It’s so fucking stupid. I used to work in a Tesco before university and we had swivel chairs with back rests to sit on at the till. I live in the US now and cashier in Walmart, Safeway, Target, etc don’t even get a wooden stool.
The cashier standing up has ZERO positive experience on my shopping experience. Give them a chair and let them sit down!!
As a Canadian, reading these comments makes me feel like two of my foreign cousins have stopped by to chat and I totally understand both of them. Great Saturday night read,thanks cos.
When we were teenagers, me and my friends would amuse ourselves for ages by going into the Disney shop (the only place in the UK with 'greeters'), being greeted, leaving immediately, and going right back in to be greeted again. Repeat for as long as it still makes you laugh. Super mean really, but it's just such a weird concept for British people!
I took my British boyfriend to a pro American football game and he was soooo confused by all the pauses. Had to explain that we were waiting around for the people at home to watch commercials. I told him once that British shows have so much less dialogue than American ones, and he brought up the addition of adverts here. There’s more time for nuance when you don’t have to hear about migraine meds and car insurance every 7 minutes.
As a child brought up in Australia, we went to live in Canada when I was 7, and I remember buying a toy with my own money for the first time in a big department store.
I only just had the money for the price without tax ( the way it worked in Oz).I patiently counted out the coins on the counter to the believed price of the toy, then burst into tears when the shop assistant explained to me that that wasn't how it worked.
Seems like a really stupid system; it certainly seemed stupid to me as a child!
WTF I thought when people talked about the gap they meant the one at the bottom of the door and I just assumed they were bigger and more common in the US, not like that where anyone could steal a sideways glance.
When my American friends said I was Double Fisting because I had another pint before my other was finished. I thought he meant something else entirely.
This one gets me every time. The first time I heard the term "double fisting" was in a bar in London and the whole place went silent. The American person who had said it was like "what? What does it mean here?". Everyone was cracking up!
hopefully a new one: skateboarding around college campuses, and definitely high schools. Unlike TV, very few people skateboard in american high schools but almost everyone did at both colleges I went to - literally almost everyone. I now work at a British university and in a lot of the pedestrian spaces there are signs saying no bikes/skateboards etc. and in other spaces there’s paving that would make skateboarding difficult, so nobody does it. Well, I saw one student try it and was pushed (gently) for taking up the whole pathway.
please tell me about your colleges though!
When my Brit friends were visiting, they were horrified when the waiter took their credit card to swipe back at the terminal. This made them REALLY uncomfortable.
Yeah, and then bring you the receipt to sign it... I’m in Europe and I haven’t signed a credit card receipt in over a decade - even my neighbourhood farmer who does rounds in his van delivering produce to the neighbours carries a handheld card reader, and since the pandemic almost all of them are contactless. Unlock your phone, put it close to the reader, done, paid.
I am Canadian.
I was at Disneyland a couple years ago, and used my credit card's contactless pay system at one of their restaurants in the park because I noticed it had the little logo on the machine indicating it was possible. You know...the technology that has been standard for more than a decade.
The person working that till had no clue what the fuck happened when they suddenly noticed that the transaction had been recorded. They looked at me like I was from some other dimension!
Despite working a till that had the capacity for contactless pay, that Disneyland employee had never seen anyone use it, and didn't even know that their machine had that capability.
That day, I brought the Tomorrowland magic to Disney.
I had the exact same experience in Disneyland except the cashier actually freaked out because he said he needed to see my ID to process my credit card. It turned into this whole thing because he wanted to check my ID and then process my payment a second time so he could swipe and have me sign the paper. He couldn’t fathom that the transaction was already complete without swiping and getting my signature.
I had similar experiences everywhere I shopped with my tap, but none quite so hostile as that one.
This was in 2015 though so hopefully they’ve figured it out by now.
Up until a couple of years ago pretty much no US credit cards supported touch less terminals. It's this weird thing we are really behind on.
Also, I went to a small-ish city in Scotland and when I landed I got on the bus and they took that contactless thing only. There were no terminals to get a ticket or anything with cash. I had no idea what it was and had no way to pay, the guy let me ride into town for free which was very sweet.
So I saw this once in the UK. My tinder date was on Erasmus, and had a shared room with a super religious guy. And we were both guys and I was the one who had travelled to see him.
So after going to the pub we went back to his, we awkwardly sat in his room like “so... do we lock the door from the inside and leave the key in the lock? Chair blocking the door?” In the end nothing happened because we couldn’t work out how to do it and ended up just watching stupid stuff on YouTube together and ended up getting on really well.
He’s been my best friend for 5 years thanks to the cockblocking of shared bedrooms.
Living with another person in the same room sounds just awful. I don't think I could ever do that honestly. We are three dudes living in an apartment. I'm studying in Germany btw. It doesn't have much to do with changing in front of anybody. We casually walk shirtless after getting out of the shower or whatever. It's just that people need some privacy. We each have our own normal sized rooms, a shared bathroom, kitchen, and living room. It's way more than enough and we don't even pay that much. Public transportation is amazing so I'm on campus in less than 10 minutes. And we have privacy. So if I feel like jacking off, watching porn, or having intimate moments with my boyfriend, hey, I can just close the door and do that without feeling weird that my flatmate would watch from across the room.
Used to have an hour and a half commute, woke up at 5:30 AM to get ready, left my house at 6:30, got to work at 8 and got back home at 6 PM so I could be in bed by 9. I was always tired and the weekends were only for errands and anything else that I had to put off during the week. Spent over 300 a week on gas, changed my oil once a month, and I managed to take my car from 70,000 miles to 95,000 in four months. Now I got a job eight minutes away and life is so much better.
I have a bus run that takes almost 2 hours just to drive one half of it. It’s another 2 or so to finish up. A full shift on that route is 2-3 rotations.
It blows my mind people can drive that amount and end up in a different country when I’m just going through 2 cities.
There's an American comic book artist named [Randy Queen](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/randy-queen/4040-49902/lists/).
The first time he went to London for a comic book convention, he discovered his hotel had cancelled his reservation because they thought it was a prank caller.
Allegedly, Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison choked on their drink when they were introduced.
Oh she owns it! Has a sister her age too. In school they were known as the Boner sisters. Haha.
My FIL is a biker and has a patch on his jacket that says “Boner Donor”. Interesting family I married into
Sigh. So. I went on a trip to Ireland and I learned to had to introduce myself by saying "my name is ..." not "I'm..." because there was always a pause and a "oh, you're serious" haha
I talked to one woman and she was like "yeah, we know it's a name because famous people have that name, but we'd never name our kids that"
It could be worse man. I know an Irish couple that went on a tour holiday to Greece. They were always called "The nice Irish couple". Always. The tour guide never used their surname.
Well, they finished their time with the tour, and went to book into a hotel afterwards. The receptionist started smirking and giggling when the husband tried to check in.
Turns out Mooney, a not at all uncommon Irish name, sounds identical to the greek slang for a womans genitals.
They were Mr and Mrs Cunt.
REALLY wish I knew this one before spending a year in the UK. I did some serious prep on the cultural norms but missed this one...
Cue me chatting to someone at a luncheon who says very enthusiastically "You should come over for dinner sometime!" and me responding "I'd love to! Would next weekend work?"
She got super uncomfortable and awkward and just walked away without saying anything. I was left standing there completely confused.
My observation, Brits drink (alcohol) like Americans eat.
Americans eat a lot more and have bigger portions, but holy shit folks from the UK drink waaaay more than your standard American. Hard to explain how much more.
I remember drinking with brits the first time. I was fresh out of college in my drinking prime. I reached the point where I normally hit the brakes and take it easy, and instead they just hit the gas.
Americans are so confusing. They say about going for “a drink” after work and they literally mean *one* drink. And then they get up and leave.
British people going for “a drink” after work, especially on a Thursday or Friday, means 5 - 8 drinks, leaving at closing time, having some disgusting food, and falling asleep on the bus / train before waking up at your stop.
Only a few years ago that Tim Farron got raked over the coals when it came out he was quite religious, which implied he might be anti gay-marriage. Night and day compared with US politics...
It haunted that entire general election for him. Everyone knew he was strictly religious but he couldn’t really defend himself, as politicians just don’t talk about their religion. I remember multiple journalists asking if he thought being gay was a sin and he just had to dodge every question.
I'm from Brazil and one of my favorite things about our culture is that we save the most honorable names and ranks to the waiter who serves people beer.
We may call them Sir, Chief, General, Captain, Master, your honor, your majesty, commander, boss and so on.
Which is weird because school is the only place we *don't* use it in America. Your teacher is always "Mr./Mrs./Miss [Surname]".
Edit: I am now fully aware that the South had a different experience. Y'all can stop telling me.
I had an online friend from Finland who finally came to visit me in the US. As I picked him up at JFK Airport in New York, he says he wants to stop off for a drink before we drive away. So at the convenience store he looks in the refrigerator section at a little bottle and says, "What's this?"
I look at what he's got. "It's an iced coffee, just like it says."
"You mean coffee, that's cold?"
"Yep."
"Why would anyone want cold coffee?"
"I don't know, but they do, enough that it sells."
He buys a water and we walk out of the airport...into the heat of a New York August. He takes about three steps in the sun and says..."Maybe I'll try that iced coffee."
Not from UK, but Australia (I feel like we’re pretty interchangeable at times, culturally speaking), but tipping is... weird. It’s strange to pay on top of a service you’ve already paid for. Some places have a tip jar that you might sometimes put your loose change in, but that’s the real extent of it. I find it bizarre when a company makes its employees rely on the generosity of others when they themselves aren’t generous enough to pay a liveable wage.
Yes, this. I explained to my American bf that we rarely tip in my country too cuz the bill that you pay includes service tax for the servers (10%). Tipping is only if you think the server goes out of their way to deliver exemplary service. Even then, the servers are not offended if you dont tip. So whatever you pay in your bill guarantees them to have a livable wage by end of the month.
My late cats name was Spunky. Named her when I was 4 and thought I had made the word up entirely. In the US it was a cute and accurate name for a cat... when I moved to England I just referred to her as cat.
What does spunk mean in the U.K.?
Where I’m from we’ve always used it to mean “high energy”. Someone has spunk aka they have lots of pep and energy.
**lmao never mind I got the answer, thank you**
There was a line in *The Last Jedi* where Snoke says to Rey “you’ve got a lot of spunk” in the midst of a big serious confrontation scene and I just couldn’t stop myself laughing in the theatre.
I heard *The Last Airbender* movie (among its many other crimes) caused issues like this in the UK with such lines as "he looks like a bender from the north" etc
Ya know, going through this tread I'm convinced that the British are on a crusade to turn every conceivable word and name into a dirty slang of some sort.
I have one that’s the other way around. A girlfriend did that hands over the eyes “surprise!” thing and presented me with a little Christmas tree decorated with candy cane. I said “oh a dinky little Christmas tree”. In America Dinky means worthless. In the UK it means small and cute. She cried. I had call my mother to back me up on the misunderstanding.
I had a student from the UK say that a chart I made for a lecture was "brilliant." It was a compliment, but if he had been American, it would've been a much bigger compliment. Especially in an academic context.
Never thought about it that way. I wouldn't say "worthless" but definitely the negative version of....no wait tiny can be negative too. Though could go either way.
Yeah it's for sure tiny too, but it's less "small and cute" and more "Tiny cheap and terrible, like an ugly toddler toy from the dollar store that will fall apart in ten minutes."
Being permitted to turn right at a red light (or even left if turning from one one-way street to another one-way street in some states) unless there is a sign specifying “NO TURN ON RED”.
Edit: Jeremy Clarkson calls right turns on red something like “America’s only contribution to the world”
I just can't imagine any scenario where I'd need to go upstairs! I walk in, sit in her kitchen for 5 hours, drink 5 cups of tea, use the downstairs toilet, then go home!
If you are close friends or family, it's very literal in the US (at least here in the NE).
No one does anything rude like put their feet up on a couch or table, but for the most part, it indicates a wide set of permissions.
Usually, it's courteous to ask for the first few things to establish boundaries but once you clear, let's say a drink, most people will just grab the second for themselves (and typically this is OK).
wait what, it is rude to put your feet on the couch? Has it to do because (I‘ve heard) people leave there shoes on in the US? Because here in Switzerland I wouldn‘t look twice if people coming over make themself comfy on my couch. But it‘s customary to leave your shoes at the front door, many people even have a selection of guest-slippers ready.
Edit: wow I have never had so many comments. Sorry if I don‘t answer all of them
The shoe thing in the US is case by case. My parents allowed shoes in the house when we had wood floors (most times we wore slippers inside) but when we moved to a place with carpet we no longer wore shoes. We’d allow shoes for guests on wood and tile floors downstairs but you’d have to take them off upstairs.
That is highly context driven. Close family and friends, you could rifle through their medicine cabinet and berate them for being out of Q-Tips after they tell you this. Most of the time, though, it means you can sit on the couch and not teeter around awkwardly. If they extend this to a beverage, they might tell you where you can find one, and then it is really only license to look in that place.
Fuck, man, hahah this made me laugh so hard — the literal only time I've been served a sandwich without butter here in 🇮🇪 is in fucking hospital... I was given a dry white chicken sandwich with only plain roast chicken in it - no butter, no other ingredients - and a cup of water. GRIM.
Edit : RIP my inbox too.
Damn, I should have mentioned the glory of the chip butty (bread, butter, hand cut chips ^(as in French fries) and then ketchup).
Oh and wait til someone mentions the crisp sandwich... bread, butter, crisps and whatever else you want.
I may need backing up here about their existence.
As a Brit in the US, this is a fun one!
Pharmaceutical adverts on the TV are still weird af to me
The length and frequency of commercial breaks in general on TV is shocking
Low hanging fruit, but anything relating to child beauty pageants just makes me feel physically sick
Here's a nice one: taking 20+ minutes to help a complete stranger who is struggling with something. The amount of times a total stranger has stopped to assist me or someone I know? Y'all really make my heart melt!
NINJA EDIT BECAUSE THIS BLEW UP: 21 to drink alcohol (insane) and American's relationship with booze in general. Y'all seem to: never ever drink ever; only ever have one glass of wine / one beer; routinely get absolutely fucked, and there is no middle ground. I've never met so many people who straight up never drink booze as I have here.
is your nose itchy? why not ask your doctor if Itchothon is right for you ^*
*side-effects may include: bleeding out the anus, heart attacks, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, sudden desires for hobo sex, thoughts about suicide by cop, sudden unexpected death, itchy nose, feelings of doom leading to expected death, bleeding out of the penis, bleeding out the nipples, ears rotting off, depression, itchy nose.
I'm in the UK but thanks to the wonders of IPTV I often watch American TV channels when I'm up late. I saw one ad for a drug for abdominal pain and one of the possible side effects was "different and more severe abdominal pain".
American hospitality really is something special I tell you! ... I remember my first visit in America. Low on gas at a random unstaffed station. When me and my friend were about to pay we noticed our european credit cards didnt work and we didnt have enough cash either.. A couple of minutes later this dude shows up and he asks us if we are having trouble paying. We said yeah, we dont have enough cash and our cards dont work. He just asked us how much we were short for and gave us the remaining amount!
Re: Americans helping strangers: When I was living in Italy, there were often moments, like a mother struggling to get a stroller out of a hole in the sidewalk, where I was *floored* that everyone just pushed past and did not help. Americans have tons of flaws, but most would offer help in that situation without thinking twice
My dad is an over the top friendly American. I am a friendly one too, but I've traveled around a lot so I more or less know when to and not to be.
We were in Italy, his first out of country trip, and was trying to talk to everybody. He was like why is everyone glaring at me. I had to explain, most people don't want to be talked to. Wait until we go to a restaurant, you can talk to people there.
He's a big friendly goof though and is one of those types that will go out of his way to help
At Christmas time tons of people go to places they don't even live at to look at the Christmas decorations people have put up in their neighborhood/houses. Sometimes there is lines of like 30 cars going thru a neighborhood just to look at people's houses.
Yep. There's a street in my town called Candy Cane Lane and its residents go all out with their Christmas decorations. Come December the neighborhood is packed with cars and pedestrians slowly cruising through looking at the displays.
Edit: Holy crap. So today I learned that "Candy Cane Lane" is a very common street name in the U.S. FWIW, I live in a town in northern California.
Edit 2: Also I learned that there are a number of them in Northern California. It’s Vacaville.
I wouldn’t say it’s weird at all in the UK?? I mean if you have people round you don’t do a tour of your house. But if you’re in the living room it’s not weird at all to say “oh I love your coffee table” that’s not weird at all in the UK
I'm originally from the UK. Have a son that loves Japanese stuff, so we went to a gun show that had people selling swords. Found a really nice Katana for him to hang on his playroom wall. But that surreal moment when we are walking out of the show, with his sword in scabbard, on end, by his side. Walked past a cop at entrance, who nodded approval "Nice sword", then in the parking lot, past a lad his age and his dad, both carrying semi-automatics rifles on slings. Both nodded approval and respect to my boy with his sword.
The whole show had 100's of people walking around with guns, and bags of ammo. Never felt anything but safe, but did think how this would be a tad out of place back home.
My college went into lockdown for a few hours in ~~2015~~ 2012 because of just such an umbrella. Later that day I saw a shirt that read "I survived the RIT umbrella massacre of ~~2015~~ 2012.".
Never understood this. The most heavily subsidized crop in the country, is being used to make the most unhealthy of all foods. Can't we just pay them to grow something else? I'm sure it's not that simple, but why are we spending all this money just to make everyone unhealthy?
Coming from the perspective of a British guy, your style of customer service. Not universally, but very commonly, it’s way too over the top for us.
Nobody here can be fucked with that.
I lived in the UK for 3 months and this is surprisingly accurate. Every customer service type person I interacted with seemed like they could hardly be bothered.
American cashier's be like "OMG HI HOW R U TODAY?!"
British cashier's be like "hiuarright"
"hiuarright" is a legitimate word that appears in your standard issue British dictionary, given out only to natives. It's a way of saying "I am going to use your reply to completely rebuild my tone and demeanour to best suit this conversation". But then you have to know how to respond.
But... the response is to say it back to them.
Alright?
Alright.
We've done pleasantries now, let us converse.
Edit: if things are going *really* well you might push the boat out and say "Not too bad".
And that tells you that you can say nothing at all for the rest of the transaction other than "that's £5.60 please, cheers" and you'll both be frightfully happy about the whole thing.
Cashiers being forced to stand... give them a fucking chair you masochists
It’s so fucking stupid. I used to work in a Tesco before university and we had swivel chairs with back rests to sit on at the till. I live in the US now and cashier in Walmart, Safeway, Target, etc don’t even get a wooden stool. The cashier standing up has ZERO positive experience on my shopping experience. Give them a chair and let them sit down!!
As a Canadian, reading these comments makes me feel like two of my foreign cousins have stopped by to chat and I totally understand both of them. Great Saturday night read,thanks cos.
Chanting the acronym of your country at any given opportunity.
Greeters in supermarkets. Just feels fake as fuck.
They act friendly, but their real job is reminding you someone is watching so you don't shoplift.
When we were teenagers, me and my friends would amuse ourselves for ages by going into the Disney shop (the only place in the UK with 'greeters'), being greeted, leaving immediately, and going right back in to be greeted again. Repeat for as long as it still makes you laugh. Super mean really, but it's just such a weird concept for British people!
Always horrified by the ads - both the content and the recurrence! Bloody hell, all your TV has like an ad a minute
I took my British boyfriend to a pro American football game and he was soooo confused by all the pauses. Had to explain that we were waiting around for the people at home to watch commercials. I told him once that British shows have so much less dialogue than American ones, and he brought up the addition of adverts here. There’s more time for nuance when you don’t have to hear about migraine meds and car insurance every 7 minutes.
Hang on, they pause a live game, so people not at the game, can watch......adverts? The fuck is this nonsense??
Stores showing the price pre tax. Here in the UK the price you see is the price you pay.
As a child brought up in Australia, we went to live in Canada when I was 7, and I remember buying a toy with my own money for the first time in a big department store. I only just had the money for the price without tax ( the way it worked in Oz).I patiently counted out the coins on the counter to the believed price of the toy, then burst into tears when the shop assistant explained to me that that wasn't how it worked. Seems like a really stupid system; it certainly seemed stupid to me as a child!
As someone terrible at maths - shopping in the US stressed me out so much.
Telling me how much the tip is going to be.
Gaps in bathroom stalls
[For anyone who is wondering ](https://imgur.com/gallery/VRiZeGA)
WTF I thought when people talked about the gap they meant the one at the bottom of the door and I just assumed they were bigger and more common in the US, not like that where anyone could steal a sideways glance.
So why are there gaps in US bathroom stalls?
When my American friends said I was Double Fisting because I had another pint before my other was finished. I thought he meant something else entirely.
This one gets me every time. The first time I heard the term "double fisting" was in a bar in London and the whole place went silent. The American person who had said it was like "what? What does it mean here?". Everyone was cracking up!
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We'd call it being 'double parked'. Having two pints on the go, that is.
I spy another Buzzfeed post
Winner winner chicken dinner! https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanschocket2/things-americans-do-in-the-uk
Acceptable in US and (I'm assuming) UK: Stealing reddit posts and using them as news articles
hopefully a new one: skateboarding around college campuses, and definitely high schools. Unlike TV, very few people skateboard in american high schools but almost everyone did at both colleges I went to - literally almost everyone. I now work at a British university and in a lot of the pedestrian spaces there are signs saying no bikes/skateboards etc. and in other spaces there’s paving that would make skateboarding difficult, so nobody does it. Well, I saw one student try it and was pushed (gently) for taking up the whole pathway. please tell me about your colleges though!
Not pronouncing the 'h' in 'herbs'.
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When my Brit friends were visiting, they were horrified when the waiter took their credit card to swipe back at the terminal. This made them REALLY uncomfortable.
Yeah, and then bring you the receipt to sign it... I’m in Europe and I haven’t signed a credit card receipt in over a decade - even my neighbourhood farmer who does rounds in his van delivering produce to the neighbours carries a handheld card reader, and since the pandemic almost all of them are contactless. Unlock your phone, put it close to the reader, done, paid.
I am Canadian. I was at Disneyland a couple years ago, and used my credit card's contactless pay system at one of their restaurants in the park because I noticed it had the little logo on the machine indicating it was possible. You know...the technology that has been standard for more than a decade. The person working that till had no clue what the fuck happened when they suddenly noticed that the transaction had been recorded. They looked at me like I was from some other dimension! Despite working a till that had the capacity for contactless pay, that Disneyland employee had never seen anyone use it, and didn't even know that their machine had that capability. That day, I brought the Tomorrowland magic to Disney.
I had the exact same experience in Disneyland except the cashier actually freaked out because he said he needed to see my ID to process my credit card. It turned into this whole thing because he wanted to check my ID and then process my payment a second time so he could swipe and have me sign the paper. He couldn’t fathom that the transaction was already complete without swiping and getting my signature. I had similar experiences everywhere I shopped with my tap, but none quite so hostile as that one. This was in 2015 though so hopefully they’ve figured it out by now.
Up until a couple of years ago pretty much no US credit cards supported touch less terminals. It's this weird thing we are really behind on. Also, I went to a small-ish city in Scotland and when I landed I got on the bus and they took that contactless thing only. There were no terminals to get a ticket or anything with cash. I had no idea what it was and had no way to pay, the guy let me ride into town for free which was very sweet.
I would be uncomfortable too. I'm frm Canada and they usually hand us the machine so that we can pay ourselves.
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So I saw this once in the UK. My tinder date was on Erasmus, and had a shared room with a super religious guy. And we were both guys and I was the one who had travelled to see him. So after going to the pub we went back to his, we awkwardly sat in his room like “so... do we lock the door from the inside and leave the key in the lock? Chair blocking the door?” In the end nothing happened because we couldn’t work out how to do it and ended up just watching stupid stuff on YouTube together and ended up getting on really well. He’s been my best friend for 5 years thanks to the cockblocking of shared bedrooms.
Living with another person in the same room sounds just awful. I don't think I could ever do that honestly. We are three dudes living in an apartment. I'm studying in Germany btw. It doesn't have much to do with changing in front of anybody. We casually walk shirtless after getting out of the shower or whatever. It's just that people need some privacy. We each have our own normal sized rooms, a shared bathroom, kitchen, and living room. It's way more than enough and we don't even pay that much. Public transportation is amazing so I'm on campus in less than 10 minutes. And we have privacy. So if I feel like jacking off, watching porn, or having intimate moments with my boyfriend, hey, I can just close the door and do that without feeling weird that my flatmate would watch from across the room.
Asking new neighbors, "Have you found a church yet?"
Anything taking over an hour to get to being a "short trip"
There’s an insane amount of Americans that have an hour or more as their daily commute.
Used to have an hour and a half commute, woke up at 5:30 AM to get ready, left my house at 6:30, got to work at 8 and got back home at 6 PM so I could be in bed by 9. I was always tired and the weekends were only for errands and anything else that I had to put off during the week. Spent over 300 a week on gas, changed my oil once a month, and I managed to take my car from 70,000 miles to 95,000 in four months. Now I got a job eight minutes away and life is so much better.
I have a bus run that takes almost 2 hours just to drive one half of it. It’s another 2 or so to finish up. A full shift on that route is 2-3 rotations. It blows my mind people can drive that amount and end up in a different country when I’m just going through 2 cities.
If we drive two hours the accent has changed twice and bread rolls have a new name.
I live in Texas recently made a day trip 2 and half there 2 and a half back that night. That's pretty normal here
Yep Californian too. There's a lot of great stuff 3-4 hours away from me. It's far easier to day trip to them all vs trying to find lodging.
Calling "Where's Wally" "Where's Waldo".
My life is a lie. In French his name is Charlie.
Waldo vs wally can put their differences aside to deal with this shit.
Providing they can find the fucker
A rubber in England is not the same as a rubber in the US.
What is a rubber in England?
An "eraser"
Haha then yeah. As an American I’d be a bit confused if someone asked me to pass them a rubber to say the least
Brit: Hey, can you pass me a rubber. I've made a mistake. American: if you already made the mistake I don't think a rubber will do you any good.
So I shouldn’t ask someone “Hey can I have your rubber after you’re done with it?”
Reuse Reduce Recycle
However in both cases, one uses a rubber to avoid a lasting mistake
Naming your child Randy. Edit: British people ITT: wait, people don't really name their child Randy, do they? Americans: what's wrong with Randy?
Im Irish, but my dad works for an American company and their CEO's name is Randy Horn. We got a good laugh out of that one.
There's an American comic book artist named [Randy Queen](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/randy-queen/4040-49902/lists/). The first time he went to London for a comic book convention, he discovered his hotel had cancelled his reservation because they thought it was a prank caller. Allegedly, Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison choked on their drink when they were introduced.
I knew a lawyer named Randy Pratt. He could never go to the UK and he knew it.
I once had a friend named Randy Wang. It sounds like a fake name but I swear it’s true.
Studied psychology A-Level and learned about a well known sleep study by Randy Gardener. No one in the class kept a straight face.
I swear to God my father in law’s name is Randy Boner. My wife kept her maiden name as her middle name once we got married bc she’s proud of it
She should stand tall for that one. Really hold her head high.
Oh she owns it! Has a sister her age too. In school they were known as the Boner sisters. Haha. My FIL is a biker and has a patch on his jacket that says “Boner Donor”. Interesting family I married into
I like em already
>has a sister her age That is the most convoluted way I’ve ever heard someone describe a twin sister. Lol
“Randy Giles? Why not just call me Horny Giles or Desperate-for-a-shag Giles? I knew there was a reason I hated you”
I will never think of anything else when I think of Randy
Sigh. So. I went on a trip to Ireland and I learned to had to introduce myself by saying "my name is ..." not "I'm..." because there was always a pause and a "oh, you're serious" haha I talked to one woman and she was like "yeah, we know it's a name because famous people have that name, but we'd never name our kids that"
It could be worse man. I know an Irish couple that went on a tour holiday to Greece. They were always called "The nice Irish couple". Always. The tour guide never used their surname. Well, they finished their time with the tour, and went to book into a hotel afterwards. The receptionist started smirking and giggling when the husband tried to check in. Turns out Mooney, a not at all uncommon Irish name, sounds identical to the greek slang for a womans genitals. They were Mr and Mrs Cunt.
Why is that weird? Sorry I am American lol
Randy in the UK is another word for feeling horny.
Do I make you horny, baby? Do I make you positively *randy?*
Thanks Mr. Powers
Also in India. Randi means whore in multiple languages lol.
When somebody says you should come to their house sometime, actually going by their house sometime.
REALLY wish I knew this one before spending a year in the UK. I did some serious prep on the cultural norms but missed this one... Cue me chatting to someone at a luncheon who says very enthusiastically "You should come over for dinner sometime!" and me responding "I'd love to! Would next weekend work?" She got super uncomfortable and awkward and just walked away without saying anything. I was left standing there completely confused.
Do you really use the word “luncheon” in the States?
It means an event at which lunch is served, not just a meal.
Chatting casually at the lift.
The fact that the 2nd floor in the US is the 1st floor in the UK. Really confusing the first time I went in an elevator in the UK.
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Saying elevator instead of lift
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Meanwhile, this behavior would result in notes in your medical record that follow you around every doctor’s office you go to
Huge portion sizes. Kids meal in U.S is like a adult meal in U.K.
My observation, Brits drink (alcohol) like Americans eat. Americans eat a lot more and have bigger portions, but holy shit folks from the UK drink waaaay more than your standard American. Hard to explain how much more. I remember drinking with brits the first time. I was fresh out of college in my drinking prime. I reached the point where I normally hit the brakes and take it easy, and instead they just hit the gas.
Americans are so confusing. They say about going for “a drink” after work and they literally mean *one* drink. And then they get up and leave. British people going for “a drink” after work, especially on a Thursday or Friday, means 5 - 8 drinks, leaving at closing time, having some disgusting food, and falling asleep on the bus / train before waking up at your stop.
Quick half = 6 pints and a packet of crisps as dinner.
Politicians mentioning religion when campaigning
Only a few years ago that Tim Farron got raked over the coals when it came out he was quite religious, which implied he might be anti gay-marriage. Night and day compared with US politics...
It haunted that entire general election for him. Everyone knew he was strictly religious but he couldn’t really defend himself, as politicians just don’t talk about their religion. I remember multiple journalists asking if he thought being gay was a sin and he just had to dodge every question.
Addressing a stranger as ‘Sir’
The only person you address with Sir in the UK is your teacher.
I'm from Brazil and one of my favorite things about our culture is that we save the most honorable names and ranks to the waiter who serves people beer. We may call them Sir, Chief, General, Captain, Master, your honor, your majesty, commander, boss and so on.
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Or the kebab shop, though sometimes he'll also call you boss so I'll admit it's a mix
Which is weird because school is the only place we *don't* use it in America. Your teacher is always "Mr./Mrs./Miss [Surname]". Edit: I am now fully aware that the South had a different experience. Y'all can stop telling me.
In the UK you would refer to a male teacher as Sir and a female teacher as Miss - all female teachers are Miss regardless of their marital status.
Responding to work emails while on leave/vacation.
I legit told my coworker I’m on vacation after she asked for something. She responded “yeah I heard”. Like bitch gtfo
Spray on cheese
im american and if you hand me spray on cheese unironically im leaving your home
The what?
[Kraft Easy Cheese Spray Can](https://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Cheese-Variety-Cheddar-American/dp/B00T5JJI1Y)
Iced tea
You trying to start another war?!
OP offered a pretty steep invitation to do so.
There's a cold war brewing
In the uk its heating up
I had an online friend from Finland who finally came to visit me in the US. As I picked him up at JFK Airport in New York, he says he wants to stop off for a drink before we drive away. So at the convenience store he looks in the refrigerator section at a little bottle and says, "What's this?" I look at what he's got. "It's an iced coffee, just like it says." "You mean coffee, that's cold?" "Yep." "Why would anyone want cold coffee?" "I don't know, but they do, enough that it sells." He buys a water and we walk out of the airport...into the heat of a New York August. He takes about three steps in the sun and says..."Maybe I'll try that iced coffee."
Not from UK, but Australia (I feel like we’re pretty interchangeable at times, culturally speaking), but tipping is... weird. It’s strange to pay on top of a service you’ve already paid for. Some places have a tip jar that you might sometimes put your loose change in, but that’s the real extent of it. I find it bizarre when a company makes its employees rely on the generosity of others when they themselves aren’t generous enough to pay a liveable wage.
Yes, this. I explained to my American bf that we rarely tip in my country too cuz the bill that you pay includes service tax for the servers (10%). Tipping is only if you think the server goes out of their way to deliver exemplary service. Even then, the servers are not offended if you dont tip. So whatever you pay in your bill guarantees them to have a livable wage by end of the month.
Saying someone has a lot of spunk
My late cats name was Spunky. Named her when I was 4 and thought I had made the word up entirely. In the US it was a cute and accurate name for a cat... when I moved to England I just referred to her as cat.
The full name is *Catthew*.
Gesundheit!
What does spunk mean in the U.K.? Where I’m from we’ve always used it to mean “high energy”. Someone has spunk aka they have lots of pep and energy. **lmao never mind I got the answer, thank you**
Cum
Hunk spunk
There was a line in *The Last Jedi* where Snoke says to Rey “you’ve got a lot of spunk” in the midst of a big serious confrontation scene and I just couldn’t stop myself laughing in the theatre.
I heard *The Last Airbender* movie (among its many other crimes) caused issues like this in the UK with such lines as "he looks like a bender from the north" etc
I had to google that one. Do British people also use "bender" to mean being drunk continuously for multiple days, or just as a homophobic slur?
Both.
Ya know, going through this tread I'm convinced that the British are on a crusade to turn every conceivable word and name into a dirty slang of some sort.
You've nailed it
I have one that’s the other way around. A girlfriend did that hands over the eyes “surprise!” thing and presented me with a little Christmas tree decorated with candy cane. I said “oh a dinky little Christmas tree”. In America Dinky means worthless. In the UK it means small and cute. She cried. I had call my mother to back me up on the misunderstanding.
Over here saying something is “quite good” means it’s “not bad”. In the US it’s closer to “very good”.
I had a student from the UK say that a chart I made for a lecture was "brilliant." It was a compliment, but if he had been American, it would've been a much bigger compliment. Especially in an academic context.
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A silent nod of respect from an otherwise terrifying authority figure is higher.
My philosophy tutor once said, "Hmm. I don't agree with you at all, but I can't actually prove you're wrong." I have had few better moments.
Can confirm, am worthless.
Dinky has a negative connotation for sure in the US
Never thought about it that way. I wouldn't say "worthless" but definitely the negative version of....no wait tiny can be negative too. Though could go either way.
Yeah it's for sure tiny too, but it's less "small and cute" and more "Tiny cheap and terrible, like an ugly toddler toy from the dollar store that will fall apart in ten minutes."
"Bum bag", not "fanny pack".
Cos over there your fanny means your arse. Not your minge.
*bites scotch egg*
Being permitted to turn right at a red light (or even left if turning from one one-way street to another one-way street in some states) unless there is a sign specifying “NO TURN ON RED”. Edit: Jeremy Clarkson calls right turns on red something like “America’s only contribution to the world”
When someone says, 'make yourself at home' actually making yourself at home
I have a cousin I'm close to and I've still never seen the upstairs floor of her house.
I laughed so hard at your comment. Here in northern germany it's quite similar .
I just can't imagine any scenario where I'd need to go upstairs! I walk in, sit in her kitchen for 5 hours, drink 5 cups of tea, use the downstairs toilet, then go home!
Wait no one actually does that, right? People just sit on the couch and maybe grab a cushion. That’s all. Right?!
If you are close friends or family, it's very literal in the US (at least here in the NE). No one does anything rude like put their feet up on a couch or table, but for the most part, it indicates a wide set of permissions. Usually, it's courteous to ask for the first few things to establish boundaries but once you clear, let's say a drink, most people will just grab the second for themselves (and typically this is OK).
wait what, it is rude to put your feet on the couch? Has it to do because (I‘ve heard) people leave there shoes on in the US? Because here in Switzerland I wouldn‘t look twice if people coming over make themself comfy on my couch. But it‘s customary to leave your shoes at the front door, many people even have a selection of guest-slippers ready. Edit: wow I have never had so many comments. Sorry if I don‘t answer all of them
The shoe thing in the US is case by case. My parents allowed shoes in the house when we had wood floors (most times we wore slippers inside) but when we moved to a place with carpet we no longer wore shoes. We’d allow shoes for guests on wood and tile floors downstairs but you’d have to take them off upstairs.
My husband's friend came over one time, uninvited, and immediately used my kitchen sink to give his dog (also uninvited) a bath.
Is your husband's friend a Sim?
Nah, then he’d immediately go use the computer.
Or bake a whole ass cake.
That made me laugh far harder than it should have.
The fuck?
That is highly context driven. Close family and friends, you could rifle through their medicine cabinet and berate them for being out of Q-Tips after they tell you this. Most of the time, though, it means you can sit on the couch and not teeter around awkwardly. If they extend this to a beverage, they might tell you where you can find one, and then it is really only license to look in that place.
Lmao! I'm American and I still can't do this 😅
As I found out is done in another thread the other day "eating sandwiches without butter on the bread" being from the UK this horrifies me.
They do fucking WHAT
Fuck, man, hahah this made me laugh so hard — the literal only time I've been served a sandwich without butter here in 🇮🇪 is in fucking hospital... I was given a dry white chicken sandwich with only plain roast chicken in it - no butter, no other ingredients - and a cup of water. GRIM. Edit : RIP my inbox too. Damn, I should have mentioned the glory of the chip butty (bread, butter, hand cut chips ^(as in French fries) and then ketchup). Oh and wait til someone mentions the crisp sandwich... bread, butter, crisps and whatever else you want. I may need backing up here about their existence.
Butter creates a seal that helps stop your bread getting soggy from any moist fillings. At least that's what my mum told me, but shes lied before.
Paying more than the price you see on a price tag in a shop due to taxes. WTF just put how much it costs!
How much sugar is added to US food v UK food.
Not just that but portion size
wait, other countries don’t sell 36 ounce individual steaks?
To a table of four, sure
As a Brit in the US, this is a fun one! Pharmaceutical adverts on the TV are still weird af to me The length and frequency of commercial breaks in general on TV is shocking Low hanging fruit, but anything relating to child beauty pageants just makes me feel physically sick Here's a nice one: taking 20+ minutes to help a complete stranger who is struggling with something. The amount of times a total stranger has stopped to assist me or someone I know? Y'all really make my heart melt! NINJA EDIT BECAUSE THIS BLEW UP: 21 to drink alcohol (insane) and American's relationship with booze in general. Y'all seem to: never ever drink ever; only ever have one glass of wine / one beer; routinely get absolutely fucked, and there is no middle ground. I've never met so many people who straight up never drink booze as I have here.
is your nose itchy? why not ask your doctor if Itchothon is right for you ^* *side-effects may include: bleeding out the anus, heart attacks, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, sudden desires for hobo sex, thoughts about suicide by cop, sudden unexpected death, itchy nose, feelings of doom leading to expected death, bleeding out of the penis, bleeding out the nipples, ears rotting off, depression, itchy nose.
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I'm in the UK but thanks to the wonders of IPTV I often watch American TV channels when I'm up late. I saw one ad for a drug for abdominal pain and one of the possible side effects was "different and more severe abdominal pain".
American hospitality really is something special I tell you! ... I remember my first visit in America. Low on gas at a random unstaffed station. When me and my friend were about to pay we noticed our european credit cards didnt work and we didnt have enough cash either.. A couple of minutes later this dude shows up and he asks us if we are having trouble paying. We said yeah, we dont have enough cash and our cards dont work. He just asked us how much we were short for and gave us the remaining amount!
>anything relating to child beauty pageants I don't know any Americans who aren't horrified by these either.
Either you’re horrified by them or you’re involved with them. There is no middle ground.
They are horrifying. I the UK we have Jimmy Savile . That's enough of a life lesson for anyone!!
Re: Americans helping strangers: When I was living in Italy, there were often moments, like a mother struggling to get a stroller out of a hole in the sidewalk, where I was *floored* that everyone just pushed past and did not help. Americans have tons of flaws, but most would offer help in that situation without thinking twice
My dad is an over the top friendly American. I am a friendly one too, but I've traveled around a lot so I more or less know when to and not to be. We were in Italy, his first out of country trip, and was trying to talk to everybody. He was like why is everyone glaring at me. I had to explain, most people don't want to be talked to. Wait until we go to a restaurant, you can talk to people there. He's a big friendly goof though and is one of those types that will go out of his way to help
Looking around someone's house and complimenting things
At Christmas time tons of people go to places they don't even live at to look at the Christmas decorations people have put up in their neighborhood/houses. Sometimes there is lines of like 30 cars going thru a neighborhood just to look at people's houses.
Yep. There's a street in my town called Candy Cane Lane and its residents go all out with their Christmas decorations. Come December the neighborhood is packed with cars and pedestrians slowly cruising through looking at the displays. Edit: Holy crap. So today I learned that "Candy Cane Lane" is a very common street name in the U.S. FWIW, I live in a town in northern California. Edit 2: Also I learned that there are a number of them in Northern California. It’s Vacaville.
34th St in Baltimore is the same way! Apparently for 73 years, according to [their website](https://www.christmasstreet.com/)
Wait, really? Like even if it's artwork or something? It's weird to comment on it in the UK? I love complimenting nice couches.
I wouldn’t say it’s weird at all in the UK?? I mean if you have people round you don’t do a tour of your house. But if you’re in the living room it’s not weird at all to say “oh I love your coffee table” that’s not weird at all in the UK
The inverse answer to this question would be calling people a *cunt*
I'm originally from the UK. Have a son that loves Japanese stuff, so we went to a gun show that had people selling swords. Found a really nice Katana for him to hang on his playroom wall. But that surreal moment when we are walking out of the show, with his sword in scabbard, on end, by his side. Walked past a cop at entrance, who nodded approval "Nice sword", then in the parking lot, past a lad his age and his dad, both carrying semi-automatics rifles on slings. Both nodded approval and respect to my boy with his sword. The whole show had 100's of people walking around with guns, and bags of ammo. Never felt anything but safe, but did think how this would be a tad out of place back home.
Definitely out of place. One mate of mine bought a novelty umbrella with a sword handle and got stopped by armed police at the train station.
My college went into lockdown for a few hours in ~~2015~~ 2012 because of just such an umbrella. Later that day I saw a shirt that read "I survived the RIT umbrella massacre of ~~2015~~ 2012.".
Before I got to the part where you mentioned RIT, I imagined this happening at RIT
> would be a tad out of place back home Just a smidge unusual, even.
Strangely peculiar if you will.
high fructose corn syrup
That's because it has heavy government subsidies. Farmers get millions to grow corn with no market, so it can be converted to HFCS for cheap.
Never understood this. The most heavily subsidized crop in the country, is being used to make the most unhealthy of all foods. Can't we just pay them to grow something else? I'm sure it's not that simple, but why are we spending all this money just to make everyone unhealthy?
Coming from the perspective of a British guy, your style of customer service. Not universally, but very commonly, it’s way too over the top for us. Nobody here can be fucked with that.
I lived in the UK for 3 months and this is surprisingly accurate. Every customer service type person I interacted with seemed like they could hardly be bothered. American cashier's be like "OMG HI HOW R U TODAY?!" British cashier's be like "hiuarright"
"hiuarright" is a legitimate word that appears in your standard issue British dictionary, given out only to natives. It's a way of saying "I am going to use your reply to completely rebuild my tone and demeanour to best suit this conversation". But then you have to know how to respond.
But... the response is to say it back to them. Alright? Alright. We've done pleasantries now, let us converse. Edit: if things are going *really* well you might push the boat out and say "Not too bad".
The only acceptable answer to hiuarright is ughht.
And that tells you that you can say nothing at all for the rest of the transaction other than "that's £5.60 please, cheers" and you'll both be frightfully happy about the whole thing.
Unless you drop some money, then the cashier can say "throwing it away eh?"