# Differences between Americans and the British
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 24, 2001, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891 "2001-08-24T13:11:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/41 "2001-08-26T04:50:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by G. Nome \*
> **I suspect a lot of foreigners find it a little weird that every July 4th Americans celebrate independence from a country which has been their greatest ally for a century or more.**
Eh. No stranger than celebrating a 400-year-old assassination plot against your own king every November 5th. The current festivities don’t seem to be upsetting the royals much.
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### Author:  [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/42 "2001-08-26T09:14:35Z")
I must admit I did think much the same thing last Guy Fawkes Day. I remember watching the fireworks and wishing there was a link between them and something grand and uplifting rather than just vague puzzlement.
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### Author:  [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/43 "2001-08-26T09:35:04Z")
Why is it that when English comedians who are very, very funny when they work in their own country become insipid in the roles they are given in the U.S.? It happened to Eric Idle and it happened to Billy Connolly. The guy in Drew Cary seems ok but, strangely, I don’t believe he was well-known in England before he worked in the States. John Cleese is another example. Ewan McGregor also lost a little something when he worked in America. That guy seems to be goodlooking on a tenuous basis. His hairstyle is the decider - he can be handsome or homely depending on the way he wears his hair. In Phantom Menace his hairstyle was just about as unflattering as possible and in a Life Less Ordinary it wasn’t the best. In Moulin Rouge, a film made outside the States, he looks ravishing. It’s quite odd.
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### Author:  [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/44 "2001-08-26T13:52:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Jinxie \*
> > \*\*
> >
> > As per beer I think somebody, maybe Cecil even, said that a lot of it had to do with Americans like to drink a LOT. Something that you can’t do with concentrated beers, but American beers, well you can drink a 6-pack or more.
> > \*\*
>
> What a quaint notion. 🙂
>
> A _six pack_?? Neither here nor there. I’ve barely checked GQ and GD by the time a six pack’s gone. And no watery US beer either. Of course, in case you think I’m showing off my Aussie beer drinking skills, I don’t hesitate to say that I bow in submission to the Scots. My Scottish friend Mark will drink three schooners (3/4 imperial pint or 425ml each) in a fifteen minute coffee break -and force me to do likewise. \*\*
Can you point to the guy who detests alcohol? Yup, me. I remember the reasoning if not the exact numbers hence the ‘or more’ but whoever said that could be wrong. But it seems to make sense. Maybe some American with a beer gut to be proud of could tell us on average how much he drink in a sitting?
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### Author:  [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/45 "2001-08-26T14:12:35Z")
You can actually get some very good beer in America if you avoid the big-name national brands and try one of the local micro-brews. 🙂
–Nut
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/46 "2001-08-26T14:16:46Z")
[QUOTE]
\*Originally posted by Max Torque \*
\*\*
> [@](#):
>
> Eh. No stranger than celebrating a 400-year-old assassination plot against your own king every November 5th. The current festivities don’t seem to be upsetting the royals much. \*\*
I thought they were celebrating the failure of the plot and the death of would-be assassins. Hence draging the Guy around town and then setting him on fire.
Of course celebrating somebodies torture and execution is a little disturbing- I mean Timothy McVeige’s bomb actually went off, but I hope we’re not going to start having a party every year (“Ok, let’s all gather in the town square to see the lethal injecting of the Tim.”)
“Remember, remember the 5th of November.
Gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
(Thank you, Alan Moore)
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### Author:  [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/47 "2001-08-26T14:46:58Z")
[QUOTE]
\*Originally posted by betenoir \*
\*\*
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Max Torque \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Eh. No stranger than celebrating a 400-year-old assassination plot against your own king every November 5th. The current festivities don’t seem to be upsetting the royals much. \*\*
>
> I thought they were celebrating the failure of the plot and the death of would-be assassins. Hence draging the Guy around town and then setting him on fire.
>
> “Remember, remember the 5th of November.
> Gunpowder treason and plot.
> I see no reason why gunpowder treason
> Should ever be forgot.”
> Because most of the plotters were Catholic there have been accusations made that in some towns the November 5th. celebrations can turn into an anti-Catholic demonstrations. Has anybody elses heard about this?
>
> (Thank you, Alan Moore) \*\*
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### Author:  [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/48 "2001-08-26T14:51:48Z")
For some reason my reply has got mixed up with the quotes. My reply starts at “Because most of etc” ,sorry about that
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/49 "2001-08-26T15:04:37Z")
Oh, I got it backwards, I think its the Brits have a Thanksgiving, it’s the Fourth of July.
Being deafened, I never heard the english accent. Do I miss much?
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### Author:  [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/50 "2001-08-26T15:36:53Z")
handy… there is no British accent. there are several of them.
with certain (cockney, estuary, birmingham, gloucestershire, macclesfield) no, you didn’t miss much.
with others (liverpool, upper-class RP, somerset, geordie, bath) you missed a lot.
and if you REALLY mean british, in irish, scots and welsh accents (about another 100 variations), you missed some of the sexiest accents alive.
but i’m sure you use other criteria than me to measure sexiness.
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### Author:  [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/51 "2001-08-26T21:53:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Crusoe \*
> **The US indie scene’s reputation in Britain seems to revolve around skate-punk wannabe bands with fewer real diamonds or original genres.**
Relatively few of those bands are actually indie, though. If indie music is dominated by any particular genre, I’d tend to consider it grunge. (FWIW, I’ve always as a general rule preferred British indie to American indie.)
And G. Nome, since when is Billy Connolly an _English_ comedian? 😉
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### Author:  [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/52 "2001-08-26T21:54:19Z")
That should read “if _American_ indie music is dominated …”
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### Author:  [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/53 "2001-08-26T23:48:21Z")
Ruadh: Billy Connolly is definitely Scottish. How could I forget? I only saw the Debt Collector a.k.a. TOURIST MOVIE last week. He was a patriotic debt collector wasn’t he? He wasn’t just any old wishy washy trouser wearing sort. He went to the Edinburgh tattoo, there were bagpipes, he wore a skirt. Gods knows I thought it was only my country which put out films like that. Like, there has to be a sign visible in every NZ movie saying ‘a sheep for every man woman and child’. I could never work out how tourists were supposed to fit them in their suitcases.
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### Author:  [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2001, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/54 "2001-08-27T07:33:15Z")
O.K. about the beer: Is the strength of U.S. beer designed to increase consumption? Is it a commerical ploy? That is the opinion of someone I know here. He said Americans are required to drink a whole lot more beer than other nationalities if they want to get drunk. How true is that?
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/55 "2001-08-28T02:33:09Z")
If you check into a hotel in America it’s guaranteed you’ll have your own private bathroom (loo).
In America the wealthy live in the newest homes. In Britain the wealthiest people live in the oldest homes.
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### Author:  [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/56 "2001-08-28T06:47:47Z")
If I checked into a hotel room in Britain and found it wasn’t ensuite I would be very shocked indeed. It would be extremely atypical, unless it was a seriously low-budget hotel.
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### Author:  [@G.Nome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Nome)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/57 "2001-08-28T11:32:57Z")
How many people, brought up on both British and American television, have unanswered questions about room sizes? Workingclass people in Britain seem to live in tiny rooms whereas their counterparts in the U.S. are often seem to live in smallish mansions. Drew Carey’s home seems very impressive for instance although I assume it’s meant to represent the residence of a person of relatively low income. The Bunkers of All in the Family seemed to live in a massive home but were supposed to be typical of lower-socio economic people. I come from a country where the living standards are excellent but where a house similar to the one lived in by the Bundy’s (of Married with Children) would probably cost around $250,000. (There may be differing viewpoints on that though). What is real and what is not when it comes to British and American room size?
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### Author:  [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/58 "2001-08-28T12:41:45Z")
Well remember America is HUGE, wide wide wide open spaces. And people are generally willing to live far from the city in the suburbs. For instance my family was dirt poor, and I mean dirt poor but we were able to buy three acreas in the forest and build a really nice 2 bedroom house with a huge living room. Although we built it ourselves. And people have gotten used to large homes and expect it now. Although if you were to try and find something in a crouded city that would be different. Remember that in Friends she Monica only has that nice apartment because it’s technically her grandmothers from long ago. But if you’re in say Tucson or Las Vegas of Kansas you should be able to find a good size home. Unless of course you’re so poor you’re forced to live in a Trailor Park (Caravans) those can get quite small, I know we also lived in those for 2 years. Yuck!!! You know, I don’t think there’s ever been any show that I can recall where a main character lives in a mobile home.
Another difference is in out shows, the lighting is way different. Americans seem to have lots of light but Brits always seem to have bad lighting.
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### Author:  [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/59 "2001-08-28T12:43:14Z")
But then again TV shows do exaggerate. Everybody always gets lucky like Monica. Drew of course got his parents home which they probably spent 30 years paying off the morgage on.
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### Author:  [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differences-between-americans-and-the-british/77891/60 "2001-08-28T16:13:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by saepiroth \*
> \*\*to paraphrase eddie izzard:
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > You say " 'erbs" and we say " _H_erbs", because there’s a fucking “H” in it.
>
> i’ve just always liked that. and it explains so much… \*\*
The English never being ones to pronounce an H silently, and all. 😉
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