Two flowers; one British, one American.
Two flowers; one British, one American.
Some differences between the US and UKRandom observations from 2004-2005 |
|
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | United States of America |
| Has chip and pin on credit cards. | Still requires a human signature. |
| Has The Archers and The Shipping Forecast. Like the Inuits who have 50 words to describe snow, there are a similar number of words to describe the wind and rain in the UK. The words 'gale force' seems to be one of the more commonly used ones. | There is nothing comparable to a 50+ years old radio soap opera that grips the nation. The weather forecast of the sea around the UK in a clockwise direction is unique to the British Isles. |
| Hardly anyone wears a bicycle helmet while riding. No solicitors in sight. | Almost everyone wears one and is backed up with a lawyer if anyone gets hurt. |
| Hunting. | Abortion. Note: Both emotive issues that bring out the worst in most people. For some reason, Britain and Europe figured out the abortion issue long ago. |
| Binge drinking and the aftermath of broken glass and vomit from Saturday night. | Can't drink until 21. |
| Everyone has health care and the system has no feedback mechanism for people to use it wisely. There is no penalty if you miss an appointment. | If you miss a doctor's appointment, no problem. Just pay what you would have paid if you'd been there. |
| Small stores with small aisles and don't forget to pack your groceries yourself. Also, don't bother asking for help, there isn't any. | Huge stores that seem to go on forever. Can't find something and they'll take you to where it's located. |
| BBC Radio4 news in the morning holds politician's feet to the fire. John Snow on Channel4 TV takes no prisoners. You get news from around the world. Yes, there's more going on than within those 50 states. | Interviewers are afraid to ask embarrassing or substantive questions. Some pundits talk like you're both deaf and dumb, giving little room to make up your own mind. One of the few informative TV news shows is a comedy show (The Daily Show with John Stewart. See Rory Bremner in the UK for the best George B. imitation.). |
| Very aggressive drivers with very few bumper stickers. | Polite drivers with bumper stickers. Usually along the lines of: "If I'm not honking it's because I'm reloading." The few roundabouts go the opposite direction. |
| Police don't want guns even after a policewoman is shot near Bradford. | They wouldn't dream of giving up their guns. |
| Religion barely gets on anyone's radar screen. Bells and smells. | They don't call it Jesus Land for nothing. High-mass. |
| Small cars, tailbacks, expensive petrol, cheap milk and bread. Grass fed beef. Hung and aged in the country to a dark red colour. | Large cars, traffic jams, cheap petrol (even with the recent price hike). Expensive milk and bread. Grain fed beef. Bright red in the super market. Consumers that haven't experienced aged, grass fed beef don't know what they're missing. |
| Many channels on the TV and most of them awful. | Many channels on the TV and all of them awful. |
| Victorian means small, badly built and the toilet originally an outside privy. | Victorian evokes lots of attention to details like crown moulding and wainscoting. |
| Knows what irony is and how to use it. | Irony? Don't know the meaning of the word. |
| Numbers, dates, floors. All done differently. Floors are 0-based; they start from the ground floor (0). You would say the number 6699 as "double six, double nine". It's nice once you get used to it. | Floors start from 1. |
| The gallon is a little bigger (4.5 liters, not 3.8) so gas mileage can be a bit misleading. | Still uses the English system. |
| The weather is the one constant that will lubricate most social situations. And it's mostly bad. | In California you can't really complain about the weather. It's always nice, never mind the occasional earthquake. |
| No electrical outlets allowed in the bathroom. A code devised before ground fault receptacles were invented. Also, showers that barely work but that's alright, we don't use them very often. A lot of showers use the left tap to control water volume, and the right to control temperature. | Cleanliness is next to godliness. We'll pray in the bathroom before attending the mega church. The left tap is hot and the right is cold. |
| Light switches are reversed from the US. Also, switches on the plugs. | Plugs seem small in comparison to the heavy UK plugs. |
| Estate Agents don't want to spend any time with you. | Realtors, can't get rid of them once they think you might be a buyer. They'll even drive you around. |
| Council tax whether you own or rent. | Property tax, but only if you own a house. |
| Can't wait to get out of the country to somewhere warm. | Quite content to stay within the borders. Sometimes, a little too content. |
| It's not unusual for someone to work in one part of the country and live in another. They'll have a family house and a small flat to use during the week when working. | Long commutes by car covering ever longer distances. |
| To "Table a motion" means put it on the table. | Means put it in the dustbin, er trash. |
| Bespoke. | Custom made. |
| Public museums are free. OK, you have to pay for the Tower of London and a few others. The National Gallery, Science, Natural History, Victoria and Albert and British Museums are all free. | This is America, pay up. |
| Want to be in the US. Their idea of the US is from watching Friends and Frasier. | Want to be in the US and their idea of the UK is from watching Masterpiece Theatre. |
| Houses made of stone or brick. Radiator heating done with a boiler. | Houses made of wood. Forced air heating. |
| Michael Moore: reviled by most. | Michael Moore: reveled in by some. |
| All cars have side lights. This is because of roundabouts where you might be next to someone who's signaling and can't see their rear light. There's also a little feature on every car that allows you to adjust the headlight beam up or down. | There's so much room, you don't need roundabouts and, therefore, side lights. |
| "Cheers" | "Have a nice day." |
| Cheerful when they answer the phone. | Suspicious when they answer. |
| Exdirectory | Unlisted telephone number. |
| Women have really pointy shoes and it's normal to shake a woman's hand when you meet. | Not quite as pointy but could still do some damage if used in anger. |
| Hoodies: bad and can't be worn in some shopping malls. | Stylish |
| Libraries are poorly funded. An exception is the British Library. You have to pay to rent CDs and DVDs. | Most local libraries are large, well designed and have a good selection of books, CDs and DVDs. |
| When dealing with Americans, the British know that they're dealing with an opponent who's less intelligent, doesn't have as sharp a wit, hasn't got a sense of history and is easily defeated in a verbal exchange. | Just when you're feeling smug about being superior, you'll be surprised by the insightful, intelligent and thoughtful response of some Americans. |
| DSS - Department of Social Services | Section 8 Note: Both refer to low-income housing. If you're looking to rent a flat, stay away from both. |
| Still haven't discovered mixer taps, but the washing machines are front loading and much more efficient. People dry clothes on top of the radiators or on the rare sunny day, outside. | Disposers too in the kitchen sink. People have also discovered drying machines. |
| Pay post-office to have mail forwarded. | Free mail forwarding when you change addresses, even internationally. |
| Non-geographic numbers. Calling party pays for mobile phone costs. | Lots of 800 numbers to businesses. Everyone pays for a mobile call but mobile plans are much more generous. |
| If you want to maintain a standard of living similar to the US, be prepared to part with a lot more capital than you would in America. | You don't get health insurance when you order your Big-Mac. |
| Punter | Naïve purchaser of goods or services. |
| Zimmer frame | Walker |
| Nobody's ever left alone on Christmas. People will go out of their way to include you in their activities. | Thanksgiving includes everyone. |
| Wedding photos are copyrighted by the photographer so it costs a bundle to get copies. | Weddings cost a lot wherever you live. |
| Bananas from South Africa (small). | From Central America (big). |
| Backbencher, Frontbencher | First year congressional seat, cabinet member |
| Coriander, courgette | Cilantro, zucchini |
| "Pear shaped", "Lose the plot" | "Screw up" |
| Most of the good will the UK had built up in the Middle East was destroyed by its involvement in the second Iraq war. | How could there be any good will when most of the citizenry, if not the President, can't even name the countries bordering Iraq. |
| Want to see British eccentricity at it's automotive best? Take a look at the Bond Bug and then read some Jeremy Clarkson. | There are lots of great (i.e. fuel efficient) European cars that you can't buy in America. |
| Why do they censor the internet in libraries over here? | At the risk of letting little Jimmy view photos of naked women, my experience in California and Ohio is that libraries don't censor what you look at. In the California library I use they even disregard the American Patriot Act by deleting the record of all the books I check out. |
| Temperature is in Celsius. | Still on the English system here. An easy rule is to remember this base point: 70°F = 20°C. Then, every 10°F change is roughly equivalent to a 5°C change (e.g. 60°F=15°C, 50°F=10°C, 40°F=5°C, 30°F=0°C and on the hotter side, 80°F=25°C, 90°F=30°C) |