25 things about America that confuse Europeans

"Why do Americans have only 25 things that confuse Europeans?"

Why do Americans call the ground floor first floor ?

Why is it called the World Series when no other countries participate ?

R3, you may be surprised to find out that Canada is, in fact, not the United States.

Why don't Americans use washing lines?

I'm an American. I got razzed pretty soundly by two London cops after I'd politely asked them: "Excuse me, do you know the way to the [italic]Churchill Cabinet War Rooms[/italic]?" The museum was actually very near, but the double-act those two went into just to mock me was embarrassing and unnecessary. I think they thought I was rude because I didn't end my query with a fawning [italic]please[/italic], like a Brit. I still thanked them, since they'd finally been of some help, but I wasn't about to go all Oliver Twist, either.

[quote] Why don't Americans use washing lines?

Some do. Some don't because they live in places where clothes would freeze.

Most Americans don't use washing lines for a few reasons. A huge percentage of Americans live in HOA neighborhoods that would go apoplectic if someone hung their unmentionables on the line like hillbillies. Most Americans either have their own washer/dryer or in the case of people in cities like NYC they take their laundry to a laundromat. In most cases it's only the poorest of the poor in very rural areas who hang their laundry out on lines.

O.K., on second thoughts, maybe a [italic]please[/italic] wouldn't have hurt. But, honestly, I don't think two American cops would have ganged up on a polite tourist asking directions. O.K., I'm done. Carry on. [italic]Please[/italic].

R6/R9, why did you italicize Churchill Cabinet War Rooms?

My grandmother and mother used clotheslines. I don’t because I am lazy and the pollen, etc. gets on the clothes and sheets and messes up my sinuses.

Carbon friendly

We call it a hamburger because it was invented in Hamburg,Germany. Which is in Europe you fucking nit.

Why do the local goyim circumcise their youngs?

We used clothes lines when I was a kid and we lived in a rural area, but no one in the city does it and no one in the US calls them "wash lines;" it's always "clothes line."

I don't use clothes lines, since I live in an area with lots of mulberry trees. I'd prefer not to have my freshly laundered sheets and towels speckled with purple bird poop.

I have never quite gotten why the British call the trunk of a car "the boot"

I live in the ‘burbs and there are clotheslines here.

R4, you may be very surprised to learn it was called "World Series" long before any Canadian teams were in MLB. And you may also be very surprised to learn that prior to the mid 1950's, all the major league baseball teams were located in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, so it really couldn't even be called an American Series since it involved only a small segment of the country.

[quote] I've never done anything remotely restful in a toilet.

Sit down?

[quote] "[R6]/[R9], why did you italicize Churchill Cabinet War Rooms?—Anonymous"

R10, I italicized the name of the place because that's the venue's proper name. Like [italics]The Sherlock Holmes[/italics] pub, etc.

^^^ That would work if you didn’t pluralize “italic.”

I think it's called the "world series" because of all the people who watch it from around the world, not whose playing.

R17 Or call the hood of a car "the bonnet"

Yup.

Why don't Americans let their cats outside?

R23 You mean like the World Cup ?

[quote]not whose playing.

Oh, dear!

R21, proper names of places get capitalized, not italicization.

If Americans piss and take a dump in the bathroom, where do they take a bath or have a shower?

Is this New York clothesline for real, or part of a creative project?

Americans park on a driveway and drive on a Parkway.

That looks like Tribeca, R31. I have never seen clotheslines in Tribeca, ever. Weird.

Why did Americans elect a big orange weather balloon President?

Thanks, R21.

Why is my vote worth more in some States than others?

Depending on where you live, it’s impossible to use clothes lines due to the humidity. We’ve had a few warmer days now and it’s already too humid and disgusting.

[quote] [R10], I italicized the name of the place because that's the venue's proper name. Like [italics]The Sherlock Holmes[/italics] pub, e

That is why you fail.

Why do Americans use so many euphemisms for words relating to sex, death and bodily functions?

"I think it's called the "world series" because of all the people who watch it from around the world, not whose playing."

Once again, it was called the "World Series" long before television. If you wanted to SEE the World Series or any regular season game, you actually had to go to the game (or listen to it on the radio, or read about it in the newspaper, or watched highlights on the news reel at the movie theater between feature films, long after it was over.

R2, because it’s the first floor you encounter in the building....

After the Super Bowl, the commentators always say the winner is a world champion. But again, it's only US teams.

Americans use clothes lines less than Europeans do because we have clothes dryers, which are faster and work regardless of the weather. We have clothes dyers because they're cheap here; also, American houses (and sometimes apartments) are usually larger and newer and are typically designed with a laundry space for two machines. Canadians also use dryers, by the way, for the same reasons Americans do.

In big cities, where apartments are often not equipped with washers and dryers, we sometimes have laundry rooms (like private laundromats) in the basement of the building. Otherwise, we use laundry, aka "wash and fold", services unless we're poor. Then we takes clothes to the laundromat and wash and dry them ourselves.

Also, washers and dryers go together in America. If your home has one, it will almost certainly have the other. The idea of having only a washing machine would seem bizarre to most North Americans; it's usually both or neither.

Don't British laundromats ("laundrettes", I think?) have dryers?

Why do Americans drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?

If Europeans are confused by these things, then I wonder how European civilization managed to conquer the world.

We do these things because that's how we do them in America. What's so hard to figure out about that?

I lived in Europe for ten years and this list is fucking stupid as hell

Why are Europeans so backward and insular that they can’t understand North Americans do things differently?

“Backward and insular”, R47? You’re being ironic, aren’t you? And pretty funny if so!

[quote] I think it's called the "world series" because of all the people who watch it from around the world, not whose playing.

The World Series used to be called the World’s or Worlds Series. It had nothing to do with who watched it around the world, because as an earlier posted noted, one had to attend the game in person to watch it. It had nothing to do with which countries were participating as teams from the United States were the only participants. It was probably because the United States was the only country in the world at the time to have professional baseball at that level, and thus the embryonic series of games to determine the champion team could be marketed as the national or “world” championships. Although not entirely accurate, the concept of “champion of the baseball world” better fits as the champion team was the winner at the highest level of professional baseball. According to Wikipedia:

[quote] The series was promoted and referred to as "The Championship of the United States", "World's Championship Series", or "World's Series" for short. In his book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed.

You're boring R49.

R50, Don't be rude!

Closets instead of wardrobes.

Stop using dryer and save our world

Yeah we have dryers in pretty much every house in Europe but most people still dry outside if they can.

R41 No it’s the ground floor, first floor is the one above.

Hey, r19, fuck off because all the crap you posted in no way connects to what I was responding to, which was

[quote] Why is it called the World Series when no other countries participate ?

So the original post was demonstrably false in the assertion that "no other countries participate."

R26, because there are packs of bloodthirsty coyotes that will disembowel and eat their cats and small dogs while still alive.

This is actually a problem in my neighborhood. One night recently I opened the sliding glass door. There’s a screen door covering the opening. My cat and I were standing by the door, when we heard one coyote howl, then another coyote take up the howl and the next and the next. My cat backed away from the door and I shut it.

I found out on a neighborhood website that several neighbors’ pets had been killed by coyotes. One man heard his neighbor’s small dog barking. He went out to find a coyote had the dog by a leg and was dragging him away. He was able to scare the coyote off and the dog lived.

There are no natural predators of coyotes and until recently, there were tons of jackrabbits everywhere but they’re all eaten now.

[quote] there were tons of jackrabbits everywhere but they’re all eaten now.

Why didn’t the just breed like rabbits?

[quote] there were tons of jackrabbits everywhere but they’re all eaten now.

Why didn’t they just breed like rabbits?

On the plus side, I haven’t seen any cockroaches this year, because there are at least two big fat lizards living under the bushes by my door.

And this is in the suburbs.

R59, they did. They were everywhere. You would drive your car through the streets at night and they would come running back and forth across the streets, which rabbits will do.

But then, munch munch. The coyotes must be getting really desperate. Someone said there was a stray cat that lived near the eighteenth hole (I live very near the golf course), and that cat was eaten. Coyotes hunt in packs and they can take even fairly large dogs.

Can you tame coyotes and keep them as pets? How doggy are they?

They’re not tame. I think people sometimes will get coyote/dog mixed breeds, but they are wild animals and very hard to handle. You have to know what you’re doing.

R56: stupider than a box of hair. Do get some bed rest once you come down off the meth high.

R62 Not at all, they're afraid of humans mostly and to my knowledge can't be domesticated. I grew up in a rural area and there were a couple people who had wolf-hybrid dogs that were vicious (and illegal.)

[quote] How doggy are they?

Tehe.

R65, that’s my understanding. Only people who live out in the country can somewhat interact with them and they’re bigger and wilder than regular dogs. That can’t really be trained or anything like that. Anybody who would do that is pretty reckless.

Good comeback, r64. I look forward to your next response with great anticipation. And next time it might even have something to do with the actual topic.

I think my cat wonder outside every night to have sex. Like a sex club for cats.

Scooter the coyote

The men and women shower every day in The US but their assholes are so dirty. Especially the straights......

R56, you were trying to be a major cunt in your original post at R4, then somebody came along and out cunted you. Deal with it, as well as your inherent stupidity.

I love you r68.

[quote]Why don't Americans use washing lines?

Washing lines (clotheslines) are considered trashy and lower-class in upscale neighborhoods.

^^^they get eaten by coyotes.

[bold]PRESIDENT DONALD FUCKING TRUMP.[/bold]

R76 It shouldn't be that big of a mystery, there are several current and recent EU leaders he strongly resembles...

Why do Brits call a radio a wireless?

HIS HOLINESS VLADIMIR PUTIN

This one’s good:

[quote]why do Americans always say “tuna fish”? Have they got fucking tuna dogs over there or something?

I’ve often wondered about this myself and I’m American.

What's with the fixation Europeans have with never wearing shoes in the house? Americans will take our shoes off if there's a reason to need to, or the host prefers it (some do,) but there's no set cultural practice.

OP, I avoid "you're welcome" in a lot of situations because it can come off sounding rude. It implies you did someone a favor, or they burdened you in some way. Similar vein to saying "de nada" in spanish.

[quote] "why do americans call trousers 'pants'? pants in england means underwear......."

why do brits assume they're necessarily right and we're necessarily wrong? they always do, you know.

Without clotheslines how are naked time travelers supposed to find clothes to wear?

How can coffee be so popular yet so disgusting?

If Americans piss and take a dump in the bathroom, where do they take a bath or have a shower?

What are the alternatives? Many Europeans say "w.c.," but that's short for "water closet," which is itself a euphemism and akin to "wash room." (And why should "wash room" be any better as a euphemism than restroom?)

Brits say lavatories, or "loos" for short; "lavatory" translates as "washroom."

Even "toilets" come from a polite euphemisms, as wikipedia shows:

[quote] Toilet was originally a French loanword (first attested in 1540) that referred to the toilette ("little cloth") draped over one's shoulders during hairdressing. During the late 17th century,the term came to be used by metonymy in both languages for the whole complex of grooming and body care that centered at a dressing table (also covered by a cloth) and for the equipment composing a toilet service, including a mirror, hairbrushes, and containers for powder and makeup. The time spent at such a table also came to be known as one's "toilet"; it came to be a period during which close friends or tradesmen were received as "toilet-calls".

[quote] The use of "toilet" to describe a special room for grooming came much later (first attested in 1819), following the French cabinet de toilet. Similar to "powder room", [bold]"toilet" then came to be used as a euphemism for rooms dedicated to urination and defecation,[/bold] particularly in the context of signs for public toilets, as on trains.

Basically, unless you actually call it "the room dedicated to urination and defecation" (or else "the shitter") you're using a polite euphemism. "Rest room" is no less accurate nor is it daintier than any of the others.

r85 = 7 year old boy

[quote]Why do Americans use so many euphemisms for words relating to sex, death and bodily functions?

Because England dumped all of its Puritans on us several centuries ago.

Why do Americans use so many euphemisms for words relating to sex, death and bodily functions?

Because we are extremely creative and like word play, finding new variations to say the same things, it keeps our minds alert and seeking new ways of expression.

R89 We also invented spin!

pip pip cheerio

R81 keeps the carpets clean.

We don’t have clotheslines because we live in apartment buildings and drop off our dirty clothes at a laundromat, where we then pick them up the following day, all clean and folded in a neat little stack.

We put eggs in the refrigerator because we're all totally fucking paranoid about getting food poisoning or some horrible disease from tainted food.

R94 Righty so, it's a problem here. I never knew you could leave eggs out until recently.

[quote]We do these things because that's how we do them in America. What's so hard to figure out about that?

I used to find articles like this one interesting, until I figured out that Europeans aren't 'confused' about these things at all. They just can't wrap their minds around us not doing everything like they do it. It's like they're flabbergasted that our culture is - gasp! - different than their own.

It's an oddly provincial attitude, which is ironic, since the implication of their confusion is that our ways are backward and should be more like theirs in order to be 'correct'.

Is "Why do Americans resist adopting the metric system"

or "Why do Americans who look at their watch waiting for the next mass shooting so they can tweet #PrayforGunNutVille or otherwise shrug and do nothing about it freak out when someone online uses the word 'retarded'?"

or "Why do Americans demand 50x more purity from Democratic candidates but okay gibbering, gigantic, lecherous grifting Republican candidates?"

among those 25 things? Those confuse me, and I don't have citizenship in a European country.

Why do Europeans hand over their rights and sovereignty to a bunch of asshole bureaucrats in Brussels who never have their best interests in mind?

Europeans are so precious with their stubborn adherence to their quaint insular folkways.

One thing you can give Americans is they work harder..

25 Americans actually care what Europeans think of them.

One thing southern Europeans definitely do not understand is how Americans and northern Europeans do not use a bidet every time they use the toilet.

R54 That‘s simply not true. If you have a house you might, but most apartments have no space for more than a washing machine. I live in a big European and I can assure you, having a dryer is rare.

^^ a big European CITY.

Bird shit magnet.

Do you have to wear a ball gown and tiara if you're on a grand jury or normal clothes like you would do on a normal jury?

R103 what are you talking about? I live in a big European city too and everyone has a dryer in their house/apartment. It's usually stacked on top of the washing machine. Saves space that way.

Why do you have elections for administrative offices like sheriff, judge or chief executive, who are there to enact political or legal decisions not make them?

Different cities, obviously.

R103 everyone I know has a dryer.

Let‘s move this from who one knows. I googled. 42% of private households in my country have a dryer as of 2018. in the US the only number I could find was from 2009 and it was 80%.

[quote]I got razzed pretty soundly by two London cops after I'd politely asked them: "Excuse me, do you know the way to the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms?"

I guess I don't understand why. It's the Churchhill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms Museum, both in the same building. What were they so upset about?

I swear, people get their panties in a twist over nothing nowadays, as if we don't have REAL things to get all snarky about.

[quote]Americans use clothes lines less than Europeans do because we have clothes dryers, which are faster and work regardless of the weather.

I used clotheslines until I had purple bird poop stains on a white tee that wouldn't come out, and also someone stole some of my boxer shorts. Then I put a line up on the inside of my screened-in porch which I could keep locked, and I caught someone trying to break in after hearing them say to a friend, "Hold on, I want those towels." By the time I got to the porch they were trying to force open the door. To get my wet towels.

Someone from Europe in that thread about debit cards getting hacked asked if hacking is really that bad in the US, and yes, theft of all kinds is just off the charts here.

How did you guys survive before dryers ?

We didn't. We died, you idiot.

For people afraid pollen will get on their clothes... What do you think happens the second you step outside?

Nothing r116, because I have an attached garage, and my job has an indoor one.

[quote]For people afraid pollen will get on their clothes... What do you think happens the second you step outside?

Oh sweet Jesus, it's THIS asshole again.

Look -- there's a big difference to allergy sufferers between the brief exposures moving the clothes on their bodies from building to car or bus, then back inside again.....and letting the laundry they're supposed to wear marinate in wind-driven pollen for hours.

[quote] It's like they're flabbergasted that our culture is - gasp! - different than their own.

[quote] It's an oddly provincial attitude, which is ironic, since the implication of their confusion is that our ways are backward and should be more like theirs in order to be 'correct'.

Exactly, that was very surprising to me as was the attitude of the Northeast to the rest of the country.

[quote]OP, I avoid "you're welcome" in a lot of situations because it can come off sounding rude. It implies you did someone a favor, or they burdened you in some way. Similar vein to saying "de nada" in spanish

But if they’re saying “thank you” to you, you did do them a favor, no matter how minute.

[quote]How can coffee be so popular yet so disgusting?

What about their horrible tea? (and why's it always Lipton?)

And why do they sometimes laugh in your face if you ask for milk in your tea?

If everyone had clothes dryers in Europe, they'd have big fluffy bath towels like in the US, not horrible thin waffle towels which dry faster. Sadly, much of Europe is dryer free. Utilities are very expensive. We have collapsible drying racks to put on a balcony if we have one. Some of us even dry our socks and underwear on the radiator.

R121 please explain the hate for Lipton tea.

And what's wrong with milk in one's tea?

[quote]And what's wrong with milk in one's tea?

I don't know. They (the Americans, especially black gurls) seem to think it's funny

[quote]Why do americans say “mhm” when you thank them instead of “you’re welcome”

Because the person responding to your "thank you" is an asshole.

" No problem," R 125.

I had never heard if the idea that " you're welcome" is offensive. What a bizarre notion. I have that filed under "basic manners". If you think someone doing their job isn't doing you a favor then why thank them in the first place?

R121 Adding cold milk to hot tea seems strange and unnecessary to me. I was in college the first time I saw someone do it. Yes, I add milk to coffee.... we just don't ever mix milk and hot tea here.

R127 You're supposed to play off whatever you did as having been nothing, no problem, a matter of course. You don't want to come off as condescending or put-upon.

When I first visited the USA I was really freaked out by the fact that no one seemed to walk anywhere. There were far fewer pedestrian crossings and everything is geared toward cars. Like, drive through post boxes and ATMs aren't a thing where I'm from. In the states one can conceivably never leave ones car except maybe to refuel. Then I saw a drive through Dunkin Donuts and the obesity epidemic suddenly made sense.

[quote]Adding cold milk to hot tea seems strange and unnecessary to me. Yes, I add milk to coffee.... we just don't ever mix milk and hot tea here.

So where do you draw the distinction between coffee and tea?

Why is pouring cold milk in hot coffee any different?

R131 Don't know. Cultural difference I guess.

R127 why though? I'd never expect someone to pretend like that. I mean if you're in the service industry we both know you're working hard and probably hate your job. That's why you get thanked for doing it. I just don't get that mindset at all.

The "roommate" thing always confused me. In the UK we say "flatmate" or "housemate". A "roommate" would suggest you're both sleeping in the same room.

R133 I think it establishes equality between us? Idk. I do know you always thank someone who does something for you, regardless of how small, and they usually barely acknowledge it.

[quote]So where do you draw the distinction between coffee and tea?

What? You think they're the same drink?

How is coffee disgusting? Are you saying American coffee is bad or coffe in general?

I have memories of my grandmas house and waking up to bacon frying and coffee percolating on the stove. Those old fashioned percolators made the best smelling and tasting coffee ever.

[quote] No problem," R 125.

That isn't rude. That's someone reassuring you that it isn't a problem for them to complete a task because they are sympathetic to the feelings of others and would personally feel like they're putting someone out by making a request for their assistance.

They don't just "expect" everything like some people. "MM HHMMMM".

[quote]we just don't ever mix milk and hot tea here.

He doesn't mean green tea, he's talking about black tea. And yes, everyone basically everywhere adds milk to this kind of tea.

Drinking black tea without milk is gag inducing. It's like drinking green tea with milk. Gross.

Dates as written in the U.S. e.g. 9/11/2001. It seems to me that 11/9/2001 makes more sense - day month year.

R141 We write it the way we say it. "September 11th," not "the 11th of September."

Tons of ignorant and selfish hicks and suburban dummies let their cats outside, R26. A billion birds are killed each year due to it. Countless road deaths, too.

It's called the World Series b/c a NYC paper called The World was the original sponsor.

I use a drying rack in my apt. Very rarely use a dryer, mainly to get out cat hair.

Year, month, day makes the most sense. We already use hours : minutes : seconds.

Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–1875) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion....

The series was promoted and referred to as "The Championship of the United States", "World's Championship Series", or "World's Series" for short. In his book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed.

I'm confused as to why Europeans are seemingly too stupid to use the internet to clear up any of these ridiculous confusions they might have.

[quote]What? You think they're the same drink?

Who said that? The poster tried to say it was silly to pour “cold milk in hot tea,” yet admitted he poured “milk in [hot] coffee.”

Like the British, of all people, are in any position to snark about the dietary habits of others.

But it doesn't make sense to say it's the same thing, R149. They're different drinks. Milk tastes differently in each drink.

That's like saying "what's the difference between putting chocolate syrup on ice cream or apple pie?"

Ooh I have one!

Why do Americans think putting vinegar on French fries (or "chips" as the UK calls them) is weird, but think nothing's odd about salt and vinegar potato chips?

'Cause we're thinking of white vinegar which tastes like, and can be used as a substitute for, bleach.

Plus, y'all do that and we don't so y'all are wrong.

What don’t you get r151?

The poster said it was silly to pour [bold]cold[/bold] milk in [bold]hot[/bold] tea but then admitted he poured [bold]cold[/bold] milk in [bold]hot[/bold] coffee.

[quote]"Why do Americans call it a 'restroom?' I've never done anything remotely restful in a toilet."

You're right. It should be referred to as "the crapper".

Why do Brits refer to all desserts as "pudding"? Dumbest thing ever.

Lower class people in England call it dessert.

It's considered a French word - all use of French words in England are considered low class - serviette (napkin), toilet (lavatory).

Americans walk on sidewalks (and drive on the pavement). In the UK they walk on the pavement.

America has the roadside. Europe as the verge.

America has multi lane roads. The UK has dual carriageways.

America has medians. The UK has central reservations.

Is the word "restaurant" considered lower class, R157?

R157 Seriously? Shouldn't that be the opposite? I thought french things were inherently fancy.

^^oui oui

English is riddled with words of French origin. So hypocritical.

[quote]Seriously? Shouldn't that be the opposite? I thought french things were inherently fancy.

I agree. It's odd, isn't it?

A few more:

ALWAYS - America (never "The States" or "The US")

ALWAYS - England (never The UK or Britain, unless of course that's what you mean)

ALWAYS - Sofa NEVER Settee or couch

ALWAYS - Living Room or Drawing Room

In America, French is used on products to present an "upscale" image. Cosmetics and such.

Spanish is considered a very low-class language in America. Is that the same in Britain?

Most Europeans consider Americans (USA) very small minded and provincial when in fact most Europeans are the most small minded and provincial people on the planet.

R163 Heh? What now?

[quote]ALWAYS - Sofa NEVER Settee or couch

I prefer "chesterfield".

Not all Europeans are the same, here is a book by an englishman Stephen Clarke, about french people, it's short, but it gives you an idea of cultural differences between the countries.

Also by the same author, "A 1000 years of annoying the French" might also give you an idea of the historical context between the two.

In France we dry our clothes on lines, inside or outside depending of the weather, but dryers are getting more and more popular. My washing machine is a combo dryer, the dryer part is shit, the clothes end up damp and pipping hot, full of steam, I couldn't be considered it dry.

[quote]Not all Europeans are the same

WOW! Just WOW!

(I never say WOW! Just WOW! - but, really....)

Faucet. Posh name for a tap.

As an Irish person I have a question for the French...

What's with the UHT milk?

R171 It's fantastique! You buy them by 6 or 8 liters, they're preserved for a couple of months and you don't have milk turning bad in your fridge (just don't let it sit for ever once open) It represent 97% of the consumption of milk in France.

R172 Hmph, Americans would never get away with drinking shelf-stable milk uncritiqued.

Our milk is usually fresh.

The thread was things that confuse Europeans about Americans. People comment as asked and very quickly Americans start sniping back. There are many people out here in the big, wide world who aren’t as impressed by America as some Americans think we should be. Particularly these days. Get over it.

And you know what, we know how shitty our own countries are as well. I live in England. There is no one who can say anything disparaging about my country of birth that I won’t have said myself. Or worse. I don’t base my self esteem around an accident of birth.

Fire away.

Who asked you to be impressed with the US?

R172 but the taste *shudder*

25 Things about UK that confuse Americans-One of which is- Why do you keep driving on the wrong side of the road? Even Sweden switched over in 1967.

R152. In my region of the US, lots of people put vinegar of fries

R177 Start a different thread.

R98 I forgot to answer to you, I also love our Bruxelles' bureaucrats, we elect them, so we can change them (the next european députés election is in a few weeks), we are sometime more protected by european laws than by national ones, last year they stopped the telecom co to charge us roaming service for using our mobile phone in another european coutry, that shit was expensive! I don't think tel company did much publicity to say they were forced to drop the roaming fee, but presented it like it was a gift from them.

R176 I have no idea what fresh milk taste like...

Anybody remember Rick Mayall's New Statesman? That was funny!

Two things that really surprised me, a European, when I visited the US was how AMAZING the architecture was , specifically the Victorian and Neo-Tudor houses, and how pristine were many of the towns. I can only imagine the cost and the commitment involved.

R178, where are you from? You’ve got me thinking of trying that.

FYI, milk in tea is not a European thing, it's a British post-colonial thing. I'm from Central Europe and no one does that here. And if you asked for it people would probably laugh you off.

It's funny that most Brits pronounce the world "restaurant" with a decided French accent. They always say "restraw".

Why do the Brits say "whilst" instead of "while"? It's not 1600. Methinks thou dost make a mistake.

Why can't the Brits and the French kiss and make up? Just because you've been fighting wars with each other since the beginning of time doesn't mean the animosity has to continue.

[quote]Two things that really surprised me, a European, when I visited the US ... [first thing deleted] ... and how pristine were many of the towns.

Really? I'm not an American (I'm Canadian), but I always marvel at the cleanliness when I see pictures taken in Germany, for example. I always envision people scrubbing the cracks in the sidewalks with toothbrushes every morning before they leave for work.

Of course, Germany isn't all of Europe, but still ...

R186 not all the Brits, just the English, we're fine with the Scottish and the Irish... and the other one who also voted to leave.

R187 well, Germany is pristine in small, affluent towns and the ones that were done up for tourists and Munich. The rest, not so much. Berlin is a wonderful city but really dirty.

Why do Brits call cookies “biscuits”

Wow "some"Brits still can't except that their ways are not standard for everybody else in the world. Colonization is not everybody's thing,might as well face it now slags.

I guess using „except“ instead of „accept“ is some form of anti-English rebellion?

R178

Maryland

Why do Europeans eat horses and dogs? Why are Europeans such whiny asses?

I'm European (not Brit) and I find the idea of putting milk in tea revolting. Those two just don't go together. I sometimes put milk or condensed milk in coffee to take away the bitterness, since black coffee is gross. I only put a slice of lemon in my tea, nothing else. Green tea is obviously perfect as is.

r195 Obviously, you're not buying good coffee, since black coffee is not gross.

Or else...there's this thing called taste, whereby you put condensed milk in coffee, and I drink it black.

I'm American, FWIW.

I'm from northeastern Ohio and some of us put apple cider vinegar on our fries. If you buy fries from an outdoor vendor, there will always be a shaker of salt, a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of vinegar provided for you to choose from.

Cut dicks.

Why are Europeans allergic to bathing and washing their hair more than once a month?

Why do British teeth make people’s blood run cold?

Why do backwards ass, small minded dull as dishwater Europeans think North Americans give one ounce of a shit what they think of them?

[quote]It's considered a French word - all use of French words in England are considered low class - serviette (napkin), toilet (lavatory).

How about courgette and aubergine? Aren't those the British default words for the vegetables we call zucchini and eggplant?

One thing that would really surprise Americans and maybe other Europeans is how obsessively clean Italians are. The stores are filled with cleaning products unknown anywhere else. You could eat off the floor in their homes. A straight male will bring as many lotions and products to the gym as women use. On public transport they seldom if ever stink in hot weather.

R190 It's down to William the Conqueror.

The French brought over the cooking names, left the Saxon names for the animals.

Cow = bourf = beef Pig = porc = pork Sheep = agneux = lamb

You get cookies I presume from dutch, we get biscuits from the french.

[quote]People comment as asked and very quickly Americans start sniping back.

Because Americans have to put up with this kind of shit ALL THE TIME, and it gets old. Most of these 'confusing' questions aren't really confusing to those asking. The whole exercise is really just an excuse for people from other countries to trash on the way Americans do things/talk/eat/live, and proclaim their own superiority instead of just accepting cultural differences. Every single time, that's what these sorts of discussions devolve into.

They're just angling for our attention.

Most Americans could not care less what Europeans think of them

Why is the US so committed to harshly punishing law breakers?

Why wouldn't they be? Have you seen the crime statistics?

Agree with r196.

I have one of those Kuerig pod machines so have tried all different coffees. Some I like, some I don’t, but I can say there are definite differences in flavors of plain old black coffee.

I'm Irish and most if us got milky tea in our baby bottles... Just to recap: Tea for babies=fine, Breast feeding babies= against god and nature.

Is there a suitable retort when someone replies “mhm” when you thank?

Herschey bars.

WTF are they about? Why don't you make proper chocolate in America?

[quote]Herschey bars.

None of us have any idea what these are.

As for proper chocolate: Cadbury's solidified chocolate-flavored paste is just as bad as Hershey's.

I find it bizarre that Americans use pencils for writing. In my country, pencils are for sketching and drawing. Kids in school use pens. Is ink expensive in America or something? I just find it so strange.

Lindt is the business

R210 is under the impression that a nation of over 300 million people only manufactures ONE brand of chocolate candy.

And yes, Cadbury's is shit.

I was shocked to learn some Brits still drink powdered instant coffee. Vile shit.

Well, is there?

R217, something simple:

“Excuse me, I don’t think you heard me. I said ‘thank you.’”

[quote] “Excuse me, I don’t think you heard me. I said ‘thank you.’”

Guaranteed to provoke another "mhm" at the very least, if not a fistfight.

People bitching about American terms like bathroom or restroom need to think about the English and their infantilization of their language. “Brekkie” and “lippie” sound ridiculous and borderline retarded to me. It’s breakfast and lipstick or gloss if you prefer.

R220 I think that's Aussies.

America isn’t perfect, but I don’t think that I could live anywhere else. And I wouldn’t want to either.

Don't forget "sunnies," r220, now that the weathie is nicie.

Tipping. We tip way too much and way too often

UGH. R223. Sunnies makes my blood pressure skyrocket.

Oh, and why do Europeans rag on Americans but IMMEDIATELY start adopting American slang (bro is now everywhere) and music.

Lecky

I fucking hate it when Brits call something nice "Lush" makes my skin crawl.

Second to tipping. This is not the Middle Ages when travelers paid the ostler to stable and water the horses at an inn. I am not the server's employer and I do not expect to pay him or her any more than I expect to pay the light bill or rent.

Well, R228, then you'd better be prepared to pay considerably higher prices at restaurants, because these service people are deliberately underpaid with the expectation that they'll make up for it in tips. Is it right or fair or even efficient - no. But refusing to tip out of pique at the system is a dick move, and pointless.

R209 By our standards they're being polite, so no.

[quote]I find it bizarre that Americans use pencils for writing.

and on those awful yellow legal pads they're so keen on!

[quote]I fucking hate it when Brits call something nice "Lush" makes my skin crawl.

I've never heard anyone say that.

I hate "I was SAT next to this guy".

R231 Y'all don't use legal pads?

[quote]Keen on legal pads

Why?

R234 They're useful.

Cossies, pressies, mozzies, prossies, Chrissie.. (swimsuits, presents, mosquitoes, prostitutes, Christmas).

Bazza, Hazza, Muzza, Shazza...(Barry, Harry, Murray, Sharon).

why are people mad when others don't respond in the exact manner they want them to?

[quote]Cossies, pressies, mozzies, prossies, Chrissie..

I've never heard of any of those?

I think a lot of people learn about England from watching Eastenders (& AbFab).

I like legal pads, too. They have lines, and they're held together at the top. I always hated pads or notebooks where the binding was on the side. I used to buy them in white or blue instead of yellow.

[quote]I always hated pads or notebooks where the binding was on the side.

I've always hated them because I'm left-handed.

R194 we eat horses because we were invited to during the 19th century when cars replaced horses on the road, it taste good so we continued. The USA has a problem with too many mustangs living in the wild, we don't have wild horses in europe, they have to belong to somebody and have an ID, be vaccined etc...

We don't eat dogs

We complain because we can, that's our version of "the freedom of speech", it's a proof we're not in a totalitarian country. But hate speech is illegal.

Who the fuck in Europe eats horse? I've never eaten horse???

Barbarism. Disgusting.

Yeah but seriously I'm Irish and never heard of this?

That "mhm!" thing is horrible. Even as an American I do not understand it.

∆ except that one time when the tesco beef pies were revealed to have horsemeat in them and everyone lost their minds. It was a huge scandal. Who eats horsemeat in Europe? Let me guess....the French? No one eats dog I know that much.

Horse meat is still popular in France, and also in Belgium, Italy, Spain, Swiss, and in Germany as well. It's getting more and more difficult to find a boucherie chevaline, but we still get one at the market, twice a week. It has a very good level of iron compare to the beef, and you cook it exactly like beef. We also had a scandal in 2013 with frozen product with horse meat from Romania (they just had a law forbidding horse carriage in open road, therefore a huge number of horses became useless and were send all at once for the meat market) the problem was more about not knowing what you were eating, and not being able to track the origin and the animals (with their health background checks etc...).

Apparently in the USA the export of horse meat became illegal a few years ago, and a lot of horses ended up being abandoned. Do you really burry in a cemetery your horses? With all their meat on it?

[quote]We used clothes lines when I was a kid and we lived in a rural area, but no one in the city does it and no one in the US calls them "wash lines;" it's always "clothes line."

Of course people in cities used clothes lines! That was many years ago, but it happened. The advent of dryers changed that and also the proliferation of public laundromats. Years ago, renters were actually allowed to have washers and dryers.

Here's some clothes lines from NYC.

I have one:

SNL... What's the deal? Do people actually find it funny? If so what demographic?

[quote]I think it's called the "world series" because of all the people who watch it from around the world, not whose playing.

Like who? The Japanese and some minor Asian countries? Baseball is not only the most boring sport in the world, after golf, it's also the least appealing, unlike football (the one we play with the feet) which in fact is a worldwide phenomenon everyone watches and yet only the World Cup dares call itself that way as it really involves countries from all over the planet.

Calling local baseball events World Series is just American Exceptionalism at its most delusional self.

Just an observation, but Europeans are a far more diverse group than Americans. Our geography is diverse, but the people are more united by identity, even with all the division Trump has caused, than Europeans.

All of the different European ethnic groups hate each other and always have.

The extreme polarisation of US political parties and the hatred and fear partisans all seem to have for the opposing party.

R249 I fucking 100% agree. I don’t get it at all. Its so so bad.

Why is everything so "bloody ______" in England? Do you lack other adjectives?

The U.S. is the most diverse country in existence. There is no ethnicity or corner of the world that does not have representatives here.

[quote]25 Things about UK that confuse Americans-One of which is- Why do you keep driving on the wrong side of the road?

It's a holdover from hundreds of years ago. Most people are right-handed so one rode his horse on the left side of the road to keep the sword arm free in case of attack.

There’s no wrong or right side of the road

In most cases it's only the poorest of the poor in very rural areas who hang their laundry out on lines.

hmmmm, Dryers ruin your clothes. There's nothing fresher than having your clothes, and linen, dried by the sun where possible. So all you upper class snobs using dryers when you have the choice to use a clothesline in the sun can keep your smelly/ tatty clothes and linen.

Italian boys have dirty feet and clean bottoms, American boys have clean feet and dirty bottoms- Gore Vidal (who would have known)

Dryers are not carbon friendly yo

That is because Italian boys get into a mini-bath called a bidet every time they have a shit. Italians think anyone who doesn't do this is disgusting.

Who's got time? Wipe and go.

"would you like dark meat or white meat"?

Ask me if I want leg or breast.

r262 I have seen bathrooms where the bidet is nowhere near the toilet...the thought of edging my way across a bathroom, trousers round my ankles with a dirty bum to wash my arse is comical.

R262 And washing your peens after peeing

r262 it's only because sodomy is a national pastime

There's an old saying: "The Greeks invented sex, and the Italians introduced it to women."

Why do so many tall American buildings pretend they don't have a 13th floor? Calling the one above the 12th the 14th doesn't change the fact it is actually the 13th. Why pander to a stupid fucking superstition?

R264 made me spit my coffee.

R268, not all buildings do that. I work in a building with a 13th floor, and the executive offices of my organization are on the 13th floor of another building. It's been a while since I was in an office building that went from the 12th to the 14th floor; I think it's largely a practice of the past.

Anyway, in those buildings that don't have a floor numbered 13, they're pandering to superstition because their goal is to make money not make a point about rationalism. If you own a hotel, and you find that some guests are reluctant to take rooms on the 13th floor, you'll omit that number because you need head in beds to maximize your profits.

No, R263, because "white meat" includes wings as well as breasts and "dark meat" means thigh and drumstick. Lots of places that sell chicken - especially KFC-type fried chicken places - serve drumsticks and thighs separately.

And, if you order 4 pieces, white meat, original recipe, you'll get 2 breasts and 2 wings. If you want 4 breasts, you'd have to ask for that specifically (and pay extra).

American meals confuse me.

When I watch Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, I haven't a clue what half the stuff is. What the fuck are 'sliders?'

As for Drive-ins, Diners and Dives, do you Americans spend your lives barbequing everything for days on end in dry and wet rubs?

[quote]for days on end in dry and wet rubs?

Teehee

R272 No. We'll pay good money for that at a restaurant. Sliders are mini-hamburgers or hot sandwiches, usually on a hawaiian roll.

R272, not long ago, many Americans would have asked the same questions. What you're describing in those two questions are either the upscaling of once cheap fast food (sliders) or the nationalization what was once regional food (elaborate kinds of barbecue).

40 years ago, we had White Castle and the Little Tavern (aka "Club LT") that sold little hamburgers cheaply. You could "buy 'em by the bag" - that was the LT slogan, if memory serves. It was the kind of food you'd get late at night on your way home from the bars. The idea that someday these tiny, cheap, tasty-but-not-fancy burgers would morph into upscale appetizers and party food would have seemed bizarre.

Similarly, where I grew up - DC area - we had pretty much one kind of barbecue. It was baked in the oven and served with sweet sauce similar to generic supermarket BBQ sauce. People didn't eat it much because it was a lot of trouble to make and not a common dish on restaurant menus. (And those restaurants that did have it tended to be downscale or soul food places that middle-class white suburbanites didn't go to.) Sometime in the last 20 years or so, barbecue in about 100 varieties, all claiming to be authentic to some part of the US, became ubiquitous.

Anyway, my point is that some of the things that people on here are "confused" by quite new in America, too. Food culture has changed dramatically here in the last few decades.

"... are confused by ARE quite new in America ..."

R275, R272 is not confused. They just want to be an asshole who judges an entire nation by a pair of TV shows.

I'm surprised at the comment about pencils (upthread.) Don't Europeans ever make mistakes and need to erase something?

SNL is way past it’s prime. I haven’t found it funny since mid-80’s. Improved a bit in the nineties but I don’t even watch anymore.

The gun thing.

Yes, the gun thing. How everyone having lethal weapons makes everyone safer.

R278 it's just utterly bizarre to me to write with a pencil. There are pens for that. If you make a mistake, you cross it out.

What surprises me the most is that kids at American school hand in their tests or papers written in pencil. How can you be sure that no one changes your answers?

Who would change your answers on a test -- the teacher, other students? If a teacher is dishonest and might change your answers, then you have a major problem. Other students shouldn't have access to someone else's test paper when it's handed in.

R283 In theory, anyone could have access to the test papers. They aren't the Crown Jewels. I'm surprised the papers are not photocopied or scanned in immediately to avoid any kind of fraud. We do that with tests written in ink.

I just returned from 2 weeks in London. If I never hear "brill" again, I'd be ecstatic.

People eating in movie theaters. Individual packages for everything - honey packets in an office kitchenette? Adults having soda with every meal. No PDA.

My mother had a clothes line until she saved for a dryer. She would hang the clothes in sunshine, 15 minutes later it would start pouring. Then she had to go out in the rain and take all of the soaking wet clothes back in. Birds pooped on freshly hung sheets as they flew overhead. Inch worms would attach themselves to a sheet and start making lines of webbing. My mother had arachnophobia and invariably a spider would find its way onto the clothesline and hide itself in a sleeve or a pocket. Couldn’t use the clothesline from November til June because of freeze/snow/sleet/spring rains. They’re really not feasible in lots of places.

[quote] I'm surprised at the comment about pencils (upthread.) Don't Europeans ever make mistakes and need to erase something?

I went to catholic elementary school in the US and we were not allowed to use pencil. If we made a mistake the nuns had us put parentheses around the error. No cross outs allowed. Don’t know why.

In America, clotheslines are considered déclassé in upscale neighborhoods. Many gated communities don't allow them.

I'm always shocked when I see Americans 'customizing' dishes at a restaurant. It's so rude! If you don't like certain ingredients, don't order the fucking dish or leave that stuff on your plate.

[quote] Oh, and why do Europeans rag on Americans but IMMEDIATELY start adopting American slang (bro is now everywhere) and music.

It cracks me up how much American slang is used in Swedish, danish & dutch tv.

But what really gets me is how much the English use American slang now. When I started watching British tv in the 70s, they never used American slang. A man was a bloke, a chap, a fellow. Now I hear them use “guy” all the time, even “hey you guys.” I was shocked at all the American slang used by the English actors in a period piece like Downtown Abbey. Recently my PBS station was showing an Australian-NZ tv show and the young women all sounded like valley girls. At first, I thought the show was filmed in California.

[quote]Individual packages for everything - honey packets in an office kitchenette?

I think that's done for sanitary reasons and to comply with health department regulations.

Stars and stripes hanging up out the front of your houses. What's that all about?

You'd be lucky to see a Union Jack on the front of anyone's house here even if it was one of The Queens Jubilee. Even our public buildings rarely fly them.

My parents nailed a flag holder on my front porch and flew the flag on national holidays - July 4, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day. I’m not sure if they put the flag out for presidents birthdays (Lincoln & Washington). They only combined Presidents Day in the late 60s or early 70s.

But they only did it when they were younger. Once they were middle aged, they stopped. Maybe the flag holder broke.

I never put a flag holder on my house and don’t own a flag. I lived in Manhattan most of my adult life til 2005. I only know of one family in my development who put the flag in their porch on holidays and they are extremely liberal democrats. The husband had a bright political future, ran for office, was appointed to some political positions but his father was a mayor a few towns over & he got busted for favoritism and some kind of financial scheme and his son’s political career was tainted by it.

[quote] My parents nailed a flag holder on my front porch

On the porch of my childhood home, not my current home,

Puerto Ricans and Mexicans in the US fly their flags, too.

[quote]a period piece like Downtown Abbey.

Oh, dear!

R286 and R292, the little packets are usually there because the office buys their kitchen supplies from a company that specializes in providing such things for offices. They don't sell bottles of honey, ketchup, mustard or mayo - only packets.

But, even if if they did sell bottles, most offices would avoid them because they make a mess, have to be refrigerated, and get gross if they're used by slobs. Perhaps, R286, in European offices there is a person delegated to take care of the kitchen. In American offices, there usually is no such person; it would be considered a #MeToo-level offense to assume that the secretaries/receptionists or any female employee would do so.

The housekeeping staff ("Environmental Services" nowadays) might or might not feel obliged to put away a jar of mayonnaise. They certainly wouldn't consider it their job to wipe sticky honey from the bottle (the counter, yes - not the bottle) or clean the dried ketchup off the rim of the bottle.

Or perhaps European employees are expected to bring in their own condiments, tea, coffee and the like. In America, employees would be very offended if the employer expected them to spend their own money for such items, and, again, there is almost never anyone with the delegated task of going to a regular store and buying them with company money.

It's just easier to get the little packets. We're rich. We can afford it.

R286, "no PDA"? Do you mean public display of affection?

Are you from southern Europe, by any chance? Because in northern Europe and Britain, people are even less inclined to PDA than Americans, at least in my observation.

Offices in Europe don’t have honey, mayonnaise or mustard, r298. Why on earth do you need mayonnaise in an OFFICE?! Can Americans really not go a few hours without mayonnaise?

R300, it has nothing to with mayonnaise per se. (A good question would be why Europeans are so fixated on the American fondness for mayo). Instead, it's related to American work habits and our approach to lunchtime..

Lunch is not considered an important meal in the US. Except for special occasions, it's generally seen as a necessary evil - a way to stave off hunger between breakfast and dinner. People often eat lunch on the fly; those on long-distance travel will often gobble it down in their car, even perhaps while driving (which is pretty dangerous, but people do it anyway to save time).

Therefore, Americans commonly eat lunch either at their desk or in a break room in the office suite. Often, they're eating sandwiches bought from a local sandwich shop or brought from home. American tastes require condiments on these sandwiches - condiments that may not have been added or may not have been added in sufficient quantity at the source. For example, in bringing a sandwich from home, people may leave off the mayo to prevent the bread from becoming soggy, knowing they can add it at lunchtime at work.

It makes perfect sense to maintain a stock of condiments in the office kitchen once you understand that people eat their midday meals there every day, and that those meals are very often sandwiches. Americans do not eat sandwiches without condiments. The idea makes me, for one, gag at the thought of how dry it must be.

Oh, and the honey is there because some people like it in their tea. Also, some people eat breakfast at work and like to put honey on instant oatmeal and the like.

In general - there are exceptions, of course; it's a big country - Americans don't take any meal seriously except dinner ... and maybe Sunday breakfast or brunch. That's why offices are set up to facilitate casual eating; almost no one eats a full breakfast at home anymore, and lunch is generally taken either as a quick meal before getting back to work or a break in the day to do errands.

What's up with Americans buying bottled water? None of you own electric kettles? Or water filters?

Why do they call it the Miss Universe pageant when they only allow women from Earth to participate?

....

Regarding the PDA, I remember noticing the lack of it when I was in the US fir the first time. In NYC, if you see people touching, usually they speak French. You’ll always see some people kissing in public spaces, like subway, in London or in Paris, but never in NYC or LA. At first I thought it was because the subway in NYC, not to mention LA, was so unhygienic, but apparently people think nothing of eating food there or sitting down in various states of undress. But never kissing or sitting on each other’s laps.

Our office in London had a kitchenette with some basic tableware, coffee machine and a kettle. Only instant coffee was provided, so everybody bought his own coffee capsules. There was some sugar and sweetener, but since I don’t take either with my coffee or tea, I cannot remember what packaging it came in. I think everybody was expected to wash the dishes after themselves, and if there were some left in the sink after hours, they were washed and put away by the cleaners. There was no microwave, and if you wanted to reheat the lunch you brought, you had to go to the communal dining area. The office I worked at in the US had no kitchen, only a coffee and tea making machine in the copy room. Coffee and tea capsules, cups, stirrers etc (everything plastic), sugar, sweetener, honey etc (everything in individual packages) were bought by the office manager. To make a coffee you had to buy a token from the same office manager. Coffee tasted vile though, and the only two other options included a cafeteria downstairs (only marginally better) and a Starbucks in the next building. Another thing I found surprising is the amount of plastic (or paper) bags you get when you shop in New York. In any grocery store, they don’t even ask you, just pack your items for you, sometimes in multiple bags. If you say ‘I have my own bag, thank you,’ it just throws them off. Also the amount of garbage you see on the sidewalks (not only in downtown, in residential areas). At first I thought maybe it was because it was collected once a week, but apparently not.

[quote]If Americans piss and take a dump in the bathroom, where do they take a bath or have a shower?

[quote]Why do Americans use so many euphemisms for words relating to sex, death and bodily functions?

It's call class Dear. By your logic the toilet should be called the shit bowl and the urinal should be called the piss tank. Not a fucking loo.

R290, customizing a restaurant meal is not considered rude here. Some restaurants will charge extra for it or don't allow certain kinds of changes or substitutions, but generally no one thinks twice about it. We want what we want, and most restaurants will accommodate it - we're paying for it, after all.

How is one in the toilet?

The refusal, even by the New York Times, to properly capitalise titles when referring to a specific person.

e.g. "Harry and Meghan will be visiting the queen later in the day."

NO! It's the Queen, you idiots! If you were referring to a non-specific queen, it would not be capitalised. But here you are referring to Queen Elizabeth II.

Same goes with aristocratic titles. It's NOT the duke of Devonshire. It's the Duke of Devonshire. NOT the earl of Southhampton. It's the Earl of Southampton. Of course, if you were just referring to non-specific dukes and earls, again it would not be capitalised.

This grammar error drives me crazy every time I see it in an American newspaper or book.

When they mentioned Harry and Meghan visiting the queen, they meant Elton John.

They make fun of people who homeschool their kids. Then send their children to schools where they are more statistically likely to get shot in the head than a soldier on active duty.

They have a minimum wage you can't live on, health insurance you have to have but can't afford, college fees that are more than a mortgage, ridiculously high rent.

And they make fun of people who live with their parents.

[quote]Then send their children to schools where they are more statistically likely to get shot in the head than a soldier on active duty.

Cite your source for these “statistics” please.

R306, you're correct. Americans just don't do that (PDA). Anyone kissing beyond the briefest peck on the cheek in public will draw stares and like comments along the line of "get a room."

It's because we are a country whose foundations are English and whose early immigrants were entirely Northern Europeans. If British people are now making out on tube platforms and German people are now passionately caressing each other at autobahn rest stops, then I guess we are just behind the times. (But I do wonder if those affectionate people in London are English in ethnicity. On my trips to the UK, I did not find the English - people of English ethnic origin, that is - to be prone to PDA at all ... quite the reverse. Perhaps everything has changed in the last 10 years. )

^^^ "likely", not "like"

For r300.

R312, is that dame Elton John or Dame Elton John?

I guess, I'll ask again. What's up with buying bottled water? Why can't you just boil the tap water?

Why do so many Europeans insist on being ruled by gnarly old royals? If I wanted to ruled by an ugly old woman, I'd have voted for Hilary Clinton.

I know we all have our special words when we find something good or exceptions. But the Brit habit of saying "brilliant" so much is nerve rattling.

[quote]Why can't you just boil the tap water?

Because we don’t have the time for such tedious inanities. Europeans work 6 hour days and have plenty of time for slow-paced old world activities like boiling tap water, line drying clothes, and taking a jaunty stroll to several specialty food shops every other day.

Americans work 10+ hours a day and are thoroughly exhausted at the end.

R321 There are 12 Monarchies in Europe and none of them have any political power so to answer your question... We don't.

R323 I hope you are joking. It will take maybe 30 seconds to boil water. Filtering a can of water takes no more than 2 minutes.

I work 8 hours a day and I commute 3 hours a day on top of that. Trust me, I can find a couple of minutes in the morning to grab some filtered water.

R320, I think you are misunderstanding our motives.

The reason to boil tap water is because you think it might be contaminated with bacteria. This is not something normal Americans worry about. Our water is safe to drink except in certain unusual circumstances, such as after a major flood. (Yes, I know ... Flint, MI. That terrible event stands out precisely because in America you expect to be able to drink the water. Anyway, the problem in Flint was lead contamination, which boiling would have done nothing to help.)

Since we are not worried about bacteria in the water, we don't boil it. Americans drink bottled water either because they are obsessive about water purity (although why they trust the bottled water company more than their local utility is beyond me) or because they like the taste. The taste of our water varies widely depending on the source and the amount of treatment it has received. Isn't this true in Europe as well?

As it happens, I'm happy w/ filtered water. It's what I drink at home, but some people don't want to go to the trouble or they think their municipal water is filled with "bad chemicals", which filtering will not remove.

[quote]SNL... What's the deal? Do people actually find it funny? If so what demographic?

The comedy writing on SNL has been absolute shit since the 80's.

Late 70's SNL, they had good writers. No more.

As an American, I don't get the bottled water thing either.

For example: Poland Spring is a huge brand that sells bottled "spring water". Unfortunately, Poland Springs in Maine dried up decades ago. It's filtered tap water now.

People are dumb. Just buy a Britta.

[quote] Tipping. We tip way too much and way too often

Tipping is truly a gratuity elsewhere because most workers there are paid fair wages.

Here in the US we use tipping to justify the inhumane hourly wages.

I drink tap water and I don't give a damn. At work I drink from the water fountain.

Shaved pubes.

R331 Never liked that.

You can also live in a building (like I do) that has rust in the water from iron pipes. Even though I can't see it I know it's there because my sink starts getting rust stains.

[R250] Football, the one you play with feet? Also with fists, knives, bricks, bottles, bats, and every other thing the fans can get their hands on? I love watching the Europeans play that sport! I particularly like it when the British and Germans set the buses on fire. So festive! Such a trip down memory line for both sides!

[quote]You can also live in a building (like I do) that has rust in the water from iron pipes. Even though I can't see it I know it's there because my sink starts getting rust stains.

Well, at least you'll never need Geritol!

Why do mot Americans mutilate their cocks?

most not mot

Most Americans do NOT mutilate their cocks. Their physicians, with the approval of the parents, do so.

Here's something this American wants to know: what does the British expression "Read _______ to filth" mean?

R331, I don't know which Europeans you think are confused by shaved pubes, but they must be from southern Europe.

Across northern continental Europe, from the Netherlands to Poland and including Scandinavia, it's pretty common for men to shave their pubes, unfortunately. It's less common in the UK, and less still in the US and Canada, where manscapers nowadays are more likely to trim than shave completely. Fortunately.

British guys can be very hot. But British women are universally considered to be really ugly, which they are.

Why are British women so ugly?

[R341] what about those skinny models, Twiggy and Kate something or other? Also the Queen and Meagan Markle.

1) I took care of some little English brats in London ages ago. When I'd say, "You're welcome," they CONSTANTLY told me that was incorrect and I must say, "It's all right."

2) I had a fling in Santorini with a cute English boy and his two movie-generated questions for me were: What is a Prom? What is a Twinkie?

3) I live in SF near a park and hang my laundry outside because I have a tiny apartment washer and no dryer. Many launderettes are closing in this city. I have allergies but have not noticed a lot of bothersome pollen on my clothes and sheets dried outside. I love how clean, air dried laundry smells. The birds have definitely pooped on my stuff about 6 times over two years. Once I left sheets on the line overnight and raccoons ripped em down and stomped all over them with muddy paws. Fuckers.

4) SF has tons of coyotes and they are the fattest, fluffiest, well-fed looking coyotes ever. Super model coyotes all over the city trotting around at night.

America’s obsession with serial killers.

[quote] I hope you are joking. It will take maybe 30 seconds to boil r

You need to boil water more than 30 seconds to kill bacteria. More like 20-30 minutes. And boiling doesn’t get rid of pesticides, arsenic, lead and other industrial and agricultural pollutants.

[quote] The taste of our water varies widely depending on the source and the amount of treatment it has received.

This is very true. My husband and I went to a restaurant yesterday and he ordered tea. He couldn’t drink it because he said it tasted bad. I tasted it and told him there was chlorine in the water. I grew up about 50 miles away in the same county and the water authority often blasted the water with so much chlorine it was undrinkable. My family started using distilled water for tea in the 70s. We like our tea and believe we would revert to Stone Age mutants without it. We didn’t use the distilled water for anything but tea. In the 70s, people did not drink water.

My husband and I use bottled water for tea at home. We have well water and it was never tested for anything other than bacteria, but we know this was farmland and was drenched in DDT for decades.

Dousing oneself with water became popular in the 90s when the internet told people they were all dehydrated and needed to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Nowadays so many people are on medication that dries out their mouths,they have to carry water with them.

R345 where the hell do you live that you have all that in the water? Here in Europe we boil water for a couple of minutes to make tea and it tastes fine. Tap water is fine to drink too, no weird taste or anything, but I filter it just in case. No need to buy bottled water like in America. My Britta does the job.

Water out of the tap is just fine in NYC, r347.

R348 LOL It has that fluoride taste that is terrible. Drink spring water then drink NYC tap water. Only then you will taste how gross it is.

Re: Clothes being hung on a clothes line... yes, you get a nice freshness on a sunny day, but birds can poop on your clothes...really bad if there's a tree with berries nearby.

No, it doesn't, r348. At any rate, you can always use a Britta (I do) but you don't need to buy bottled water. The only place I've ever been where you could not drink the water from the tap and had to drink bottled water was in Bangkok. They had bottled water in the hotel rooms.

r351 You've never been to Mexico?

My tap water is very chlorinated (and tastes of it); I only drink it when I'm taking medication. I do use it to make coffee and to cook with, but I only drink the filtered water that comes out of the refrigerator's water dispenser.

Oh shut the fuck up, R347. European people buy bottled water all the time.

R351 definitely doesn’t travel here.

Why do Americans call the United States "America"? No other people in North, Central, or South America call their country America. Is it only because the word America is in the name?

I assume so, r356. After all, the others you mentioned are continents, not countries. There are countries on those continents, obviously, but one wouldn’t say they live in Japan on the Asian continent, they would just say they live in Japan.

So why don't Americans say they live in the US? Why do they refer to it as America?

Because it’s the United States of America.

Some do say the United States, the US, America, “the States,” the US of A, etc. It’s a choice.

"America" has never made much sense to me. If it's "The United States of America," then that implies that is a group of states that are united (US), within a place (N. America). The way the word America is sometimes used, such as the OP's title sounds odd. Not saying it's wrong, it just sounds odd to my ears. I'd say, "I have family in the US," or "I'm going to the United States," as opposed to "I have family in America." or "I'm going to America."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is using "America" instead of saying the US more common in the South?

Nope, r352.

You’re just trolling r361. Europeans often call the US “America.” That’s such a dumb thing to troll about. I’d link to a speech Merkel mad where she uses “America” several times but I don’t want to link to Breitbart or Crooks & Liars.

Uh, r362, I believe he was responding to the question of whether he’d ever been in Mexico. See his reference to r352 and signature of r351.

Do y’all have to chew your water too?

Sorry meant R360

Oh I got ya, r365. Stupidly, I didn’t even think about a typo.

I apologize too.

Spotted Dick? What the hell is this all about?

[quote]In the 70s, people did not drink water.

?!?

And I hear far more Europeans calling the United States 'America' than Americans do. Most people here call it the US, or the United States.

R368, I agree. The British seem almost always to refer to the USA as "America", but Americans more often say "the US", except in the context of politics, where "America" is tossed around by both left and right like a magic football - American football that is. Speaking of which, the adjective is always American because there's no proper substitute.

Maybe the seemingly bizarre comment about the '70s refers to Americans not drinking *bottled* water in the 70s, which I think is correct, at least to my recollection. IIRC, the original popular bottled water was Perrier, which at least is sparkling, thus making it different from ordinary tap water. Perrier was a stereotyped snob product of the '80s, the sort of thing that "yuppies" drank while driving their "Beemers" and that was the punchline of jokes about pretentious people.

The explosion of bottled still water came mostly in the 90s, I think. One reason for this was tendency of modern Americans to have something to drink at hand at all times. If you're not drinking soda or juice, what else would you drink but water, and how would you get tap water while on the go? I don't find drinking bottled away as a beverage away from home to be bizarre at all. It's the people who won't drink their own local tap water - even filtered - that seem odd to me.

^^ That should be "... the original popular bottled water FAD was Perrier ..."

In American movies and TV shows people are always drinking bottled water at home. When someone comes over, they are always offered a plastic water bottle. I have never seen anyone being offered a glass of filtered tap water, which would be normal in my country. Things like that are jarring to non-American audiences.

R371, product placement? If you can see the name of the bottled water, that's probably part of it.

Also, because some people are funny about tap water, many Americans may keep bottled water on hand for visitors, or perhaps it just seems more appropriate to offer a guest something a little "fancier" than ordinary (free) tap water ... ?

I don't know what most Americans do. Anyone who comes to my house in the daytime would be offered coffee, tea, Diet Coke or water. The last would be ordinary (filtered, but they wouldn't know that) tap water. After 5, the offerings become a lot more interesting.

Dear Americans, what's up with guillotine windows? They are creepy as fuck! Every time I see one, I think someone will be accidentally decapitated. What do you have against normal windows?

Can you post a picture of a “normal” window, r373?

R374 the kind that opens outwards? Do you have those in the States?

Yes, some of them. Most home windows are what you call guillotine windows so it doesn’t create a problem with having an open window with a screen to prevent bugs from flying in.

R376 Can you explain that? I don't really see a problem. Are you saying you don't want a screen on your windows? Has it always been like this or have your ancestors switched over to guillotine windows at some point in history?

R376, Americans generally prefer double-hung windows (what you call "guillotine windows") because they open cleanly, without extending parts that would block airflow. Also, they leave the exterior of the house cleanly configured, even when every window in the place is open. This is important in a climate where summers are hot.

We have had windows like this since Colonial times, and I suspect English houses of 18th-century vintage probably have them as well. Most older American domestic designs and customs are English in origin. Upper-middle and upper class American habits remains very English-influenced today.

^^^ "... upper-class American habits remain very ..."

Sash windows have come back into fashion in the UK. They disappeared at the start of the 20th century and then reappeared again in the late 90s.

I've never lived in a house with double-hung or casement windows. I've only had sliders and the kind that crank to open out. This is in different parts of California as well as in Virginia.

[quote] It's considered a French word - all use of French words in England are considered low class

I'm afraid we simply can't be bothered with your petty bigotries.

[quote] Dear Americans, what's up with guillotine windows? They are creepy as fuck! Every time I see one, I think someone will be accidentally decapitated. What do you have against normal windows?

They're easier for installing window unit air conditioners. And most of the US gets quite hot in the summer, so we need air conditioning.

I don't get this bizarre obsession of the one troll with Americans putting milk in our tea. (Brits do it too, btw.) If you don't like it that way, then don't drink it that way.

Why should we be expected to follow your nation's dietary customs instead of our own? Why are yours necessarily better?

Americans have clean feet and dirty assholes. Italians have dirty feet and clean assholes.

R242 Two of Europe's greatest cuisines, Italy and France, both have a history of horse eating.

I'm an American and I use milk and sugar in my tea.

I have a clothes dryer but several years ago used a clothesline to save money. You really don't see them used much any more. Growing up, almost everyone's mother hung the laundry out to dry.

I never wear shoes in the house. I wish I never had to wear shoes at all.

Americans may be right to use bottled water. I was just there a few weeks ago and god I got sick from drinking water out of a tap (faucet).

I can never understand why Americans think giving up tipping and paying a decent wage will make food more expensive. All it will do is make menu price reflect what you actually pay with all the tipping. I have noticed that the tipping rate is going up. The first time I went to America it was 10-15%. Now its 20-30%.

[quote]It's considered a French word - all use of French words in England are considered low class

How about "courgette" and "aubergine?" What words would you use in their place? Certainly not the ones we Americans use!

R389 The person you're replying to has been reading too many Daily Mail articles about non-U English.

While it;s true that historically the usage of a handful of nouns, some of which were French, was considered middle class - the equivalent US class to the British middle class is the upper class, not lower class. However, that had largely faded away by the middle of the 20th century and most British social classes use the same nouns nowadays.

[quote]Americans may be right to use bottled water. I was just there a few weeks ago and god I got sick from drinking water out of a tap (faucet).

Were you visiting Flint, Michigan?

Seriously, though, it does depend on the locale. I remember I was working in New Jersey years ago and was in a hotel along with coworkers. All of us, no matter what room we were in, had an adverse affect (not severe, just minor itching) due to the shower water.

I'm confused by something I always see in American movies. A single mother working as a waitress at a diner lives in a big house. How can she afford to buy/rent it plus property taxes? Is it possible in America or is it a movie trope? Wouldn't it be more realistic to show her living with the kids in a tiny shoe box apartment?

The country's unsustainable debt and nothing being done to address it.

r392 That confused me for the longest time as well, until I realised those houses were mostly made of cardboard and there's no concrete foundation underneath. Probably no isolation of any kind either. So they're not that expensive, especially if you live in a shithole. Some of it is TV/movie fantasy as well, like Friends living in those huge apartments.

*I meant plywood, not cardboard. I was writing another post on Reddit about Star Trek at the same time...

R393 But the square footage would still make it expensive, no? And what about the taxes? How much does a waitress in rural Ohio or Kentucky make to be able to afford a house like that plus raise 2 kids?

most of these things europeans are not "confused" about, but unwilling to point out the stupidity outright and make it awkward. so they pretend to ask. why are you guys using dryers so much = why the fuck do you still use dryers when you know exactly how much damage excess power usage does upon the eco system?

also, using words of french origin is considered low class because the english hate the french since they invaded england in the 13th century. aristocrats tried to maintain their language as an act of protest while low workers would just accept their new rulers and adapt the language.

It’s more a movie/TV trope. Much like when you see the “murder TV” shows (crime shows that reenact murders), the victims always live in a beautiful pristinely cleaned house with a gorgeous kitchen, etc. When they interview the family members, sometimes you can clearly see they’re trash (and sometimes the victim, too) and I think “there’s no way a prostitute and drug addict lived like that.”

R396, is your shift key broken?

Americans fight back against ridiculous British terms.

Clothes lines are for the poors.

R400 It’s eco friendly

So what is it with the “World” Series ?

Maybe eco friendly but most HOA will not allow them.

Great. More carbon emission

R402, start at R4 and work your way down.

R405 I did. Nobody had a clue. Maybe it’s American ego

Here's something I'm always curious about. How does life/health insurance work for people who voluntarily choose to live in places like Mississippi or Missouri that seemingly get destroyed by tornadoes every other year? I mean, you are very likely to be dead or gravely injured at a young age. Does your place of residence factor in?

In the US, clotheslines are considered trashy in upscale neighborhoods. As the above poster said, HOAs won't allow them. Also, yard sales.

Let’s not forget that Europeans have all these “questions” (criticisms that we don’t say and do things just like they do) because American culture has come to dominate world culture more and more every year.

Instagram makes that clear. It’s shocking actually, to see indian celebs celebrating a typical American Halloween or Christmas with their kids, or a Palestinian teenaged girl dressing and expressing herself like a valley girl.

R408 No wonder Americans are the greatest carbon polluters and users of earth resources

But our yards look pristine, r410.

R411 The evil dwells within

It's too clean for evil to dwell, r412.

R411 Your assholes are still dirty.

The issue with having children with different partners. I used to think it was the religious thing, but even the promiscuity advocates seem to draw the line at that. In other parts of the world people seem more accepting of the concept that relationships can end, new relationship = new family, new family = more children. Is it because child support is so expensive?