British vs. American customs

Imagine you are a traveller who spends some time in the US and then, for a change, decides to go to the UK. What are some easily observable differences between the two countries’ customs that you may quickly spot while living in both places?

Initially, when you visit or move to London, you will notice some obvious characteristics, like: here they use pounds and not dollars, and cars are coming from the other direction. But through time you will notice some not so obvious discrepancies.

1. The first difference involves holding doors open. It can be observed that British men more consistently hold doors open for girls than they do in America.

2. The next difference involves waiting in line. You will pretty quickly figure out that British people call a line a queue and they are very serious about honouring them too. It is actually a national joke here. This all originated during World War II, when British people had to wait in line for their rations.

3. The next difference is the amount of times British people apologise for things. They incessantly apologise where Americans are more like: “Forget about it”.

4. That brings us to the next cultural difference. Just because British people say they are sorry, it doesn’t mean that they really mean it. It's simply the way they act.They are definitely not as literal as Americans. So if they don’t like something, you might not actually ever know.

5. British people also speak very quietly and softly. Against them Americans sound notoriously loud. Consequently, because Americans are clear about what they say and they do it at such a high volume, many people may perceive them as overly confident.

6. On November 11^th, you will see practically every man in London wearing a poppy on their suit, coat, jacket or shirt, and that is to recognize the lives that were lost during the World Wars. You just don’t see people wearing poppies in America at the level they do in London.

7. The next difference is how the two cultures critique food. American cuisine is made up of things  like burgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, and barbecue ribs. They also serve things in super-size portions, so they are not really well-positioned to be food connoisseurs of the world.

However, British people take food critiquing as if it were an extreme sport. They are really picky about everything. Aside from being really fussy about what they eat, they may also wrinkle their nose if it isn’t served right.  

8. Another interesting fun fact has something to do with drinking outside. British people drink more and they do it… where? Outside. You will find that if it isn’t pouring rain, British people will take their pint and go outside and line up around the pub.

9. The next difference between British and American culture is pretty sweet. In Britain you may hear:”Cheers, sweetheart!”. For Americans it may sound sort of “normal” when, for example, a husband says it to his wife at home. But when it’s a grocery store checkout lady, it’s for them… kind of weird. British people drop terms of endearment very casually compared to Americans. For example: “my darling”, “lovely”, “hey love”, etc.

10. One more difference about the two cultures is connected with politeness. Don’t get it wrong concluding that Americans are rude and impolite, but British people are excessively polite (and it does not only mean saying “Sorry!” all the time). They act and speak in a certain way, putting their thoughts into specific words and expressing them in a peculiar, socially appropriate way. 

However, there is one thing that both countries do and they keep accusing the other one of doing it, not themselves. It is displaying their flags. British people think that Americans have their flags everywhere. In fact, in Britain you may also see the Union Jack in many places and, additionally, many products have the flag on them.

I hope that I've managed to present some cultural differences between these two nations. 

That will be all for today!

Thank you for reading :-)