UK and America are two countries separated by a common language, UK and US Q&A

[Pipbin]

Continuation of the previous thread where posters from the UK ask questions like 'what the hell is going on with the gaps in US toilet doors'; and posters fro the US ask things like 'what is with wearing stripes'

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2149133-to-think-there-is-something-wrong-with-Americans?msgid=48969042#48969042

Oooh has this one been dealt with already?

Is it actually grammatically correct in the US to use "spit" in the past tense?
i.e he spit on me.
Or is it just a common mistake?

Spit can be past tense here, yes. :)

Do the majority of Americans still perceive Brits to be ridiculously apologetic and polite about everything?

I'd say Americans see people being apologetic and polite as more of a Canadian thing than a British thing Nancy66.

They tend to just think British people are generally wonderful (speaking as a Brit who lives in the US...)

The only British person I know personally is Welsh. He's sweet and funny and he calls me "love."

I think British people are generally polite, and a bit more formal than we are here. That view has shifted a bit since I joined mumsnet. I still think you're polite, but less formal.

Do the majority of Americans still perceive Brits to be ridiculously apologetic and polite about everything?

I'm not sure that was ever the stereotype.

British stereotypes here have always been the formal, no nonsense, stiff upper lip, and uptight person. Oh and who drinks tea like it's going out of style. Look at the British villains in movies, and that's about what comes to mind when you say British person here in America. (And I don't know where the bad teeth came from. DH thinks it came from Austin Powers because that's where everyone I know heard about it). Really, we haven't gotten past the Victorian era stereotype of you guys.

As Wobbly said, the overly polite thing is a Canadian stereotype. We sort of laugh at them a bit, but we love them. :)

Ooh, which came first, Austin Powers or the teeth stereotype? I thought that Austin Powers' teeth were part of the spoof, playing on American stereotypes.

We are apologetic about everything though.

For example, asking a neighbour to turn their music down:
British person - Excuse me, sorry to be a pain but would you mind turning that down a bit, it is 3am.
American - turn that shit off or I'll shoot you, you fuck.
(in my mind anyway)

I heard of the teeth thing long before Austin Powers. Watch some re runs of Bullseye and you'll see they had a point.

Pipbin I have a UK recipe for brownies that is tried and never failed (so far, that is)

As far as the apologetic thing - I'd say the British are OVERALL more apologetic, however, I've seen just as many people over here that are just as obnoxious in that regard as many Americans I know. So never fear, it's universal to some extent, that entitled attitude. I lived in Maine for quite some time, right by the Canadian border - knew LOTS of Canadians. I found them indistinguishable from Americans in most regards - they weren't any more or less apologetic than Americans. I do think it's becoming more of an individualised thing - either you have manners and are considerate... or you don't. Of course, we all have our bad days.

I'd also heard the teeth stereotype long before Austin Powers showed up on the scene.

I think Americans are more formal in some ways. I used to post on an American parenting forum and there were several people on there who did not like other people's children calling them by their first names. That seems really old-fashioned to me - the only person I know who has ever objected to it is over 90 now.

I'm not 90 and I prefer that my children address adults as "Mr" or "Mrs" until they are given permission by those adults to call them by their first names. We grew up that way, although my father was a fairly high ranking military officer and we had to attend functions sometimes where we had to meet people and it would have seriously raised eyebrows to be addressing people by anything other than title and surname. I don't think it's a bad thing, tbh.

I'm in the South. Children generally don't address adults by first name. For close friends of parents, it's often Miss Jane and Mr. Tom. And you still hear ma'am and sir, too, and not just from children.

Yes, ma'am and sir as well. Nothing wrong with manners IMO.

oh no m'am and sir is just awful !

Spat is past tense. My ex spat on the football field.

omg - I actually reached the end!

I would find it seriously weird to be addressed by a friend's child or my child's friend as Mrs Cakes. I would expect them to just call me Eats and I'd introduce myself to them that way. Sir and Ma'am is something mostly used to more senior ranks in the military really. ...or possibly royalty.

eatscake but if you introduced yourself to them and said "I'm Eats." Then that is essentially giving them permission to call you that, and I'm fine with that. But if they see, for example, John Smith's mum... they should be calling her Mrs Smith, until she tells them "oh no, that's okay, you can call me Mary" (or whatever her first name is). Mr or Mrs is UNTIL they get permission to call them something less formal. It's a courtesy. And sir or ma'am is if they don't know their name... for example "Excuse me sir, you dropped your wallet" as opposed to "hey you, your dropped your wallet."

If it's $5 for a lb of butter, then that's not a lot more expensive than here.

a lb = 450 ish grams.

We buy 250g blocks for around £1.50 for a mid range brand.

so lb in the UK would cost £2.70

in the US it costs about £2.94

Not really that much of a difference......

I'm with Alice. I was brought up to call anyone older than me Mr or Mrs Smith until they said 'call me Mary'. I do that to the parents of the children I teach too, even though most of them are younger than me. It's simple respect.

I don't like the American thing that I know only from films of children, especially boys, calling their fathers Sir.

We did have to say "yes sir" and "yes maam" to our parents, however, there were some off kilter dynamics going on there. I don't make my dcs say that, I think that's going OTT.

It always strikes me when it's to the parents as "We love you, Miss Hannigan."

I think most english children (polite ones anyway) would say "excuse me, you dropped your wallet" just as polite, even without using 'sir'.

I suppose I'm not entirely au fait with children addressing adults as DS is only 2 and never talks to adults he doesn't know. I don't remember being briefed to do this when I was a child though and my mum is upper middles class a stickler for the social niceties. DH likes to ask for a serviette when we're at theirs just to watch her wince. ..

I'll have to ask her later

eatscake it was just an example off the top of my head. I am not talking about 2yos, but more like children roughly from 7-17, who are more likely to be addressing adults for various reasons in public.

I'm not honestly fussed as long as someone is polite. Just saying that's what we were required to do, and I don't think it harmed us in any way.

I spent a lot of time going to work with my dad which involved going to people's farms.
I was taught never to touch a dog without asking. Never walk behind a horse. Always address someone as Mr, Mrs, Lady until they say otherwise.
My mother would always do the same.
In fact I think adult in general did then. Just think about the Good Life. They call the boss Sir and Margot calls the ladies that she has over for tea, acts in plays with Mrs or Miss doesn't she.
Think about Are You Being Served, that was all Mr and Mrs.

Sorry Alice - wasn't trying to be awkward or arsey. Just trying to think how I would have spoken to an adult in that situation as a child :) Sir and Ma'am seem less odd to me now than they used to after several years volunteering for a cadet youth organisation :)

It's true, though, that we (in Britain) are becoming far more informal which has both pluses and minuses

I've thought of a question, and realise it's a tricky one, but what is the prevailing national attitude to breastfeeding? I would imagine it's strongly affected by the limited maternity leave available...?

It's difficult enough to qualify what the attitude here is towards it - I suppose it's generally regarded as the ideal, but still not really the norm nationwide (due, imho to massive lack of useful support, but that's my soapbox and I should probably leave it outside).