time they think that everything is “awesome.”
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
European other 5 years ago
It makes sense to start with the day, but I guess it's what you get used to
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#3
Prince Maroochy 5 years ago
We choose from a lot more at first, eventually narrowing it down to two and choosing from them.
According to Benny from Ireland, Europeans traveling around the US will find a lot of things weird. Like the fact that Americans smile way too much and it’s difficult to know when they mean it and when they’re smiling out of reflex.
Another thing that Benny found very unusual is something a lot of people complain about when they arrive in the US. Yup, you guessed it—tipping! “I really think tipping as a means of waitresses and others earning the vast majority of their living is ridiculous. If I have to pay, say 15% anyway, then include it in the bill! It's not a bloody tip if it's mandatory!” Benny expressed his opinion. Some of us can agree that mandatory tipping is sneaky and that servers should earn a decent wage that isn’t based on tips.
“Why not tip everyone who you interact with in some way—bus drivers, or leave money on your trash can for the garbage man? It's inconsistent, and waiters, hairdressers, and taxi drivers should just charge us what needs to be charged,” Benny writes in his blog.
#5
Thomas brennan 5 years ago
As an irish person I dont mind it, it is nice for people to be proud of their heritage. What I do mind is when they ask do I know paddy mcsomething from donegal. I know Ireland's small but we don't all live in one village. Oh and the accent impersonations are damn annoying...although in my experience the English are the worst for imitating accents.
#6
Alan Green 5 years ago
The other day when they announced America now has the highest C19 infections of any country an american in the comments said "BS, I'm sure Europe has more". Seems some Americans think Europe is a country.
He also has issues with how in some parts of America prices aren’t what they seem because the tax isn’t included to make the cost seem lower than it really is.
Of course, taxing is different in different states, but this doesn’t excuse corporations from printing up different product costs for each state. Or, as Benny puts it, “We have the same product sold across many European countries and somehow someone in the company found the time to punch numbers into a $1 calculator in advance to tell people how much they are actually paying.”
#7
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
Why was fahrenheit even invented? The metric system just makes so much more sense. Freezing point is 0C and boiling point is 100C. A litre is 1000millilitres, 100 centimetres is 1 metre etc.
#8
Petra Schaap 5 years ago
thats not just American. I think it depends on the person. I have local friends who do and local friends who dont, and American friends who do and dont.
#9
Just Carmen 5 years ago
I don't know about other Americans, but at our house, we just call it TUNA.
But before you start thinking that all Europeans have it out for the US, Benny also mentions some awesome things about Americans. For example, nobody can deny that Americans have an incredible work ethic and how open-minded and diverse most of the country is. It’s a country with plenty of positives, peppered with a whole lot of bizarreness.
#10
Colin Bayler 5 years ago
Because you don't need a bloody scale to measure grams. All you need is a simple cup with lines. DUH!
#11
Just Carmen 5 years ago
Well actually, most of the time we say that we don't give a s**t, so.....
#13
Carol Lewis 5 years ago
I don't think that, nor have I ever thought that. I don't know anyone who does. Where did you even come up with that nonsense.
#14
Mette Olsen Douglas 5 years ago
I don't think I know anybody who lives like they have free healthcare - quite the opposite actually. "Is it truly bad enough to go see a doctor or can we survive without going"? Nobody want those bills that follows a doctors visit!!
#17
Winston Smith 5 years ago
I hear it said at least 3 different ways depending on what news channel you watch
#21
Chewie Baron 5 years ago
Don't get me started on how Americans pronounce 'mirror'. They miss out the 'o' and say "mirrrrr". Madness!
#22
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago (edited)
High school was pretty much the worst time in my life. My daughter is going through it now and I wish I could just fast forward her outta there.
#23
#24
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
Yeah but then you also have 'drinks halls' in germany with liquor, beer, water, soda... Why? Also you're ignoring the "dry county" thing where within one state many counties may sell absolutely zero alcohol and the next does.
#26
#27
Prince Maroochy 5 years ago (edited)
Uh, I'm American and I pronounce it Krayg, never heard anyone who doesn't pronounce it that way...
Craig Lee 5 years ago
That's my name, and I've never heard anyone pronounce it like "Creg".
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Johnny Farnen 5 years ago
Again, this varies state-to-state. While bored on lockdown, have a go at the crazy linguistics of the US in particular. Think people from Boston have a weird accent? New York? Try reading about the Pittsburgh accent, or the Missouri accent, or the West Coast "vocal fry". A search of "North American English regional phonology" will get yinze dahntahn...
Jolee Hang 5 years ago
Graham is Gray-ham, but we slur it, so the h is almost silent.
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Winston Smith 5 years ago
Theres countless accents across the country. What region are you talking about?
Leah Rays 5 years ago
I, an American, have never, or known anyone who does, pronounced it creg.
AzKhaleesi 5 years ago
My brother's name is Craig and we pronounce it creg. He doesn't care.... I'm sure it was just over time we lost the ay sound.
Load More Replies... Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
My mum lived in the US for almost 14 years and she developed an American accent, boy did we take the p**s out of her. We still do it even though she has lived in Aus for 2 years. Mainly when she says things like “I gotta go get some gas”, it’s like no mum, you need to get petrol. “I need a cart”, no mum you need a trolley lol.
Ariel Fox 5 years ago
You think it's a sign if superiority to use antique words like "petrol" and "trolley" ? Do you also call freeways "carriageways", and think cars have "boots" and "bonnets", as if they were clothed??
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Jolee Hang 5 years ago
How else would you pronounce it? The pronunciation is close enough that if you can speak English well, than you would probably pronounce it that way. It's like my sister's name, Taima. It's supposed to be pronounced Ta-I-ma, but if you say it enough, fast enough, it sounds like Ti-E-ma, which is how everyone says it.
Jaybird3939 5 years ago
There are different accents in America. I don't know where that pronunciation is from, but we pronounce it C-ray-g
Elaine Mattingly 5 years ago
I'm beginning to suspect you know only one American and they didn't like high school any more than you did.
#29
Just Carmen 5 years ago
It's the MOVIES for F sake! Get a clue would you?! We don't DO that IRL.
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Leah Rays 5 years ago
These are kinda stupid. It's an unnecessary generalization. Not everyone does. Some do, not all. Lots of Americans would love to have the metric system. We just don't and can't change it.
Fact Perils 5 years ago
I know! It wouldn't even be that hard, they teach it in schools already. And the pain that it was to learn to convert centimeters to inches...*shivers* like seriously, 1 inch = 2.54 cm WTH?
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 5 years ago
OMG. The questions get more and more stupid the more you scroll down. And the first one is already pretty stupid.
ToGo 5 years ago
This article would be okay if people were asking questions they genuinely want answered, but they're taking the p**s. Also, it's just ignorant to assume all Americans do these things. I'd be pissed if they made an article asking Americans to do this to Brits. Just not my sense of humour I guess.
oddball0626 5 years ago
Let's keep bashing Americans because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
steven 5 years ago
why do americans continually complain about their pathetic healthcare but vote in people who promise to fix it but never do
deanna woods 5 years ago (edited)
This article was so annoying. As an American, I have never done half of these things. I have a sense of humor and can laugh at my own expense, but these are stupid things that not even I have ever even heard of. I understand that our president is a joke to the rest of the world, but please stop lumping all Americans into the category of idiots who do everything wrong just because you don't agree with it. Every country in the world does things differently than the next because each country is unique. Let's focus on that and not the silly things that are different.
Shelp 5 years ago
Why are toilet doors in American public toilets smaller than the average car door?
Paul K. Johnson 5 years ago
Well, now I know who's been s******g in my car. Thanks a lot, Shelp.
Load More Replies...
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 5 years ago
Because the h is silent. When the h isn't silent then it's a guys name.
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Rae Black 5 years ago (edited)
Why does BP continue to put up posts like this? America is very diverse, with so many different types of people. Why do they post these which lump us all together in stereotypes? This is not intelligent work, or helpful. Some of these questions are based solely on what they see on TV or in movies ffs. Americans would be blasted if we so crassly stereotyped another culture. It doesn't seem that a lot people posting questions like these understand that the US is made up of states that have their own laws, etc. Or that this country is a collection of peoples, not just one heritage or culture.
Eli 5 years ago
White South African here (yes, the colour needs to be mentioned.) Two things I experienced in the States that I would love an explenation for: (I am not hating, nor am I being mean. I loved the country and the people I interactrd with.) 1. Why does everyone want to know why I'm not black? 4 out of 5 people I met would ask the question. Got a bit annoying after about the 20th time. 2. Why do Southerners say y'all? You is collective. That is an unneeded repetition. Where did that come from?
Aria Whitaker 5 years ago (edited)
The question about "why are you white" was used in a popular American movie, "Mean Girls". It is a popular pop culture joke to say that to White south Africans...it was a gag line that became a meme. They probably don't ACUTALLY think you have to be black to be from Africa...it may just be a cultural joke meme that you aren't as aware of....
Load More Replies... Anony Mouse 5 years ago
Buzzfeed posts the same comments in a different order about once a week. It's old.
Sinkvenice 5 years ago
Why do Americans say, "I did it on accident?" It's 'by accident' dammit!
Megan Curl 5 years ago
Only ignorant, uneducated Americans say that, and it drives me batty too.
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Caroline Driver 5 years ago
“Why not tip everyone who you interact with in some way—bus drivers, or leave money on your trash can for the garbage man? It's inconsistent, and waiters, hairdressers, and taxi drivers should just charge us what needs to be charged,” Benny writes in his blog. Completely agree. Bizarre, skewed, c**k eyed, unfair, cruel.
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago
Bored Panda owes me the five minutes it took to read this nonsense.
Lynda Momalo 5 years ago
As for calling these things "stupid questions" -- I'm sure we all have mistaken impressions and ideas that we've picked up over the years about other countries that they'd think were silly.
John Baker 5 years ago
A mistaken impression is one thing. A troll question is quite another.
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Kristin Scarbrough 5 years ago
In the States it's actually spelled 'aluminum' and pronounced that way. According to quora.com "According to the Online Etymology Dictionary English chemist Sir Humphry Davy named the element alumium in 1808 and then changed it to aluminum in 1812. British editors changed it to aluminium to be more in keeping with other elements such as potassium and sodium, while the Americans retained the spelling as aluminum." So a British scientist called it aluminum, but then others wanted it to sound more 'sciencey' but we didn't cooperate, as usual LOL.
Load More Replies...
John Baker 5 years ago
This proves only that foreign trolls are just as stupid as American trolls.
Lynda Momalo 5 years ago
For American and non-Americans alike, I think the book that explains best exactly how different and diverse the US is is https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029 -- or if the link doesn't work, just look up American Nations by Colin Woodard. It truly explains why we'll never really be UNITED states -- we're really 11 separate nations (some partially in other countries) joined together. We think, talk, act, and look at the world in very, very different ways depending on where we grew up because of when and by whom each area was first settled.
Bláthnaid O’Loughlin 5 years ago
Can we make it so that people can add questions? I’ve one I’d like to ask.
Kristie Yuill 5 years ago
I scrolled down here to find all the comments by bitter Americans who constantly make jokes about other countries but can't take it in return. I was not disappointed.
Nirity 5 years ago
Why do muricans believe having healthcare, paid maternity, paid vacation, paid sick days, pensions for elderly, education will drain their economy to bancrupsy and can not work. It works in all other countries in the world, not only the developed ones, but actually all others. Meanwhile they spend billions for military and they just gave the most rich people in the world trilions of dollars. To save them from... what. I dont even know how many zeros a trilion has. Meanwhile the people got some spare change to survive longer in pandemic. Btw if those people die, rich wont have profit - because if the people who do all the real work while paying all the taxes, bills and goods, if those people die who will create the profit. This is insane. And they believe they are the greatest nation. Just WOW.
Marcos Pereira 5 years ago
No worries Nirity, you country is way better in every sense! *sarcasm*........smh
Load More Replies...
John Baker 3 years ago
Probably because your s**t isn't funny and we're damned sick and tired of it.
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Karin Jansen 5 years ago
Not necessarily, but it is a big fixation on the US I don't get. Probably because it's such a unique country compared to the rest of the west. I wouldn't have any interesting questions about Norway or Canada for example.
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Caoimhe_Snowleopard 5 years ago
Probably because it's spelled aluminium in the UK and Ireland
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sh 5 years ago
Are there posts non-stop about your country's stereotypes, creating a situation where you constantly have to defend yourself, OR clarify that the stereotypes are completely incorrect? There's a point when it switches from laughing with you to laughing at you, and that gets tiring.
Load More Replies... Mini Shnauzer 5 years ago
Ok, we get it, Americans do weird things. But so do all other countries? I mean, British people call steak fries "crisps"? They're soft? Chips - potato chips - are crispy, and I can see if you'd call steak fries "chips", because they're chips of potato? But "crisps"? They're soft?
Liam Walsh 5 years ago
No, sorry that's not true. We do not call 'steak fries' crisps in the UK. They are chips. Hot, fried chips made from chips of potato and soft (though if cooked properly slightly crunchy on the outside). Crisps in the UK are what Americans call potato chips and ARE crisp - the thin, crispy, crunchy, slices of potatoes sold in bags and eaten cold. I don't care what they are called personally but didn't want you to have the wrong idea. I am very anti the US bashing thing so not joining in on that.
Load More Replies... Logan Colee 5 years ago
So a lot of people have been getting this wrong just wanted to clarify. The United States of America, its the CUSTOMARY system. OK?
John Baker 5 years ago
I only use checks to pay my rent, because that's what my landlord wants. I use my bank card for everything else.
Load More Replies... Ariel Fox 5 years ago
Yes - and what the heck is a "stone", meaning some measurement of weight??
Load More Replies... Leah Rays 5 years ago
These are kinda stupid. It's an unnecessary generalization. Not everyone does. Some do, not all. Lots of Americans would love to have the metric system. We just don't and can't change it.
Fact Perils 5 years ago
I know! It wouldn't even be that hard, they teach it in schools already. And the pain that it was to learn to convert centimeters to inches...*shivers* like seriously, 1 inch = 2.54 cm WTH?
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 5 years ago
OMG. The questions get more and more stupid the more you scroll down. And the first one is already pretty stupid.
ToGo 5 years ago
This article would be okay if people were asking questions they genuinely want answered, but they're taking the p**s. Also, it's just ignorant to assume all Americans do these things. I'd be pissed if they made an article asking Americans to do this to Brits. Just not my sense of humour I guess.
oddball0626 5 years ago
Let's keep bashing Americans because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
steven 5 years ago
why do americans continually complain about their pathetic healthcare but vote in people who promise to fix it but never do
deanna woods 5 years ago (edited)
This article was so annoying. As an American, I have never done half of these things. I have a sense of humor and can laugh at my own expense, but these are stupid things that not even I have ever even heard of. I understand that our president is a joke to the rest of the world, but please stop lumping all Americans into the category of idiots who do everything wrong just because you don't agree with it. Every country in the world does things differently than the next because each country is unique. Let's focus on that and not the silly things that are different.
Shelp 5 years ago
Why are toilet doors in American public toilets smaller than the average car door?
Paul K. Johnson 5 years ago
Well, now I know who's been s******g in my car. Thanks a lot, Shelp.
Load More Replies... Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 5 years ago
Because the h is silent. When the h isn't silent then it's a guys name.
Load More Replies... Rae Black 5 years ago (edited)
Why does BP continue to put up posts like this? America is very diverse, with so many different types of people. Why do they post these which lump us all together in stereotypes? This is not intelligent work, or helpful. Some of these questions are based solely on what they see on TV or in movies ffs. Americans would be blasted if we so crassly stereotyped another culture. It doesn't seem that a lot people posting questions like these understand that the US is made up of states that have their own laws, etc. Or that this country is a collection of peoples, not just one heritage or culture.
Eli 5 years ago
White South African here (yes, the colour needs to be mentioned.) Two things I experienced in the States that I would love an explenation for: (I am not hating, nor am I being mean. I loved the country and the people I interactrd with.) 1. Why does everyone want to know why I'm not black? 4 out of 5 people I met would ask the question. Got a bit annoying after about the 20th time. 2. Why do Southerners say y'all? You is collective. That is an unneeded repetition. Where did that come from?
Aria Whitaker 5 years ago (edited)
The question about "why are you white" was used in a popular American movie, "Mean Girls". It is a popular pop culture joke to say that to White south Africans...it was a gag line that became a meme. They probably don't ACUTALLY think you have to be black to be from Africa...it may just be a cultural joke meme that you aren't as aware of....
Load More Replies... Anony Mouse 5 years ago
Buzzfeed posts the same comments in a different order about once a week. It's old.
Sinkvenice 5 years ago
Why do Americans say, "I did it on accident?" It's 'by accident' dammit!
Megan Curl 5 years ago
Only ignorant, uneducated Americans say that, and it drives me batty too.
Load More Replies... Caroline Driver 5 years ago
“Why not tip everyone who you interact with in some way—bus drivers, or leave money on your trash can for the garbage man? It's inconsistent, and waiters, hairdressers, and taxi drivers should just charge us what needs to be charged,” Benny writes in his blog. Completely agree. Bizarre, skewed, c**k eyed, unfair, cruel.
Dorothy Parker 5 years ago
Bored Panda owes me the five minutes it took to read this nonsense.
Lynda Momalo 5 years ago
As for calling these things "stupid questions" -- I'm sure we all have mistaken impressions and ideas that we've picked up over the years about other countries that they'd think were silly.
John Baker 5 years ago
A mistaken impression is one thing. A troll question is quite another.
Load More Replies... Kristin Scarbrough 5 years ago
In the States it's actually spelled 'aluminum' and pronounced that way. According to quora.com "According to the Online Etymology Dictionary English chemist Sir Humphry Davy named the element alumium in 1808 and then changed it to aluminum in 1812. British editors changed it to aluminium to be more in keeping with other elements such as potassium and sodium, while the Americans retained the spelling as aluminum." So a British scientist called it aluminum, but then others wanted it to sound more 'sciencey' but we didn't cooperate, as usual LOL.
Load More Replies... John Baker 5 years ago
This proves only that foreign trolls are just as stupid as American trolls.
Lynda Momalo 5 years ago
For American and non-Americans alike, I think the book that explains best exactly how different and diverse the US is is https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0143122029 -- or if the link doesn't work, just look up American Nations by Colin Woodard. It truly explains why we'll never really be UNITED states -- we're really 11 separate nations (some partially in other countries) joined together. We think, talk, act, and look at the world in very, very different ways depending on where we grew up because of when and by whom each area was first settled.
Bláthnaid O’Loughlin 5 years ago
Can we make it so that people can add questions? I’ve one I’d like to ask.
Kristie Yuill 5 years ago
I scrolled down here to find all the comments by bitter Americans who constantly make jokes about other countries but can't take it in return. I was not disappointed.
Nirity 5 years ago
Why do muricans believe having healthcare, paid maternity, paid vacation, paid sick days, pensions for elderly, education will drain their economy to bancrupsy and can not work. It works in all other countries in the world, not only the developed ones, but actually all others. Meanwhile they spend billions for military and they just gave the most rich people in the world trilions of dollars. To save them from... what. I dont even know how many zeros a trilion has. Meanwhile the people got some spare change to survive longer in pandemic. Btw if those people die, rich wont have profit - because if the people who do all the real work while paying all the taxes, bills and goods, if those people die who will create the profit. This is insane. And they believe they are the greatest nation. Just WOW.
Marcos Pereira 5 years ago
No worries Nirity, you country is way better in every sense! *sarcasm*........smh
Load More Replies... John Baker 3 years ago
Probably because your s**t isn't funny and we're damned sick and tired of it.
Load More Replies... Karin Jansen 5 years ago
Not necessarily, but it is a big fixation on the US I don't get. Probably because it's such a unique country compared to the rest of the west. I wouldn't have any interesting questions about Norway or Canada for example.
Load More Replies... Caoimhe_Snowleopard 5 years ago
Probably because it's spelled aluminium in the UK and Ireland
Load More Replies... sh 5 years ago
Are there posts non-stop about your country's stereotypes, creating a situation where you constantly have to defend yourself, OR clarify that the stereotypes are completely incorrect? There's a point when it switches from laughing with you to laughing at you, and that gets tiring.
Load More Replies... Mini Shnauzer 5 years ago
Ok, we get it, Americans do weird things. But so do all other countries? I mean, British people call steak fries "crisps"? They're soft? Chips - potato chips - are crispy, and I can see if you'd call steak fries "chips", because they're chips of potato? But "crisps"? They're soft?
Liam Walsh 5 years ago
No, sorry that's not true. We do not call 'steak fries' crisps in the UK. They are chips. Hot, fried chips made from chips of potato and soft (though if cooked properly slightly crunchy on the outside). Crisps in the UK are what Americans call potato chips and ARE crisp - the thin, crispy, crunchy, slices of potatoes sold in bags and eaten cold. I don't care what they are called personally but didn't want you to have the wrong idea. I am very anti the US bashing thing so not joining in on that.
Load More Replies... Logan Colee 5 years ago
So a lot of people have been getting this wrong just wanted to clarify. The United States of America, its the CUSTOMARY system. OK?
John Baker 5 years ago
I only use checks to pay my rent, because that's what my landlord wants. I use my bank card for everything else.
Load More Replies... Ariel Fox 5 years ago
Yes - and what the heck is a "stone", meaning some measurement of weight??
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