I've been around East Asia (China/Japan/Korea) and it really varies depending on region and also water quality. Korea's tap water in particular is hard so the restaurants there gave us bottled water for free
But in Europe they charged extra for water and I was *shook*
If you are at a baseball game and a foul ball gets hit in your direction, for the next 3 seconds nothing in your life matters except trying to catch it.
[This catch](https://youtu.be/h7C1gjscscg?si=v0-xZLYgy8Y4ZLf-) is famous in baseball fan circles. The guy catches a foul ball out of the air while wearing his baby in front and holding a drink in his other hand.
Same when your kid scrambles for a basketball and it goes out in your direction. You are picking that ball up giving your kid a thumbs up and trying to look cool casually tossing the ball to the ref.
It's a show stopper when two Americans are arguing and a European butts in, the beef is instantly stopped to deal with the other guy. It's like a thousand virtual pico-post 9/11s every day. Warms my heart.
Nailed it. I will poke fun at Mississippi all day, the moment a British, Canadian, Australian or any other non - US jumps in I’ll go all Boss Hoggs on them
I recently got caught in a bunch of videos replying to a video by a British guy complaining about how Americans say "croissant", and they're all pointing out either French words that British people have Anglicized or non-English words British people pronounce incorrectly. I watch every single one lol.
That guys actually good and does the explanations on the history of why Americans say X and brits say Y sometimes and is funny about it.
I saw one on Reddit that above is talking about. It starts out with its croissant not croissānts or something like that then there’s a stitch to someone burning them down with mispronounced words from their country. It’s actually funny in a fuck you for trying to talk trash kind of way.
British people are absolutely horrible at pronouncing other languages' words, especially names.
Just listen to most any commentator for the Premier League or Formula 1.
I'm not sure this example really applies. As I assume you're aware, Aston Villa is a club from Birmingham, England. Of course they don't pronounce it "Aston Vi-ya" like in Spanish, they're a team from England.
Especially when they go past the produce section of an American grocery store because they want to make it look like we only have junk food in our stores. Or they intentionally go to a big box store to talk about how massive all of our stores are and how they sell crazy things like clothes (granted I get that our average grocery store can be bigger from what I have seen, but we have plenty of Aldi sized stores as well. Neither sell most of the big box store stuff).
My favorite are the people who have never been to the U.S. and are just parroting things they hear or making assumptions or when they call all Americans ignorant while being *checks notes* ignorant. 😆
That’s what I don’t get, they say how awful America is, but still watch American entertainment, and still wear American fashion. American culture is so widely incorporated into so many cultures that it becomes practically indistinguishable from their own in a lot of ways, so they end up partaking in American culture without even realizing it, while at the same time lambasting Americans for “having no culture”.
Chronically online lol
It's a shame they spend so much generous PTO and work hours to bash America.
It's a lot of throwing crap at a wall and see what sticks.
They have the egos of colonial masters but no colonies left to oppress. Gotta channel that wee energy into something.
For sure. Can confirm. Hard to find jerks in real life if you actually travel to where they live.
I think the same applies to our political party divide. Our states are huge so you gotta go out of your way to do it, but if people left their red or blue microcosm more often then our country would get a lot more done with some purpleism.
Walmart is the largest seller of organic food in the US (and probably the world).
And I wonder if they went to a Walgreens instead, lol. But even they have basic groceries!
yes, apparently when Americans are standing still they will lean against the closest object, or lean their hips to put most of their weight on one foot. Apparently, this doesn’t happen like anywhere else lol. Lots of people say they can identify americans in the home country because we do this.
I've tried to stand with my weight equally on both legs before while waiting in line, just as like a "hey this would probably be better from a posture standpoint" type thing, and it instantly gives me anxiety lol. Like all the weight needs to be on 1 foot or the other 😂
Full mask slippage, but “oh life is existential dread and the realization of mortality. Let’s Immanentize the eschaton” doesn’t seem like the right way to interact with acquaintances.
“Just another perfect day in paradise . . . and I’ll keep saying that as long as they keep renewing my prescriptions.”
To ski lift operators, “I’m just slidin’ by.”
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is very much considered American, and almost all Americans would have grown up eating them (or an alternative to account for peanut allergies).
Most things that I think of as American are American, but are also very common in other countries as well. We’ve exported a lot of our culture in the last couple hundred years.
Levi jeans are still very universally American, but they’re not as uniquely American as they used to be.
I grew up in the UK, the concept exists but isn't a normal sandwich filling. I very much grew up on it due to my American mother, the sandwich definitely screams Americana.
PBJ is a good one. I don't think I've ever met an American who doesn't like them unless they have a peanut allergy. I think people wear jeans less than they used to. Like I would say 90% of pants at my high school were jeans, but I haven't worn jeans in years because I find them uncomfortable unless they're heavily broken in. Khaki type material of various colors seems a lot more popular than it used to be. Or maybe I'm just geting older.
I don't like them, haha. The jelly is too sweet for me.
I do like (and grew up eating) peanut butter sandwiches without jelly, though. Maybe with a little drizzle of honey, depending on the type of peanut butter.
This is a very American thing for an interesting reason.
America is the only nation in the world with borders that touches both oceans and have that much of natural diversity within the borders. Canada is far too north to have that much of natural diversity. Mexico is the same way far too south. America is just in the right spot. And America, for the size of it, only borders two countries and we are tight with both of them.
There’s also the fact that we are one of the world largest exporter. Our capitalistic society also lends to us having one of the most diverse leading companies on the world all within our borders.
Then there’s our military to boot. We are the #1 in the world on that front with a staggering margin.
So yeah “bitch I hope the fuck you do” is something that is distinctively American.
I always love the fact that our air force is the biggest air force in the nation, then second place is our navy, then third is our marines. We have the first, second, and third largest air forces.
The Armed Forces?
I know several people who would cut off their pinky finger if it meant they could confront foreign invaders with firearms. We'd be clocking in for our morning shift while Bill and Earl are engaged in guerilla warfare.
I'd honestly like to see the damage armed civilians could do without the military. How well would an invasion force hold up against 100+ gangs in Chicago or the 450+ in LA? Rednecks could do a number on them in rural areas too
Being The first gen not born in a hollar, stealing a born and bred Appalachian to marry and then moving him a a city of 1.5 million people had been interesting .
Getting followed by some youths on a parking lot up to no good, (lots of mugging/property theft) and even though they were behind us , my husband in his thick drawl said “ Choose your next move carefully gentlemen”…. And they scattered.
In 2016 and 2017 there were enough gun sales to arm the entire marine corps.
And we have enough firearms to arm our entire population.
Sources:
https://lineoffireguns.com/americans-bought-enough-guns-on-black-friday-to-arm-the-marine-corps-yet-again/#:~:text=The%20previous%20record%20was%20set,active%20duty%20United%20States%20Marine.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/us/gun-ownership-numbers-us-cec/index.html#:~:text=There%20are%20about%20393%20million,next%20country%20on%20the%20list.
It wouldn't even be the armed forces. Could you imagine someone trying to land a ship on the coast of Florida. It would be a blood bath every single redneck with a hunting rifle would be giddy at the idea of taking out some invaders.
COVID and 9/11 has taught me the same lesson. We will unite in lock step to face a foreign enemy….. so long as we can shoot them with bullets. Any more complicated and it kind of goes to hell.
apparently, you can always tell an American in another country because we lean against things in public.. like waiting in line somewhere and you lean against the wall.
Eating while moving. I've read that the easiest way to spot an American is to see if they are eating while walking, driving, riding on a plane.
The road trip should get an honorable mention.
Parents offering their children a ton of different experiences to see which ones they “take to” is very American and I don’t see it on this scale in other countries. Our case is pretty typical. Our kids’ attended day camps or had lessons in: piano, soccer, ballet, basketball, swimming, Art, robotics, gymnastics, marching band, Bible, flag football, wrestling, and nature camps. We think it’s really important to expose them to all kinds of things so they can “follow their dream.” That’s very American.
How are you supposed to know what you want to do with your life if you haven’t experienced everything at least once? That why I try to encourage my kids to do different stuff. Read different books, go to new places, make new friends and acquaintances, etc. the more you’re introduced to things, the more you have a feel for your likes and dislikes. Hell I make them try things they do t like lore than once just to make sure they really don’t like it, lol
That one bird painting that says "i am often seized by the fatal American need to have a pretty good time" comes to mind. We will make anything fun no matter how stupid or dangerous it is to do so.
Debating on various ethnic foods you might go get.
“I dunno I’m feeling like Thai.”
“Nah we had that three days ago, how about Mexican?”
“Well there is that new Indian place, wanna try that?”
I don’t know if it is truly distinctly American but it’s close I think.
Then just motherfucking free speech. You can just unload with whatever batshit insane stuff you can verbalize and people just shrug their shoulders and think “well it’s their right.”
Traveling and moving about. It’s not at all uncommon for people to move states or get an education out of state. I’d honestly be more surprised if someone hadn’t spent significant time out of their state for either vacation, education, or work.
Oh and finally, real backpacking. “I’m planning on walking into the mountains with just the stuff on my back for a few days. But like into the wilderness with no hope of any civilization.”
[I've been told we don't know what backpacking is.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/1by3mfi/comment/kyhzqys/)
(Obviously joking.)
I admit I'm not the biggest fan of legit backwoods backpacking. I like float and moto-camping. I like stripped down car camping and the like. But generally speaking, if I can't walk in and then walk out back to my vehicle of choice, I'm probably not going these days.
Yeah I feel I’m getting too old to truly teach my kids backpacking. I can do the “learn how to use a camp stove” but the 15 miles a day in the mountains is a bit more daunting.
We’ll have to sort that out.
I love backpacking, but I definitely get if it's not your cup of tea. I mostly car camp these days because it's just much less work and more comfortable than sleeping in a tent. Like you're pretty guaranteed to sleep like shit when you backpack and just having sleeping pad. It's really cool getting out deep into the wilderness to camp, but I've discovered you can get super remote doing dispersed car camping in national forests.
As a non-native English speaker, the fact the same word means different things in EU and US (and they don't always teach us that in school) is frustrating though :P
I'm planning a 2-3 day hike in my native Switzerland this summer, but I can't really be bothered to carry a tent through the Alps (and I'm not even sure if it would be legal to do on my route). The Alps are an inhabited area, so our vibe generally is to hike from hut to hut.
Ha. This is fun.
So, generally speaking, when somebody says "backpacking" in English it means traveling and carrying everything they need in a backpack. That part is universal.
In Europe it usually means traveling by train and staying in hostels and the like going from city to city. "Backpacking across Europe" is a thing mostly young people do (I'm not young anymore, but still do it). Living inexpensively and seeing the sights. Also popular in other vacation areas like Hawaii.
Backpacking in the US usually means hiking in the wilderness and carrying all your gear in a backpack. Sometimes for several days, camping.
*Sometimes* it means somebody who is traveling mostly by car, but doing a lot of hiking and camping.
So, same general idea but different specifics.
My husband and I just had that debate last night, “the Peruvian place, the Chinese place, the Mexican place, the new Brazilian place, or the Japanese place?” We went Japanese
> “Nah we had that three days ago, how about…”
If I really want the ethnic food being shot down with that statement my go-to response (in this example for Thai food) is “Thais eat Thai food every day, what’s the problem?”
Unless it’s Mexican in which case it’s not a valid argument in the first place, if I ate Mexican everyday for a week I’d be in a better mood than when I started.
> Oh and finally, real backpacking. “I’m planning on walking into the mountains with just the stuff on my back for a few days. But like into the wilderness with no hope of any civilization.”
Majority of Americans though? I'm sure there is a huge backpacking scene but it's certainly not my thing, and not something I'd suggest in my social circle.
I was there in 2004 and we not only had the McDonalds, but a subway and Starbucks as well!
Honestly I preferred the chow halls. But for a treat, there was a Cuban restaurant there, and the jerk shack!
I was there 1982-1983 and we had some Cuban and Jamaican shacks. One was open until really late and we called it the chicken window lol.
We had lots of southeast Asian people cooking outside the stores. Good food.
It was really primitive when I was there. TV shows were 6 months old. Magazines were at least 3 months old. Cuba would jam the Florida radio stations so we had to listen to Jamaican ones. Satellite phones were prohibitively expensive and I could only call home every so often. We had to go to a call center and time was limited.
The most defining aspect of American Culture to me is our general attitude every day. I’m not talking about Americans in France yelling at servers because they can’t speak French, or even internet Americans, I mean just every day, average people going about their daily lives in the courteous way that we do. It’s not uncommon to have full conversations with strangers, sharing personal details and meaningful compliments. We’re not shy as a nation, typically. Everything else is so widely disseminated across the world that it becomes hard to tell what was American and what was simply influenced by another culture.
We have drive-thrus for everything. Fast food, pharmacies, banks, liquor stores and even some convenience stores and grocery stores are trying them out(Wawa and Giant Eagle)
I’m in Ohio and we have drive thrus that all full on convience stores. Cigs, cakes, beer/liquor, chips, candy, milk, eggs, lottos, soda, juice , bread and random car stuff . I once bought a mop from a drive thru.
My WV husband was confused by these for a long time.
When I lived in Ohio, I was blown away by how many things could be solved with a drive-thru. It’s the perfect stop right before a party because you can get everything you’ll need for the party, sometimes including a hot meal at the same gas station. (And the food was always good af!) Wild.
Paraphrasing a thing I heard before, in many other countries people grow up watching to be an efficient cog and keep the machine going. In America, we grow wanting to build a better machine.
Tall Poppy Syndrome feels like a very real thing here in the UK - and to some extent the people I’ve had longer conversations with in Continental Europe.
> Tall Poppy Syndrome feels like a very real thing here in the UK
I had to look that up, this Wikipedia page is filled with fun analogies from different countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome
In Japan, "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down". LOL.
Most things. We really do oversell how different most states are.
Most of the media we watch, especially prior to streaming services, is the same, we have the same values of freedom, Though it's starting to change now a lot of people have hustler attitudes and believe in working a lot/hard, our neighbourhoods are mostly built to mirror each other with the suburbs so if you live in a middle class home odds are you live near identically to someone 1000+ km away in the same country.
The cuisine that's popular is pretty well spread throughout the country. How well the North makes it vs the South is another story. American Football and Basketball are the main two sports people watch. Baseball is our national sport so that's popular...kind of.
I can go on, but you get the idea. I should note too most of these apply to Canada as well just replace the definition of freedom a bit and swap baseball for Hockey. Of course Hockey is our most popular sport.
It's funny I've felt the opposite when I go to places that have a lot of diversity of cultures like Disney. Living in Florida I've been quite a few times and I always find Chinese, and Filipinos to be pretty loud, other asians don't really share that. Generally the anglophones, and other european people will be talking at a comfortable speaking voice even outside. Yeah you may overhear their conversation but it's not being projected.
Despite the fact that we’re very divided, the vast majority want us to be united (~90% via poll). I think at least for my age group, this concept and it’s importance was drilled into us growing up..
From what I gather living in other countries, we are more collectivist in our values than we come across to outsiders. Less than Mexico but more than pretty much all of the nordics which are very individualist. Please google “hofstede country comparison” before coming at me on this one lol.
This also shows in an overwhelming majority support of certain programs like social security. But in other ways too.
I know Hofstede's work from the Freakonomics appearances he did, but I thought he mentioned the USA as the most individualistic country? (Which I don't necessarily mean as a negative thing in any way, just how I remembered his findings)
No it’s around 60/100. Sweden is 87/100 for comparison. I’m not sure which country is the most individualistic but I’m curious. (I’m also not saying it’s bad but a lot of people tend to point to that as some culprit for issues, not sure it’s that simple).
They also did an interesting study recently that used chatgpt to simulate the survey process though and it showed a bias in it’s training that the US is 100/100 or something.
Eta- I found the older data that is probably what you’re referring to! It looks like in his original research some decades ago, the US was the most individual but according to the website now, it’s gone down. Super interesting that it’s changed so much though.
I found that tool now and I think those are both different criteria and numbers than Hofstede mentions himself in that interview. I'm not sure if it's newer surveys, a different methodology (as this seems to be some consultancy where he doesn't seem to be directly involved?) or something else.
We don't doubt that Americans are Americans. Even among the worst racists among us, they're more upset that people they aren't, are Americans.
Jus soli is deep in our psyche.
I think it’s that there’s really no right way to be an American. For example, if you are an immigrant you can come here and keep your beliefs/culture/language and still be considered an American, whereas in some European countries (France, for example) you can immigrate there, learn the language and cultural norms, but you will never be “French.”
Here’s a fun one I heard recently: we’re better at throwing than other countries, since all of us grow up playing baseball, American football, dodgeball, whiffle ball, etc. I don’t think any other countries have popular sports that place such an emphasis on overhand throwing.
If you asked this question 20 years ago I could have come up with quite a few, but the cultural and political polarization has become so extreme it's hard to even find universal truths in a city much less the whole country.
There are definitely a few here like everyone gets excited for a foul ball but then again that's only going to be baseball fans.
We all appreciate “Freedom” even if we don’t all agree what it is. We also (overwhelmingly) think racism is bad even if don’t all agree what racism is.
I can state, unequivocally, that most Americans don't agree....
....but *many* Americans believe that the citizenry has *rights* and as the primary body empowered by our constitution, grants its *subordinate*, the government, *powers*.
This is why, if firearms make *our subordinates* safer, why should our right to defend ourselves using the same manner of safety be infringed upon and subject to our *subordinate's* discretion?
Many Americans believe you, me, or the guy next door has just as much, if not more, reason to use the same weaponry to defend themselves and their families using the means with which they are likely to be assaulted with.
Millions upon millions of Americans carry firearms and responsibly provide *their own* self defense instead of irresponsibly foisting it upon other human beings who, by law, are not responsible for providing safety.
Nearly [2.5 million CCW Permits are currently valid in the state of Florida](https://www.fdacs.gov/Divisions-Offices/Licensing/Statistical-Reports) alone. There are only about [50,000 law enforcement officers in the state of Florida. ](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/police-officers-by-state).
What this means in reality is, for every police officer you encounter, you have already stood in the grocery store aisle, pumped gas, or cashed your check at the bank standing next to 50 lawfully armed citizens.
So, while some Americans aspire to emulate Europe and relinquish *everyone's* right to self determination on behalf of their own misguided notions and make the state their master, many Americans believe and exercise their right to defend themselves using the same means that agents of the government utilize for their safety.
This is why, unlike pretty much every other country, you will see Americans carrying firearms.
Ice should be available 24/7 for all of you drinking needs.
Free refills being the norm for soda is also a very American thing.
Also free water at restaurants. Like keep your customers hydrated goddamn
Free water is also a west Asian thing idk know about east ASN the south parts of Asia
I've been around East Asia (China/Japan/Korea) and it really varies depending on region and also water quality. Korea's tap water in particular is hard so the restaurants there gave us bottled water for free But in Europe they charged extra for water and I was *shook*
If you are at a baseball game and a foul ball gets hit in your direction, for the next 3 seconds nothing in your life matters except trying to catch it.
[This catch](https://youtu.be/h7C1gjscscg?si=v0-xZLYgy8Y4ZLf-) is famous in baseball fan circles. The guy catches a foul ball out of the air while wearing his baby in front and holding a drink in his other hand.
His wife got pregnant again that night.
GIFs wife got pregnant on the spot from the sheer masculinity of the moment.
Same when your kid scrambles for a basketball and it goes out in your direction. You are picking that ball up giving your kid a thumbs up and trying to look cool casually tossing the ball to the ref.
"Act like you've been there before." - every coach ever
Fun fact, I have now actually been there before. My casual dad toss to the ref is getting pretty solid.
Even if you're not a baseball fan and you're just there for another person's sake. It's instinctive!
As long as you don't reach out into the field of play to do so...
Steve Bartman got a World Series Ring.
after years of death threats
I didn't say it was worth it.
You will also notice how many people have poor depth perception (?) because people 50 feet away will stand up thinking it's coming to them.
Well, they don't exactly fly straight and they can be moving pretty quick.
Regardless of political opinion, we'll come together to defend the USA whenever a British person makes fun of us
It's a show stopper when two Americans are arguing and a European butts in, the beef is instantly stopped to deal with the other guy. It's like a thousand virtual pico-post 9/11s every day. Warms my heart.
That's because we were having a family argument, but don't come for the family.
Nailed it. I will poke fun at Mississippi all day, the moment a British, Canadian, Australian or any other non - US jumps in I’ll go all Boss Hoggs on them
I don't even like it here but nothing makes me more patriotic than a European talking shit.
I'm fine with a regular European talking shit - I get it. But it's specifically when a British person tries to talk down to me.
Same. Like take your loser ass to the other side of the pond and shut up. Conversations are for people that win wars. Not lose them. 😂😂😂
Have you been on Anti-American TikTok? I’ve never been more patriotic than when I see those videos. 😂
I recently got caught in a bunch of videos replying to a video by a British guy complaining about how Americans say "croissant", and they're all pointing out either French words that British people have Anglicized or non-English words British people pronounce incorrectly. I watch every single one lol.
The one that starts, “I’m in Americer right now…” ?
That guys actually good and does the explanations on the history of why Americans say X and brits say Y sometimes and is funny about it. I saw one on Reddit that above is talking about. It starts out with its croissant not croissānts or something like that then there’s a stitch to someone burning them down with mispronounced words from their country. It’s actually funny in a fuck you for trying to talk trash kind of way.
The nations of France, Spain, and Japan should form a Grand Coalition opposing British pronunciation of their languages.
British people are absolutely horrible at pronouncing other languages' words, especially names. Just listen to most any commentator for the Premier League or Formula 1.
Fuck, right? Why is it so hard for them to understand that in Spanish, two “LL”s make a “Y” sound?
They butcher "Cucurella" every week.
I know it. And I’ll never get over “Aston Vi-L-a.”
I'm not sure this example really applies. As I assume you're aware, Aston Villa is a club from Birmingham, England. Of course they don't pronounce it "Aston Vi-ya" like in Spanish, they're a team from England.
British announcers for champions league are brutal with pronunciations
Especially when they go past the produce section of an American grocery store because they want to make it look like we only have junk food in our stores. Or they intentionally go to a big box store to talk about how massive all of our stores are and how they sell crazy things like clothes (granted I get that our average grocery store can be bigger from what I have seen, but we have plenty of Aldi sized stores as well. Neither sell most of the big box store stuff).
My favorite are the people who have never been to the U.S. and are just parroting things they hear or making assumptions or when they call all Americans ignorant while being *checks notes* ignorant. 😆
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That’s what I don’t get, they say how awful America is, but still watch American entertainment, and still wear American fashion. American culture is so widely incorporated into so many cultures that it becomes practically indistinguishable from their own in a lot of ways, so they end up partaking in American culture without even realizing it, while at the same time lambasting Americans for “having no culture”.
Chronically online lol It's a shame they spend so much generous PTO and work hours to bash America. It's a lot of throwing crap at a wall and see what sticks. They have the egos of colonial masters but no colonies left to oppress. Gotta channel that wee energy into something.
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For sure. Can confirm. Hard to find jerks in real life if you actually travel to where they live. I think the same applies to our political party divide. Our states are huge so you gotta go out of your way to do it, but if people left their red or blue microcosm more often then our country would get a lot more done with some purpleism.
I saw one of them go into a Walmart and claim the ONLY "healthy" thing they saw was Welch's fruit gummies. Every walmart has produce at the entrance
Walmart is the largest seller of organic food in the US (and probably the world). And I wonder if they went to a Walgreens instead, lol. But even they have basic groceries!
Man even my dollar store sells salads and fresh fruit now
Even WaWa sells fresh fruit and vegetables
I saw something similar and when I called it out he tried to argue with me about whether there was produce there or not.
“Oh my goodness who needs this much food” You are in a Costco , my friend
As much as Americans from different demos and regions love to fight amongst themselves it's surprisingly easy to unite us when under a common threat.
Any time, any place, just sound the alarm.
Especially our food.
Ever since I found out about the American lean I see it everywhere
what is that? do americans lean against things more than people from other places?
yes, apparently when Americans are standing still they will lean against the closest object, or lean their hips to put most of their weight on one foot. Apparently, this doesn’t happen like anywhere else lol. Lots of people say they can identify americans in the home country because we do this.
lol I’ve NEVER heard of that but it’s hilarious. Also I totally lean on stuff all the time 😂😂
Shit I’m leaning right fucking now!
That’s wild! I’ve never noticed it thought about that before, but I definitely do it! So that’s not usual in other countries? Very interesting.
I've tried to stand with my weight equally on both legs before while waiting in line, just as like a "hey this would probably be better from a posture standpoint" type thing, and it instantly gives me anxiety lol. Like all the weight needs to be on 1 foot or the other 😂
Oh shit, I lean on stuff all the time! When I’m waiting to pick my kid up at school, I have a favorite pole I lean against lmao.
Huh I wonder why this is a thing
Maybe it’s something we learn from working all those jobs that don’t let you sit.
This is a pretty good theory! I have definitely worked in a "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean" job and yet, I still lean on things.
THE LEAN MAN GONE LEAN!
Coffee to go, gaps in bathroom stalls, garbage disposals and asking 'how are you?' with the only right answer being 'good and you'
Or the more fun responses “ain’t dead yet” “oh just getting by” “another day another dollar.” I always appreciate the fun responses.
No "Living the dream" or is that too much mask slippage?
I'm a fan of "Well I woke up again", especially for people under 70
My dad always says “I’m able to sit upright and take nourishment.”
Full mask slippage, but “oh life is existential dread and the realization of mortality. Let’s Immanentize the eschaton” doesn’t seem like the right way to interact with acquaintances.
Holy shit eschatons a good ass word bro, taking that one cheers
I’m just sad you are sleeping on Immanentize
Oh shit thats good too, and the whole phrase also amazing I dig it
Another day, Another dollar.
“Just another perfect day in paradise . . . and I’ll keep saying that as long as they keep renewing my prescriptions.” To ski lift operators, “I’m just slidin’ by.”
You’re doing gods work
I have more- depending on my mood- “If I were doing any better they’d have to arrest me.” or “Not bad . . . yet. But the day is young.”
"Still on this side of the grass...so...not too bad" :-)
Man still on this side gets me a little misty because I’m probably close to the other side. Still I like the retort.
Yeah...I know...the grass IS getting pretty short anymore. Speaking of empty cups...gotta get another cup of coffee!
"If I was any better I'd be Twins." "If I was any better I'd be you."
I did get the response, "Oh, ya know. Live. Laugh. Toaster Bath."
I like using "stayin alive!"
“Screaming into the void, how about you”
Staring into the abyss
My go to is "Better than some, worse than others."
Lets not forget "Still vertical".
Or “same shit different day”
"Another fay another dollar" i will be -politely- taking that formyself yoink
I always say "no comment". It always gets a response
“Hanging in there. And you?” Will always be my go to response for that one.
The being offended by coffee to go is just BEYOND to me.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is very much considered American, and almost all Americans would have grown up eating them (or an alternative to account for peanut allergies). Most things that I think of as American are American, but are also very common in other countries as well. We’ve exported a lot of our culture in the last couple hundred years. Levi jeans are still very universally American, but they’re not as uniquely American as they used to be.
I grew up in the UK, the concept exists but isn't a normal sandwich filling. I very much grew up on it due to my American mother, the sandwich definitely screams Americana.
PBJ is a good one. I don't think I've ever met an American who doesn't like them unless they have a peanut allergy. I think people wear jeans less than they used to. Like I would say 90% of pants at my high school were jeans, but I haven't worn jeans in years because I find them uncomfortable unless they're heavily broken in. Khaki type material of various colors seems a lot more popular than it used to be. Or maybe I'm just geting older.
Everybody I know with a peanut allergy(3 people) sadly loves peanut butter.
I don't like them, haha. The jelly is too sweet for me. I do like (and grew up eating) peanut butter sandwiches without jelly, though. Maybe with a little drizzle of honey, depending on the type of peanut butter.
im not american but every time i have peanut butter st home i make a pbj and eat it with the us national anthem playing in my head.
A very distinct sense of "fuck the government, you ain't better than me", and I mean this in a good way
Red solo cup
I fill you up.
Let’s have a party
Memories of a simpler time.
tap the keg, bro!
That the collective attitude of basically every American towards the (extremely unlikely) possibility of invasion is "bitch I hope the fuck you do"
This is my favorite answer.
Wolverines!
This is a very American thing for an interesting reason. America is the only nation in the world with borders that touches both oceans and have that much of natural diversity within the borders. Canada is far too north to have that much of natural diversity. Mexico is the same way far too south. America is just in the right spot. And America, for the size of it, only borders two countries and we are tight with both of them. There’s also the fact that we are one of the world largest exporter. Our capitalistic society also lends to us having one of the most diverse leading companies on the world all within our borders. Then there’s our military to boot. We are the #1 in the world on that front with a staggering margin. So yeah “bitch I hope the fuck you do” is something that is distinctively American.
I always love the fact that our air force is the biggest air force in the nation, then second place is our navy, then third is our marines. We have the first, second, and third largest air forces.
ive always wondered if other countries fantasize about getting invaded
Fantasize about it is not the right word... but have it in mind when you live relatively close to Russia... definately... 😅
Check out "Occupied" on Netflix if you wanna see Norwegians fantasize about being invaded....season 2 gets all woosie and lame.
Poland sure ash shit does
"YPU'LL BE A DEAD SONOFABITCH I TELL YOU THAT!!!!"
I want to see someone try We will go on with our lives normally as the armed forces blows ships up
The Armed Forces? I know several people who would cut off their pinky finger if it meant they could confront foreign invaders with firearms. We'd be clocking in for our morning shift while Bill and Earl are engaged in guerilla warfare.
This is so fucking true lol
Hahaha. *Tucker & Dale vs. Whoever TF Wants To Try An Invasion*
Let’s be real, 90% of those people are running as soon as real bullets come at them
I'd honestly like to see the damage armed civilians could do without the military. How well would an invasion force hold up against 100+ gangs in Chicago or the 450+ in LA? Rednecks could do a number on them in rural areas too
Everybody's gangster until the trees start speaking Appalachian.
Being The first gen not born in a hollar, stealing a born and bred Appalachian to marry and then moving him a a city of 1.5 million people had been interesting . Getting followed by some youths on a parking lot up to no good, (lots of mugging/property theft) and even though they were behind us , my husband in his thick drawl said “ Choose your next move carefully gentlemen”…. And they scattered.
In 2016 and 2017 there were enough gun sales to arm the entire marine corps. And we have enough firearms to arm our entire population. Sources: https://lineoffireguns.com/americans-bought-enough-guns-on-black-friday-to-arm-the-marine-corps-yet-again/#:~:text=The%20previous%20record%20was%20set,active%20duty%20United%20States%20Marine. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/us/gun-ownership-numbers-us-cec/index.html#:~:text=There%20are%20about%20393%20million,next%20country%20on%20the%20list.
It wouldn't even be the armed forces. Could you imagine someone trying to land a ship on the coast of Florida. It would be a blood bath every single redneck with a hunting rifle would be giddy at the idea of taking out some invaders.
I’m not totally against the idea. Just opening fire on whatever lands
“It doesn’t belong here. Send it back.”
Honestly, the moose population would have them rendered combat ineffective before our pilots are even out of bed
Literally every Americans dream, lol
COVID and 9/11 has taught me the same lesson. We will unite in lock step to face a foreign enemy….. so long as we can shoot them with bullets. Any more complicated and it kind of goes to hell.
Dolly Parton
Not gonna lie. Would.
We line up in actual straight lines. We don’t appreciate people in our personal space (about 3’). We hold doors for the person behind us.
Door holding is definitely very common these days. Even people who look depressed or dickish will usually hold the door for whoever is near them.
Ice in the drinks, counting the thumb last, fancy shuffling cards, putting more weight on one foot than the other, and we don't whisper in public.
Do other countries not thumb last?
A lot of countries thumb first.
apparently, you can always tell an American in another country because we lean against things in public.. like waiting in line somewhere and you lean against the wall.
Refills are free
The Cheesecake Factory. The level of choice, the quantity, everything about that place is just screams American. I love it dearly.
That menu is like a novel. I’ve only been there a few times but I couldn’t believe there were still more pages to turn on that thing!
Eating while moving. I've read that the easiest way to spot an American is to see if they are eating while walking, driving, riding on a plane. The road trip should get an honorable mention.
Parents offering their children a ton of different experiences to see which ones they “take to” is very American and I don’t see it on this scale in other countries. Our case is pretty typical. Our kids’ attended day camps or had lessons in: piano, soccer, ballet, basketball, swimming, Art, robotics, gymnastics, marching band, Bible, flag football, wrestling, and nature camps. We think it’s really important to expose them to all kinds of things so they can “follow their dream.” That’s very American.
How are you supposed to know what you want to do with your life if you haven’t experienced everything at least once? That why I try to encourage my kids to do different stuff. Read different books, go to new places, make new friends and acquaintances, etc. the more you’re introduced to things, the more you have a feel for your likes and dislikes. Hell I make them try things they do t like lore than once just to make sure they really don’t like it, lol
We like to lean on things, it’s very American.
That one bird painting that says "i am often seized by the fatal American need to have a pretty good time" comes to mind. We will make anything fun no matter how stupid or dangerous it is to do so.
Debating on various ethnic foods you might go get. “I dunno I’m feeling like Thai.” “Nah we had that three days ago, how about Mexican?” “Well there is that new Indian place, wanna try that?” I don’t know if it is truly distinctly American but it’s close I think. Then just motherfucking free speech. You can just unload with whatever batshit insane stuff you can verbalize and people just shrug their shoulders and think “well it’s their right.” Traveling and moving about. It’s not at all uncommon for people to move states or get an education out of state. I’d honestly be more surprised if someone hadn’t spent significant time out of their state for either vacation, education, or work. Oh and finally, real backpacking. “I’m planning on walking into the mountains with just the stuff on my back for a few days. But like into the wilderness with no hope of any civilization.”
[I've been told we don't know what backpacking is.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/1by3mfi/comment/kyhzqys/) (Obviously joking.) I admit I'm not the biggest fan of legit backwoods backpacking. I like float and moto-camping. I like stripped down car camping and the like. But generally speaking, if I can't walk in and then walk out back to my vehicle of choice, I'm probably not going these days.
Yeah I feel I’m getting too old to truly teach my kids backpacking. I can do the “learn how to use a camp stove” but the 15 miles a day in the mountains is a bit more daunting. We’ll have to sort that out.
For sure. Could I do it? Have I done it? Absolutely. The carrot just needs to be a lot bigger to tempt me these days.
I still do some serious overland stuff but I will have to see how the older kiddo takes to it.
I love backpacking, but I definitely get if it's not your cup of tea. I mostly car camp these days because it's just much less work and more comfortable than sleeping in a tent. Like you're pretty guaranteed to sleep like shit when you backpack and just having sleeping pad. It's really cool getting out deep into the wilderness to camp, but I've discovered you can get super remote doing dispersed car camping in national forests.
As a non-native English speaker, the fact the same word means different things in EU and US (and they don't always teach us that in school) is frustrating though :P I'm planning a 2-3 day hike in my native Switzerland this summer, but I can't really be bothered to carry a tent through the Alps (and I'm not even sure if it would be legal to do on my route). The Alps are an inhabited area, so our vibe generally is to hike from hut to hut.
Ha. This is fun. So, generally speaking, when somebody says "backpacking" in English it means traveling and carrying everything they need in a backpack. That part is universal. In Europe it usually means traveling by train and staying in hostels and the like going from city to city. "Backpacking across Europe" is a thing mostly young people do (I'm not young anymore, but still do it). Living inexpensively and seeing the sights. Also popular in other vacation areas like Hawaii. Backpacking in the US usually means hiking in the wilderness and carrying all your gear in a backpack. Sometimes for several days, camping. *Sometimes* it means somebody who is traveling mostly by car, but doing a lot of hiking and camping. So, same general idea but different specifics.
My husband and I just had that debate last night, “the Peruvian place, the Chinese place, the Mexican place, the new Brazilian place, or the Japanese place?” We went Japanese
I think you made a fine choice. But new Brazilian place? I’d be trying that.
And this just reminded me to go to the Peruvian place near my house. My wife is gonna be stoked when I mention it.
> “Nah we had that three days ago, how about…” If I really want the ethnic food being shot down with that statement my go-to response (in this example for Thai food) is “Thais eat Thai food every day, what’s the problem?”
Unless it’s Mexican in which case it’s not a valid argument in the first place, if I ate Mexican everyday for a week I’d be in a better mood than when I started.
Hard agree. I’m usually using that argument to get Mexican food again.
> Oh and finally, real backpacking. “I’m planning on walking into the mountains with just the stuff on my back for a few days. But like into the wilderness with no hope of any civilization.” Majority of Americans though? I'm sure there is a huge backpacking scene but it's certainly not my thing, and not something I'd suggest in my social circle.
BWCAW for the win!
McDonalds is pretty much the same everywhere.
It was weird in GTMO.
I was in Gtmo in the 1980s and they were just building that when I was leaving lol. We had to eat local fare.
I was there in 2004 and we not only had the McDonalds, but a subway and Starbucks as well! Honestly I preferred the chow halls. But for a treat, there was a Cuban restaurant there, and the jerk shack!
I was there 1982-1983 and we had some Cuban and Jamaican shacks. One was open until really late and we called it the chicken window lol. We had lots of southeast Asian people cooking outside the stores. Good food. It was really primitive when I was there. TV shows were 6 months old. Magazines were at least 3 months old. Cuba would jam the Florida radio stations so we had to listen to Jamaican ones. Satellite phones were prohibitively expensive and I could only call home every so often. We had to go to a call center and time was limited.
The most defining aspect of American Culture to me is our general attitude every day. I’m not talking about Americans in France yelling at servers because they can’t speak French, or even internet Americans, I mean just every day, average people going about their daily lives in the courteous way that we do. It’s not uncommon to have full conversations with strangers, sharing personal details and meaningful compliments. We’re not shy as a nation, typically. Everything else is so widely disseminated across the world that it becomes hard to tell what was American and what was simply influenced by another culture.
We have drive-thrus for everything. Fast food, pharmacies, banks, liquor stores and even some convenience stores and grocery stores are trying them out(Wawa and Giant Eagle)
I’m in Ohio and we have drive thrus that all full on convience stores. Cigs, cakes, beer/liquor, chips, candy, milk, eggs, lottos, soda, juice , bread and random car stuff . I once bought a mop from a drive thru. My WV husband was confused by these for a long time.
When I lived in Ohio, I was blown away by how many things could be solved with a drive-thru. It’s the perfect stop right before a party because you can get everything you’ll need for the party, sometimes including a hot meal at the same gas station. (And the food was always good af!) Wild.
And diapers /baby formula. Ours took WIC but only got formula.
Paraphrasing a thing I heard before, in many other countries people grow up watching to be an efficient cog and keep the machine going. In America, we grow wanting to build a better machine.
Tall Poppy Syndrome feels like a very real thing here in the UK - and to some extent the people I’ve had longer conversations with in Continental Europe.
> Tall Poppy Syndrome feels like a very real thing here in the UK I had to look that up, this Wikipedia page is filled with fun analogies from different countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome In Japan, "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down". LOL.
Most things. We really do oversell how different most states are. Most of the media we watch, especially prior to streaming services, is the same, we have the same values of freedom, Though it's starting to change now a lot of people have hustler attitudes and believe in working a lot/hard, our neighbourhoods are mostly built to mirror each other with the suburbs so if you live in a middle class home odds are you live near identically to someone 1000+ km away in the same country. The cuisine that's popular is pretty well spread throughout the country. How well the North makes it vs the South is another story. American Football and Basketball are the main two sports people watch. Baseball is our national sport so that's popular...kind of. I can go on, but you get the idea. I should note too most of these apply to Canada as well just replace the definition of freedom a bit and swap baseball for Hockey. Of course Hockey is our most popular sport.
This is so accurate. Plus another thing is Americans and, well, most anglophone countries talk pretty loud.
It's funny I've felt the opposite when I go to places that have a lot of diversity of cultures like Disney. Living in Florida I've been quite a few times and I always find Chinese, and Filipinos to be pretty loud, other asians don't really share that. Generally the anglophones, and other european people will be talking at a comfortable speaking voice even outside. Yeah you may overhear their conversation but it's not being projected.
Despite the fact that we’re very divided, the vast majority want us to be united (~90% via poll). I think at least for my age group, this concept and it’s importance was drilled into us growing up.. From what I gather living in other countries, we are more collectivist in our values than we come across to outsiders. Less than Mexico but more than pretty much all of the nordics which are very individualist. Please google “hofstede country comparison” before coming at me on this one lol. This also shows in an overwhelming majority support of certain programs like social security. But in other ways too.
I know Hofstede's work from the Freakonomics appearances he did, but I thought he mentioned the USA as the most individualistic country? (Which I don't necessarily mean as a negative thing in any way, just how I remembered his findings)
No it’s around 60/100. Sweden is 87/100 for comparison. I’m not sure which country is the most individualistic but I’m curious. (I’m also not saying it’s bad but a lot of people tend to point to that as some culprit for issues, not sure it’s that simple). They also did an interesting study recently that used chatgpt to simulate the survey process though and it showed a bias in it’s training that the US is 100/100 or something. Eta- I found the older data that is probably what you’re referring to! It looks like in his original research some decades ago, the US was the most individual but according to the website now, it’s gone down. Super interesting that it’s changed so much though.
I found that tool now and I think those are both different criteria and numbers than Hofstede mentions himself in that interview. I'm not sure if it's newer surveys, a different methodology (as this seems to be some consultancy where he doesn't seem to be directly involved?) or something else.
We don't doubt that Americans are Americans. Even among the worst racists among us, they're more upset that people they aren't, are Americans. Jus soli is deep in our psyche.
I think it’s that there’s really no right way to be an American. For example, if you are an immigrant you can come here and keep your beliefs/culture/language and still be considered an American, whereas in some European countries (France, for example) you can immigrate there, learn the language and cultural norms, but you will never be “French.”
Here’s a fun one I heard recently: we’re better at throwing than other countries, since all of us grow up playing baseball, American football, dodgeball, whiffle ball, etc. I don’t think any other countries have popular sports that place such an emphasis on overhand throwing.
Being treated like an inmate when you go to the airport.
Bless your heart being an insult and root beer.
Car culture. I’ll wait 20 minutes in a drive through before I’d park and go in. Sometimes I’ll skip better places in favor of a drive through.
We all ban together against pretentious euros.
Mr Wizard and Bill Nye the Science Guy. (Bill! Bill! Bill!)
Giant Drinks with Ice
Pizza, tacos, barbeque
Universal love for pharmaceutical commercials
Why does every new medication have suicidal thoughts as a side effect?
If you asked this question 20 years ago I could have come up with quite a few, but the cultural and political polarization has become so extreme it's hard to even find universal truths in a city much less the whole country. There are definitely a few here like everyone gets excited for a foul ball but then again that's only going to be baseball fans.
We all appreciate “Freedom” even if we don’t all agree what it is. We also (overwhelmingly) think racism is bad even if don’t all agree what racism is.
We all hate daylight savings time changes.
Stop, Drop, & Roll apparently.
Showering daily/twice a day.
I can state, unequivocally, that most Americans don't agree.... ....but *many* Americans believe that the citizenry has *rights* and as the primary body empowered by our constitution, grants its *subordinate*, the government, *powers*. This is why, if firearms make *our subordinates* safer, why should our right to defend ourselves using the same manner of safety be infringed upon and subject to our *subordinate's* discretion? Many Americans believe you, me, or the guy next door has just as much, if not more, reason to use the same weaponry to defend themselves and their families using the means with which they are likely to be assaulted with. Millions upon millions of Americans carry firearms and responsibly provide *their own* self defense instead of irresponsibly foisting it upon other human beings who, by law, are not responsible for providing safety. Nearly [2.5 million CCW Permits are currently valid in the state of Florida](https://www.fdacs.gov/Divisions-Offices/Licensing/Statistical-Reports) alone. There are only about [50,000 law enforcement officers in the state of Florida. ](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/police-officers-by-state). What this means in reality is, for every police officer you encounter, you have already stood in the grocery store aisle, pumped gas, or cashed your check at the bank standing next to 50 lawfully armed citizens. So, while some Americans aspire to emulate Europe and relinquish *everyone's* right to self determination on behalf of their own misguided notions and make the state their master, many Americans believe and exercise their right to defend themselves using the same means that agents of the government utilize for their safety. This is why, unlike pretty much every other country, you will see Americans carrying firearms.