# Uniquely Distinct Americanisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676 "2004-01-22T22:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/441 "2004-02-06T00:12:31Z")
> [@Capri](#): > > The unspoken assumption is that everyone knows you mean it takes that long when you are driving in a private vechicle on highways at about 65 mph. In the UK, it’s either “that’ll take an hour”, because it’s halfway across London, or “that’ll take 2 1/2 hours”, because it’s halfway across the country at _slightly_ more than 65mph. Just depends where you are. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/442 "2004-02-06T01:56:53Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > I’m curious what you base this on because my experience is much different. I used to bitch about the Washington Metro until I lived in London and had to deal with the Tube. The Millenium Line would break down more often than the Red Line during a winter blizzard. And while I haven’t been in Paris for stretches longer than a week or so, I’d say that the NY Subway and the DC Metro are right there with it. Of course, that may be because I haven’t spent enough time in Paris to compare adequately. Same with NY, too. I haven’t spent significant time in the Boston-Washington megalopolis, so I dont have much experience with that region, which surely (due to population density) has better circumstances for good transit than anywhere else in the US. I have spent a few days in London, and rode the tube everywhere. I don’t recall ever having to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes for a train (except maybe late at night), or walk more than a small fraction of a mile to get to or from a tube station. I did encounter a situation where the tube line was closed due to accident or maintenance, but there was an easy alternate route. The transit systems that impressed me most were those in Moscow and Germany. Moscow was designed so you are never more than 1 kilometer from a metro station, and the trains are very fast and frequent. And if it was too late for the metro or just didn’t feel like it, standing at the curb with your hand out would result in a ride (for a fee) in a matter of seconds. In German cities, even relatively small places like Nuremburg have U-bahn lines (aka Metro aka Subway aka Underground). In big cities like Berlin, there are multiple redundant forms of transit, including the U-bahn, S-Bahn (elevated trains), busses and trams. Even though we had a rented car, we did most of our intra-city travel on public transit, simply because it was more convenient. The exact opposite would be true in a US city, excluding special cases such as Manhattan or central “downtown” areas of big cities. I guess I’d exclude Italy from the comparison… their transit seemed to somewhat suck, relative to the other countries I went to. And the road traffic reflected that fact. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/443 "2004-02-06T02:15:21Z")
the whole concept of “downtown”. American cities generally have the old central area, usually stuffed with big high-rises, surrounded by more-recently-settled but older and more run down buildings, surrounded by suburban sprawl. European cities don’t seem to have this, I assume because they were developed much earlier and under different circumstances. The modern highrises tend to be clustered in a planned area of commercial development, and the central “old” district usually dates to the middle ages. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/444 "2004-02-06T03:39:45Z")
> [@Scipio Africanus](#): > > … > > 1. Fox. > > … You mean the media conglomerate run by that Australian guy? My only comment with respect to the guns thing is I remember seeing a survey of Americans (sorry, no cite, it was a while ago) of how likely they thought they were to be a victim of a violent crime, vs. the statistical likelihood of their being a victim of a violent crime. It turned out people thought they were at greater risk than they were, statistically speaking. The fact that the media prefers to emphasize stories about bad things happening, and shows such as “Cops” makes these things seem like more of a day to day threat than they really are. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/445 "2004-02-06T09:17:29Z")
Think I have just come across yet another in a thread elsewhere on wrist watches and the wearing of them inside/outside the wrist to protect “the crystal”. Presumably this is referring to what we, in the UK at least, refer to as a watch glass - or simply, the glass. But uniquely distinct Americanism? Anybody else heard of “crystal” elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/446 "2004-02-06T12:40:07Z")
> [@](#): > > In German cities, even relatively small places like Nuremburg have U-bahn lines (aka Metro aka Subway aka Underground). In big cities like Berlin, there are multiple redundant forms of transit, including the U-bahn, S-Bahn (elevated trains), busses and trams. Ironically the reason for this is that East Berliners couldn’t afford cars. They had to put in a kick-but transit system or no one would be abel to get anywhere. You don’t see the same quality on the West German side, though its not at all bad. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/447 "2004-02-06T12:46:36Z")
> [@tadc](#): > > Moscow was designed so you are never more than 1 kilometer from a metro station, and the trains are very fast and frequent. Methinks that the town of Moscow is much older than its underground system. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_adrift](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alice\_adrift](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_adrift)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/448 "2004-02-06T16:10:54Z")
i could just be making this up, but i’ve noticed that in the US, retail employees are forced to show a lot more “respect” for customers than in other countries. (this kind of plays into the whole fake-niceties thing, of course.) what i’m thinking of in particular, here, is 1. employees forced to smile at customers and 2. employees forbidden from sitting down at work, even if no customers are present in israel, i was somewhat surprised to find that grocery store clerks each had a nice comfy chair to sit in while they worked. it made me recall, not so fondly, all of the mcjobs i had in high school where i was never allowed to sit down, no matter how long my shift was. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/449 "2004-02-06T16:21:06Z")
> [@sunfish](#): > > To you it’s poking gentle fun; to an American it sounds like an insult. Hence the defensiveness. > > **The Loaded Dog** mentioned that Australians only do this with people they like, and in my experience it’s true. However, it still took some getting used to, even after months of practice. 😃 My Australian colleagues got as much of a kick out of my first impulse to take them seriously as anything. My wife is Brazilian, and I can say that the Brazilians have to be the world champions of mocking you, and poking gentle fun, when they like you. It took me ages to understand that I was NOT being **dissed** , as they would say in the States. Of course, the more I reacted, the more they enjoyed it. Until they got to the point where they just couldn’t take it anymore and burst out in laughter. I have learned a lot and I can now give just as well as I can take, and my Brazilian family loves it when I playfully mock them and all things typically Brazilian. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/450 "2004-02-06T19:45:22Z")
> [@tadc](#): > > the whole concept of “downtown”. American cities generally have the old central area, usually stuffed with big high-rises, surrounded by more-recently-settled but older and more run down buildings, surrounded by suburban sprawl. > > European cities don’t seem to have this, I assume because they were developed much earlier and under different circumstances. The modern highrises tend to be clustered in a planned area of commercial development, and the central “old” district usually dates to the middle ages. Not really true. European cities generally follow the same pattern as American ones: centrally located commercial “downtown”, with high-rise buildings and higher land values; next up, the “inner city” made up of tightly packed low-cost housing, followed by a small ring of light industry, and then the 'burbs. Around the perimeter you find things like heavy industry, airports, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/451 "2004-02-08T08:16:26Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > I have learned a lot and I can now give just as well as I can take, and my Brazilian family loves it when I playfully mock them and all things typically Brazilian. We Aussies START at playfully mock and go right on to taking the piss. “You bastard” is not an inconceivable comment. > [@](#): > > employees forced to smile at customers There is a McDonald’s in Sydney where there are small red signs stuck to the cash registers saying “Smile!” Americanisms Aussies pronounced ossies rather than ozzies. Calling a coach “Coach” as if it’s their name. ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/452 "2004-02-09T02:25:20Z")
[God bless America](http://pages.sssnet.com/dockmaster/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/453 "2004-02-09T09:16:14Z")
O.K., but note that putting “God Bless America” on your website is not the same as inserting it in all your conversations. It’s more like putting a bumper sticker on your car saying it. Or even closer, it’s like that liquor store a mile from my apartment that has a banner saying “God Bless America.” ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/454 "2004-02-09T15:33:32Z")
> [@boofy\_bloke](#): > > [God bless America](http://pages.sssnet.com/dockmaster/) And how do you know that’s an American web site? (I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Put down that keyboard!) Anyway, a quick look at that site shows he clearly has larger problems than patriotism. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/455 "2004-02-09T15:36:49Z")
> [@boofy\_bloke](#): > > Here’s a dude who uses GBA in public. When I first saw this I thought “what’s wrong with playing Game Boy in public?” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/456 "2004-02-09T16:09:27Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > O.K., but note that putting “God Bless America” on your website is not the same as inserting it in all your conversations. It’s more like putting a bumper sticker on your car saying it. Or even closer, it’s like that liquor store a mile from my apartment that has a banner saying “God Bless America.” Which brings us to… \ bumper stickers! Non- Yanks, raise your hands if you advertise your faith, political affinities, or childs’ scholastic achievement on the back of your car. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/457 "2004-02-09T16:28:23Z")
OK, this is not very scientific because the USA is the origin of more web sites than anywhere else, but I googled a whole bunch of “god bless \”. I mostly stuck to countries that speak English as the main language. Here are the numbers of hits America: 522,000 the USA: 70,200 the US: 3,760 England: 365 Great Britain: 120 Britain: 86 The UK: 128 Canada: 1,380 Australia: 988 New Zealand: 65 Scotland: 298 (using a loose interpretation of “speak English” here) Ireland: 124 France: 115 Italy: 427 Germany: 89 Spain: 22 Now, you could argue that the “America” numbers are high because of the song GBA, but that song is popularly quoted for a reason. There is a song called God Bless England, but that causes no obvious boost to those numbers. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/458 "2004-02-09T18:06:29Z")
> [@dutchboy208](#): > > Which brings us to… \ bumper stickers! > > Non- Yanks, raise your hands if you advertise your faith, political affinities, or childs’ scholastic achievement on the back of your car. Is that a uniquely American thing? I had no idea. I am American and I don’t put them on my car, personally, but I didn’t know that it wasn’t common in other countries. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/459 "2004-02-09T18:47:06Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Is that [bumper stickers] a uniquely American thing? I had no idea. I am American and I don’t put them on my car, personally, but I didn’t know that it wasn’t common in other countries. I’ve not seen it in England. The school achievement stickers tie in with another comment in this thread - America likes to measure and categorize things. The previous post mentioned all the sports stats, but I think it extends beyond that, for example categorizations of various levels of weather alert (tornado watch, tornado warning), or security alert levels. Another is school performance: honors roll, As & Bs. We had no such thing when I was at school in the UK. You’d look silly with a bumper sticker saying “My son did pretty well at school this year”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/460 "2004-02-09T19:26:27Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > I’ve not seen it in England. The school achievement stickers tie in with another comment in this thread - America likes to measure and categorize things. The previous post mentioned all the sports stats, but I think it extends beyond that, for example categorizations of various levels of weather alert (tornado watch, tornado warning), or security alert levels. Another is school performance: honors roll, As & Bs. We had no such thing when I was at school in the UK. You’d look silly with a bumper sticker saying “My son did pretty well at school this year”. Yes, but the real benefit of the “Proud Parent of an Honor Roll Student at named-for-a-mediocre-president High School” stickers is that people who aren’t venal enough to display them can opt for “My kid beat up your honor roll student”. 😉 Seriously, they are certainly an American affliction. At least, they’re not a western European one. There _was_ something of a fad for “Fat Willys Surf Shack” window stickers in day-glo pink in the late eighties, but it was mostly confined to the sort of people who drove the British equivalent of a low rider: Ford Escort XR3is with number (license) plates that said BAZ 1. Beyond that, I can honestly say I didn’t see anything other than window-cling Garfields and “Baby on Board” warnings in 13-odd years of living in Europe. Oh, and drivers who visit the Continent (read: mainland), or those visiting the UK, tend to have a small sticker denoting their vehicle’s point of origin- GB, FR, NL, and so forth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676.md?page=24)