Differences between Americans and the British

In My Humble Opinion
21

Well, when I was (briefly) an exchange student in Cheshire as a fifteen-year old, I learned a few things, all completly subjective:

American accents are annoying. We speak with flat "a"s which are nasal and whiney compared to the English used where I stayed. Sorry, I can’t drop it.

Cops are not to be feared in England. Do what they politely ask and they’ll be on their way with a “thank you” and scarcely a second look. Obviously a generality, but English police seem to remember that they are public servants, and many American police seem to have forgotten that.

Music is better in Britain. Even the most annoying synth-pop had a sort of soul that so much American music lacks. Nashville, I’m looking at you.

But hey, it wasn’t all one-sided. I found a few things lacking:

English toothbrushes are stiff and painful.

England is seriously lacking in the smokeless tobacco department.

American cars are cooler. I expected to be jumping out of the way of Jags, TVRs, and Lotuses. Where the hell are they? Instead, the family I stayed with owned a Ford. I went to a car show–it was for Galaxie 500 owners.

And most importantly,

Where the hell is the effing Tabasco?

22

Seen from afar England and America can seem to have a lot of similarities. They gave us the Darleks and you gave us the Klingons. They have Richard Dawkins you had Carl Sagan. They gave us the Bad News Tour you gave us Spinal Tap. Their sitcoms used to be funnier than yours, now yours are funnier than theirs. They have Gail Platt, you have Tori Spelling. You gave us the no-fly zone, they gave us the no-fly zone.

23

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by kinoons *
**

In the words of P J O’Rourke: The consumption of beer is low-class and risky, Stick to gin, vodka, cocaine and whiskey.

24

On the other hand, in England you can talk about “knocking someone up” and “eating spotted dick,” and no-one bats an eyelash.

25

In my experience, there are a lot of relatively small differences in areas that tend to be more visible. Things like language, attitudes to certain things (drinking, some political issues), bits and pieces of popular culture. Overall I think there are not that many differences, and I certainly haven’t come across any major cultural differences which have gotten in the way of my understanding them or their understanding me.

This is so. In fact my husband was horrified to learn that circumcision is the norm in the States. I’m firmly on the British side on this one.

Ugh, I beg to differ. There are a few new bands here which are great, but most of the music that’s been coming out since I’ve been here is nauseating, cheesy, fluffy, mass-produced Top 40 pish. Complete rubbish. Nothing but silly little boy and girl bands doing highly choreographed dance routines and wearing sparkly clothing while bouncing around to sickeningly cliche ballads, the lyrics of which are usually no better than your standard teenaged lovesick poetry. I love living here, but God I miss my good ole Baltimore radio stations, where I could have some variety. Give me my 98Rock, my 99.1 WHFS alternative rock, my classic rock, jazz, country, even Mix 106.5, the top 40 music of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Anything to get away from Radio 1, which plays the same ten songs every hour. Well I’ve rambled a bit there, but this happens to be the only bit of popular American culture that I miss.

Hmm, I dunno where you were shopping, but go to any decent chemist’s and you should find at least a dozen varieties and brands of toothbrushes. Just as in the States, though, you have to make sure you buy the “soft” kind.

This one I agree with. Most British cars are hatchback, and nearly all are what we’d consider to be small. Have to be a lot more economical here, considering fuel prices and such.

26

I’d certainly be raising an eyebrow if anyone I knew had been knocking someone up.

Nimue: I agree completely about the general state of chart music in Britain. On the other hand, I think the diversity and quality of the alternative scene (dance, drum and bass, indie, ambient, rock or whatever) may be slightly better than in the US. The US indie scene’s reputation in Britain seems to revolve around skate-punk wannabe bands with fewer real diamonds or original genres. This may be unfair, but it’s certainly the image I have.

The greatest differences I’ve noticed are attitudinal. I don’t think there are really many major lifestyle differences.

27

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas *
**

Another timely news item just in. From today’s copy of ‘The Times’:

'Spotted Dick, the Victorian suet pudding whose name has provided sniggers for generations of schoolboys, is being renamed after an outbreak of prudishness.

Housewives are said to have become so embarrassed at the prospect of asking for the dessert that Tesco is to call it Spotted Richard.’.

Is nothing sacred?

28

Well, “knocking someone up” use to mean either waking or calling them up in Britian. Maybe our meaning of causing an unwanted pregnancy has gone over there.

Also, don’t refer to anyone as “bent” in England, except when you mean “gay.” And does any English-speaking country still use the word “gay” to mean happy? When I see it defined thusly in foreign language dictionaries, I have to laugh.

29

Knocking someone up has always meant getting someone pregnant as far as I can remember (26 years). Maybe it’s more of a regional variation?

Bent can also mean corrupt – if you said ‘bent copper’, people would generally assume you meant a corrupt police officer.

30

>> I have tried several American beers, and they are all too watered down for my taste. It’s to the point that I drink almost exclusively imported beer

Q. Why is American beer like making love in a canoe?

A. Because it’s f*cking close to water!

31

I just got back from a visit to Great Britain, and several of us discussed this ver topic around a campfire one night.
The results:

  • American TV exports are terrible, except for the Simpson. British TV isn’t too great either, owing to the apparent regulation that at least one of the four channels be showing a documentary about cheese (or something similar) at all times.

  • We each can’t believe how much/little the other pays for gas/petrol.

  • We each can’t belive how small/huge the food portions are at our respective restaurants. Some of the Brits expressed extreme embarrassment at how much food they are given in the states.

  • The Brits say our chocolate is terrible. I was instructed to obtain a Galaxy bar and compare it to a Hershey. Have to say I agree with them after performing the taste test.

  • I told the Brits that they should solve their “squash” problem. They asked me what problem was that. I maintain the problem lies in its very existence. For the uninitiated, squash is a sort of fruity drink. They put some concentrate into a glass, and fill it with tepid water. I tried several varieties of squash while I was there, and hesitate to call any of it drinkable. This leads me to another problem…

  • The English have apparently not heard of ice. I don’t know what the reason is - maybe electricity cost, maybe cultural preference. But it would be nice to have a cold drink once in a while there. (Beer is excluded - I’m referring to juice, soft drinks, water, etc.)

  • The cashiers at English supermarkets get to sit down while doing their job. This strikes me as much more logical. Why should they have to stand up while doing that kind of job?

32

G. Nome, brits have a 4th of July too, it’s called ‘thanksgiving’ (yeah, figure it out).

One thing I noticed is that brits come to the US & stay & americans visit England & come back to the states.

Also, if Brit women are anything like Anne on Weakest Link, that says a lot about British women, right?

33

Handy: I don’t know who Anne is or what she looks like but I’m guessing her face may not be perfectly symmetrical. I’d like to say this: surprisingly there is such a thing as too much facial symmetry. I’m finding I watch “serious” American drama less and less because the faces of the people are just too good looking in that symmetrical way that tends to deplete character. It’s a little strange I know, but nevertheless true. I’m talking about Jack and Jill, Providence, Felicity, Dawson’s Creek - that kind of thing. Male movie stars aren’t always required to conform to that standard - Ed Norton, Christian Slater even Tom Hanks don’t have “manufactured” appearances but females almost always conform to it. Television show producers should throw a few Lauren Huttons and Rhoda Morgensterns into the mix.

34

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas *
**

On the other other hand- at the bookstore I work at, when they want to cash out your registar at the end of the eveing, they “pull” it.

As in, “It’s getting late. We really should pull somebody. Who can we pull? Maybe we should pull bete. Yes, we should definately pull bete.”

Well thanks, guys. I always hoped there’d be an English guy in the store to hear that.

35

You know the signs in shops with the dainty little rhyme,

Lovely to look at
Nice to hold
Once broken
Consider sold.

In America, the message is far more blunt:

YOU BREAK IT, YOU BOUGHT IT.

There’s another one. Only Yank gits like Dan Quayle would use the spelling “potatoe.”

36

Depends on the store, I’ve seen both here in the US. Although you’re more likely to see the poem in a Christian shop or other such shops likely to be visited by little old ladies.

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. I was really shocked when I walked into this liquer store in Galway and asked the lady how well the Budweiser sold. She said it was her best seller!

Brits have topless girls in their newspapers (some of them) Americans don’t. American’s have porno mags that show penetration, in Brittain they don’t. I bought some cause I wanted to see what they were like.

Americans have motels, Brits have B&Bs. The later are MUCH better.

37

I was on an exchange program in England a while back. Personally, I didn’t see too many differences aside from the ones that were already mentioned (spellings, food, holidays, etc.) British people seemed to be a bit more reserved than their American counterparts, and often walked to places as opposed to driving (high petrol prices). Also, the kids seem to be significantly more independent. That’s about it.

38

Here are the differences I noticed while living in England:
The Brits drink like fish! Not just college students, I’m talking older ladies getting deee-runk and singing loud songs in public.
Americans wear brighter colors. I always stuck out like a colorfully bruised thumb, because I wore lots of red, yellow, and purple, whereas British women wore mostly blacks and greys, with baby blue if they were feeling very daring.
The Brits did tend to be more reserved. Me: “Man, that band was fuckin’ awesome!” My Brit roommates: “Yes, they were rather good.”

39

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Jinxie *
**

Depends on the area of the US you mean. There are probably nearly as many B&B in tourist areas in my state a motels.

Now, let’s talk about food for a second. I call it a cookie, and a brit calls it a biscuit. To me a biscuit is a fluffy bread product. Do they have a name and food that resembles our biscuits? One brit told me it’s a scone. It’s not a damn scone, I eat them too(esp. raisin and blueberry) and they’re not remotely similar, scones are much drier and denser. I’ve had crumpets too(I don’t understand the point of all the little holes in them) and they’re not them either. Are Brits really deprived of butter milk biscuits? I guess it could be a roll, but rolls and biscuits are different too(outer texture). That’d be a shame if they celebrated Thanksgiving and didn’t have biscuits to go with the turkey dinner…but they don’t, so I guess it isn’t.

40

What a quaint notion. :slight_smile:

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.