# Non-Americans - name a thing you know about the US you got from the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930 "2012-09-07T00:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/221 "2012-09-24T03:36:18Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > The thought makes my stomach curdle. ☹ How about a [bacon butty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon_butty) or a [chip butty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_butty)? ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/222 "2012-09-24T04:00:10Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > How about a [bacon butty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon_butty) or a [chip butty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_butty)? The chip butty (i.e. french fry sandwich) doesn’t look too gross, it looks like something me and my friends would have made up in college in a desperate attempt to make our low monetary resources stretch while also drunk/hungover. (which is where a popular snack among my and my friends was created, where you don’t even bother to cook your Ramen and just eat them straight from the bag sprinkled with the flavoring, like some salty cardboard-noodle-cracker from hell.) But the bacon butty makes me want to retch. ☹ I am amazed how people from England can even have the gall to criticize American food when they are responsible for such gastronomic monstrosities. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/223 "2012-09-24T13:26:30Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > But the bacon butty makes me want to retch. ☹ I am amazed how people from England can even have the gall to criticize American food when they are responsible for such gastronomic monstrosities. 😉 What the hell? A bacon sandwich makes you want to retch? A bacon sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/224 "2012-09-24T14:43:05Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What the hell? A bacon sandwich makes you want to retch? A bacon sandwich? I think it’s the idea of bacon… with butter. It’s incredibly unappealing for reasons I cannot quite put my finger on and must presume are culturally conditioned (and the notion of a bacon sandwich with margarine is much, much grosser). Mmmm, fat with fat, with salt, with white bread. That sort of thing (and the french-fry sandwich, which is miles worse sounding) is the kind of indescribably low-brow and bad-for-you and bland food that makes Americans wonder why WE’RE the ones said to have uniquely bad food habits and no taste. 😃 After all, an American staring at bacon on bread, would almost definitely put a tomato on that bitch. And everyone knows a bacon and tomato sandwich takes mayo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/225 "2012-09-24T14:45:43Z")
Well, let me say, that being of British heritage, and as God as my witness, I thought everyone ate bacon sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/226 "2012-09-24T14:47:10Z")
Americans eat them too. It’s just that we call them “bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches,” or BLTs and we put mayonnaise on them. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/227 "2012-09-24T14:56:47Z")
Bacon butties and chip butties aren’t exactly thought of as posh food in the UK, either. And mayo is also mostly fat, not exactly healthier than butter or margarine. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/228 "2012-09-24T14:59:11Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > And mayo is also mostly fat Yeah, it’s just egg yolks emulsified in oil. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/229 "2012-09-24T15:03:03Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Bacon butties and chip butties aren’t exactly thought of as posh food in the UK, either. And mayo is also mostly fat, not exactly healthier than butter or margarine. I never said it was healthier, in fact I said the intensity of my preference is obviously culturally conditioned, which is to say, it has no objective basis. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/230 "2012-09-24T15:08:29Z")
Then there’s the sugar butty, which as I understand it is buttered bread w/ sugar sprinkled on it. [Here](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/1483524843_563567e404.jpg) someone either got creative or health-conscious. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/231 "2012-09-24T15:42:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What the hell? A bacon sandwich makes you want to retch? A bacon sandwich? It’s just a pound of bacon (and from the picture it’s not the crispy/thinly sliced bacon I am used to on my blt or burger, it’s thick, limp, and coated with a fine layer of grease. That isn’t bacon, that’s just sad ham) and butter. Yep, sounds pretty grody to me. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/232 "2012-09-24T15:43:40Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I think it’s the idea of bacon… with butter. It’s incredibly unappealing for reasons I cannot quite put my finger on and must presume are culturally conditioned (and the notion of a bacon sandwich with margarine is much, much grosser). Mmmm, fat with fat, with salt, with white bread. > > That sort of thing (and the french-fry sandwich, which is miles worse sounding) is the kind of indescribably low-brow and bad-for-you and bland food that makes Americans wonder why WE’RE the ones said to have uniquely bad food habits and no taste. 😃 \*\*After all, an American staring at bacon on bread, would almost definitely put a tomato on that bitch. \*\* > > And everyone knows a bacon and tomato sandwich takes mayo. 😃 Yes! That was exactly what I was thinking 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/233 "2012-09-24T16:10:35Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I never said it was healthier, in fact I said the intensity of my preference is obviously culturally conditioned, which is to say, it has no objective basis. Yeah, but you then went on to say that Americans would always put a tomato on a bacon butty. Thing is, a bacon butty is SUPPOSED to be unhealthy. It’s the kind of thing you eat after a hangover or when wanting to eat crappy junk food. So it’s a bit odd to criticise it for being unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/234 "2012-09-24T16:18:23Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yeah, but you then went on to say that Americans would always put a tomato on a bacon butty. Thing is, a bacon butty is SUPPOSED to be unhealthy. It’s the kind of thing you eat after a hangover or when wanting to eat crappy junk food. So it’s a bit odd to criticise it for being unhealthy. LOL. The ta’mater isn’t to make it healthier, it’s to make it more palatable. Silly, billy. When this ([http://hangoverschool.com/best-hangover-foods/](http://hangoverschool.com/best-hangover-foods/)) is what counts for hangover food in the States, we know we can’t criticize what is healthy or not 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/235 "2012-09-24T16:21:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yeah, but you then went on to say that Americans would always put a tomato on a bacon butty. Thing is, a bacon butty is SUPPOSED to be unhealthy. It’s the kind of thing you eat after a hangover or when wanting to eat crappy junk food. So it’s a bit odd to criticise it for being unhealthy. I wasn’t criticizing it for being unhealthy. I was criticizing it for sounding unappealing. Americans would put tomato on a bacon sandwich, not to make it healthier, but because that’s how it should be and it’s 1000 times better that way in American eyes. (remember… culture… no objective basis…etc). I just think it’s funny that everyone’s always after Americans for their nasty eating habits, including the British, when, really, glass houses and all that. Everyone and every culture has their food habits others consider unappetizing, but are considered totally normal and comfort food to insiders. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/236 "2012-09-24T16:32:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t understand this. > > Americans and Canadians say they’re going to the “Bathroom” or “restroom” (The term varies regionally) because that is the common expression for that _room_. The TOILET is a plumbing fixture, not a room. Here, saying you are going “to the toilet” would be like going to the kitchen and saying you’re going “to the microwave.” > > As to why people in other English-speaking countries use the term “toilet” to refer to a room that has more than a toilet in it, I’m not totally sure, but I think it’s a holdover from England. In visiting there I twice was in someone’s home where the toilet was actually in its own room, separate from a room right next door with a bathtub and sink. I’ve never in my life seen such a thing in North America, where those fixtures are more or less always in the same room, unless a house is additionally outfitted with a “Half bathroom,” e.g. a toilet and sink. So it may be that “the toilet” as the name for a room is from the fact that the English actually have rooms with just toilets in them. Most Americans (and Canadians) have never, in their lives, seen such a thing, so that word wouldn’t make sense to describe a room. I’ve been in a few houses where the toilet is in its own room inside the bathroom. One was really nice, toilet in its own room, a long vanity with double sinks, and the shower/tub was around the corner. You could have 3-4 people in there all doing their own thing and not getting in each others way. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/237 "2012-09-24T17:30:57Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I wasn’t criticizing it for being unhealthy. I was criticizing it for sounding unappealing. Americans would put tomato on a bacon sandwich, not to make it healthier, but because that’s how it should be and it’s 1000 times better that way in American eyes. (remember… culture… no objective basis…etc). > > I just think it’s funny that everyone’s always after Americans for their nasty eating habits, including the British, when, really, glass houses and all that. Everyone and every culture has their food habits others consider unappetizing, but are considered totally normal and comfort food to insiders. I don’t think Americans can claim to be worse off than Brits when it comes to unfair criticisms of their food. 😃 Having a tomato on it just out of habit does make sense, but not to make it ‘appetising.’ Most people I know don’t think bacon is unappetising until a tomato is added to it. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/238 "2012-09-24T17:41:11Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I don’t think Americans can claim to be worse off than Brits when it comes to unfair criticisms of their food. 😃 > > Having a tomato on it just out of habit does make sense, but not to make it ‘appetising.’ Most people I know don’t think bacon is unappetising until a tomato is added to it. True, bacon by itself is divine, but bacon on a sandwich is pretty unappetizing until a tomato or at least MEAT is added. MORE MEAT. We can never have enough meat. (except those weirdo veggie heads 😉 ) I.e. [The Top 10 Best Bacon Sandwich Recipes – Republic of Bacon](http://republicofbacon.com/2011/03/28/the-top-10-best-bacon-sandwich-recipes/) Now, if I really want to barf, here is an American invention involving bacon, bananas, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff and a heart attack. > **[How to make an Elvis Sandwich](http://scrapninjasparkles.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-make-elvis-sandwich.html)** > > What you will need: Butter some bread and slap it on the griddle. Spread on the peanut butter. Add slices of banana.... a drizzle of honey..... ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/239 "2012-09-24T19:46:22Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > \ > I just think it’s funny that everyone’s always after Americans for their nasty eating habits, including the British, when, really, glass houses and all that. Everyone and every culture has their food habits others consider unappetizing, but are considered totally normal and comfort food to insiders. [Nanaimo bars](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/nanaimo_bars.php) are a common Canadian treat - someone here mentioned making them and they were not thrilled by how incredibly sweet they were. They don’t seem overly sweet to me - they seem just right sweet to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/240 "2012-09-24T19:55:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Nanaimo bars](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/nanaimo_bars.php) are a common Canadian treat - someone here mentioned making them and they were not thrilled by how incredibly sweet they were. They don’t seem overly sweet to me - they seem just right sweet to me. 🙂 Yummy, those look fantastic [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=13)