Differences between Brits and Americans

Im English and have lived here the past 24 years but I grew up in the States.
I find people look out for you more there. I was invited out to someone's house and they immediately followed up with 'do you have a car? Can we get someone to give you a lift'? When I moved here and was invited out I was expected to figure it out -sure no problem I am an adult, but it was nice that someone thought that I was in a new environment and might not know my way around. That's typical.
When I moved to a new area here people were friendly but seemed kinda shocked when I asked them to meet up for coffee. In fact the only person who asked me back was American. I sometimes felt I was forcing people to come out! They are good friends now but I was the one initiating everything for the first couple years.
I agree with general optimism. I remember getting my first car. Here it was 'oh do you really need one'? 'It's going to be very expensive.' And so on. Say the same thing in America and it's: 'Great! What model? When are you getting it? So exciting!'

CarolinaInTheMorning "Martha Stewart does always pronounce the "h" though, bless her heart." Ouch 😊

I’m married to an American. I agree with your observations. I think it makes sense that their ancestors were predominantly the ones who thought they’d have a go at a new life and a great adventure and give it a try. My ancestors stayed at home, because we thought it was a bad idea.

On the names front, the one I find funniest is But I'm a Cheerleader - which is a film about a gay conversion camp.

One of our lead characters is a lesbian called Graham. I watched it with British friends and we had to actually pause it to discuss the important question of why you would name your daughter Graham and then be surprised she was a lesbian. As the present American, I really had nothing.

Alastair? Really? I remember watching Passions, a soap opera in the 2000s and that was one of the main characters/villain’s name, although it was spelled Alistair; Alistair Crane.

Birth is much more patriarchal and women seem much more expected to submit to men for regular vaginal exams all their life

More rubbish. The vast majority of gynaecologists and obstetricians in the US are female (85% compared to ~50% in the UK). Annual smear test are performed by a female nurse or physician's associate. The chances of you having a 'regular vaginal exam' by a male clinician are minimal, it's not 1970.

And I'm not trying to offend, really, but you think that we think about you a lot more than we do

I do have to agree with this. American politics and pop culture appear to get a lot more coverage in UK than the reverse. I'm always surprised at how mumsnetters will have strong opinions on relatively minor American politicians or even mundane domestic issues. There's very little coverage of the UK in American media beyond major political developments.

For my part, I think UK television crime dramas are far superior to the dumbed down nonsense churned out by Hollywood. Most mainstream American television is just plain bad and I have no idea why anyone on either side of the pond would bother watching it!

There's a very different ethic around stuff like that here. I remember when we first moved, our then doctor (private) was shocked that we wanted our kids to get flu shots and chicken pox vaccines. I remember her saying, in a horrified voice that we don't generally give those things to healthy children here. Like I was some kind of freakishly overanxious parent. We switched doctors.

The Tamiflu was amazing. I felt noticeably better in 24 hours and it saved me from at least a few days of being miserable in bed with it. Tamiflu has been around for long enough that it's available as a generic, so it should be as cheap as chips for the NHS to offer it. That's why I was surprised they don't.

@Opull

Remember that when doing the deed on TV and film they keep their underwear on!

I can't recommend this book enough. It really opened my eyes to why certain issues are of importance to the majority of the American population, when we in the UK think they are very black and white (e.g. 2nd amendment).

Also helped me to understand that a lot of the US population (again, generalising) vote solely on a couple of these issue.

It's a mix of both in both places. A lot of NICE guidelines are based on cost efficiency rather than treatment efficacy/outcomes. Ask 75% of women in the UK with thyroid problems how they feel and you'll get chapter and verse on the terrible treatment they receive as per the guidelines.

@MissConductUS I've just had the flu and would have killed for some Tamiflu. People were offering to send me over some but I waited it out, for two full weeks. It was horrid. I did fly back last time with Paxlovid but haven't needed it.

Dual national and have lived in both countries so I think quite well qualified to comment.

I would say the biggest difference is that British people whinge a lot about the UK and love being negative about the UK but Americans are very patriotic. They will criticise the government sure but not the country itself and especially not the constitution.

I find the idea that a lot of Americans will espouse that there is more difference between American states than European countries is absolutely absurd.

Of course there are big differences between states and a lot of Europeans underestimate this but it's just ridiculous to claim that states which speak the same language and have been part of the same country for so long are more different than say Bulgaria and France or Lithuania and Portugal makes them look silly

The majority of OB/Gyns are women (85% vs 15%).

For primary care generalists (family medicine), the proportion is about 42% women and 58% men).

However, you will always be asked if you'd prefer to have your pap smear done by a woman.

The freedom TO point is spot on!

I find this fascinating because the Americans I’ve met and know well tend not to fit many of the stereotypes - but they have usually been well-educated, well-travelled, very politically aware Americans who have a good sense of how the world sees America, not just how America sees the world. So perhaps representative of some aspects of America but not of the country as a whole.

I think that we don't like to talk about money etc in the U.K. because, historically, the "top group" of people in British society were landed gentry and the whole concept of earning money and spending it was entirely different.

Landed gentry historically don't have jobs and don't buy items; they have houses that they've inherited from their ancestors and it is furnished with furniture that was already there, or at worst, handed down from their relatives. It's vulgar to spend money on material things. Which is why you get the upper classes living in vast uncomfortable houses (castles 😃) with ancient plumbing and heating etc. in films and books. You don't modernise.

Plus want to be part of the landed gentry or upper class? Tough you have to be born into it. You can't even marry into it unless you are also upper class.

This is probably very much in the past and a lot of it is myth. But that attitude to money in Britain has infiltrated British society and still lingers.

Americans got rid of British rule and set up the country to their own liking. And social mobility is possible. Earning money is a good thing. Materialism is good and to be celebrated in The USA.

These are my thoughts. Don't know if others would concur?

Yes it's not really doctors deciding what treatment you can get in the UK is it? It's the budgets. People die in this country from diseases and conditions that are routinely tested for or vaccinated in other countries, but the NHS doesn't do because not enough people die to make it worth the costs.

I was given a diagnostic test in the UK that I later found is banned in the US because of stroke risks. There's a much better and safer test they use in the US but of course it's not available in the UK.

Right. So what exactly is your experience that makes your opinion more valid or knowledgable than that of someone who actually lives there?

My friends and I love nothing more than complaining to each other 🤣 Sounds like an off group.

It's a bit of an overstatement to assert that all treatment is decided by "insurance agents".

Treatment options for the majority of reasons you'd see a doctor are set forth in clinical practice guidelines, developed through a meticulous and ongoing review of best practices by panels that include generalists and specialists in all branches of medicine.

Beat practices means cost effectiveness is taken into account. The CPGs are similar to best practices adhered to by the NHS. However, a lot of British people don't realise that cost is a factor in the NHS too.

I don't think you're right but also Germany and France are very close to each other, people from Hungary and people from Ireland are way more different than people from New York and Texas.

Yes, it’s just not a name here at all. Isn’t that odd? I mean, I’m sure there have been some born in the US, but I’ve never met one and only know it’s a name from my years on Mumsnet.

Jemima is also never used here, but that’s probably because of the pancake syrup.

Poor Americans are fat, rich and middle class americans, less so.

Poor Americans are fat, rich and middle class americans, less so.

Not so much anymore. I have a 17 year old son. He goes out on the weekends and drinks, as do many of his friends. I know people who do think I’m a bit more open with him about it than they are with their kids, but for the most part we know what our kids are up to and don’t care as long as they aren’t driving. My personal rules are that he has to call me if anyone seems really, really ill and needs to be seen for alcohol poisoning, or if anyone needs a ride or is trying to drive, or if there are boys there who seem predatory towards girls who are too drunk to know what’s going on. So far, he follows those rules and always has, so no issues here.

As far as the OP, I’m a rural Midwestern American and have been my whole life. My friends and I talk about our middle aged sex lives all the time 🤷‍♀️ I’m also absolutely for common sense gun control.