Americans vs Brits

[WeirdHandDryers]

What’s the difference? Because there is a massive difference but I can’t put my finger on what it is! I love America so this isn’t an American bashing thread, would just love to know if anyone else sees the massive difference between the average Brit and the average American?

OldGreyBadger

Oh definitely. I was an American-Canadian married to a Welshmen and I was absolutely horrified people still line dried things. His mum pointed out how she saved money putting the washing on the line, I pointed out how she lost money having to re wash her clothes after they inevitably got poured on (this being Wales and all). I kept bringing up that it wasn't the 1800s anymore don't think I endeared myself to her much.

I found in general things that aren't controversial topics of conversation back home (ie your salary and expenses, your religion etc) were considered impolite conversation in the U.K. I find Americans generally friendlier and more confident and outgoing.

The horror of many Brits that I thought an eight hour road trip was just a day's travel.

I think one of the main differences was most North Americans I know are so keen to do whatever they can to make themselves happier. Whether it be yoga or counseling or etc, they're always trying to improve their happiness where most Brits seemed complacent with their lives or saw no real need or want to "improve" for lack of a better word. More content in their life maybe?

I often go to the US and have spent a lot of time there (west coast) Brits are easy to spot even those that have lived there for years as I know Australians who can point out other Australians out its the little nuances of your culture that are picked up on
Funny you should say that. I was born and raised in UK moved to US ias an adult and moved back to UK after 28 years there.
I was walking through a shopping center with Dd and said, that lady is British, she was walking ahead of me. Dd looked like I was mad, she went in the same shop as us and met up with a group of people, I said all Brits. Then Dd heard them speak and I was spot on, I used to do it regularly

I find the difference between Americans and Brits to be customer service, the Americans have it in spades, and Brits can't get it quite right. Also Americans are much more polite, they are definitly taught that if they have nothing nice to say, then say nothing.
Dd came home from High school friday (UK) and was very amused that the class had needed a lecture in how to be a good friend. She said it was the same stuff she used to get taught in Kindergarten at 5. She asked her friends if they weren't taught about friendship and bullying in primary school and non had. It was drilled into all my kids as little ones in the US, If you want good friends, be a good friend. That and school pride and the pledge of allegience.

I think it’s rooted in who’s settled America. You have a country that was settled/founded by hard working, resourceful people in search of a better life and religious freedom. That still comes through so clearly in America being a much more religious country than the U.K., and their attitudes to self reliance vs state support/intervention.

I've a friend who live in Texas , it takes 24 hours to drive across it. The place is vast

This can't be right, just saying. I live in a state that is geographically bigger than Texas, and to drive from one end to the other would take 15 hours; to drive across the state would take 13 hours. It's big but not quite as big as your friend has told you.

@Hisaishi

stone you've obviously never been to Scotland.Or in any pub in the UK

😂😂 Born and brought up in Scotland. Must go to the right sort of pub (though it was outside the wrong sort that the aforementioned guy ended up donating his teeth to the pavement)

I dunno. I think, for eg, New Yorkers and Londoners probably have more in common than a new Yorker would have with, say, a rural Texan.

A really odd thing I have found since moving back to UK. Films. Dh and I have rewatched films occasionally on TV that we had seen in the US, some we even had on DVD over there.
When watching here, I was surprised to hear Fuck this and Fuck that when I 100% sure when I watched these same films in the US there was no Fuck anything said. I thought I was mis hearing at first, but Dh is also 100% sure there was no swearing like that when shown on US TV.

All the 'loud, rude & uncultured' things being said about the Americans are said about the Brits by the rest of Europe ;) so you can enjoy your smugness, but the Continent feels differently about British wit and charm. Of course they can't stand Americans either, but at least they are forced to leave their guns at home and don't get so drunk when they visit ;)

I have lived in the states and they are very loud, oh my god... So loud.
On a recent trip to the US I noticed everyone who was looking to get tipped was super friendly and sickly and those who wouldn't normally get tipped ie shop workers were super rude and dismissive...customer service in the UK is genuine and not only for monetary gain.

For me it's a sense of humour. Brits are just funnier.

This was the clearest attempt at a goady-fucker post and test everyone happily piles. Any other GF posts and people are quick to point out how goady it is. But any chance to slag off an American is taken with glee...odd the OP hasn't reappeared.

I'm a new New Zealander and one of the things I like about my new home is that people have a higher level of respect for each other. Whatever your job, background, or wealth.

I just came back from New Zealand, and found the kiwis far more genuine. Customer service was so much better than the "fake" Have a Nice day we found in US.

Honestly, I feel like the biggest difference is us Brits think about Americans a lot (both good and bad things) whereas Americans don't really have the Britain as constantly on their radar. Yes, they like the royals, Bond and Downton Abby, but it isn't this constant comparison. I doubt you would find a thread like this on an American website.

I almost feel as if Britain sometimes has a chip on their shoulder about America, and any chance we can get to take them down a peg is gleefully welcomed. I just wish we would worry about ourselves here in Britain and the state of it, like Americans do, rather than continually compare and sneer at others. We aren't better because we try to make someone else worse.

I’m in a few facebook groups about clothes/fashion that are largely populated from people from the US and there’s definitely a difference in how the average UKer and the average American dress. People post selfies of their outfit that day and you can tell 99% of the time whether the poster is American or not. The UK people are far more fashionable and look more put-together while the Americans tend to be frumpier and where we might throw a leather biker jacket at an outfit to finish it off, they’ll put on a padded waistcoat (or “vest”) - they all seem to have one - and tend to wear their clothes more shapeless and baggy.

We live in an area where lots of tourists come to visit and you can always pick out the Americans by what they’re wearing.

The above sounds bitchy which is not like me at all, but it is a genuine observation. I imagine people in the likes of New York would be more fashion forward.

I think the British outlook is much more, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' as opposed to, 'The sky's the limit' in America. Certainly, amongst my peers around my age -40, the imparted knowledge from our parents' generation was to not take too many risks, to take each day as it comes with alot of sardonic humour thrown in.

True @goldenbear, taking too many risks not the way I was raised.
The wisdom was to only ever take a risk if you had every base covered.

Leaps of faith with your future outcome seems more like an American type of risk.

We’ve several American friends, all New Yorkers and find professional New York families extremely similar to professional London families. But our friends are all non religious, anti gun democrats so that might explain it

I drove across TX in < 8hrs, IIRC.
When I say "Have a nice day" it isn't fake.

Americans are so different from each other. Laid back Californians don't understand uptight New Englanders, but they share political instincts & both look aghast at southern and 'western' conservatives. Westerners are more resilient & crotchety; southerners have a huge chain of social codes that outsiders can never understand.

Oregonians are the most eccentric people ever (say my Californian cousins who moved there).

I could lean towards making these sweeping generalisations....

Brits used to highly value intellectualism & expertise & training & process, even as Americans deeply didn't (see GWBush presidency). Post-Brexit, I'm not so sure; Brits became sick of experts and populism is huge in UK. But American current embrace of populism is more naked, more zealous and wide-ranging.

Americans don't worry how much they have offended you but you are so offended you can't even be bothered to say so; traditionally we didn't have a culture of resentment or envy (but see Trumpism for how that's changed, now resentment is well-in fashion). Americans don't have mega-angst about what you aren't saying that are your true feelings. We assume you'll take care of your own needs and what you say is what you mean. We also aren't in love with process & procedure to fix problems.

The American dream has a sharp double edge, it implies it's your fault if you didn't succeed. I quite prefer British "Life can be unfair and suck" resignation.

I love the get up and go so many Americans seem to have. I love that high school sport is a huge event with a stadium and parties afterwards rather than a few bored parents behind a rope on a scrubby pitch I love how people seem to throw parties for everything- new neighbours, baby showers, gender reveal etc. I love how Americans just seem so capable- sending their children off to summer camp so they can work for 6 weeks with minimal guilt because it’s just what people do.

You have a country that was settled/founded by hard working, resourceful people in search of a better life and religious freedom. That still comes through so clearly in America being a much more religious country than the U.K., and their attitudes to self reliance vs state support/intervention

For me, this is very accurate; in particular I've always admired the attitude of "what can I do about this", rather than "they should do something about it"

The US system of help for the vulnerable gets a lot of (often unjustified) criticism, but what's sometimes forgotten is the vast amount of voluntary/community help that goes on. We have some of this in the UK too of course, but here it seems more of an "extra", rather than just what folk expect to do because it's a responsibility they feel they owe to others

“MKUltrachic

All the 'loud, rude & uncultured' things being said about the Americans are said about the Brits by the rest of Europe ;) so you can enjoy your smugness, but the Continent feels differently about British wit and charm. Of course they can't stand Americans either, but at least they are forced to leave their guns at home and don't get so drunk when they visit ;)”

🤣 that’s not true at all. You reckon the Italians are going around talking about how loud Brits are??? Wahh.

The state safety net is absolutely a huge reason for the difference in U.K. vs US attitudes IMO

Identity is constructed very differently in UK than in America. So sense of belonging is different. And maybe that stretches to how much people think they embrace the supposed 'values' of the culture where they live.

You're American because you choose to be.
Even if you've only lived in USA a few yrs.
You can also choose to be Pakistani-American or Jewish--native American-black American (Whoopi Goldberg). Nobody questions that overlapping multiple identities is valid.

But as an immigrant, I will never be English, no matter that my passport says UK and I have lived most my life in England. I can never be 'American-English', and people who always lived in England are not all English people. Even people of colour with roots that go back many generations of settlement in England, them calling themselves English may be rejected by many.

Then there's the difference between Londoner, southerner or northerner. Brits/Europeans are still a lot more tribal than Americans.

Obviously total generalisation but as a family we’ve travelled a lot via house swapping and we all agree that the Irish and Americans we met have been lovely and welcoming and really helpful unlike the french and Spanish. Both kids want to return to these countries because of this

Brashness and lack of history.