UK vs North American Cultural Differences

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  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
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  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
    Us slightly older ones (40) ended up bilingual where weights and measures were concerned - we learned metric at school, but imperial at home.

    It's like trying to speak a different language sometimes here, it's not a bad thing, it's only fair to try and use the words the majority of people on the site use, but you aren't going to get me to change my spelling.

    But I like it here.

    I'm 27, my school taught everyone the imperial system for some reason in conjunction with the metric so now it's a combination of the two. Fluid ounces = yes, ml = no, grams = yes, kg = no. Can't do km either and I have no idea what my height is in cm. I really prefer the imperial system for everything except my beloved grams for cooking :laugh: It's just easier for me to understand and estimate things that way.
  • IamSheaMc
    IamSheaMc Posts: 1,273 Member
    decameter hectometer kilometer decimeter centimeter millimeter milligram gram kilogram milliliter

    How on Earth do you keep track of all these words and i'm sure there are more :explode:
  • Melissa11412
    Melissa11412 Posts: 145 Member
    Imperial v. Metric....i'm Imperial all the way haha if i see posts saying stuff like "um yeah so i weigh 20 stone and i need to lose 2 stone by next week i'm like....wut

    when i log my food sometimes i need to look up in the food database....when i see the serving listed as 33 grams i move on to the next entry and the next until i find ounces LOL

    :)
  • DarkSable
    DarkSable Posts: 36 Member

    And don't get me started about adding 'u's to words that don't need them: Color, flavor, favorite, etc. :)

    WE didn't add them - YOU took them out! :wink:
  • ciardasully
    ciardasully Posts: 28 Member
    As an American who did a semester in England (or should I say "a term of uni") my house mates laughed at me because I didn't know that "tea" can be synonomous with "dinner" or "supper." It's like they say, we are divided on a common language.

    I also learned the hard way that the word "antisocial" is a huge insult. I had to explain to my housemates that in the US it just means you are not social. Then it became the running joke in the house. Good times.

    Oh and being pissed in England is drunk and being pissed in the US means mad. Whenever one of us would say we were pissed, we'd ask "are you pissed in the English sense or the American sense."
  • Scott2ndGradeTeacher
    Scott2ndGradeTeacher Posts: 147 Member
    Some Random Thoughts...

    "England and America are two countries seperated by a common language."
    - George Bernard Shaw

    At a high school track meet, I once entered the 400 kilometer dash for people with no concept of the metric system.

    Monty Python skits (and movies) rule!
  • lizzzylou
    lizzzylou Posts: 325
    Don't even get me started on the American ineptitude and general disrespect they give to tea.

    Ugh.

    Best thing ever is tea that is sweet & on ice :)
  • ciardasully
    ciardasully Posts: 28 Member
    Oh and I forgot, I also learned the hard way that "pants" in the UK were underwear. In the US, pants are jeans and trousers.
  • Kirkajuice
    Kirkajuice Posts: 311 Member
    Oh and I forgot, I also learned the hard way that "pants" in the UK were underwear. In the US, pants are jeans and trousers.

    Did everybody giggle at you? My brother lives in Canada and every time he refers to his trousers as pants, the entire family starts laughing at him. Possibly a bit childish but it's really funny!
  • madworld1
    madworld1 Posts: 524
    Don't even get me started on the American ineptitude and general disrespect they give to tea.

    Ugh.

    Best thing ever is tea that is sweet & on ice :)

    Especially if it's Raspberry or peach flavored. ;)
  • psych0kitty
    psych0kitty Posts: 313
    Should we even start talking about "fannies?" Probably not.

    I'm a scientist and I hate the imperial system, even though I live in the U.S. I've signed several petitions to try and get the U.S. government to switch to metric, but it's never gonna happen. Growing up with one system makes it complicated to switch to another. I still can't really feel what a kg is, but I know how a pound feels, ya know?

    I like my PG Tips with half & half and a bit of sugar. But I'm not an ordinary American. Do you U.K. people have half & half? It's half cream and half milk. I put it in my coffee every day.

    I'd like to thank you Brits for:
    Strong milky tea
    Beans on toast
    "Chips" with malt vinegar
    Bacon butty
    Tangy strong aged cheese and Branston pickle sandwiches
    Misfits, Being Human, AbFab, Shameless, Gordon Ramsey, The IT Crowd, Doctor Who, and so many more great shows (programs)
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member

    Oh and being pissed in England is drunk and being pissed in the US means mad. Whenever one of us would say we were pissed, we'd ask "are you pissed in the English sense or the American sense."

    Unless you add the word off. Pissed off = mad in England :bigsmile:
  • IamSheaMc
    IamSheaMc Posts: 1,273 Member
    And don't get me started about adding 'u's to words that don't need them: Color, flavor, favorite, etc. :)
    WE didn't add them - YOU took them out! :wink:

    I hate when auto correct tries to correct my "colour, favour, programme" ect I will never conform!
  • avababy05
    avababy05 Posts: 930 Member
    Also as a Brit

    To Add:

    Hershey v's Cadbury or Galaxy ?
    Chips v's Crisps ?
    Fries v's Chips ?

    I shall stop now as this is making me hungry :happy:

    American who loves Cadbury.Specifically "flake" which I have to wait for other to bring over for me.
  • ECBST6
    ECBST6 Posts: 1 Member
    I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located in the Northeastern United States. I spent a year in Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK when I was in college. Here's what I noticed:

    Coffee creamer was available. They just called it cream and poured it over a spoon so it rested as a thin layer over the coffee (in the fancy places, at least). As a poor college student, though, I just opted for milk most of the time. By the way, I was putting milk in my tea way before I went to England. It just seemed....right. Hot Tea with milk is nice, of course, but I really missed being able to get *Iced* Tea in a carton. I found it in a can, but for some reason, it was carbonated.

    Maybe it was just the area, but I could not find any Cool Ranch Dressing for my salad anywhere, either. The only thing I could find that was even close was "salad cream" that tasted more like watered down mayonnaise than anything else. I missed my Cool Ranch Dressing. But then I discovered cucumber sandwiches! Cucumber and tuna! Cucumber and cream cheese! Fantastic stuff! When I order it state-side, I get funny looks. We Yanks are missing out on that one.

    Beans on toast for breakfast rocks. So do the stewed tomatoes, and the semi-soft boiled eggs.
    For lunch, a chip butty really hit the spot. (As a side note, we Pittsburghers are not unfamiliar with the concept. We have a tradition of putting chips (aka fries) and coleslaw right our meat sandwiches. Who needs a side when it all fits in a bun?)

    All-in-all, it was a win for me. I lived without my Cool Ranch Dressing and Iced Tea for a year, but I sure do miss those cucumber sandwiches.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Wow I'm almost 33 and have never used oz to weigh food - even at school!

    I'm 35 and my mum used to have scales for food with weights in oz and lbs. We still weigh babies in lbs and oz too! Most other European countries use kilos.
  • digitalbill
    digitalbill Posts: 1,410 Member
    If it means anything to anyone, pretty much any American car built after 1986 is using metric size bolts instead of the US standard.
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    I'm from the UK too and I tend to see 25ml as 1oz and 250ml as one cup or thereabouts? I might be wrong :') But yes, coffee creamer - what is that?

    1 dram= 4ml
    1 ounce= 30ml
    One cup/8ounces= approx. 240ml
    I don't drink coffee :drinker:
  • silvergurl518
    silvergurl518 Posts: 4,123 Member
    i drink a lot of herbal tea (definitely do NOT add milk to that) but i'll be honest--the metric system would be easier to use (everything's in 10s/100s/1000s). but i don't get it, having been so accustomed to the other way. what's a gram? i know a 5K race is 3.2 miles or something...but i don't know the conversions. pounds FTW (not KG!) ;)

    seriously though, i love the similarities/differences.
  • Icelandic_Saga
    Icelandic_Saga Posts: 2,926 Member
    Tipping, I was amazed that I was not to tip my waitress when visiting England
  • Defren
    Defren Posts: 216 Member
    This thread has made me laugh - thank you everyone.

    I am English born and bread, my husband is US Californian born and bred. Thankfully he has taught me much of the American dialects, as I have taught him the English. I tend to spell some words American, others UK, so anything I write can be very confusing, or people think I can't spell. :-)

    I visit the US each year, so many of the things people from across the pond mention, I have at least seen, and in some cases tasted. I think there are some British things that are nicer than the US and vice versa. Our world is a diverse and wonderful place.
  • ay1978pa
    ay1978pa Posts: 142 Member
    Having lived in both countries: if you guys find the whole chips - crisps - fries thing confusing what is there to say about cigarettes?...
  • leejusd
    leejusd Posts: 81
    *kitten* in the UK = Cigarette
    *kitten* in the US = Homophobic slur

    Born and raised in Wisconsin. I haven't made it to England, but did spent 5 days in Scotland. I know we were speaking the same language, but the Scots were had to understand.

    The metric system is much easier to use. I had to take a math class for my degree that hammered on being able to convert between systems.

    I like tea and English beers.
  • LouiseH238
    LouiseH238 Posts: 199 Member
    I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located in the Northeastern United States. I spent a year in Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK when I was in college. Here's what I noticed:

    Coffee creamer was available. They just called it cream and poured it over a spoon so it rested as a thin layer over the coffee (in the fancy places, at least). As a poor college student, though, I just opted for milk most of the time. By the way, I was putting milk in my tea way before I went to England. It just seemed....right. Hot Tea with milk is nice, of course, but I really missed being able to get *Iced* Tea in a carton. I found it in a can, but for some reason, it was carbonated.

    Maybe it was just the area, but I could not find any Cool Ranch Dressing for my salad anywhere, either. The only thing I could find that was even close was "salad cream" that tasted more like watered down mayonnaise than anything else. I missed my Cool Ranch Dressing. But then I discovered cucumber sandwiches! Cucumber and tuna! Cucumber and cream cheese! Fantastic stuff! When I order it state-side, I get funny looks. We Yanks are missing out on that one.

    Beans on toast for breakfast rocks. So do the stewed tomatoes, and the semi-soft boiled eggs.
    For lunch, a chip butty really hit the spot. (As a side note, we Pittsburghers are not unfamiliar with the concept. We have a tradition of putting chips (aka fries) and coleslaw right our meat sandwiches. Who needs a side when it all fits in a bun?)

    All-in-all, it was a win for me. I lived without my Cool Ranch Dressing and Iced Tea for a year, but I sure do miss those cucumber sandwiches.

    Hello from the Steel City! I can confirm ranch dressing is (still) not a thing here. What is it, anyway? Salad cream is evil in a bottle. Hellmans mayo is where it's at.

    We have something called Lipton iced tea here now but it's very odd. Not what I would call tea!
  • skinnyclare
    skinnyclare Posts: 27 Member
    Also as a Brit

    To Add:

    Hershey v's Cadbury or Galaxy ?
    Chips v's Crisps ?
    Fries v's Chips ?

    I shall stop now as this is making me hungry :happy:
  • skinnyclare
    skinnyclare Posts: 27 Member
    Also as a Brit

    To Add:

    Hershey v's Cadbury or Galaxy ?
    Chips v's Crisps ?
    Fries v's Chips ?

    I shall stop now as this is making me hungry :happy:

    Im from UK but Hershey bars are FIT!!!!!!
  • TwinkieDong
    TwinkieDong Posts: 1,564 Member
    We value our guns on this side of the pond! lol
  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    However, although I am in the US, as a chemist, I declare the metric system to make infinitely more sense and believe that we are stupid for not adopting it.

    What you mean NASA design space rockets using inches??
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    Having spent a lot of time in both countries, and having family in both countries, I would actually say that we're very different cultures, that just happen to have a (slightly) common language.

    I find it very strange that people think the cultures will be similar, just because the language is the same, as it's an odd assumption really.

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