as my mexican wife says. you americans will talk to anyone. just walk right up and before you know it they are your buddy from so and so place and you are going off with them for a while.

British man once told me he knew I was American because I was wearing a baseball cap backwards.

My Australian wife says I look very North American (I'm Canadian) when I do that

Or just wearing a baseball cap period. When i was in iceland a lady told me they knew i was American because only kids and teens wore baseball caps..

This is what I was told in three separate countries when my brother and I went to Australia years ago. People in England, Singapore and Australia all immediately identified me as American because of the baseball cap.

- **Teeth:** Americans are all about cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics, the ones that aren’t are probably not able to easily afford international travel, so we don’t see a lot of Americans without perfectly aligned, iridescent white teeth in the UK or Australia. - **Talking to strangers:** Americans absolutely love talking to strangers and when this clashes with the British imperative to avoid talking to strangers, I find it kind of hilarious ! I quite enjoy when I see Americans on the tube in london, prattling away to British commuters who look like they are dying inside. - **Flip flops/sandals:** In warm weather you’ll see Americans wearing leather flip flops. As a flip flop connoisseur (I’m Australian) I spot the American style flip flops a mile away.

I am poor and have shitty teeth. Can confirm this dudes theory. Never travel over seas can’t even afford to fix my teeth and I would fix them before travel!

dude , man

Brits/Aussies are easily identified by “Bloke” and “Mate”

Let’s not forget the classic ‘cunt’, which is so neglected by our North American cousins

'Like'

As a Californian, I never notice how much I say "Like" until somebody mentions it and I realize I've been repeating the word 5 times in between every sentence.

Literally

Lidderly

yo, seriously dude.

‘Hey, how are ya?’

Good n you?

Oh, not s'bad

That’s real Canadian there bud, and I suggest you let that marinate

When they say they are in Europe and not France, Germany etc.

But then they cross the magical Austrian-Czech border and they're suddenly in EASTERN Europe now

It’s good you came in summer. In winter it can get very depressing.

I am German, and when a woman told me about a sinkhole in their hometown, they said, "I don't know what you measure in, so it was the size of about 2 McDonald's restaurants." that woman is now my Fiancée.

Tipping

Every time I visit my relatives in Italy they say “don’t ruin it for us”. They don’t want the whole tipping thing to catch on

They already take extra money on coperto e pane

Tipping has also stopped being connected to the level of service, it is kinda a social contract where people are afraid to get yelled at for tipping poorly It also is fairly arbitrary which parts off the service industry you tip

Im on vacation in Italy and our bus driver for the hotel (complimentary) took us further to a stop we didn’t ask for then demanded we tip before handing us our bags from the undercarriage. This was in South Italy.

We are easier to tip over when we’re asleep

The accent

"Accent? What accent?" "How should I put this... You, uh, sound like an enthusiastic car salesman..."

Talking to strangers in public. After living in Germany for two months I was horrified when a stranger on the bus commented on my shoes.

Jesus this explains why I was accosted by some Mormons on their mission on my way to go for a swim with my headphones in. I genuinely thought I'd dropped something because I couldn't fathom any other reason for striking up conversation.

To be fair, Mormon missionaries talk to pretty much EVERYONE, they just tend to go for the most approachable people first

Pre-Covid having hand sanitizer clipped to their backpack. Not sure that’s still as accurate today.

God I was always so jealous of the bitches that could afford cute ass fancy bath and body works hand sanitizers that clipped to their backpacks. Shit was like $5 for the really *chic* small glittery cutesy ones all the mean popular girls had. You know what Valerie, fuck you and your red velvet sparkle cake hand sanitizer back pack clip.

That scented shit ironically makes me want to wash my hands afterwards

So it's really effective at getting your hands clean, just plays the long game.

Im Canadian, generally americans are far less reserved and love small talk.

For sure this haha. Had a friend from Sweden visit for the first time. We had to run and get groceries and the guy in front of us in line was buying a handle of vodka and 2 big boxes of ice cream sandwiches. Told him he had the right idea and we laughed and she was like “who was that?” Told her I didn’t know and she was really surprised that I just started a conversation with a random guy in line.

That’s a funny thing, I (American) was just at a store and the guy at self checkout across from me rung up a pair a sweet looking nerf guns (I’m 31, they came a long way! Haha) and he looked like a cool dad, I say “those looks awesome!” He smiled and said it’s for his nieces, laughed, and went on our way. Usually feels good actually to have an exchange of pleasantries with a stranger.

Scandinavians literally shaking rn

I went to Norway when I was younger (about 12 years ago) and it was so bizarre to me how private and quiet everyone was to each other in public. I'm Canadian, but our culture is very similar to the US in terms of public socialization. I attempted to make small talk with a man at a cafe and he did indeed seem terrified. I can usually spot an American in my town because they are friendly without being overly polite like Canadians tend to be.

I sort of think small talk with strangers type attitude is better maybe, but god I sometimes think it would be nice to live over there where people are comfortable with minimal interaction.

New York City I think has nice balance where both are acceptable. No one expects it but it's not word either. But of course at least once a week come across an absolute psycho you can't avoid.

That’s kinda wholesome, not gonna lie. That was probably a huge culture shock for her haha.

This was one of my biggest culture shocks in Germany. I'm not much of a small-talk person even as an American, but I tried to be polite and chat with a cashier at a market and he looked baffled and didn't really know how to reply. Americans will chat with anybody and everybody, especially if you're from the south.

To put this in context, I'm Dutch and we're way less inclined to have small talk than Americans. However I also noticed that Germans don't do this. They're generally very nice in private, but when they're working, very serious!

I'm Dutch. Once on my way to work I picked up a hitchhiker, turned out to be American. I tried to make small talk, asked him where he was from, he said New York. I said I've been there and liked it and he went "ugh, everyone always says they've been there" and he was silent until I dropped him off. Guess he went to Europe to get away from small talk.

He was probably from upstate NY, and was annoyed that people say they've been to New York...but mean, "only Manhattan."

It's really a difference in how politeness to strangers is defined. In Germany, people don't talk to cashiers because they don't want to bother them. They're working, let's not force some kind of social interaction on them. Similarly, the cashier wouldn't start a conversation with a customer (apart from hello, thanks and have a nice day) because they assume that they just want to get on with their day without being bothered. And of course part of it is also that there's a different definition of what's considered a social interaction. Standing in line at a supermarket is not really considered a social interaction in Germany. There are people around but they're all just here to buy something and get out. There's no need to talk, it's not really awkward because no one expects a conversation with strangers in these situations. For a lot of Americans, every encounter with another human being is a social interaction and it would be awkward not to talk for a bit.

> In Germany, people don't talk to cashiers because they don't want to bother them. They're working, let's not force some kind of social interaction on them. Similarly, the cashier wouldn't start a conversation with a customer (apart from hello, thanks and have a nice day) because they assume that they just want to get on with their day without being bothered. The one exception to that; Old people are allowed to talk to the cashier, those often lack social contacts, so entertaining an old person with a little chat is usually seen as a good thing.

Another exception is to be me, told that I “look German” and then get scolded by an older German cashier for having poor language skills :(

I realized we do that because we hate awkward silences. Uh oh, I made eye contact with a stranger, better say something

This is so true. I notice with my Russian friends, they will look me dead in the eye and say nothing. We can have a full on convo, have it end, and then ensues the most awkward silence as they keep staring at me. An American would die from embarrassment

I'm uncomfortable just reading your comment and felt the need to talk to you. Crazy weather we're having, huh?

👁👁

👁️👄👁️🖕

This is generally true but wildly varies even in the U.S

Ranch

Stopped at a steakhouse in Frankfurt and a salad came with my meal. They asked if we wanted Italian or American dressing. American was ranch 🫠

Yesterday I learned cool ranch Doritos are called “cool American” in parts of Europe and you bet your ass I’m taking a selfie with a bag when I go.

They are called Cool Original in the UK which has just always been a bit of a non descriptor in my opinion. What exactly is this flavour supposed to be?

They're like original doritoes, but like, cool^tm

Someone who works in my office building went to France and told me that she asked for ranch dressing at a restaurant. They told her they don’t have ranch dressing and she was shocked and asked how it was possible they didn’t have RANCH. The waiter told her to go back to america if she wanted ranch dressing. I died of embarrassment and I wasn’t even there.

>The waiter told her to go back to America if she wanted ranch dressing. I lived in Paris for a stint and this is the most French response ever.

Correction : the most Parisian response ever. And definitely not in the Latin Quarter, where foreign tourists are their bread and butter.

I lived in France for a couple of years and I was so happy when the Parisian waiters were rude to us because we from the south of France instead of being rude because we were American. 🤣

my wife calls ranch America sauce

My friend (Australian) walked into a McDonalds in the US and there was a man sitting at one of the tables reading a Bible and openly wearing a gun around his waist. That is a uniquely American combination.

That’s Jim. Every mcDonalds in America is required to have a “Jim” in some way so it fits the stereotype

They either carry huge backpacks for a 1 day trip into the jungle or carry nothing and walk in barefooted.

Bruh I've seen people carry huge backpacks just to the office and back. I don't understand the phenomenon but you're right

You just aren't prepared for any eventuality, but don't worry, the backpack guy always shares. Need a phone charger? Umbrella? Batteries? We got you, its the only time our backpacks are vindicated.

As a big backpack guy, i agree. I have two of each charger type, an extra water bottles and 3 different painkillers, as well as everything you need for feet or hand blisters, an umbrella, .....

Yep, so many tourists go out into the Australian bush with no supplies then get lost and die from dehydration.

There is a weird trend of German tourists who love American Westerns going to Death Valley/Monument Valley and then needing to be rescued.

We were in Valley of Fire State Prk in Nevada once and what looked like a biker gang pulled up. maybe 30 men and women on Harleys except all their gear was pristine new, even their bandanas looked like they had been ironed. It seemed odd until one spoke and they were all German. A German biker gang touring the deserts of America. They stayed in a few campsites near us and when they left in the morning there wasnt a single piece of litter anywhere at their sites.

it's literally called death valley, how does that not get the point across?

A)people are dumb B)a lot of Europeans just don't comprehend the massiveness and desolation of parts of the US. Lots of stories of international visitors getting in trouble or dying. https://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/

fuck spez

Joshua Tree also gets a lot of Europeans who are like.. we don't need water! what's 4WD ONLY mean? put your flip flops on and start up the shitty rental car, let's go on an adventure

Which is surprising because a lot of Germans pack for a 5k hike in the mountains like a 3 day expedition.

That's because Germans know the mountains but have to leave the continent to encounter an actual desert.

Germans don't necessarily know mountains. A running joke in Austria is about Germans wearing flipflops on a glacier. Still more mountains than deserts in Germany.

Austrians are just mountain Germans anyway.

The Dutch are also just Swamp Germans... which biomes haven't they covered!?

Deserts obviously....

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Never be ashamed of our mastery of the 2nd person plural

Hell, I'm not even from a y'all region of the US but I actually started using it. A fair number of my friends have too.

It’s so easy and makes the meaning clearer. Now, to normalize the double contractions “y’all’re” and “y’all’ve”

Don't forget the almighty ya'll'n't've. You all would not have compressed into a single word.

Personally, I'm a fan of "Y'all'd've".

Actually the most useful one by far Y'all'd've been using it sooner if y'all knew about it.

Could be worse. You could be from "Yinz" territory. I forced myself to say y'all to spite everyone around me..

**VOLUME**

In a museum in London where everyone is speaking quietly, and then BOOM an American accent out of nowhere just catches you so off guard

You hear most of them before you see them.

Other Americans tell me I speak loud. Would I accidentally murder someone in Europe?

Would you mind not commenting so loudly? This is a public forum.

**SORRY**

A painting just fell off my wall, and outside a crow died.

Gleaming white teeth, using the words restroom, sneakers and soda.

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Also a bit shady, they're meant for sneaking around.

Having a private conversation that everyone within 20m can hear.

So the sitcoms where they secretly discussed about the person in the next room with no door in between are accurate.

The volume of their voice. Every time I’m with my American friends I am shocked at how loud they are.

It depends which country you go to. My dad is Iranian, his friends are way louder than any Americans I've ever heard. My wife is Brazilian, her family is way way louder than any Americans I've ever heard.

Yup, I'm Indian and we basically have screaming matches with each other. You would think that we are arguing but no, we're just being very jovial

Claiming that they "Don't have an accent," when literally everybody has an accent.

I work in a hotel and anytime I’m talking to the residents and I can clearly tell that their from America, I always ask them what state their from. 99% of the time they immediately ask what gave it away and after I tell them it’s the accent it’s usually followed by “I don’t have an accent” Never fails to make me giggle

What gave it away? Oh it's the total lack of accent you have!

This was me. I was in the Navy and was lucky enough to get to go to Australia. I remember my conversation with a young lady in which I said something akin to "I love your accent". She replied that she wasn't the one with an accent; that I had the accent. That's when the little light bulb went on over my head. I felt like such an idiot.

Idk how, but I just scrolled through all 10.3k comments Edit: there’s almost. 30k comments and I’m not gonna read all of those

When they’re in another country (vacation, business etc) when a local asks them where they’re from they say their state instead of their country. I’m sorry but not many people in Brazil know what a “Delaware” is

"The bay area". WTF?

When I was in Puerto Rico someone told me they were from “the city.” They meant NYC

Is there another city on earth to a New Yorker?

"The Midwest" of what exactly???

"I'm from the East Coast mate." "New York?" "Nah mate. Fuckin Christchurch cuzzie."

“The tri-state area” ???

Yeah it's the place Doofenshmirtz is trying to take over.

Haha that’s the best one, especially because it applies to at least 10 completely different places in the US

"The tri-state area"

But they also already know he’s American now

It’s a paradox

And if he just said “America”, they would already know he was from Delaware. Because of the time loop thing.

Yes but the answer is supposed to be California, New York or maybe Texas. 😞

Everyone knows Texas and usually their eyes light up and they stay "cowboy!" Yep, that's the one.

When I'm in Japan, and they ask where I'm from, I say Texas, they say "Ah TEXAS, Cowboys, bang bang, yee haw" I smile and die a little inside haha

Flip side, I’ve been in Chile over a month and people ask where I’m from. I start with Estados Unidos but I’m always pressed for more. After that I say Montana, that leads to confusion because a lot of people don’t know where montana is/it’s Spanish for mountain. So they ask “where are you from?” And I answer “mountain” like the hill billy I am haha.

You need to really emphasize that second syllable so they can visualize that it's a proper noun. mon-**TAN**\-ah

The only thing funnier would be "Nuevo Mexico". Either they know roughly where it is, or think you are fucking crazy.

Hahaha I've had this exact exchange (I start with "Estados Unidos" and if there is a pause I fill in "Nuevo Mexico") and everyone in at least Mexico and Argentina seems to know where it is like I should have just said that the first time

I’m also currently in Chile!

Now kiss

I mean, Mountain is Montaña in spanish, which is pronounced differently enough to be noticeable, but I also have no idea where in U.S. is Montana, so I guet the confusion

I’m pretty sure it’s between Tupperware and Silverware, yeah?

To be fair many people in the US don’t know what a Delaware is either.

It's where you incorporate to avoid the law. Everyone knows that.

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Always presuming everyone is American online in general. I visit /r/architecture a fair bit (am architect). Its a pretty international sub and there are often posts about how to become an architect or what the degree is like, etc. Anyone who's not American will say where they're from - eg *"what's the process to become an architect in the UK?"* Americans never say where they're from and just assume everyone else is American. It's always just *"what's architecture school like?"* The answer is very different depending where you're from! I've also seen them answer a question, by someone from a different country, completely ignoring where the OP is from. Like telling someone they can do an architecture masters with any prior degree... no, in lots of places (maybe most) you absolutely can't do that and is bad advice. It's only irritating because it happens all the time!

ELI5 all the time. I really want to start answering questions for random countries. "Why is the real estate market booming at the moment?" "Well, it started after the end of the civil war and protests against the military junta, when the country started attracting international investment..." Sadly this is a lot more effort than I'm willing to put in.

No no, please do! It's a wonderful idea!

lol this reminds me of literally every time someone in r/antiwork starts giving legal advice only relevant to americans

“So unless you are in Massachusetts you live in a right to work state” Bruh I live in Australia

Side note; everytime someone abbreviates Western Australia to WA, I have to remind myself Washington State isn't the only WA.

Oh please. You're lucky if you get advice that works in all the states.

You're lucky if you get advice that works*

My aunt is the queen of this. She generally likes to speak with authority whether she knows anything about the subject at all (I need to make her a character in a book) and regularly claims medical and legal expertise she does not have. My favorite is still when I tried to explain bunga bunga parties and Berlusconi to her. I tried explaining that in Italy it was (not sure about now) legal to solicit sex and legal to have sex with minors but illegal to solicit sex from minors and that's how he got in trouble. She immediately yelled that I'm lying and don't know anything about the laws...... because apparently she's an expert on Italian laws. A couple of days ago she confidently told me that she hasn't been feeling well since eating Chinese food a couple of days ago. According to her, there must have been MSG in the food and that's illegal in most states but not New York. Believe me, I tried to explain that msg is natural, generally seen as healthier than salt, and in all kinds of food but got called an idiot for my trouble.

“Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” - Mark Twain

When they talk about the 2 kinds of political ideologies.

Bro. I’m American and I hate this about is more than anything.

"Hey, are you Liberal or Conservative?" British centrist...."yes'

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In Australia we have preferential/ranked voting so picking parties to vote for is more like ordering off the tapas menu. I would be happy with Labor, but I think I need to put the Greens before them to balance Labor out a bit, but I am really passionate about this new niche party so I might put them first for a bit of spice. Obviously we are leaving the Liberals near the end, followed by all those fascies at the end.

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American: “I’m far left - I believe healthcare is a human right” European: “….*that’s* far left to you?”

To be fair I’ve said “the US” or “America” to people in foreign countries asking where I’m from and they always say “yeah obviously, but where in the US”

btw the correct answer to 'but where in the US' is New York, Texas, or California. maybe Florida. Answer anything else and you've lost 80% of people

“Washington state” “Never heard of it” “Space needle Seattle” “Oh why didn’t you say so!”

I’m from Washington State but currently live in Florida and every time I say I’m from WA everyone immediately thinks D.C. so I just started saying “Seattle” works every time and I hate it

Funnily enough, I answer “Ohio” and the immediate response is “Oh, Lebron James?” “Yup.”

“Aluminum”

Saying the temperature is 100 degrees. So as an African I used to believe America was hotter than Africa till I learnt that it was in Fahrenheit not Celsius. Edit : Little me used to think those people were melting out there lol

Trying to communicate with other languages by just speaking english but slowly and making way too much hand gestures

i have a step mother from Thailand so I see this a lot. She has a very thick accent but 100% fluent in English and can speak very well. People speak slow and loudly at her all the time and im so used to the way she speaks i hear her perfectly fine lol

Hell I have to do that with some Americans, and I am American.

Online, referring to an organisation called the National such-and-such. National to which nation?!

Deliberating whether or not to go to the hospital after a serious injury.

oh shit i thought this was gunna be fun not serious.

Emergency Room for life threatening injuries. Urgent Care for everything else. That’s my rule :)

They all max out my deductible

I work with a lot of Japanese expats and one of the first things I told them was that ambulances here work very differently from ambulances in Japan, and to never call them unless it’s an absolute life or death emergency.

I’m living in China and my bf is Chinese. There have been times where I’ve had a head cold and was just complaining about feeling gross and he said “do you want me to take you to the hospital? I think you should go to the hospital!” … for a cold? It sure is different here lol.

Yea that’s pretty much how it is in Japan too lol For us, ambulances are basically free taxis to go to the hospital.

If its life or death and I need an Ambulance then Death is the only practical option

Covering things with assorted cheeses of the liquid persuasion.

I'm an American that works for an international company. Europeans are often amused by how we describe distances. Instead of saying, "we're x number of miles from that city ", we'll say, "we're two hours away" , or "that's a four hour drive". They're also universally blown away once they realize how big the US is.

I'm from LA and a 2 hour drive could be across town.

I'm in Houston and the north side from my house is 2 hours with minimal traffic.

Im from Australia and I go 2 hours in any direction and I'm now 2 hours away from where I started, and about another 3-4 hours from the next notable town

sounds like a 6 hour drive edit: thanks for the awards, but please donate to ukraine or a charity you trust instead of buying awards

Can be sometimes mate. Closest place to me with an international airport is usually a 5 hour drive away, if I want to get to the states capital its about 15 hours away plus roadworks

I feel like that’s an American thing in general, as in like all over the Americas. I don’t think I’ve ever said “oh this is 5kms from here” even back in Lima. You always say “it’s about 30 mins from here”

As they say, in Europe 100 miles is a long way and in the US 100 years is a long time

There it is. Every time.

Askreddit is nothing if not predictable.

British lady once told me she knew I was American because I was drinking a Coke straight from the can,no straw

The sound/feeling of a straw going in and out of a can makes hairs on back of me neck stand up.

Uuuuurrrrrt uuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrt

the fucking accuracy…

Sure sure, we get beat up for not using straws, but you ask for a little fucking ice and the waiter loses their god damn minds

Was once in a rural cafe in France where an American was patiently explaining, in really very good French, that he wanted frozen water in a cube form to put in his drink. The cafe owner either thought he was dangerously insane, or was fucking with him.

I was at a restaurant in France and they brought me warm soda in a glass. When I asked them for ice they brought a tiny bowl of ice with a little set of silver tongs and put 2 ice cubes the size of sugar cubes into my glass, which melted immediately, lol.

Are you me? This was my exact experience. We stopped at a little cafe in Marseilles and it was sweaty hot, so I wanted a lemonade (fuck I miss French lemonade) and asked for ice. They did this little song and dance with the bucket and popped a single cube into my drink. I watched it immediately melt and just quietly said ‘*Merci*’ while retreating somewhere inside myself with AC and polar winds.

Just imagining the look on your face as you mutter your pitiful little *merci* is sending me

Do other countries use straws for cans? I’ve never heard of that.