UK vs North American Cultural Differences

We still seem to weigh ourselves in pounds - but we generally use stones/pounds. I only know my weight in pounds from being on this site - otherwise I'd refer to my weight as 9stone 8 to my friends.

For milk we have whole milk, semi skimmed and skimmed which does equate to your percentages I think?

Hershey's chocolate tastes really weird me to. But then so does Cadburys now that I only eat plain dark choc.

I believe whole milk is 2%, reduced fat is 1%, and skim (more commonly known as 'fat free' nowadays') is 0%.

I agree with you about Hershey bars. Sometimes they are just kind of flat tasting to me if that makes sense. But I love chocolate especially dark, so I wouldn't hate you if you gave me some. Favorite candy would probably be a Snickers. Probably still crap to UK standards, but it hits the spot.

Cost of housing depends on where you live here in the US. Here in the Los Angeles area you might be able to find a small townhouse for $380k. Prices have gone down over the last 5 years, but $380k will still only buy you a cardboard shack in Malibu.

come on now! there is NO way you could get a cardboard shack for $380K in malibu. you can't even buy a parcel of land large enough to turn in a circle on for that price!

you can buy the shack for 380k but you have to move it because the ground it sits on is $1 million

My parents have a 3-bedroom house with a half acre of land and were trying to sell it for $60k. This is in small town NY. Oh, for those who don't know, New York is a State, not just a city! I get that a lot when I travel. I remember in Vienna I had someone say, "Wow! Vienna much be so small to you!" When I responded that I'm from a town of six THOUSAND people, they were speechless, haha, so I found myself explaining that NY is a state, not just one giant city Now when I travel I just say I'm from Niagara Falls, since that's the closest landmark people recogniz(s?)e.

I want to add to the geography point here too. I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York (near Niagara Falls/Canadian Border) and now live in New York City...about an 8 hour drive. Every single time I went on vacation as a kid, no one seemed to remember that New York state, not just the city. Even living here, I need to explain that Buffalo mannerisms are closer to midwest america than New York City. And it's not upstate NY, it's western NY lol.

But I can add that as something we have in common with UK, cause I know different regions have difference dialects and mannerisms too.

When I was younger, I didn't realise that buffalo was a place. When I saw "buffalo wings" on the menu in restaurants, I was very confused

buffaloes don't have wings....

whole milk is about 3.4% fat. semi-skimmed 1.5%(closest to 2%) and skimmed is 0%. Homogenised means the milk is subjected to a process which spreads the cream through the milk - you don't get it floating on top. All milk in plastic cartons is homogenised, but if you get a glass bottle from the milkman you can still see the cream floating on the top.

Just to confuse matters further, you can also still get "gold top" - the title is a relic from the days when all milk was delivered by the milkman, but its specifically milk from Jersey or Guernsey cows, which has a butterfat average above 5%. (The bottles had gold top, instead of silver for regular milk, red for sterilised - yuckkkk! - blue for homogenised and red and white striped for semi-skimmed I think). When I was little we used to get it sometimes for a treat, or if we'd been ill and off our food. The cream was soooo rich and yummy.

Cheetos! They're not Cheetos, they're Wotsits!
And it's jam, not jelly, and jelly not jello :happy:

Cheetos are much denser that Wotsits - something more akin to Nik Naks

Biggest difference I'm noticing right now is the number of people who believe the only way they can be get back safely from a walk or run in the US is to do it armed with knives, guns, mace and huge dogs, expecting to be cornered and fighting in a huge confrontation that they will always win. And convinced the UK is the dangerous place because our answer is 'wouldn't it be better to not get into that situation where you are cornered in the first place?'

Maybe that is the biggest difference. The attitude. That car park I've got to cross, I'm going to choose the bit where I can see best, where there's the least cover for someone to hide behind, the easiest run out to a populated bit. Not taking the route that means you have to walk through a tunnel under the road to cross it, but taking the route where you're free to move in any direction you need. Instead of 'I've got a gun/knife/dog/mace so I'll be safe'


And yes, I do know about the right to hear arms and form a militia. It's not having the right that is a surprise, it's the people being convinced it is always an absolute necessity everywhere in the world at all times that's the glaringly different thing.

I find this thread so hilarious! My hubby is English and when we first met I sometimes felt like he was speaking a different language. I was drastically confused when he said "I'm not bothered" or "I can't be asked" And don't get me started on the whole "spanner" incident.......

I find this thread so hilarious! My hubby is English and when we first met I sometimes felt like he was speaking a different language. I was drastically confused when he said "I'm not bothered" or "I can't be asked" And don't get me started on the whole "spanner" incident.......

I think hubby was being polite, the actual phrase is "Can't be arsed"

I really love MFP for all this cross cultural stuff. It's so great to talk to people from all parts of the American continent. I now think of my weight in pounds instead of stones and pounds. A stone is 14 lbs. Kgs for my weight are really foreign to me, but I can do European dress sizes and shoe sizes as well as British and American. Great for the brain. I had to explain to one thread what "lollies" were - "popsicles"! I adore my British tea and have two large mugs first thing in the morning. We call it "builder's tea" - strong tea with milk, though I don't have sugar in it like real builders do. I drink about five or six large mugs a day and have to take my teabags with me when I go to Europe as I can't bear to be without it. French tea is an abomination - Liptons, ugh! Only P G Tips for me. I have one strong milky coffee a day, semi skimmed milk, though when I was a teenager Irish coffee with cream was all the rage.

"I'm mad about my flat" means a very different thing on this side of the pond. LOL.

LOL!!! :laugh: love it! I knew this would be a great thread!

we have Chips and Cheese. Chips and gravy. Chips CHEESE AND GRAVY (in my island, V.popular) as meals. Chips being Fries
(uk)

Here in Canada, we call it POUTINE! :laugh: Almost a national dish! YUM!