I was shocked when I visited the United States to see a colossal ball of fire in the sky, something us Brits are completely unaccustomed to. Apparently you guys call it ‘the sun’.
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
@@TripAstute yes, tom scott is a fountain of knowledge. I like how all high amp appliances have a fused plug and the wire always comes out of the bottom of the plug so that if wire gets pulled it jambs in the socket and cant be pulled out. The switch on the socket means you dont have to pull the plug out in order to cut the power.
@@ethantyler8647 haha many a times (bloody well hurts), worse than any Lego brick many many years ago I jumped behind my sofa messing about and landed bare foot on one and it stuck into the sole of my foot and I had to pull it out it broke my skin and for a couple of weeks I was limping about...
Military time in England is called 24 hour clock edit: i should probably say britain uses the 24 hour clock, but this was 11 months ago so i can’t remember what the video is about
@@TripAstute I'm from the UK and the military should use the 24 hour day.. All kids in the UKGB are taught the 24 hour clock( everyone should know it) out of the military Am and PM are mostly used 12.01 am 12.01 pm :) Its easy
As an Englishman, I LOST it when you were like "We went to Barcelona, Lisbourne...and Bath." And I'm like "One of these things is not like the others~" xD
Trip Astute You seem to be a very nice guy. I hope you enjoyed yourself here. We have some beautiful places here bro. All down the South West coast is amazing. Cornwall and Devon and Somerset. My younger half brother was recently in New York with his girlfriend. He proposed to her in central park. I like Americans like yourself. You are very respectful. Thanks fella. 👍
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
@@TripAstute there is an app from some Cambridge University guys, English dialects, Adrian Leeman. Take the quiz and it shows 3 places you may come from. Reasonably accurate for me, upper Thames valley, edge of the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire. Obviously I don't "have" an accent, really. Lol, but I am.picking up some Notts, wooz instead of woz for was. Troost instead of trust.
Thanks for producing and presenting a video that didn't make a trip to the UK sound like an anthropological expedition; about how we eat food with rude names, drink tea incessantly etc. I have family from Virginia coming over this year and your video has reminded me of things to tell them about. All the best to you.
To be fair, there's probably a lot more american accents than you'd think. When I hear an american accent, I usually don't consider it another accent, unless it's something like a southern accent, or a brooklyn accent. There's probably a lot more.
Most Americans seem to head for London if u want to see real England head for the lake district,explore the countryside and the small villages with lovely country pubs,head to York and the peak district then Scotland and Wales you wont regret it.
Thanks for not hating on Brits. Most Americans do. Also, if you're wondering why our plugs are so big and the sockets (outlets) have switches, UK plugs are the safest out there!
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
I have spent half my life in America and as a Brit I do not know where you get the idea they do not like Brit's Far from it they show us far more respect than we do them. They are also far better manored .
Thanks! I know I messed up on the terminology though (i.e., UK vs GB vs England/Scotland/Wales/N. Ireland). I ended up doing a follow-up video since I felt bad about it. 😊
Lol. Most Americans think primarily of England when they think of “Britain,” but most Americans don’t think Britain is “just England.” Big difference there
I'm Scottish and think my country is beautiful, but I holiday in England when I can. The people are so warm and friendly. I love the lake district and Derbyshire.👍🏻👍🏻
Yeah, I’ve been back twice since this video. I spent some time in the New Forest on my last trip, which was very beautiful. Also went to a wedding in Reading and in Waddesdon. Oh, and I enjoyed visiting Bath as well. I haven’t had a chance to venture north, but hoping to on my next trip over.
david wrighton as the grammar police you should know that that was grammatically incorrect “That you was British” makes no sense “That you were British” and you would have got a thumbs up who looks like an idiot now
“Military time” isn’t communicated verbally a lot in the U.K. but we do use it on phones etc mainly to avoid the mix up of 6am or 6pm, but I wouldn’t say to the wife let’s meet at 18:00 verbally
Yeah, most Americans wouldn't even know how to read 24-hour time. It's so uncommon in the US, and while it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format in the States, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation). 😊
We don't refer to it as military time but simply as "the 24-hour clock". It's only devices and timetables that use it but certainly pretty well all Brits are familiar with it. Thanks for a most open-minded view of this funny place.
Yeah, but if someone asks me the time, around 50% of the time when it's not a round number I'll just say''seventeen twelve'' rather than ''five twelve'' because, although if it's 13:15, I'dd probably just say ''quarter past one'' as these are much longer when you go above twelve, nobody would have time for ''half past twenty-two''. And, this was the first time I've heard anyone say''military time'' I lived in china and there too, they just 24 hour clock rather than military time, as for us, it's just for the military, everyone uses it.
It's not so much communicating time verbally but that you are able to look at a clock and understand what it means. I always get tripped by the Americans putting the month before the day in a calendar date.
Thank you! As a Brit it is so refreshing to have a non-patronising, non-stereotypical differences video, that wasn't all about tea, or the Queen. Thank you again Sir.
@@ey7290 plus it's smaller and like monopoly money lol. The new 20 quid note is coming in October. My theory is the state want to get rid of cash. So they are making them unbearable that people go cashless and paperless.
It's commonly referred to as military time in the US and Canada because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US, so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military.
@@TripAstute So-called Military Time is in fact Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you ever visit Greenwich in London you can physically see the actual line itself!
@@Wtf0069 No, you are confusing two different things GMT or UTC is the time at the prime meridian, Military or 24 hour time is simply a recognition that there are 24 hours in a day and does away with the need for am and pm. The Military term for GMT/UTC is "zulu" time.
I wonder about safest. I imagine the huge holes required in the wall socket would be much easier for tiny kids to poke metal things into. Difficult with our Australian ones, and I assume US ones. They're certainly impressive though.
It is actually more difficult to poke stuff in because the longer prong has a 2nd function in many sockets where the bottom holess are sealed until you put that prong in which opens the other holes.
Yeah, it really frustrates me to hear Americans say "British accent" when what they really mean is a formal (perhaps more upper-class) English accent. Even if you disregard the fact that Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland each clearly have very distinctive accents and are all still 'British' England itself has a variety of different accents. It appears that a lot of Americans are completely unaware of the variety of accents there are.
Even different sides of London have different accents lol. It's mostly because of the same British steretype portrayed in American media so I don't really blame the american layman
A good website to go look at is the British Library's section called "Sounds Familiar" where they have recordings of all different accents and dialects from across the UK and you can select by using the map www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/
As a Brit, I can never understand why in the US, Emergency Exit signs are red instead of the UK / Europe standard of green. Red signals danger, why would you run to danger? I know the sign says EXIT, but not everyone can read.
That's definitely an interesting observation. I never thought of it as being unique. I think we tend to associate the color red with special attention (e.g., red phone in the white house, fire trucks, stop signs, etc.). Also, green tends to signify "go" in the US, which might be a problem with emergency exits (which are only to be used during an actual emergency). Regardless, the differences are definitely interesting! 😊
It's interesting that you call it military time. We generally just call them 24-hour clocks, or 12-hour clocks. Unlike the military we also don't say "21-hundred", just "9 o'clock" so that might be part of the naming convention. Nice video, I always like seeing how others view our little corner of the world.
Thanks! 24-hour time/clock is definitely the correct terminology. It's commonly referred to as "military time" in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US (including myself), so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military. 😊
Trip Astute+ 24hr time tends to get used for 'official' things like train timetables so everybody's used to it. Outside of that, you'll find both 12 and 24hr time used in different places. I'm sure the mish mash of metric and imperial (English) measurements was interesting for you.
Thanks! I definitely messed up on the terminology though. I actually did a follow-up video since I felt bad about it. th-cam.com/video/zvFyxiJbDIo/w-d-xo.html
As ethnic minorities, we are more open minded. He has a thick accent, so he's probably asked often if he's foreign in the States on top of his ethnic looks.
Things that surprised me most about how surprising it was for a young lass from the US visiting our little neck of the woods. Lack of flags. Think she was expecting to see union jacks draped everywhere and it really took her aback how few flags there are at all unless it's November or we've got to at the least the world cup quarter finals. Lack of God and loving the Queen. Again she expected to see signs of God not just around churches. She was most surprised that not all classes in all schools and colleges don't start with prayers and a loud roaring rendition of “Land of hope and Glory” Train / public transport etiquette. She was so taken and surprised with the generally unspoken, unwritten but understood rule about getting on and off trains. Passengers on the platform waiting to get on stand aside to allow those getting off to get off. You gesture to anyone that was already there before you to go ahead or for anyone with a pram, bike or wheelchair you wave to the conductor that someone needs a ramp access or alternatively grab a wheel and lift up and safely over the gap into the carriage. Stick shifts. "Wow everyone here seems to know how to drive a stick-shift?!" A what? A car you mean? Yeah we mostly drive normal cars some are auto and some are semi-autos but mainly we learn and drive manuals" "Manuals??" Poor girl had a crash course lesson in car gearboxes. Lack of parental controls / age restrictions. Not all but many parents are stinking liberal hippies like us and don't have any parental controls or restrictions at all. Just boot up a PC, laptop, tablet or whatever - find whichever one isn't being used and knock yourself out. We don't mind too much what you do as long as it's not serious weird ass shit. Her hearing “Help yourself to a tea, coffee, beer or whatever” 18 is the legal age for buying alcohol here which throws some people off anyway but a lot of teenagers 16 or so drink responsibly at home. Dogs / lack of dog parks. Absolutely amazed at dogs routinely walked off-lead around here but all under control and owners having similar dog owner / walker etiquette as with trains. For some reason it struck her most how well-behaved, well-trained and happily our dogs trotted alongside us and when called or given a simple whistle they came straight back. You see an unfamiliar dog walker, you sit your own down and place a lead on in case the other isn't friendly or the owner is nervous. Most people shout “It's OK he's friendly” in which case you happily let yours go say hello or politely call back “Mine isn't he's a twat and will rip the throat out of any dog he sees but thank you!” Swearing. She had never in a million years expected the language which we don't even notice. British people swear better than anyone on the planet and quite a lot.
Those are great observations! It is funny how conservative and puritanical we are with parts of our culture in the US. Even though we are culturally so similar, there are aspects that feel completely different! 😊
Ooh forgot one other thing. Seeing dog and duck display at our local show. She was mesmerised watching happy waddling ducks gently ushered around the ring, up onto a bridge.. over a little bridge and pond finally through a little tiny wooden pen / gate. "They herd ducks are you kidding me?? They don't eat or attack them?? Have never seen dogs herding ducks man that is so cool my folks won't believe a word" She showed them this clip and they still insist it's not genuine. th-cam.com/video/vGOGOxtN2lM/w-d-xo.html People visiting the UK should go see all the main attractions in London but if poss, set aside extra time to hop on the train and see rural England. *Do need to stress what may seem an obvious thing to most but please don't think all this comes naturally or easily. These dogs are trained, intense dogs that don't just come out for fun at shows and competitions. They do this every day - almost all day and in all weather with the same owner or handler their whole lives. They're like Marines of the dog world.
@@TripAstute the earliest migrants were relatively religious, they wanted religious freedom...from an established church, but got...well, what there is now.
As another USAer, thanks TripAstute for being a 'goodwill ambassador'! Although many of us are rude and thoughtless, it is not a prerequisite of being from the U.S.
@@disoriented1 In my experience, American tourists can be a bit twattish, but nowhere near all of you guys. Top tips; don't step into the road to take a photo or call something or somewhere "quaint", or try to say you invented the English language and you will be fine. We love your accents, but that is not an excuse to be rude or jump a queue. Try the food, it isn't what you might have been led to believe it is. Travel around the country/ies, not just London. The UK is beautiful. Oh, and definitely try black pudding when you have a fry up. Don't be put off.
I've also found it amazing that a country as small as the UK is home to such a variety of accents.I'm from Wales by the way so you would definitely have problems understanding my accent lol. Very interesting video though.It's always good to get a different perspective on familiar places and things.Great job!
Yes, that's definitely true. Though I think it's still a bit disorienting when you're first getting adjusted to the different traffic flows. I know that I naturally start looking in a certain direction in the US when I cross a road since I expect traffic from a specific direction.
In USA a person can only fancy another person, men fancy women, women fancy men (if your gay it's the other way round of course) In England you can fancy a hamburger, a pizza, a coffee. You can fancy anything.
This is so true! For some reason, it sounds slightly inappropriate for us to hear someone say "I fancy an Indian." I know what they mean, but you're right, we only use fancy when talking about people. 😆
It's a 24 hour clock, not specifically for or originally from the military. The military use it but that doesn't make it military time as the Americans say
That's correct. It's commonly referred to as military time in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US (including myself), so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military. 😊
Graham Butler from my previous comment it technically ISN'T military time, it's a 24 hour clock. If a civilian uses a 24 hour clock layout it isn't called military time, it didn't originate from the military, militaries adopted the layout for clarities sake. When GMT and Zulu match up one o'clock in the afternoon is still 13:00 GMT not 13:00 Zulu to civilians.
When he said military time, I thought he meant the way of pronouncing. Like 8am would be oh eight hundred. or 8pm would be twenty hundred. General public may use 20:00 for timing but we'd still say 8pm or 8 evening.
being a yorkshirman i love the fact we have our own regional dialects. its almost like each county is a different country. not only the way we speak but foods too.
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
even in yorkshire we have different dielects too. for such a small country its amazing. sometimes it needs to be shown by others from other countries as we are so used to it. hope you had a great time here in the uk
If you are coming to visit the England from abroad . Don't spend all your time in London . See some of the rest of the country , which is very different to London . And there is Scotland , northern Ireland , and Wales to see which all have their own personality . And no it's not raining all the time :-)
So, i feel like 90% of people will find this super boring but the reason our plugs are bigger is because they are designed to be ridiculously safe. It is almost impossible to electrocute yourself from a British plug or socket. Theres all sorts of clever stuff about there design but if anyone is actually as boring/interested as me Tom Scott made a great video explaining them.
Well, I guess I'm boring too because I watched the Tom Scott video and thought it was amazing! The more I learn about the UK plugs, the more I appreciate them. They were truly designed with safety in mind. 👍
For the first time in history there are more North American migrating here than Brits to there been that way for a while now apparently. There's a good reason for it too. Life is more pleasant here for the average working person. We just don't want to see it that way.
I’m British and everything here was true. And I’m the same I find it difficult to understand Americans. One thing I noticed when I went to America is that the parking spaces were 10 x bigger than the ones in the uk
Bigger parking spaces because of our large SUV's and long pickup trucks' they need more room, which I kinda hate because I have a little compact car and can't see around them !
That’s because they have ginormous cars! Although cars are becoming like that in the UK. Me and my partner were driving through the Cotswolds villages and we have a small car but he was like omg why are people driving these huge cars I’m in the gutter 😂
Not long ago I heard an American girl scream: ‘This country is so stressful!’ At a coffee machine in the U.K. lol. Thank you for not being like that haha, we see too many of those Americans.
I’m an American who has lived in England for 25 years,and I hate those types! I’m always tempted to tell them they’re making Americans look worse than they already are! Lol
Honestly, Americans say that our own country is stressful, or that they plain hate it over here on the daily, so I'd cut her some slack. Like over the tiny inconvenience you can here your everyday American yell; "God I hate this country! I'm fucking moving to Canada!" But never move to Canada, it's how we work lmao.
Yes, it must be really confusing, especially since it's inconsistent across states and counties. Some stores include it in the price, but most don't for some reason.
Yeah that's absolutely ridiculous. I've seen the argument "oh well there's different sales taxes in different states" yeah? So what? There's different taxes around Europe as well but you don't see each individual country with the price and then the tax added at the end. It's just ridiculous. Unless your store changed different states every day I don't see the point.
It's because individual states have their own taxes rates and tax rates fluctuate so often it's too complex for businesses to add them into the shown prices for each state and remain up-to-date.
It’s crazy to me as a brit that you guys would travel like 3/4 hours to go to a concert. It’d be rare that I would travel more than an hour from where I live!
I regularly have to travel at least 2 hours to a gig or show. It's difficult finding good events this side of the Tamar as it seems SW Cornwall is just too remote to bother travelling to.
Annabel Goodby Much of that is because your petrol is so expensive so it’s just not a thing to hop over anywhere let alone a concert. The US is so big that we have little choice to travel if we want to see anyone, so we are kind of just used to doing it. My mother lives away from me and I just get in the car and go see her, but when we are in the UK, we plan out entire trips just to travel the same distance to visit family in Wales from Birmingham. Makes me laugh.
Annabel Goodby if you think that’s bad I have drove from Sacramento California to Las Vegas Nevada which was a 10 hour drive and believe it or not there is people who drive from a state to another state which can take days to get there and they only stop for food ,to go to the bathroom and to sleep at night then early in the morning it’s time to keep on going
Stayed in Florida last year, TV adverts were 3/5 about medical treatments (which btw, didn't seem to be a good idea judging by the warnings). That's literally the biggest thing I noticed because it was absolutely ridiculous. "Asthma treatment, warnings: Side effects can cause Asthma to worsen, and/or death"
Yes, I totally agree. It's completely ridiculous! We even poke fun at it in the US. You'll often see comedy skits where they rush through the "fine print" like they do during the pharmaceutical ads. 😆
The reason are plug are bigger is because they have not only a earth part they makes it less likely for you to get electrocuted but that there is also what is called a fuse that if the device have a problem like gets to hot or something isn't right that the fuse goes off and stops the device from being on making the device safer as the UK is health and safety mad just to let you know 😊
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
You'll notice the shielding on the live and neutral pins so even if you put your fingers around the plug when withdrawing it you will not get a shock. The length of them is critical, as, as soon as you can see the metal of the pins it has withdrawn far enough for them to have disconnected from the inner contacts.
The UK plugs are really safe as has been described by many comments here. Just moving the plug thing to the French plug and socket system, these are really really rubbish, wiring a French plug can take over 15 minutes, especially making a safe connection to the earth pin, my opinion about these is they are rubbish manufacture and difficult to connect to a socket.
We earth our electrical items as a rule, just in case anyone was wondering why there is an extra pin on a UK plug. Unless an electrical item is particularly well insulated,, they're usually earthed for safety. In fact I grew up thinking of the rest of the world as kind of dangerous for not doing that.
Our mains is close to 250VAC and up to 13A, there's a lot of power there (which is why we can use electric kettles). The plug is bulky to separate the connectors and to contain a fuse (as are those in Australia). Also any appliance where you can touch any metal part *must* be earthed. In addition to the fuse in the plug there will be a fuse or breaker on the entire circuit in the fuse box.
You also cant insert anything into the live/neutral pin holes of a socket, they are blocked off mechanically, until the earth pin is inserted. Also, the cable comes out from the bottom of the plug, instead of the front. That prevents any wires from being pulled out of the connections, inside the plug, if the cable gets tugged or caught. This also reduces the chance of any split water/fluids from entering the plug and reduces the chance of anyone tripping over the cable. UK electrical plugs/sockets, are a very well thought out design and are the safest in the world.
@@Coys319 not in the major cities though, australians in the major cities are terrfied of everything, if a splash of rain appears tbe construction workers pack up and go home, you have one beer in a bar and get thrown out for being too drunk, maybe thats just sydney but theyre soft lmao
Your not alone with the accents mate, I'm from the north of England I have a pretty hard time ordering food and drinks down south as no-one knows what I'm saying 😂
We're Northerners too and once when we were in Brighton I think it was, my husband went to the bar, cheerily said "Hi mate can I have pint of Smooth and a erm...pint of Stella?" and on my life the rest of the blokes drinking actually - literally slid their drinks along the bar and away all "Oh shit me...Northerners" Day after I shared a lift with two young families and got in "Hi!!" which got a similar reaction to Catherine Tate's Aga Saga woman. Then I asked a guy in Morrison's were the eggs lived and he gave me this most bemused look and repeated back slowly with the best cockney accent "Where the eggs... LIVE? Aww I do luv a Norvern gowl!!" He was the only person we that wasn't scared of us. The guys in the bar recoiling with their drinks when they heard my husband speak though. Couldn't stop laughing.
@@CharlotteWeb100 😂😂 they have no idea, I had a similar one in Peterborough I have family down there so went out for a drink, said to my cousin what you having and he said Peroni so went to the bar said 2 Peroni's please clear as day and she came back with 2 bottles of water 😂
Peterborough that reminds me!! We do Burghley horse trials every year cos I'm guilty of being a horsey sort but there are horsey people and horsey people but shit me do you see the difference. See posh totty lot decked out in designer gear, immaculate hair and makeup, hanging around near the BBC cameras in the hope they'll be seen and they'll have a pissy-arsed glass of warm Pimms with a half dead strawberry dipped in sugar and wedged on the side £15 bollocking quid for dead strawberries and sugar but they stand there "Good lord we're rich" Then we'll park ourselves on the grass, produce 2 bottles of Pimms, lemonade from spar, full massive lot of fresh strawberries and plastic tumblers showing everyone "Look - see this lot? £15 job lot and we have enough strawberries left over for throwing at people. Sit yourself down if you want some don't go buying that shit look at those strawberries they're crying FFS!!" Hadn't realised we were sat by the microphones by one of the big fences and I'm sure it'll have heard me saying "grrr... dropped me strawberry look it's gone right down my... strawberry on my tits now"
christmas pudding isn't misnamed to brits; in the uk, 'pudding' is a synonym for dessert. i don't think we brits even have a specific name for what you call pudding in the us. also, i've never heard the term 'military time'. we would say 24 hour clock, and yes, most places (particularly places that need efficiency and to keep confusion to a minimum, eg train stations) would use a 24 hour clock. i use a 24 hour clock on my phone, but weirdly not on my laptop. i think brits are generally comfortable with both.
Yeah, we are really not accustomed to the 24-hour clock in the US. I didn't realize until others mentioned it in the comments that most electronics and appliances come with it as the default setting. In the US, everything is set to 12-hour time as the default. 😊
Puddings can actually be savoury e.g. steak and kidney pudding. It is to do with the cooking process on why something is called a pudding as puddings tend to be steamed. (Well placed in a container/cloth and put in a pan of boiling in water to cook.) And yes "pudding" is also a common name for a dessert.
If you notice on our plugs the top pin is longer. When you plug it in, this long pin pushes something that opens up the bottom holes for the other pins. This means children can't put their fingers in there and get hurt. I hope I explained that okay, I'm not an electrician 😂
it took some years before they put plastic sleeves on the top of the live/neutral pins so that kids or whatever could not push thin metal behind a plugged in plug and electrocute themselves. I did it myself as a kid, put a piece of metal meccano behind a plug, a big bang and flash ensued. fortunately i didn't fry myself. you cannot do that now.
Yeah, the design is extremely safe (unless you stand on a plug) and probably one of the safest in the world. The lack of earth pin on most devices in the states always worries me. :P
I don't agree with some replies here that American people don't like British people. I've met many Yankies through my job as a visitors assistant and found the majority were warm, friendly, polite and had a lot more historical knowledge than most of the our British visitors. They are willing to share knowledge with you and loved all our funny slang words like someone being "a bit Dodgy" and they were quick to give praise where praise is due and the youngsters were upbeat and enjoying themselves unlike some of the sullen European teens who drifted through the place. Overall I got a good impression of you chaps! Remember we have a stronger bond with you because we were allies during the wars. And in future we may need each other again to defeat the great evil of extremism in the world. When you suffer, we suffer and vice versa. Sending you all a big wave from the UK.
Thanks! I completely agree -- I honestly think that we tend to love British people, and are fascinated by our unique cultural differences. Our countries have shared a long bond, and there's no denying that so much of American culture and identity is based on our British heritage. 😊
@@geoffstewart6580 I know don't you love it that a part of their charm 😊 a very nice American lady said to me when I was in New York we are off to England next week and we have thinking of booking some excursions could you tell me how much it costs to have tea with the queen ???😂😂 she was totally baffled when I started laughing
Thanks Karen, I’m from UK but have lived in US for over 25 years. I have never heard a negative Comment about the UK, on the contrary , Americans are warm, friendly and very fascinated About British History, culture ect. Downtown Abbey was adored and the questions I was asked were hilarious. It seems a pretty recent thing that there is this bitterness “thing” going on between us, maybe it’s the younger generation Or Euro influence...but the UK and the US has always had a strong bond in my opinion and experience ..hope it continues to always be true.
@@MeadowDay Thank you for your nice words. I was just getting a bit fed up with Brit/Yankie bashing! I take people as they come and have met many lovely people from around the Globe. One of the chief questions I was asked was about Downton which was fine. Its nice to know that such a good show brings enjoyment to people and encourages them to look into history. After watching the wonderful Ken Burn's documentaries it has inspired me to study aspects of American History myself. It was nice to get answers to some of my questions from visiting guests too.
Trip Astute If you are planning on having a return trip there are many nice places in this country outside London, The Cotswolds, the Lake District and Yorkshire are all nice places to visit.
Agreed. Most other videos like this are usually mocking us or being really condescending. This video was quite refreshing and pleasant to watch. Subscribed.
Birmingham is a great place to go also and if anyone goes to "The Bull ring" the bull there isn't really a bull...wink wink lol Really cheap beer and ale/stout there and you'll get 2 decent drinks for less than a fiver! I live 26 miles outside north London and it's not cheap nor expensive.
Interestingly enough, a couple of folks have commented on this video that scotch eggs are actually English (with influences from Indian cuisine): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg Not sure if it’s 100% accurate, but I found it fascinating! 🤓
@Craig 75 the programme I watched didn't go that far back, but the first known recipe used in the UK was recorded in an English cook book, of course the Scottish got their sporrans in a twist and refuted it, what a shocker 😂
It took me a good while to figure out what military time was - we just call it the 24hr clock and it’s used on pretty much all digital clocks. Very interesting video thanks
Thanks! It's commonly referred to as military time in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). Also, 24-hour time seems to be the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock. 😊
The weirdest UK to USA comparison is Biscuits and Gravy. To us in the UK the idea of combining what we know as a biscuit (digestive, rich tea, hobnob etc) with what we know as gravy (generally a brown, beef-based 'sauce' used on roast dinners) is a disgusting concept. 🤣😆
It's a disgusting concept because no-one would do that, and the Americans don't. A "biscuit" in America is a completely different thing (a savoury type of short-bread) from a "biscuit" in Britain (a sweet confectionery).
Oh la la.... can not lie? Many British people lie through their teeth by saying something and doing something different, often. Also, the inhibition of expressing feelings and views, causes many a British person to appear smooth as a peach, while holding grudges and acting them out at a later time. Passive agressive, it's called. British people are extremely quickly offended, very childish. The best example of that is found in the British parliament, where a bunch of toddlers hit each other on the head with the trowel. It's hilarious to Dutch eyes.
It was so try about accents. I am from a small town in South Nottinghamshire. Me and my sister were watching a programme the other day,and I remarked to my sister "he sounds like he's local" She replied "They already told us he's local he's from Melton Mowbray "(which is about 12 miles away) I replied "No I mean LOCAL!" (We googled him,he was from 3 miles away)
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
@@TripAstute definitely! I am on the border of Derbyshire and nottinghamshire(less than a mile when the border). And I went to school in Derbyshire, in Shipley,. I can tell you everyone and the accent,for every difference for about 6 miles inn l directions. I think if you live in a city or nearer a city the differences are less of a noticeable difference. You have gained a subscriber today. I like you gentle approach. X
@@TripAstute the local accent is definitely VERY specific,but then it literally(and I mean that in the true sense of the word) changes every mile you go! It's fascinating even for me,that we talk with a different accent to the town a mile away.
Love the states but for us Brits the price labels then plus tax at the check out on goods is crazy .And tipping system seems very weird as we tip for a good service not to pay the persons wages which is included in the price you pay for things over here. Tips are an extra.
I completely agree. Our tipping culture in the US is excessive and confusing. It feels more like an obligation at times than a reward. Luckily, there is a trend at several restaurants to change the culture by removing tips and just paying employees more, which seems great! 😊
Sales tax is determined by the counties within the states. In California, I live in an area close to a neighboring county who's sales tax is lower than my own so it's cheaper to drive about a quarter mile down the road and buy the merchandise in the next county.
Kevin P Drive? The money you're saving on tax in your county just gets spent on petrol / gas money when you drive to the next county, yes? It might only be a quarter of a mile you're driving, but it will definitely build up in costs.
I don't have a problem with sales tax being set differently in each state ... but I did find a pain in the posterior that the price quoted was pre-tax, so unless you could quickly add up 7.5% or whatever it was in your head, you didn't know what it was going to cost you at the till. It's hard enough to work out what coins and notes to use when you are unfamiliar with them (oh yes, and as well as our new banknotes being plastic polymer, they are graded by size, so that £10 is slightly bigger than £5, and £20 is slightly bigger than £10, to make it easier to sort them, especially for visually impaired people), but when you don't even know what you're trying to get it to add up to, it makes it a whole lot trickier!
I went to America years ago when I was 11 I think, and I was genuinely shocked by how wide and straight the roads are. Every city no matter how big or small felt like a chess board. The existence of blocks is really unusual to me.
That is definitely the case in most US cities. Though I believe that Washington, DC, was built with the intention of being confusing/non-standard (in case it was ever occupied)! 😄
By far the best "American in England " post ever , too many of the others just criticise my country but this one didnt , it just as the title suggests focused on differences not the normal "what i like" or "didnt like" ! Great respectful post .
Ade Thrush i agree, this was a refreshing change i really enjoyed this video. It's always nice to hear that sometimes people do things differently and not wrong because its different.
Ade My thoughts exactly but there's one other American guy that does fair commentaries on a channel called Wolter's World and as the name suggests he does it for many countries in the World.
I always flinch in these kinds of videos when our cuisine comes up, but yeah, he was positive about it rather than looking for something to mock or put down.
Totally agree. Being a Brit myself i found it rather interesting how you thought of us. As Ade said you didn't criticize us. Though one thing, those "huge" plugs we have are much safer than the U.S counterparts :P
I was driving a hire car in Texas a few years back and pulled into a ‘gas station’ to refuel. Almost as soon as I stopped at the pump, a guy said, “English?” I said, “Yes, how did you know?” He replied, Everyone else drives in the opposite way!” 😂😂
Aww, Texans are so polite... :-) and re 'Driving on the left' #TripAstute ? try Japan ...back in the day I was on a Royal Navy ship visiting a U.S base in Japan. With typical U.S generosity the USN provided us with two vehicles to make life easier while we were alongside. Just happened that I was one of the few guys onboard who had my driving licence with me, so I got nominated to take a Japanese driving test and given a US mil licence. The fact that Japan also drive on the left made life easier for me - and tougher for Americans. Still got my US Govt issue licence somewhere :-) . On the jaywalking front I was visiting Washington DC for work in 1996. We were put up in a Howard Johnson just off I-95. Like a lot of American hotels, they don't have restaurants so usually you eat out. My colleague and I saw a diner on the other side of the road from the hotel - so we just walked across the highway....apparently this is 'not done' :-)
On the contrary, as a Brit when I went to the states, the weirdest thing was how nice restaurant staff are, as in the UK tipping isn’t a massive thing, so they don’t care quite as much. Also, the tea in the states is rubbish! 😂
Great observations! I've heard the tea complaint before from many visitors. Unless you go to a proper tea house, it can be hard to get a good cup of tea in the US. 😀
Ed Westby Tea in the whole world is rubbish! In fact what I mean is, the whole world drinks tea different. We in England like it strong, most people don't. When I go abroad, I just drink coffee. I don't particularly like it, but it's better than weak as f... tea.
Ian James True, I didn’t even order the tea, I had orange, not wanting to risk it, but my mate ordered it and when he took a sip he told me to try it 😂
I live in the uk and when I visited the US this summer I noticed that when you buy an item they charge extra tax weather in the uk it’s included in the price, Also the portions are bigger and everything is cheaper and tipping is practically a must. One last thing is that although America has a few dialects and creoles, a lot of stuff is written in Spanish on billboards for the Latino communities to understand
Fun fact: the large sockets are designed to prevent shocks, not just when people stick their hands in, but when metal devices are broken!! It’s cool and everyone knows it 😎
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
Hi, great video, but we say "24 hour clock" not "military time", and just "the tube" not "the London tube", I've been to US, what perplexed me was sales tax being added on after, and being stopped by police because I was walking to the shops, everyone else was driving, they thought it was suspicious lol.
Thanks for the clarifications. And those are definitely some strange and goofy aspects of US life. I also walk to my local store instead of driving, and I often receive funny looks from my neighbors. 😄
Yeah, same. I walked from my hotel in LA (shutters on the beach) along the beach to Venice beach. People thought me and my mum were a little crazy. Not even a long walk... Only an hour (once I get walking, it goes quickly and I occasionally walk the hour to school and sometimes if I feel like it to Oxford Street / Selfridge's to shop and or go get lunch)
@MissRiaElaine If its ok for Transport for London to call it the tube in various areas of their website and publications, I think its ok for someone on youtube to say it.
In the UK, I often have the correct change by the time I get to the till, in Canada, I kept getting caught out by sales tax because they said it would be too much work adding it on, which I found confusing. Until I read an article on North American sales taxes, it is not like the UK where taxes are nationwide. In N.A. they can vary from State to State or Province to Province, so every place there was a Walmart there would be different prices due to the differing sales taxes. As for time, the 24hr clock was used by NATO and that is why the Americans refer to it as Military time. We have mainly adopted the 24hr clock to correct misunderstandings as to time in am or pm. Of course, we don't understand it until we travel to N.A. and discover the country is so big it has 5 time zones covering it, not like us with our one zone. I drove across Canada two years ago and crossed 3 time zones, thankfully I was using my phone so the time changed automatically but for a couple of days, I was living a 23hr day. On the return journey, I decided to go by bus, which took 70hours so I was having 25hr days. I'll never complain about a long bus journey in the UK ever again.
The plugs in the uk are the safest in the world, the plug socket closes until the top stick goes in a little so then the other two open so you put the whole plug in, stops your chances of kids just poking at open plug sockets!
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
Being British the one thing I’ve never gotten used to when visiting the United States is paying tax separately when you buy something as here in the uk the tax is included in the price
Yeah, that's definitely a weird aspect of the US culture. I actually included it in our recent video on what travelers should know when visiting the US: th-cam.com/video/wEkjUgC8cww/w-d-xo.html
I was going to say the same thing - it is really annoying when you get to the till thinking you have the right money ready (especially when you are trying to use some change that has been building up and weighing down your pockets) only to be told a different price to what is on the labels or stickers etc of what you are buying.
Grington300 300 Well prices around the U.S depend on state or even city so the companys trying to factor the prices for each individual store would be rather difficult
Breonna Lynn That's fair enough, but I don't see the difficulty in the individual stores sticking price labels on what they're selling that show the price including the tax they'll be adding at the till. Our supermarkets in the UK do that whenever there is a price change. Even your clothes shops etc will have shelves with, for example, T-shirts $10 each but you go to pay and they add tax - would it be so hard for them to label the shelf or even the shirts with the price including the tax (they know how much it will be in their State, city or whatever) so I can have the right money ready?
At first when you said military time, I was confused but when you explained it to be the 24 hour clock system I instantaneously knew what you were on about. The Majority of the digital clocks in the UK will have this time system; but ask a brit for the time and they will give it to you in 12 hour time. Just a tip : fortnight - 2 weeks. I don't quite know why people don't use that term else where, but its useful to note. Glad to have you back in the UK when you feel like it. And pop down to dorset, lovely place.
Thanks! Yeah, for some reason, we rarely see the 24-hour time/clock used in the US. My understanding is that it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation). And great tip on "fortnight" -- we definitely don't use that term, but I wish we did. It's quite useful and much less confusing than bi-weekly. 😊
I'm a brit and I found the weirdest things in America to be the plugs/sockets, giant trees everywhere, its sunny almost everyday, the huge houses, The giant portions of food and how nice the staff at eating places are. it was a really weird experience, but also awesome!
Yeah, depending on where you visit, it can feel completely different. Even coming from LA, it can feel like a completely different culture and country when you visit different states (e.g., Hawaii). 😊
I hate the huge houses. I live in a metropolitan area with a population of 259,000 people. The area I live in covers almost 616 square miles. It's basically 616 square miles of suburbia. There is no functioning centralized downtown, (aside from the football stadium I guess, that seats 81,000 people, there's a river area but no one goes there except poor latinos), public transit is a joke, there are some bus lines during the day. You have to drive everywhere, even just to get groceries, there aren't even good sidewalks in most of it. For comparison, London has 8.7 million people in the same land area. Now I think London is too crowded but God I wish americans would actually try to do some intelligent urban planning instead of saying "land is cheap, why remodel old buildings when you can just build new ones in the unzoned corn fields just outside the city limits!"
When I was in the USA, the top 10 things which stood out to me were: 1. The serving sizes of meals were HUGE! I've never seen so much food on a plate before. 2. The plugs were really strange, and seemed flimsy/unsafe. 3. The doors were much wider in general. 4. Toilets had far more water in the bowl. 5. Police carrying guns. 6. People seemed to talk about me to other people, when I was right there (seemed rather rude). 7. Renaissance Faires...a strange mix between the vaguely historical and complete fantasy. 8. There were American flags EVERYWHERE! 9. Shops and restaurants were so much farther apart than in the UK. People seem to think nothing of driving for 30-45 minutes to go out for food. 10. Tax being added at the checkout in a shop. Things always cost more than you think!
Great list, and all true! I'm glad you commented on the Renaissance Faires. That must have been such a weird experience ... fake English accents and complete mix-ups of historical time periods and fantasy. 😆
I've the opportunity to travel to the US on several occasions. Everywhere I went people were charming, friendly and welcoming. The only thing I found scary and very intimidating was the sight of guns. It's extremelly sad and heartbreaking to hear the huge number of lives, especially young lives who are victims of gun violence. Also the amount of police officers who fall victim to that. I feel something more drastic needs to be done to curb these shocking numbers.
Thanks for sharing your experience! As an American, I have to agree as well. The number of people who die of gun violence in the US is staggering and unacceptable. 😬
My dear chap - what a pleasant surprise. A critique of the UK, minus any of the usual derogatory comments. God bless America, plus hugs & kisses to your Limey wife ; of course!
I also agree, a very knowledgeable and structured video. One thing i love about the US was the portions of everything, and cheap fuel. One thing i found weird is you guys like to mix sweet with savory, like bacon and syrup and peanut butter and jelly, i am yet to try these but i am intrigued..
fun fact.. in the UK we drive on the left because it harks back to the days of people on horseback.. knights in shining Armour and all that if a bandit or highwayman was to approach you he would be to the right of you on the road, leaving your sword hand free to defend yourself while you held the reins of the horse with your left hand. most European countries also used to ride on the left hand side for the very same reason, Napoleon changed this in a lot of places (as he was a a small left handed ego maniac who could barely get on a horse never mind swing a sword from its back :) American colonials originally drove on the left but after the war of independence you guys were keen to shed all ties to the British. so you gradually changed to driving on the right. also Scotch eggs are called that because they were invented in Scotland things I noticed in the US.. tipping, everybody wants a tip :) different sales taxes in different states really confused me. the HUGE portions that all food places give you.. I'm like "dude this is just for me not a family of 4" how ignorant a lot of Americans are about countries outside the US. J walking (the notion doesn't compute to a brit coz we can cross where we want, you just follow some simple rules that all children are taught very early in school , our Govt are like .... if you get hit by a car because you didn't use a crossing we'll patch you up but you'll have to live with the consequences, you knew the risk. (its even crazier to me because in the USA if you did get hit by a car it wouldn't be the Govt paying for your healthcare so WTF do they care?)
Depends. I, a Floridian, have free healthcare. It's *universal* healthcare that's missing. That's what we want. Millions of Americans already have free healthcare, the problem is it isn't all.
Napoleon wasn't small. Most drivers back in time were right handed holding a whip. They were sitting on left side so when somebody passed them they could see wheels clearly. People were doing it already long before Napoleon.
When I'm in the States what I find crazy is how every single fast food place has free refills. Also, when people ask how you're doing; they genuinely mean it haha
With reference to mince pies - these did actually contain meat when they were made centuries ago. Because we had no useful method of preserving meat in days of yore, it rotted easily. So, the rancid taste was hidden by incorporating the minced up (or ground to you Americans) meat with lots of dried fruit, strong alcohol and spices from newly discovered countries (such as India and China). As things like refrigerators and freezers became prevalent and methods like canning gave meat a longer shelf life, mince pies soon became a sweet rather than a savoury product and became the yummy seasonal treat we know today.
I wondered why sweetmeats were called that. And I didn't know about all food once being refrred to as meat - thanks for that interesting fact. You learn something new every day :)
Also important point for vegitarians and vegans - some mincemeat mixtures have suet in them which is animal fat. so make sure to look at the ingredients or if you are making your own mincepies make sure it doesn't have suet in it.
As a Brit visiting the US, the most striking thing to me was the wildlife. I spent a few weeks in Southern California, and despite the drastic change of climate, it felt familiar due to everyone speaking English, and the fact I spent most of my time there with a friend who used to live in the UK, but now lives out there. It didn't truly feel like I was in a different country for a few days, until I saw a pigeon. Just a normal pigeon you get everywhere else in the world. I was having a smoke on the balcony, watching this pigeon just do it's thing... And then a goddamn eagle swooped down and ruined its day. It completely threw me. Later that night I saw a small pack of coyotes hanging around some bins in the apartment complex, which was backed onto the foothills. Later that week we went hiking, and ended up coming across a mountain lion. Not to mention the dozens of lizards I saw skittering about like you'd see squirrels in the UK.
Wow, I'm amazed that you saw a mountain lion. I grew in Los Angeles and have yet to see one while hiking. You are correct though -- there are a lot of predatory animals in the US, especially in the Southwest. 😬
I'm an American living in the UK and really enjoy these observations because they remind me of my confusion when I first arrived. The advantage a British citizen has when visiting the USA is that they've usually had decades of being schooled in American culture via TV.
That's so true! I guess Americans have "Downton Abbey" and "The Crown" to watch, but it's probably not a good representation of everyday British life. 😆
The mincemeat in mince pies used to contain meat. They used to be mostly meat with a small amount of “exotic” fruit and spices, such as oranges, cinnamon etc. Which used to be impossible to grow in the British climate, and so were expensive. As a way of showing off your wealth. Richer people added more of the fruits and spices. Then as they became more readily, and therefore cheaper and meat became more expensive. The meat content was reduced until it was gone.
Everyone is being so nice I kind of hate to post this. In any case, Trip Astute, mincemeat pie is more common in the USA that you would expect. I am umphetyupmh years old and I've heard of it my entire life. That's from someone in the low population density western US states. I've eaten it before. I never really liked it though. All in all, I'm pretty sure if you asked anyone I know if they've heard of it they've probably even tried it.
And real mince meat, the kind not marked a 'vegetarian' should contain suet - which is a meat fat.' I have a friend in Boston, they have mincemeat tart at Thanksgiving.
You seem like a nice dude. So many Americans that appear on YT seem to see the U.S as the benchmark that other countries must be graded against... when U.S civilisation is much much younger than the ones they are judging.
Thanks! Yeah, I think it's easy for Americans to assume that the rest of world functions and lives the same way, when in reality, there are so many things we could learn (and adopt) from others. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel and live abroad, so my goal is to help others (especially my fellow Americans) with feeling more confident about traveling abroad and embracing new experiences. 😊
Good manors and hygiene are more prevalent in the USA sad to say as I am a Brit that has lived in both places. Americans are no more to be judged by TV than we are.
There's usually a lot of rivalry and competition between our two countries, which can make it hard to stay positive and respectful, but I loved the fact that that's exactly what you managed to do. You were never bias, never offended anyone and made a great video. Got a like from me mate.
No, there isn’t. Our countries are allies, not rivals. The rivalry is in your head. Brits feel competition with Americans but ask an American if they think Americans and Brits are rivals. We have nothing but nice things to say.
@@signalfire15 Also, in terms of politics and logistics, there is massive rivalry and hate between our two countries. www.quora.com/How-did-the-Americans-help-the-British-recover-after-WWII/answer/Steve-Soutar-3?__filter__=&__nsrc__=2&__sncid__=3381916058&__snid3__=5545731586&comment_id=111911246&comment_type=2 There was WW1, WW2, their refusal to share our own joint research programs and the Suez Crisis just to name a couple of examples.
@@l3gionmusic814 And how many instances in the life of an average American do you think that question comes up? No American is going to bring up the military in casual conversation. And even if this question does come up, why would you be bothered by an American believing that their military is better? The vast majority of American tax dollars go towards military spending. We invest a significant amount into our military, of course we would believe our military is stronger than a country who does not spend as much in tax dollars nor have as many people to build the kind of militia that America has. The only time this question would be brought in to play is by a British person who is trying to antagonize or rile up an American and force us to defend ourselves. We are defensive of our troops. Everyone knows that. We only say bad things about Brits if we are in defense mode. If you ask British people what they think of Americans, the majority of the comments are negative. If you ask Americans what they think about British people, the majority of the comments are positive. The rivalry exists because British people hate Americans. It's not the other way around. I literally challenge you to come to America and ask every American you encounter what they think about British people and you will find nothing but friendly people who say nice things - "great accents, nice royal family, they drink a lot, very posh and sophisticated" etc.
Went to the US a few years now but what amazed me as a Brit was 1) Fuel cost. It cost me roughly $100 to fill up. 2) straight roads. We never see a straight that long! 3) food portion size and free refills! Wow. Talk about blowout! Wahoo. Awesome place though.
As an Australian, the accents were the most fabulous difference I noticed when I got here. All Australians pretty much speak the same, one can notice small differences, but basically, our accent is a common factor across the country. In the UK though, it's not only regional as in NSEW...but broken down into counties as well, then into towns within counties....and even suburbs within large cities....especially London. I'm completely fascinated that someone living two miles down the road will have a different accent....yet all be British born and bred. Oh, and my very fave accent is what I call the London cabbie accent, it makes me smile and laugh every time I hear it....like Ray Winstone or Danny Dyer. I LOVE IT!
Aint that the truth! One does need to play spot the Pom in London these days. My nan is London born and bred but moved to Oz after the war when she met my pop who was over here with the Air Force. She'd tell me stories my whole life of London and the UK and The Royals...so I loved London before I even got here. Last time my nan came here, she was sad....nothing was the same, she said there aren't any British left. Her being sad, made me sad. I wish I knew London as it was through her eyes growing up. Anyhow, I just got looking up Danny stuff after I saw your reply....this made me laaaaarf! th-cam.com/video/6GUsFvWrWbw/w-d-xo.html
I guess you are right in a way. One can notice the difference between a country accent and a city accent. Just like one can notice small differences between Melbourne and Sydney....and say far north Queensland. Some accents are broader and some a little sharper. That said, they're pretty much the same, one just sounds slower and more laid back and the other faster and a bit more "cultured" with diction and pronunciations. The differences aren't nearly as vast as the differences between say Dallas and Boston....or Liverpool and Bath. Ya know what I mean?
When I visited the US I found Americans most friendly. I was however intrigued when they asked me if it snowed in England and have I met the queen? Ricky Gervais is not wrong on that! Still, I was amazed that Americans were genuinely interested in us. Monty Python James Bond, The Beatles, and The Prisoner got mentioned. I enjoyed it in America and have been lucky to have been all around the country. I definitely found the place friendly and that is for real. My favourite place was Albany New York although I never experienced a bad place I visited. Savannah comes second. Gosh this sounds sycophantic but believe me I don't have to be this and these sentiments are genuine.
I’ve visited the US numerous times and they are also so welcoming and friendly. Three times to Florida and once to New York. I did notice in New York they seemed to be more aware of other areas of Britain. So we went not long after St David’s day (Patron saint of wales as we are from wales) and the amount of Americans who knew numerous places in Wales and knew about St David’s day was lovely (even to me who isn’t actually welsh). Overall I find the Americans a lovely bunch of people when I visit. Nice to see a great video about us Brits from an American. Was also good to see not just London discussed!
Im a Brit(high schooler) who now lives in America/Alabama. The school that i go to is public and poor(Thats what my classmates tells me). Been to Florida Panama city(hate it). Not to be races or anything but black ppl here are loud come pair to my black classmates in Leeds.
The main thing I noticed going to the US is how staff in stores and in restaurants try to interact with customers so much. We Brits just want to order our food then be left alone. The refill thing in the US is mental aswell, it's like they want to give you diabetes.
I spent just over a year in New York and became friendly with a couple of the staff at a restaurant, as we went there a lot. This topic came up one time and it's partly to do with the whole tipping culture that the US has for those job types. They hope the attention and refills will lead to a worthy tip, so it's their way of keeping the customer happy. As an Englishman it was really strange and I don't think I ever truly got used to it, even after a year, but as long as it's not while I'm eating, then I can live with it. The compulsory but not compulsory tipping thing is really odd too. They should pay them decent wages and make tipping completely optional, like it is in the UK. A tip should be for good service, not just because you've been served and are expected to help make up the shortfall in someone's wages.
Moonshine Buck It's just nice having someone who doesn't seem pessimistic about everything serving you. You really should tip though, aren't their wages extremely low.
It's really not common in the US, and the weird thing is that it seems like it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation). 😊
Yeah, I got warned about it when I started working for an American company. Got my british co-worker to check over a global email before I sent it and he told me to change the 24hour reference to a 12 hour one, because they don't tend to use/understand it. We still generally use 8pm/8am when talking, but in writing its more usual to use 24 hour.
Trip Astute Conversely we Brits notice how Microsoft sometimes seems to assume we want 12hr time ;) Brits have difficulty knowing whether 12am means midnight or noon. (Strictly speaking am means before noon and pm means after, so neither is pedantically correct. We tend to say 12noon rather than use am/pm or 1200. Back in the day, every byte mattered and programmers refused to code a special suffices for Noon and Midnight Two friends of mine, based in SanFransisco and in London respectively and running similar businesses organised a phone conf call to bring in new clients for both of them. They turned up on the phone lines 12hours apart. Didn't impress the prospective clients who had been promised a transatlantic dialogue :(
The 24 hour clock is pretty standard for displays but unlike the French (who use it verbally) most British predominantly use AM and PM standard time verbally.
I do live in England up in the northeast. I have never been to the USA before but we have been to Tenerife,Spain. Yes I have been to London only twice. The first time was for a holiday and the second time was for capital FM’s summertime ball.
![How I See the UK as an American Abroad [CULTURE SHOCK]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qaZmoCPLCs8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[UNCUT]"ตุลามรณะ"ย้อนฟังคำทำนาย หมอดูทุกสาย ดวงเมืองร้อน (หมอปลาย ฟองสนาน อ.โอเล่)I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lE5az5VvT9M/mqdefault.jpg)
I was shocked when I visited the United States to see a colossal ball of fire in the sky, something us Brits are completely unaccustomed to. Apparently you guys call it ‘the sun’.
😂
Phuzion1 I know I don't understand what these people are chatting about
Phuzion1 I’m English mate.
Phuzion1 I’m from the West Midlands, but I live in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as well and have for a number or years.
Wow..I thought that was just an urban myth..smh.
Uk power plugs are by a long way, the safest and smartest design in the world.
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
@@TripAstute yes, tom scott is a fountain of knowledge. I like how all high amp appliances have a fused plug and the wire always comes out of the bottom of the plug so that if wire gets pulled it jambs in the socket and cant be pulled out.
The switch on the socket means you dont have to pull the plug out in order to cut the power.
True but have you ever stood on one
@@ethantyler8647 haha many a times (bloody well hurts), worse than any Lego brick
many many years ago I jumped behind my sofa messing about and landed bare foot on one and it stuck into the sole of my foot and I had to pull it out it broke my skin and for a couple of weeks I was limping about...
yes we are best as we are British.
Military time in England is called 24 hour clock
edit: i should probably say britain uses the 24 hour clock, but this was 11 months ago so i can’t remember what the video is about
24-hour time/clock is definitely the proper terminology 👍
I'm from britian
@@TripAstute I'm from the UK and the military should use the 24 hour day.. All kids in the UKGB are taught the 24 hour clock( everyone should know it) out of the military Am and PM are mostly used 12.01 am 12.01 pm :) Its easy
Trip Astute We in the Netherlands use the 24 hour clock system aswell.
Military time and the 24 hour clock are different. Military time doesn't have the colon but 24 hour does. A small difference, but notable.
Finally, an American who knows that we don't speak like the queen and live in London :)
Ha! I think we’re finally getting more awareness of northern accents, thanks to Jon Snow. 😄
@@TripAstute 😂 :)
Trip Astute soz abar me northen ascent I like that you ain’t British bashing an offerdin a genuin rsview... nice one lar (much love, northern. Queen)
Chop chop chorio ladie
Gellatonoustube6 guessing you’re either joking or not British
As an Englishman, I LOST it when you were like "We went to Barcelona, Lisbourne...and Bath." And I'm like "One of these things is not like the others~" xD
Ha, that's true. Though I have to admit that I loved Bath. Such a beautiful city, and the fact that it's a UNESCO World Heritage city is amazing! 😊
Lisbon
@@TripAstute I live in Bath, thank you for appreciating and loving my city.
I got a laugh on at the same. To me it was like "We went to Barcelona, Lisbourne...and Tesco. Tesco's bangin"
Hahaha me too.
I must say that this was a very respectful video. Many of this type just slate and mock the UK.
Thanks for being a good guy about it.
Thanks Jamie! We appreciate the feedback. Glad my admiration and appreciation for the UK came through. 😊
Trip Astute You seem to be a very nice guy. I hope you enjoyed yourself here.
We have some beautiful places here bro. All down the South West coast is amazing. Cornwall and Devon and Somerset.
My younger half brother was recently in New York with his girlfriend. He proposed to her in central park.
I like Americans like yourself. You are very respectful.
Thanks fella. 👍
ikr
Jamie Piller I never seem to see these "disrespectful" videos.......
David White So? Maybe look harder. Just because you don't see them it doesn't mean they're not real. How utterly fallacious.
Finally an American who recognises our tiny island has so many accents & dialects, and that we don't all talk middle class London.
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
@@TripAstute there is an app from some Cambridge University guys, English dialects, Adrian Leeman. Take the quiz and it shows 3 places you may come from. Reasonably accurate for me, upper Thames valley, edge of the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire. Obviously I don't "have" an accent, really. Lol, but I am.picking up some Notts, wooz instead of woz for was. Troost instead of trust.
Thanks for producing and presenting a video that didn't make a trip to the UK sound like an anthropological expedition; about how we eat food with rude names, drink tea incessantly etc. I have family from Virginia coming over this year and your video has reminded me of things to tell them about. All the best to you.
To be fair, there's probably a lot more american accents than you'd think. When I hear an american accent, I usually don't consider it another accent, unless it's something like a southern accent, or a brooklyn accent. There's probably a lot more.
@1989hpc And? Who gives a shit? When someone goes on holiday they don't go to the fucking suburbs and start working on a farm.
Most Americans seem to head for London if u want to see real England head for the lake district,explore the countryside and the small villages with lovely country pubs,head to York and the peak district then Scotland and Wales you wont regret it.
Thanks! I had a chance to visit the New Forest on my last trip over. It was amazing! Hoping to explore more of the UK on my next trip over. 👍
And the South West go that bit further than Bath and visit Bristol and on down to Devon and Cornwall.
@@ruthie504 ahhhhhh cream teas, you haven't visited the UK without one.
Wales, yes. Port Murion.
Yes ! Big up the lake District 😂
Thanks for not hating on Brits. Most Americans do. Also, if you're wondering why our plugs are so big and the sockets (outlets) have switches, UK plugs are the safest out there!
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
Always enjoy the UK for a visit. Don't believe we don't like, we just like to "bust your chops".
I'm a brit as well I'm glad he doesn't make fun of us
I have spent half my life in America and as a Brit I do not know where you get the idea they do not like Brit's Far from it they show us far more respect than we do them. They are also far better manored .
UK plugs need to be safer because our domestic voltage is about twice that of the US.
I'd glad you identified British as a whole. Most Americans think Britain is England only and not Wales and Scotland also. Thanks
Thanks! I know I messed up on the terminology though (i.e., UK vs GB vs England/Scotland/Wales/N. Ireland). I ended up doing a follow-up video since I felt bad about it. 😊
At least you saw your mistake. Also most people don't realise the UK has Northern Ireland, but it's not apart of Britain. Anyways good video
Lol. Most Americans think primarily of England when they think of “Britain,” but most Americans don’t think Britain is “just England.” Big difference there
Naivety at its finest
I decided long ago to not recognize the union of Scotland and England. And I support the Independence of Wales and Cornwall
I'm Scottish and think my country is beautiful, but I holiday in England when I can. The people are so warm and friendly. I love the lake district and Derbyshire.👍🏻👍🏻
Hong Kong Phooey I’m from England and I love Scotland 💙
@@sldmn9657 Visit Isle of Arran, Argyle, Isle of Skye and the Highlands. You will not be disappointed my friend.
Hong Kong Phooey Thank you! I will remember that when I am next up there!
No fucking way are you scottish!!!
I was born in Scotland but live in England, so naturally I go on holiday to Wales :-)
As a British girl I’m so happy you acknowledge that their is a lot more places in the United Kingdom than just London.
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
Yeah, I’ve been back twice since this video. I spent some time in the New Forest on my last trip, which was very beautiful. Also went to a wedding in Reading and in Waddesdon. Oh, and I enjoyed visiting Bath as well.
I haven’t had a chance to venture north, but hoping to on my next trip over.
I could tell that you was British because you don't know the difference between their and there---STOP abusing our language.
david wrighton as the grammar police you should know that that was grammatically incorrect
“That you was British” makes no sense
“That you were British” and you would have got a thumbs up who looks like an idiot now
david wrighton would you look at that I used was correctly unlike you.
“Military time” isn’t communicated verbally a lot in the U.K. but we do use it on phones etc mainly to avoid the mix up of 6am or 6pm, but I wouldn’t say to the wife let’s meet at 18:00 verbally
Yeah, most Americans wouldn't even know how to read 24-hour time. It's so uncommon in the US, and while it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format in the States, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation). 😊
And timetables
We don't refer to it as military time but simply as "the 24-hour clock". It's only devices and timetables that use it but certainly pretty well all Brits are familiar with it.
Thanks for a most open-minded view of this funny place.
Yeah, but if someone asks me the time, around 50% of the time when it's not a round number I'll just say''seventeen twelve'' rather than ''five twelve'' because, although if it's 13:15, I'dd probably just say ''quarter past one'' as these are much longer when you go above twelve, nobody would have time for ''half past twenty-two''.
And, this was the first time I've heard anyone say''military time'' I lived in china and there too, they just 24 hour clock rather than military time, as for us, it's just for the military, everyone uses it.
It's not so much communicating time verbally but that you are able to look at a clock and understand what it means. I always get tripped by the Americans putting the month before the day in a calendar date.
Thank you! As a Brit it is so refreshing to have a non-patronising, non-stereotypical differences video, that wasn't all about tea, or the Queen. Thank you again Sir.
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
Trip Astute about the plastic money, a lot of us brits hate it, it's very inconvenient and annoying to pull plastic out of your wallet
@@ey7290 plus it's smaller and like monopoly money lol.
The new 20 quid note is coming in October. My theory is the state want to get rid of cash. So they are making them unbearable that people go cashless and paperless.
Agreed finally a video that appreciates us bits and don't think we all have posh accents
Aaron Brall it falls out of your pocket LITERALLY HOW ANNOYING!!
lol didnt even know a 24 hour clock was called military time
It's commonly referred to as military time in the US and Canada because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US, so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military.
@@TripAstute So-called Military Time is in fact Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you ever visit Greenwich in London you can physically see the actual line itself!
Yeah, I’d love to visit Greenwich. It’s such an important location given the use of GMT and UTC around the world. 👍
It's not, It's just called "the 24 hour clock"
@@Wtf0069 No, you are confusing two different things GMT or UTC is the time at the prime meridian, Military or 24 hour time is simply a recognition that there are 24 hours in a day and does away with the need for am and pm. The Military term for GMT/UTC is "zulu" time.
Whilst the UK plug is probably the safest and "best designed" in comparison to all other versions, it hurts even more than Lego when you stand on it.
Yeah, a couple of people have reported the same experience! It hurts just thinking about it. 😆
My sister once stepped on it and it impaled her foot
I wonder about safest. I imagine the huge holes required in the wall socket would be much easier for tiny kids to poke metal things into. Difficult with our Australian ones, and I assume US ones. They're certainly impressive though.
It is actually more difficult to poke stuff in because the longer prong has a 2nd function in many sockets where the bottom holess are sealed until you put that prong in which opens the other holes.
Thanks for pointing out the accents, most people don't usually credit it.
EXLM Aquarius That's probably because in most videos of Americans going to Britain they'll stay in London.
Yeah, it really frustrates me to hear Americans say "British accent" when what they really mean is a formal (perhaps more upper-class) English accent. Even if you disregard the fact that Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland each clearly have very distinctive accents and are all still 'British' England itself has a variety of different accents. It appears that a lot of Americans are completely unaware of the variety of accents there are.
Joseph Challenor Yeah they're talking about Received Pronunciation (RP). Which is basically the queens English. RP is rather uncommon nowadays.
Even different sides of London have different accents lol. It's mostly because of the same British steretype portrayed in American media so I don't really blame the american layman
A good website to go look at is the British Library's section called "Sounds Familiar" where they have recordings of all different accents and dialects from across the UK and you can select by using the map
www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/
As a Brit, I can never understand why in the US, Emergency Exit signs are red instead of the UK / Europe standard of green. Red signals danger, why would you run to danger? I know the sign says EXIT, but not everyone can read.
That's definitely an interesting observation. I never thought of it as being unique. I think we tend to associate the color red with special attention (e.g., red phone in the white house, fire trucks, stop signs, etc.). Also, green tends to signify "go" in the US, which might be a problem with emergency exits (which are only to be used during an actual emergency).
Regardless, the differences are definitely interesting! 😊
hahaha they just installed illuminated red exit signs everywhere in the halls of my condo building... so many of them that it's an absurd overkill.
I would think that it is because they are "fire exits". usually to make them easier to see and be associated for use in fire.
Red is a easier color to spot then green.
If your can’t read the word exit then you probably shouldn’t be driving.. my uncle has dyslexia and he drives so I kind of get it but still.
When your a brit seeing A US flag to represent the english language
*Angrey Tea Noises*
Yeah, it should definitely be the UK flag. You invented the language! 😊
Sooo relatable, cause im a brit and it REALLY annoys me.
i hate when people say we all drink tea and we all sound posh. in yorkshire it's bovril (google it) and we certainly don't talk bloody posh 😂🤣😂
Same I hate the stereotypes use brits get.
@@TripAstute Technically should be the England flag, since Scots, Welsh and Irish didn't use to speak English either.
If you step on one of those gigantic plugs you're a gonner
It hurts just thinking about it! 😆
Abyan Khan omg ikrrrr
They're worse than Lego
Ouch! 🤣
yep I know! it takes your away but not in a good way Lol!
It's interesting that you call it military time. We generally just call them 24-hour clocks, or 12-hour clocks. Unlike the military we also don't say "21-hundred", just "9 o'clock" so that might be part of the naming convention.
Nice video, I always like seeing how others view our little corner of the world.
Thanks! 24-hour time/clock is definitely the correct terminology. It's commonly referred to as "military time" in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US (including myself), so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military. 😊
Trip Astute+ 24hr time tends to get used for 'official' things like train timetables so everybody's used to it. Outside of that, you'll find both 12 and 24hr time used in different places. I'm sure the mish mash of metric and imperial (English) measurements was interesting for you.
Never heard it called military time here.
Trip Astute d
Zikar yeah not Military Time just 24hr clock
I like how he didn’t disrespect either of the countries
Thanks! I definitely messed up on the terminology though. I actually did a follow-up video since I felt bad about it. th-cam.com/video/zvFyxiJbDIo/w-d-xo.html
Either of the countries, there are four in the United Kingdom.
Well if I said either of the 5 countries then people would get confused
@@BeHappy-sx5jk There are ways to do this.
As ethnic minorities, we are more open minded. He has a thick accent, so he's probably asked often if he's foreign in the States on top of his ethnic looks.
American: Everything's bigger and better in the US!
*sees British plug*
"Oh..."
🤣🤣😉😉
😂🤣
🤣🤣🤣
*Well some things are certainly bigger...*
@@Deggter like medical bills and egos? 😂😂
Things that surprised me most about how surprising it was for a young lass from the US visiting our little neck of the woods.
Lack of flags. Think she was expecting to see union jacks draped everywhere and it really took her aback how few flags there are at all unless it's November or we've got to at the least the world cup quarter finals.
Lack of God and loving the Queen. Again she expected to see signs of God not just around churches. She was most surprised that not all classes in all schools and colleges don't start with prayers and a loud roaring rendition of “Land of hope and Glory”
Train / public transport etiquette. She was so taken and surprised with the generally unspoken, unwritten but understood rule about getting on and off trains. Passengers on the platform waiting to get on stand aside to allow those getting off to get off. You gesture to anyone that was already there before you to go ahead or for anyone with a pram, bike or wheelchair you wave to the conductor that someone needs a ramp access or alternatively grab a wheel and lift up and safely over the gap into the carriage.
Stick shifts. "Wow everyone here seems to know how to drive a stick-shift?!"
A what? A car you mean? Yeah we mostly drive normal cars some are auto and some are semi-autos but mainly we learn and drive manuals"
"Manuals??"
Poor girl had a crash course lesson in car gearboxes.
Lack of parental controls / age restrictions.
Not all but many parents are stinking liberal hippies like us and don't have any parental controls or restrictions at all. Just boot up a PC, laptop, tablet or whatever - find whichever one isn't being used and knock yourself out. We don't mind too much what you do as long as it's not serious weird ass shit. Her hearing “Help yourself to a tea, coffee, beer or whatever” 18 is the legal age for buying alcohol here which throws some people off anyway but a lot of teenagers 16 or so drink responsibly at home.
Dogs / lack of dog parks. Absolutely amazed at dogs routinely walked off-lead around here but all under control and owners having similar dog owner / walker etiquette as with trains. For some reason it struck her most how well-behaved, well-trained and happily our dogs trotted alongside us and when called or given a simple whistle they came straight back. You see an unfamiliar dog walker, you sit your own down and place a lead on in case the other isn't friendly or the owner is nervous. Most people shout “It's OK he's friendly” in which case you happily let yours go say hello or politely call back “Mine isn't he's a twat and will rip the throat out of any dog he sees but thank you!”
Swearing. She had never in a million years expected the language which we don't even notice. British people swear better than anyone on the planet and quite a lot.
Those are great observations! It is funny how conservative and puritanical we are with parts of our culture in the US. Even though we are culturally so similar, there are aspects that feel completely different! 😊
Ooh forgot one other thing. Seeing dog and duck display at our local show. She was mesmerised watching happy waddling ducks gently ushered around the ring, up onto a bridge.. over a little bridge and pond finally through a little tiny wooden pen / gate.
"They herd ducks are you kidding me?? They don't eat or attack them?? Have never seen dogs herding ducks man that is so cool my folks won't believe a word"
She showed them this clip and they still insist it's not genuine.
th-cam.com/video/vGOGOxtN2lM/w-d-xo.html
People visiting the UK should go see all the main attractions in London but if poss, set aside extra time to hop on the train and see rural England.
*Do need to stress what may seem an obvious thing to most but please don't think all this comes naturally or easily. These dogs are trained, intense dogs that don't just come out for fun at shows and competitions. They do this every day - almost all day and in all weather with the same owner or handler their whole lives. They're like Marines of the dog world.
@@TripAstute the earliest migrants were relatively religious, they wanted religious freedom...from an established church, but got...well, what there is now.
Lack of flags is because we know what country we're in and don't hve to remind ourselves every few metres, dammit!
Swearing works better with a Scottish accent.
th-cam.com/video/cIPxLzfw6wU/w-d-xo.html
Rather pleasant review. Polite and not condescending which is a breath of fresh air.
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
As another USAer, thanks TripAstute for being a 'goodwill ambassador'! Although many of us are rude and thoughtless, it is not a prerequisite of being from the U.S.
agreed, well thought out
@@disoriented1 In my experience, American tourists can be a bit twattish, but nowhere near all of you guys.
Top tips; don't step into the road to take a photo or call something or somewhere "quaint", or try to say you invented the English language and you will be fine. We love your accents, but that is not an excuse to be rude or jump a queue. Try the food, it isn't what you might have been led to believe it is. Travel around the country/ies, not just London. The UK is beautiful.
Oh, and definitely try black pudding when you have a fry up. Don't be put off.
I loved the respectful way you spoke about our country. Your programme was highly entertaining and extremely well-informed.
Thanks Paul. We appreciate the feedback. Glad my admiration and appreciation for the UK came through in the video. 😊
Besides the part where he shows a map of the UK while calling it GB. 4:30
I've also found it amazing that a country as small as the UK is home to such a variety of accents.I'm from Wales by the way so you would definitely have problems understanding my accent lol. Very interesting video though.It's always good to get a different perspective on familiar places and things.Great job!
If you look left and right, either way you will see a car coming despite what side of the road.
Yes, that's definitely true. Though I think it's still a bit disorienting when you're first getting adjusted to the different traffic flows. I know that I naturally start looking in a certain direction in the US when I cross a road since I expect traffic from a specific direction.
Unless it's a one way street
You mentioned the size of the plugs. They're actually one of the safest designs in the world but damn do they hurt to step on
Yes, I can't even imagine how painful it would be. It hurts just thinking about it. 😂
Who keeps plugs in the middle of the room?
Or when you drop one on your toes 😭
Tom Scott?
Justin Fung Yep
In USA a person can only fancy another person, men fancy women, women fancy men (if your gay it's the other way round of course)
In England you can fancy a hamburger, a pizza, a coffee. You can fancy anything.
This is so true! For some reason, it sounds slightly inappropriate for us to hear someone say "I fancy an Indian." I know what they mean, but you're right, we only use fancy when talking about people. 😆
"Two Countries divided by a common language!" Attributed to Winston Churchill.
Churchill's mother was an American.
Peter Jennings I always thought that was George Bernard Shaw? Either way, it’s still a very true statement!
Finally a honest decent review on my country, thank you lad
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
Uk isn't a country but
@@floydroseofyournightmares4833 I think it is
propa mental boxing barry it's a kingdom
@@floydroseofyournightmares4833 No it's a country in Europe
I like this video as it’s quick and to the point without a lot of faffing around each point. Thanks.
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
It's a 24 hour clock, not specifically for or originally from the military. The military use it but that doesn't make it military time as the Americans say
That's correct. It's commonly referred to as military time in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). We also have a lot of veterans in the US (including myself), so I'm guessing that's how it's become associated with the military. 😊
Yh for us military time is just without the colon eg 0800 or 2200
Technically, during summertime it IS military time. GMT aka UTC is adopted by militaries around the world as Zulu .
Graham Butler from my previous comment it technically ISN'T military time, it's a 24 hour clock. If a civilian uses a 24 hour clock layout it isn't called military time, it didn't originate from the military, militaries adopted the layout for clarities sake. When GMT and Zulu match up one o'clock in the afternoon is still 13:00 GMT not 13:00 Zulu to civilians.
When he said military time, I thought he meant the way of pronouncing. Like 8am would be oh eight hundred. or 8pm would be twenty hundred. General public may use 20:00 for timing but we'd still say 8pm or 8 evening.
being a yorkshirman i love the fact we have our own regional dialects. its almost like each county is a different country. not only the way we speak but foods too.
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
even in yorkshire we have different dielects too. for such a small country its amazing. sometimes it needs to be shown by others from other countries as we are so used to it. hope you had a great time here in the uk
Sheffield ftw
up the tykes ;)
Laurence Andrews yes, just yes
as a brit, this is one of the only 'american tries britain' videos i actually enjoyed. thanks, man. loved it.
Thanks Daniel! We appreciate the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video too. 😊
No worries!
If you are coming to visit the England from abroad . Don't spend all your time in London . See some of the rest of the country , which is very different to London . And there is Scotland , northern Ireland , and Wales to see which all have their own personality . And no it's not raining all the time :-)
I laughed at the description of our British food names as 'slightly inappropriate'. I was like 'Yeah... that sums us up' 😂
Yeah, when someone mentioned "spotted dick" to me, I thought they were joking at first! 😂
i beieve its renamed now tho because it was inapropiate xD
@@dragonbugz6715 You might be right, but as a Brit that's the only name I know for it. Plus, I can think of worse 😂
Spotted dick anyone?
@@TripAstute It's been called that forever!
So, i feel like 90% of people will find this super boring but the reason our plugs are bigger is because they are designed to be ridiculously safe. It is almost impossible to electrocute yourself from a British plug or socket. Theres all sorts of clever stuff about there design but if anyone is actually as boring/interested as me Tom Scott made a great video explaining them.
Well, I guess I'm boring too because I watched the Tom Scott video and thought it was amazing! The more I learn about the UK plugs, the more I appreciate them. They were truly designed with safety in mind. 👍
This is the first time I've seen an American compliment Britain and not say "America is better" and mock Britain
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
I wish us Americans spoke as you guys do...love the Midlands accents and Scottish accents! Would move there if I could.
For the first time in history there are more North American migrating here than Brits to there been that way for a while now apparently. There's a good reason for it too. Life is more pleasant here for the average working person. We just don't want to see it that way.
I’m British and everything here was true. And I’m the same I find it difficult to understand Americans. One thing I noticed when I went to America is that the parking spaces were 10 x bigger than the ones in the uk
Yes, everything seems a bit larger in the US ... though people still tend to park horribly in the large spots! 😄
Bigger parking spaces because of our large SUV's and long pickup trucks' they need more room, which I kinda hate because I have a little compact car and can't see around them !
Ann Nunley thanks for letting me know
That’s because they have ginormous cars! Although cars are becoming like that in the UK.
Me and my partner were driving through the Cotswolds villages and we have a small car but he was like omg why are people driving these huge cars I’m in the gutter 😂
Everything is including their waistlines
Not long ago I heard an American girl scream:
‘This country is so stressful!’
At a coffee machine in the U.K. lol.
Thank you for not being like that haha, we see too many of those Americans.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I see a lot of those Americans while traveling too. 😊
I’m an American who has lived in England for 25 years,and I hate those types! I’m always tempted to tell them they’re making Americans look worse than they already are! Lol
That's quite a funny image haha :)
Honestly, Americans say that our own country is stressful, or that they plain hate it over here on the daily, so I'd cut her some slack. Like over the tiny inconvenience you can here your everyday American yell; "God I hate this country! I'm fucking moving to Canada!" But never move to Canada, it's how we work lmao.
Huh? Good comment mate. I would've made a "cut her some slack" comment if you hadn't and I'm a Brit!
Weirdest thing to a Brit visiting the US… only adding VAT/sales tax at the time of payment, and not including it in the sticker price
Yes, it must be really confusing, especially since it's inconsistent across states and counties. Some stores include it in the price, but most don't for some reason.
Yeah that's absolutely ridiculous. I've seen the argument "oh well there's different sales taxes in different states"
yeah? So what? There's different taxes around Europe as well but you don't see each individual country with the price and then the tax added at the end. It's just ridiculous.
Unless your store changed different states every day I don't see the point.
They seriously do that? so its not even the right price on the shelf?
danny123451: Correct. I think we would call it price misrepresentation.
It's because individual states have their own taxes rates and tax rates fluctuate so often it's too complex for businesses to add them into the shown prices for each state and remain up-to-date.
It’s crazy to me as a brit that you guys would travel like 3/4 hours to go to a concert. It’d be rare that I would travel more than an hour from where I live!
So true. We are definitely more accustomed to driving long distances for events. My British friends always say the same thing! 😄
I regularly have to travel at least 2 hours to a gig or show. It's difficult finding good events this side of the Tamar as it seems SW Cornwall is just too remote to bother travelling to.
Plenty of Brits come to Amsterdam for concerts and make a trip out of it.
Annabel Goodby Much of that is because your petrol is so expensive so it’s just not a thing to hop over anywhere let alone a concert. The US is so big that we have little choice to travel if we want to see anyone, so we are kind of just used to doing it. My mother lives away from me and I just get in the car and go see her, but when we are in the UK, we plan out entire trips just to travel the same distance to visit family in Wales from Birmingham. Makes me laugh.
Annabel Goodby if you think that’s bad I have drove from Sacramento California to Las Vegas Nevada which was a 10 hour drive and believe it or not there is people who drive from a state to another state which can take days to get there and they only stop for food ,to go to the bathroom and to sleep at night then early in the morning it’s time to keep on going
"Marks and Spensers market" hahaha that's so cute xD
I know, right? I'm still learning. 😄
Stayed in Florida last year, TV adverts were 3/5 about medical treatments (which btw, didn't seem to be a good idea judging by the warnings). That's literally the biggest thing I noticed because it was absolutely ridiculous. "Asthma treatment, warnings: Side effects can cause Asthma to worsen, and/or death"
Yes, I totally agree. It's completely ridiculous! We even poke fun at it in the US. You'll often see comedy skits where they rush through the "fine print" like they do during the pharmaceutical ads. 😆
The reason are plug are bigger is because they have not only a earth part they makes it less likely for you to get electrocuted but that there is also what is called a fuse that if the device have a problem like gets to hot or something isn't right that the fuse goes off and stops the device from being on making the device safer as the UK is health and safety mad just to let you know 😊
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
sophie day fleopqqe
You'll notice the shielding on the live and neutral pins so even if you put your fingers around the plug when withdrawing it you will not get a shock. The length of them is critical, as, as soon as you can see the metal of the pins it has withdrawn far enough for them to have disconnected from the inner contacts.
The UK plugs are really safe as has been described by many comments here. Just moving the plug thing to the French plug and socket system, these are really really rubbish, wiring a French plug can take over 15 minutes, especially making a safe connection to the earth pin, my opinion about these is they are rubbish manufacture and difficult to connect to a socket.
@Jim Knight You got it in one Jim.
We earth our electrical items as a rule, just in case anyone was wondering why there is an extra pin on a UK plug. Unless an electrical item is particularly well insulated,, they're usually earthed for safety. In fact I grew up thinking of the rest of the world as kind of dangerous for not doing that.
And there's a fuse inside each plug so it doesn't knock the entire house out if there's an issue
Oh yeah. Forgot to mention all that I guess because I kind of take it for granted, as a Brit.
Our mains is close to 250VAC and up to 13A, there's a lot of power there (which is why we can use electric kettles). The plug is bulky to separate the connectors and to contain a fuse (as are those in Australia). Also any appliance where you can touch any metal part *must* be earthed. In addition to the fuse in the plug there will be a fuse or breaker on the entire circuit in the fuse box.
There is a pretty good video on it here
th-cam.com/video/UEfP1OKKz_Q/w-d-xo.html
You also cant insert anything into the live/neutral pin holes of a socket, they are blocked off mechanically, until the earth pin is inserted. Also, the cable comes out from the bottom of the plug, instead of the front. That prevents any wires from being pulled out of the connections, inside the plug, if the cable gets tugged or caught. This also reduces the chance of any split water/fluids from entering the plug and reduces the chance of anyone tripping over the cable. UK electrical plugs/sockets, are a very well thought out design and are the safest in the world.
we have good health and safety in UK.
Health and safety have gone too far in the Uk now. Although the NHS is brilliant there are so many health and safety rules
you mean far too much
@@kevatnorthfield if you think its excessive in the uk go to australia mate, its much worse
R M L everything in Australia is trying to kill you though, that’s understandable.
@@Coys319 not in the major cities though, australians in the major cities are terrfied of everything, if a splash of rain appears tbe construction workers pack up and go home, you have one beer in a bar and get thrown out for being too drunk, maybe thats just sydney but theyre soft lmao
Your not alone with the accents mate, I'm from the north of England I have a pretty hard time ordering food and drinks down south as no-one knows what I'm saying 😂
😂
We're Northerners too and once when we were in Brighton I think it was, my husband went to the bar, cheerily said "Hi mate can I have pint of Smooth and a erm...pint of Stella?" and on my life the rest of the blokes drinking actually - literally slid their drinks along the bar and away all "Oh shit me...Northerners"
Day after I shared a lift with two young families and got in "Hi!!" which got a similar reaction to Catherine Tate's Aga Saga woman.
Then I asked a guy in Morrison's were the eggs lived and he gave me this most bemused look and repeated back slowly with the best cockney accent "Where the eggs... LIVE? Aww I do luv a Norvern gowl!!"
He was the only person we that wasn't scared of us. The guys in the bar recoiling with their drinks when they heard my husband speak though. Couldn't stop laughing.
@@CharlotteWeb100 😂😂 they have no idea, I had a similar one in Peterborough I have family down there so went out for a drink, said to my cousin what you having and he said Peroni so went to the bar said 2 Peroni's please clear as day and she came back with 2 bottles of water 😂
Peterborough that reminds me!! We do Burghley horse trials every year cos I'm guilty of being a horsey sort but there are horsey people and horsey people but shit me do you see the difference.
See posh totty lot decked out in designer gear, immaculate hair and makeup, hanging around near the BBC cameras in the hope they'll be seen and they'll have a pissy-arsed glass of warm Pimms with a half dead strawberry dipped in sugar and wedged on the side £15 bollocking quid for dead strawberries and sugar but they stand there "Good lord we're rich"
Then we'll park ourselves on the grass, produce 2 bottles of Pimms, lemonade from spar, full massive lot of fresh strawberries and plastic tumblers showing everyone "Look - see this lot? £15 job lot and we have enough strawberries left over for throwing at people. Sit yourself down if you want some don't go buying that shit look at those strawberries they're crying FFS!!"
Hadn't realised we were sat by the microphones by one of the big fences and I'm sure it'll have heard me saying "grrr... dropped me strawberry look it's gone right down my... strawberry on my tits now"
connor, I love the northern English accents, esp Yorkshire. They are so fun to listen to. Ey up! Scottish accents are great too.
christmas pudding isn't misnamed to brits; in the uk, 'pudding' is a synonym for dessert. i don't think we brits even have a specific name for what you call pudding in the us. also, i've never heard the term 'military time'. we would say 24 hour clock, and yes, most places (particularly places that need efficiency and to keep confusion to a minimum, eg train stations) would use a 24 hour clock. i use a 24 hour clock on my phone, but weirdly not on my laptop. i think brits are generally comfortable with both.
Yeah, we are really not accustomed to the 24-hour clock in the US. I didn't realize until others mentioned it in the comments that most electronics and appliances come with it as the default setting. In the US, everything is set to 12-hour time as the default. 😊
Puddings can actually be savoury e.g. steak and kidney pudding. It is to do with the cooking process on why something is called a pudding as puddings tend to be steamed. (Well placed in a container/cloth and put in a pan of boiling in water to cook.) And yes "pudding" is also a common name for a dessert.
ah yes, i forgot about savoury puddings!
Haha in NZ we say 24 hour clock too..loved the vid :D
Military time to me is 0 8 hundred hours and such. (Brit)
If you notice on our plugs the top pin is longer. When you plug it in, this long pin pushes something that opens up the bottom holes for the other pins. This means children can't put their fingers in there and get hurt.
I hope I explained that okay, I'm not an electrician 😂
It makes a lot of sense. The more I learn about the UK plugs, the more I appreciate them. They were truly designed with safety in mind. 👍
it took some years before they put plastic sleeves on the top of the live/neutral pins so that kids or whatever could not push thin metal behind a plugged in plug and electrocute themselves.
I did it myself as a kid, put a piece of metal meccano behind a plug, a big bang and flash ensued. fortunately i didn't fry myself. you cannot do that now.
Yeah, the design is extremely safe (unless you stand on a plug) and probably one of the safest in the world.
The lack of earth pin on most devices in the states always worries me. :P
I love your video, I am English, and love hearing what people from other countries think, the 'plug' amused me, never thought about that before...
Thanks, Jenny! Glad you enjoyed the video. 😊
@@TripAstute Glad you enjoyed your time here.
I don't agree with some replies here that American people don't like British people. I've met many Yankies through my job as a visitors assistant and found the majority were warm, friendly, polite and had a lot more historical knowledge than most of the our British visitors. They are willing to share knowledge with you and loved all our funny slang words like someone being "a bit Dodgy" and they were quick to give praise where praise is due and the youngsters were upbeat and enjoying themselves unlike some of the sullen European teens who drifted through the place. Overall I got a good impression of you chaps! Remember we have a stronger bond with you because we were allies during the wars. And in future we may need each other again to defeat the great evil of extremism in the world. When you suffer, we suffer and vice versa. Sending you all a big wave from the UK.
Thanks! I completely agree -- I honestly think that we tend to love British people, and are fascinated by our unique cultural differences. Our countries have shared a long bond, and there's no denying that so much of American culture and identity is based on our British heritage. 😊
You obviously haven't come across the American tourist who asked why they built Windsor Castle under the Heathrow Airport flight path.:)
@@geoffstewart6580 I know don't you love it that a part of their charm 😊 a very nice American lady said to me when I was in New York we are off to England next week and we have thinking of booking some excursions could you tell me how much it costs to have tea with the queen ???😂😂 she was totally baffled when I started laughing
Thanks Karen, I’m from UK but have lived in US for over 25 years. I have never heard a negative
Comment about the UK, on the contrary , Americans are warm, friendly and very fascinated
About British History, culture ect. Downtown Abbey was adored and the questions I was asked were hilarious.
It seems a pretty recent thing that there is this bitterness “thing” going on between us, maybe it’s the younger generation
Or Euro influence...but the UK and the US has always had a strong bond in my opinion and experience ..hope it continues
to always be true.
@@MeadowDay Thank you for your nice words. I was just getting a bit fed up with Brit/Yankie bashing! I take people as they come and have met many lovely people from around the Globe. One of the chief questions I was asked was about Downton which was fine. Its nice to know that such a good show brings enjoyment to people and encourages them to look into history. After watching the wonderful Ken Burn's documentaries it has inspired me to study aspects of American History myself. It was nice to get answers to some of my questions from visiting guests too.
First person to not do English Stereotypes, thank you so much! Lmao.
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
As a Brit watching this can I say thank you for making such a respectful video
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
Trip Astute If you are planning on having a return trip there are many nice places in this country outside London, The Cotswolds, the Lake District and Yorkshire are all nice places to visit.
+Sam Eyers Thanks for the tip! I am definitely hoping to explore more places when I visit again. 😊
Agreed. Most other videos like this are usually mocking us or being really condescending. This video was quite refreshing and pleasant to watch. Subscribed.
Birmingham is a great place to go also and if anyone goes to "The Bull ring" the bull there isn't really a bull...wink wink lol Really cheap beer and ale/stout there and you'll get 2 decent drinks for less than a fiver! I live 26 miles outside north London and it's not cheap nor expensive.
Omg “I doesn’t contain scotch” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 it’s called a scotch egg cos it’s from Scotland not cos it has scotch in it 😂😂😂
Interestingly enough, a couple of folks have commented on this video that scotch eggs are actually English (with influences from Indian cuisine): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg
Not sure if it’s 100% accurate, but I found it fascinating! 🤓
Hahaha!!! :-D Scotching being the tradition of covering things in sausage and breadcrumbs!
Scotch eggs aren't Scottish, neither is haggis I've recently found out, the Scottish will be wanting another referendum now😂😜
I hope you’re not British and just said that mate.
@Craig 75 the programme I watched didn't go that far back, but the first known recipe used in the UK was recorded in an English cook book, of course the Scottish got their sporrans in a twist and refuted it, what a shocker 😂
It took me a good while to figure out what military time was - we just call it the 24hr clock and it’s used on pretty much all digital clocks. Very interesting video thanks
Thanks! It's commonly referred to as military time in the US because we rarely see the 24-hour time format used outside of the military and law enforcement (though it is actually used in other industries and occupations). Also, 24-hour time seems to be the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock. 😊
I cant imagine not having a 24hr clock on my phone, what if u got up at 1 in the morning and thought u were late for work
The weirdest UK to USA comparison is Biscuits and Gravy. To us in the UK the idea of combining what we know as a biscuit (digestive, rich tea, hobnob etc) with what we know as gravy (generally a brown, beef-based 'sauce' used on roast dinners) is a disgusting concept. 🤣😆
Yes! Our concept of gravy is completely different! 😆
Hmmmm, a disgusting concept you say? I say we try it with our version of the words. What's the worst that can happen? Apart from bowel movements...:P
It's not that: your "biscuits" are a completely different thing from our "biscuits," which are what you would call cookies.
It's a disgusting concept because no-one would do that, and the Americans don't. A "biscuit" in America is a completely different thing (a savoury type of short-bread) from a "biscuit" in Britain (a sweet confectionery).
DieFlabbergast - I think you've missed the point.
We like big plugs and we can not lie.
😂😂
Oh la la.... can not lie? Many British people lie through their teeth by saying something and doing something different, often. Also, the inhibition of expressing feelings and views, causes many a British person to appear smooth as a peach, while holding grudges and acting them out at a later time. Passive agressive, it's called. British people are extremely quickly offended, very childish. The best example of that is found in the British parliament, where a bunch of toddlers hit each other on the head with the trowel. It's hilarious to Dutch eyes.
@@devonseamoor It's a song lyric. I like big buts and I can not lie. It's not that deep.
@@bingbong2696 king kong lol
i had to do a double take then , we like butt plugs....
It was so try about accents. I am from a small town in South Nottinghamshire. Me and my sister were watching a programme the other day,and I remarked to my sister "he sounds like he's local"
She replied "They already told us he's local he's from Melton Mowbray "(which is about 12 miles away)
I replied "No I mean LOCAL!" (We googled him,he was from 3 miles away)
Yeah, I was so amazed that a person's accent in the UK can oftentimes be traced to a specific town, rather than just a region. It's really interesting! 🤓
@@TripAstute definitely! I am on the border of Derbyshire and nottinghamshire(less than a mile when the border). And I went to school in Derbyshire, in Shipley,. I can tell you everyone and the accent,for every difference for about 6 miles inn l directions.
I think if you live in a city or nearer a city the differences are less of a noticeable difference.
You have gained a subscriber today.
I like you gentle approach. X
@@TripAstute the local accent is definitely VERY specific,but then it literally(and I mean that in the true sense of the word) changes every mile you go! It's fascinating even for me,that we talk with a different accent to the town a mile away.
@@jensm4026 really interesting
You really respected the English culture and terminology, I really appreciate that mate
Thanks! I'm happy that my admiration for the English culture came through in the video. 😊
Love the states but for us Brits the price labels then plus tax at the check out on goods is crazy .And tipping system seems very weird as we tip for a good service not to pay the persons wages which is included in the price you pay for things over here. Tips are an extra.
I completely agree. Our tipping culture in the US is excessive and confusing. It feels more like an obligation at times than a reward. Luckily, there is a trend at several restaurants to change the culture by removing tips and just paying employees more, which seems great! 😊
Lee B I totally agree - you don't really know what the price is because the tax hasn't been added. Insanity!
Sales tax is determined by the counties within the states. In California, I live in an area close to a neighboring county who's sales tax is lower than my own so it's cheaper to drive about a quarter mile down the road and buy the merchandise in the next county.
Kevin P Drive? The money you're saving on tax in your county just gets spent on petrol / gas money when you drive to the next county, yes? It might only be a quarter of a mile you're driving, but it will definitely build up in costs.
I don't have a problem with sales tax being set differently in each state ... but I did find a pain in the posterior that the price quoted was pre-tax, so unless you could quickly add up 7.5% or whatever it was in your head, you didn't know what it was going to cost you at the till. It's hard enough to work out what coins and notes to use when you are unfamiliar with them (oh yes, and as well as our new banknotes being plastic polymer, they are graded by size, so that £10 is slightly bigger than £5, and £20 is slightly bigger than £10, to make it easier to sort them, especially for visually impaired people), but when you don't even know what you're trying to get it to add up to, it makes it a whole lot trickier!
Im a Brit, and he's spot on with all of these! ☺👍
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
bobthebeat2008 apart from scotch egg
Honestly not everyone is polite I don't get why Americans assume we all have posh accents or is that me
@@Creme.. that's just you bud although alot of Americans like some British accents
Sure whatever
I went to America years ago when I was 11 I think, and I was genuinely shocked by how wide and straight the roads are. Every city no matter how big or small felt like a chess board. The existence of blocks is really unusual to me.
That is definitely the case in most US cities. Though I believe that Washington, DC, was built with the intention of being confusing/non-standard (in case it was ever occupied)! 😄
Wait so your telling me an American has NEVER HAD A SWEETCORN AND TUNA SANDWICH
No, my first time having one was in England. I know ... my life is forever changed. 😆
I'm shocked, honestly.
They haven't had sweetcorn and tuna pasta either??
Or tuna pasta bake with sweetcorn??
Where did you get that map .5 of the counties in northern ireland are in the republic of ireland including my own.Never seen that before .trip salute
By far the best "American in England " post ever , too many of the others just criticise my country but this one didnt , it just as the title suggests focused on differences not the normal "what i like" or "didnt like" ! Great respectful post .
Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad that my admiration for the UK came through as well. 😊
Ade Thrush i agree, this was a refreshing change i really enjoyed this video. It's always nice to hear that sometimes people do things differently and not wrong because its different.
Ade My thoughts exactly but there's one other American guy that does fair commentaries on a channel called Wolter's World and as the name suggests he does it for many countries in the World.
I always flinch in these kinds of videos when our cuisine comes up, but yeah, he was positive about it rather than looking for something to mock or put down.
Totally agree. Being a Brit myself i found it rather interesting how you thought of us. As Ade said you didn't criticize us. Though one thing, those "huge" plugs we have are much safer than the U.S counterparts :P
I was driving a hire car in Texas a few years back and pulled into a ‘gas station’ to refuel. Almost as soon as I stopped at the pump, a guy said, “English?” I said, “Yes, how did you know?” He replied, Everyone else drives in the opposite way!” 😂😂
I love it! 😂
Aww, Texans are so polite... :-) and re 'Driving on the left' #TripAstute ? try Japan ...back in the day I was on a Royal Navy ship visiting a U.S base in Japan. With typical U.S generosity the USN provided us with two vehicles to make life easier while we were alongside. Just happened that I was one of the few guys onboard who had my driving licence with me, so I got nominated to take a Japanese driving test and given a US mil licence. The fact that Japan also drive on the left made life easier for me - and tougher for Americans. Still got my US Govt issue licence somewhere :-) . On the jaywalking front I was visiting Washington DC for work in 1996. We were put up in a Howard Johnson just off I-95. Like a lot of American hotels, they don't have restaurants so usually you eat out. My colleague and I saw a diner on the other side of the road from the hotel - so we just walked across the highway....apparently this is 'not done' :-)
On the contrary, as a Brit when I went to the states, the weirdest thing was how nice restaurant staff are, as in the UK tipping isn’t a massive thing, so they don’t care quite as much. Also, the tea in the states is rubbish! 😂
Great observations! I've heard the tea complaint before from many visitors. Unless you go to a proper tea house, it can be hard to get a good cup of tea in the US. 😀
Trip Astute Apart from the tea it was a really nice and quite expensive restaurant in DC! 😂😂
Ed Westby
Tea in the whole world is rubbish! In fact what I mean is, the whole world drinks tea different. We in England like it strong, most people don't.
When I go abroad, I just drink coffee. I don't particularly like it, but it's better than weak as f... tea.
Ian James True, I didn’t even order the tea, I had orange, not wanting to risk it, but my mate ordered it and when he took a sip he told me to try it 😂
Agreed on the tea thing! Always brought my own tea bags when visiting the states but then found a love for coffee which is everywhere.
I live in the uk and when I visited the US this summer I noticed that when you buy an item they charge extra tax weather in the uk it’s included in the price,
Also the portions are bigger and everything is cheaper and tipping is practically a must.
One last thing is that although America has a few dialects and creoles, a lot of stuff is written in Spanish on billboards for the Latino communities to understand
Great observations. 👍
Also trying to get lemonade is a nightmare in the US 🤣
Fun fact: the large sockets are designed to prevent shocks, not just when people stick their hands in, but when metal devices are broken!! It’s cool and everyone knows it 😎
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
Hi, great video, but we say "24 hour clock" not "military time", and just "the tube" not "the London tube", I've been to US, what perplexed me was sales tax being added on after, and being stopped by police because I was walking to the shops, everyone else was driving, they thought it was suspicious lol.
Thanks for the clarifications. And those are definitely some strange and goofy aspects of US life. I also walk to my local store instead of driving, and I often receive funny looks from my neighbors. 😄
Yeah, same. I walked from my hotel in LA (shutters on the beach) along the beach to Venice beach. People thought me and my mum were a little crazy. Not even a long walk... Only an hour (once I get walking, it goes quickly and I occasionally walk the hour to school and sometimes if I feel like it to Oxford Street / Selfridge's to shop and or go get lunch)
@MissRiaElaine If its ok for Transport for London to call it the tube in various areas of their website and publications, I think its ok for someone on youtube to say it.
In the UK, I often have the correct change by the time I get to the till, in Canada, I kept getting caught out by sales tax because they said it would be too much work adding it on, which I found confusing. Until I read an article on North American sales taxes, it is not like the UK where taxes are nationwide. In N.A. they can vary from State to State or Province to Province, so every place there was a Walmart there would be different prices due to the differing sales taxes.
As for time, the 24hr clock was used by NATO and that is why the Americans refer to it as Military time. We have mainly adopted the 24hr clock to correct misunderstandings as to time in am or pm. Of course, we don't understand it until we travel to N.A. and discover the country is so big it has 5 time zones covering it, not like us with our one zone.
I drove across Canada two years ago and crossed 3 time zones, thankfully I was using my phone so the time changed automatically but for a couple of days, I was living a 23hr day. On the return journey, I decided to go by bus, which took 70hours so I was having 25hr days. I'll never complain about a long bus journey in the UK ever again.
Having to remember always to tip.
As a brit I wish this video was longer... love hearing about what other cultures find surprising and different. Good job dude!
Thanks! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
0:31 For anyone confused, only one of those is in the UK 😁
The plugs in the uk are the safest in the world, the plug socket closes until the top stick goes in a little so then the other two open so you put the whole plug in, stops your chances of kids just poking at open plug sockets!
So true. I watched the Tom Scott video on the UK plugs and was really impressed with the safety features built into the plug. Makes me appreciate them more! 👍
:)
Being British the one thing I’ve never gotten used to when visiting the United States is paying tax separately when you buy something as here in the uk the tax is included in the price
Yeah, that's definitely a weird aspect of the US culture. I actually included it in our recent video on what travelers should know when visiting the US: th-cam.com/video/wEkjUgC8cww/w-d-xo.html
I was going to say the same thing - it is really annoying when you get to the till thinking you have the right money ready (especially when you are trying to use some change that has been building up and weighing down your pockets) only to be told a different price to what is on the labels or stickers etc of what you are buying.
Grington300 300 Well prices around the U.S depend on state or even city so the companys trying to factor the prices for each individual store would be rather difficult
Breonna Lynn That's fair enough, but I don't see the difficulty in the individual stores sticking price labels on what they're selling that show the price including the tax they'll be adding at the till. Our supermarkets in the UK do that whenever there is a price change. Even your clothes shops etc will have shelves with, for example, T-shirts $10 each but you go to pay and they add tax - would it be so hard for them to label the shelf or even the shirts with the price including the tax (they know how much it will be in their State, city or whatever) so I can have the right money ready?
At first when you said military time, I was confused but when you explained it to be the 24 hour clock system I instantaneously knew what you were on about. The Majority of the digital clocks in the UK will have this time system; but ask a brit for the time and they will give it to you in 12 hour time.
Just a tip : fortnight - 2 weeks. I don't quite know why people don't use that term else where, but its useful to note.
Glad to have you back in the UK when you feel like it. And pop down to dorset, lovely place.
Thanks! Yeah, for some reason, we rarely see the 24-hour time/clock used in the US. My understanding is that it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation).
And great tip on "fortnight" -- we definitely don't use that term, but I wish we did. It's quite useful and much less confusing than bi-weekly. 😊
I never really realised that we have so many 24 hour clocks. My phone says the time rn is 15:22 👌
£10 for that tray of sandwiches... no way would I pay that. Find a tesco. way cheaper
Well that's what you get when you shop at mark and Spencer market lol 😅
So true lol
I'm a brit and I found the weirdest things in America to be the plugs/sockets, giant trees everywhere, its sunny almost everyday, the huge houses, The giant portions of food and how nice the staff at eating places are.
it was a really weird experience, but also awesome!
Yeah, depending on where you visit, it can feel completely different. Even coming from LA, it can feel like a completely different culture and country when you visit different states (e.g., Hawaii). 😊
I hate the huge houses. I live in a metropolitan area with a population of 259,000 people. The area I live in covers almost 616 square miles. It's basically 616 square miles of suburbia. There is no functioning centralized downtown, (aside from the football stadium I guess, that seats 81,000 people, there's a river area but no one goes there except poor latinos), public transit is a joke, there are some bus lines during the day. You have to drive everywhere, even just to get groceries, there aren't even good sidewalks in most of it.
For comparison, London has 8.7 million people in the same land area. Now I think London is too crowded but God I wish americans would actually try to do some intelligent urban planning instead of saying "land is cheap, why remodel old buildings when you can just build new ones in the unzoned corn fields just outside the city limits!"
When I was in the USA, the top 10 things which stood out to me were:
1. The serving sizes of meals were HUGE! I've never seen so much food on a plate before.
2. The plugs were really strange, and seemed flimsy/unsafe.
3. The doors were much wider in general.
4. Toilets had far more water in the bowl.
5. Police carrying guns.
6. People seemed to talk about me to other people, when I was right there (seemed rather rude).
7. Renaissance Faires...a strange mix between the vaguely historical and complete fantasy.
8. There were American flags EVERYWHERE!
9. Shops and restaurants were so much farther apart than in the UK. People seem to think nothing of driving for 30-45 minutes to go out for food.
10. Tax being added at the checkout in a shop. Things always cost more than you think!
Great list, and all true! I'm glad you commented on the Renaissance Faires. That must have been such a weird experience ... fake English accents and complete mix-ups of historical time periods and fantasy. 😆
Yeah, as a massive history buff I was slightly thrown off by the Renfaires! lol Thanks! :-)
Don’t worry about not understanding the accents. We find it hard to understand each other too 😂
I've the opportunity to travel to the US on several occasions. Everywhere I went people were charming, friendly and welcoming. The only thing I found scary and very intimidating was the sight of guns. It's extremelly sad and heartbreaking to hear the huge number of lives, especially young lives who are victims of gun violence. Also the amount of police officers who fall victim to that. I feel something more drastic needs to be done to curb these shocking numbers.
Thanks for sharing your experience! As an American, I have to agree as well. The number of people who die of gun violence in the US is staggering and unacceptable. 😬
Where’d you see guns?
My dear chap - what a pleasant surprise. A critique of the UK, minus any of the usual derogatory comments. God bless America, plus hugs & kisses to your Limey wife ; of course!
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
Why do you talk like that.
@Jeff Webb
SJWs have to bring up politics in a topic that has NOTHING to do with politics. Oh, by the way. Four more years! Thank OAC for us.
@@TheTeufelhunden68 Donald Joke Trump only cares about money.
I live in the uk and went to Florida a couple of years ago, schoolboy error when I asked for chips with my meal and ended up with crisps on my plate!
Yeah, that's an easy mistake to make! I do wish we would standardize our food names in the US. 😆
As a Brit, this was very interesting. Thanks.
Thanks Jonathan! We appreciate the feedback. 😊
I also agree, a very knowledgeable and structured video. One thing i love about the US was the portions of everything, and cheap fuel. One thing i found weird is you guys like to mix sweet with savory, like bacon and syrup and peanut butter and jelly, i am yet to try these but i am intrigued..
Great video! You avoided the cliches and I found this a really interesting video as a Brit.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video. 😊
fun fact.. in the UK we drive on the left because it harks back to the days of people on horseback.. knights in shining Armour and all that
if a bandit or highwayman was to approach you he would be to the right of you on the road, leaving your sword hand free to defend yourself while you held the reins of the horse with your left hand.
most European countries also used to ride on the left hand side for the very same reason, Napoleon changed this in a lot of places (as he was a a small left handed ego maniac who could barely get on a horse never mind swing a sword from its back :)
American colonials originally drove on the left but after the war of independence you guys were keen to shed all ties to the British. so you gradually changed to driving on the right.
also Scotch eggs are called that because they were invented in Scotland
things I noticed in the US.. tipping, everybody wants a tip :)
different sales taxes in different states really confused me.
the HUGE portions that all food places give you.. I'm like "dude this is just for me not a family of 4"
how ignorant a lot of Americans are about countries outside the US.
J walking (the notion doesn't compute to a brit coz we can cross where we want, you just follow some simple rules that all children are taught very early in school , our Govt are like .... if you get hit by a car because you didn't use a crossing we'll patch you up but you'll have to live with the consequences, you knew the risk.
(its even crazier to me because in the USA if you did get hit by a car it wouldn't be the Govt paying for your healthcare so WTF do they care?)
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. It's definitely fascinating to understand why we do normal everyday things in certain ways. 😊
actually, you’re supposed to ride past eachother left shoulder to left shoulder which means on the right
Depends. I, a Floridian, have free healthcare. It's *universal* healthcare that's missing. That's what we want. Millions of Americans already have free healthcare, the problem is it isn't all.
Napoleon wasn't small. Most drivers back in time were right handed holding a whip. They were sitting on left side so when somebody passed them they could see wheels clearly. People were doing it already long before Napoleon.
Scotch eggs were NOT invented in Scotland. They were first made by Fortune & Mason in LONDON.
When I'm in the States what I find crazy is how every single fast food place has free refills. Also, when people ask how you're doing; they genuinely mean it haha
Yeah, we take for granted that free refills are standard in the US. Though I have to admit that it's terrible for our waistlines. 😆
With reference to mince pies - these did actually contain meat when they were made centuries ago. Because we had no useful method of preserving meat in days of yore, it rotted easily. So, the rancid taste was hidden by incorporating the minced up (or ground to you Americans) meat with lots of dried fruit, strong alcohol and spices from newly discovered countries (such as India and China). As things like refrigerators and freezers became prevalent and methods like canning gave meat a longer shelf life, mince pies soon became a sweet rather than a savoury product and became the yummy seasonal treat we know today.
There was also a time when meat was a generic term for all food as it still is in Scandinavia (Mad in Danish).
We still refer to 'Sweetmeats'.
I wondered why sweetmeats were called that. And I didn't know about all food once being refrred to as meat - thanks for that interesting fact. You learn something new every day :)
This is great info. Thank you both for sharing! 👍
Also important point for vegitarians and vegans - some mincemeat mixtures have suet in them which is animal fat. so make sure to look at the ingredients or if you are making your own mincepies make sure it doesn't have suet in it.
I know - I always check the label on mincemeat or mince pies to make sure that vegetable suet was used.
As a Brit visiting the US, the most striking thing to me was the wildlife. I spent a few weeks in Southern California, and despite the drastic change of climate, it felt familiar due to everyone speaking English, and the fact I spent most of my time there with a friend who used to live in the UK, but now lives out there.
It didn't truly feel like I was in a different country for a few days, until I saw a pigeon. Just a normal pigeon you get everywhere else in the world. I was having a smoke on the balcony, watching this pigeon just do it's thing... And then a goddamn eagle swooped down and ruined its day. It completely threw me. Later that night I saw a small pack of coyotes hanging around some bins in the apartment complex, which was backed onto the foothills. Later that week we went hiking, and ended up coming across a mountain lion. Not to mention the dozens of lizards I saw skittering about like you'd see squirrels in the UK.
Wow, I'm amazed that you saw a mountain lion. I grew in Los Angeles and have yet to see one while hiking. You are correct though -- there are a lot of predatory animals in the US, especially in the Southwest. 😬
I'm an American living in the UK and really enjoy these observations because they remind me of my confusion when I first arrived. The advantage a British citizen has when visiting the USA is that they've usually had decades of being schooled in American culture via TV.
That's so true! I guess Americans have "Downton Abbey" and "The Crown" to watch, but it's probably not a good representation of everyday British life. 😆
A great point, not really considered that before but you're right, we're already semi septics aren't we. Nice to have you aboard sir/madam/confused.
The mincemeat in mince pies used to contain meat. They used to be mostly meat with a small amount of “exotic” fruit and spices, such as oranges, cinnamon etc. Which used to be impossible to grow in the British climate, and so were expensive.
As a way of showing off your wealth. Richer people added more of the fruits and spices. Then as they became more readily, and therefore cheaper and meat became more expensive. The meat content was reduced until it was gone.
Such interesting history! Thanks for sharing. 👍
Everyone is being so nice I kind of hate to post this.
In any case, Trip Astute, mincemeat pie is more common in the USA that you would expect. I am umphetyupmh years old and I've heard of it my entire life. That's from someone in the low population density western US states. I've eaten it before. I never really liked it though.
All in all, I'm pretty sure if you asked anyone I know if they've heard of it they've probably even tried it.
And real mince meat, the kind not marked a 'vegetarian' should contain suet - which is a meat fat.' I have a friend in Boston, they have mincemeat tart at Thanksgiving.
You seem like a nice dude. So many Americans that appear on YT seem to see the U.S as the benchmark that other countries must be graded against... when U.S civilisation is much much younger than the ones they are judging.
Thanks! Yeah, I think it's easy for Americans to assume that the rest of world functions and lives the same way, when in reality, there are so many things we could learn (and adopt) from others. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel and live abroad, so my goal is to help others (especially my fellow Americans) with feeling more confident about traveling abroad and embracing new experiences. 😊
@@TripAstute you yanks are just children, playing in a grown up world :)
And an incredibly violent country too - those crazy gun laws!
Good manors and hygiene are more prevalent in the USA sad to say as I am a Brit that has lived in both places. Americans are no more to be judged by TV than we are.
@Carolinne Titmus I know the difference between manors and manners and think you should too.
There's usually a lot of rivalry and competition between our two countries, which can make it hard to stay positive and respectful, but I loved the fact that that's exactly what you managed to do. You were never bias, never offended anyone and made a great video. Got a like from me mate.
Thanks for the feedback and kind words. We really appreciate it. 👍
No, there isn’t. Our countries are allies, not rivals. The rivalry is in your head. Brits feel competition with Americans but ask an American if they think Americans and Brits are rivals. We have nothing but nice things to say.
@@signalfire15 Your point usually disintegrates when the question of "who's military is better quality" is brought in to play.
@@signalfire15 Also, in terms of politics and logistics, there is massive rivalry and hate between our two countries.
www.quora.com/How-did-the-Americans-help-the-British-recover-after-WWII/answer/Steve-Soutar-3?__filter__=&__nsrc__=2&__sncid__=3381916058&__snid3__=5545731586&comment_id=111911246&comment_type=2
There was WW1, WW2, their refusal to share our own joint research programs and the Suez Crisis just to name a couple of examples.
@@l3gionmusic814 And how many instances in the life of an average American do you think that question comes up? No American is going to bring up the military in casual conversation. And even if this question does come up, why would you be bothered by an American believing that their military is better? The vast majority of American tax dollars go towards military spending. We invest a significant amount into our military, of course we would believe our military is stronger than a country who does not spend as much in tax dollars nor have as many people to build the kind of militia that America has. The only time this question would be brought in to play is by a British person who is trying to antagonize or rile up an American and force us to defend ourselves. We are defensive of our troops. Everyone knows that. We only say bad things about Brits if we are in defense mode. If you ask British people what they think of Americans, the majority of the comments are negative. If you ask Americans what they think about British people, the majority of the comments are positive. The rivalry exists because British people hate Americans. It's not the other way around. I literally challenge you to come to America and ask every American you encounter what they think about British people and you will find nothing but friendly people who say nice things - "great accents, nice royal family, they drink a lot, very posh and sophisticated" etc.
Went to the US a few years now but what amazed me as a Brit was 1) Fuel cost. It cost me roughly $100 to fill up. 2) straight roads. We never see a straight that long! 3) food portion size and free refills! Wow. Talk about blowout! Wahoo. Awesome place though.
Yes, very true! Great observations. 😊
As an Australian, the accents were the most fabulous difference I noticed when I got here. All Australians pretty much speak the same, one can notice small differences, but basically, our accent is a common factor across the country. In the UK though, it's not only regional as in NSEW...but broken down into counties as well, then into towns within counties....and even suburbs within large cities....especially London. I'm completely fascinated that someone living two miles down the road will have a different accent....yet all be British born and bred. Oh, and my very fave accent is what I call the London cabbie accent, it makes me smile and laugh every time I hear it....like Ray Winstone or Danny Dyer. I LOVE IT!
I totally agree. I find it so fascinating and interesting too! 😊
I love it. I'm all up for reviving it....I'd go so far as to suggest everyone should speak with a Cockney accent. It's hysterical. I LOVE it!
Aint that the truth! One does need to play spot the Pom in London these days. My nan is London born and bred but moved to Oz after the war when she met my pop who was over here with the Air Force. She'd tell me stories my whole life of London and the UK and The Royals...so I loved London before I even got here. Last time my nan came here, she was sad....nothing was the same, she said there aren't any British left. Her being sad, made me sad. I wish I knew London as it was through her eyes growing up. Anyhow, I just got looking up Danny stuff after I saw your reply....this made me laaaaarf! th-cam.com/video/6GUsFvWrWbw/w-d-xo.html
I guess you are right in a way. One can notice the difference between a country accent and a city accent. Just like one can notice small differences between Melbourne and Sydney....and say far north Queensland. Some accents are broader and some a little sharper. That said, they're pretty much the same, one just sounds slower and more laid back and the other faster and a bit more "cultured" with diction and pronunciations. The differences aren't nearly as vast as the differences between say Dallas and Boston....or Liverpool and Bath. Ya know what I mean?
In the most recent census, 63% of Londoners were born in the UK.
When I visited the US I found Americans most friendly. I was however intrigued when they asked me if it snowed in England and have I met the queen? Ricky Gervais is not wrong on that!
Still, I was amazed that Americans were genuinely interested in us.
Monty Python James Bond, The Beatles, and The Prisoner got mentioned.
I enjoyed it in America and have been lucky to have been all around the country. I definitely found the place friendly and that is for real.
My favourite place was Albany New York although I never experienced a bad place I visited. Savannah comes second.
Gosh this sounds sycophantic but believe me I don't have to be this and these sentiments are genuine.
Glad you had a great experience visiting the US. Hope you get a chance to visit again soon! 😊
I've been to the US a few times and they are always lovely and friendly
I’ve visited the US numerous times and they are also so welcoming and friendly. Three times to Florida and once to New York. I did notice in New York they seemed to be more aware of other areas of Britain. So we went not long after St David’s day (Patron saint of wales as we are from wales) and the amount of Americans who knew numerous places in Wales and knew about St David’s day was lovely (even to me who isn’t actually welsh). Overall I find the Americans a lovely bunch of people when I visit.
Nice to see a great video about us Brits from an American. Was also good to see not just London discussed!
Im a Brit(high schooler) who now lives in America/Alabama. The school that i go to is public and poor(Thats what my classmates tells me). Been to Florida Panama city(hate it). Not to be races or anything but black ppl here are loud come pair to my black classmates in Leeds.
Why do you have Serbian name,we Serbs are not British wtf.Loser and traitor of his own ethnicity,you will never belong anywhere
The main thing I noticed going to the US is how staff in stores and in restaurants try to interact with customers so much. We Brits just want to order our food then be left alone. The refill thing in the US is mental aswell, it's like they want to give you diabetes.
Yeah, they do go over-the-top sometimes in the States. And the soda refills are really unhealthy too! 😬
I spent just over a year in New York and became friendly with a couple of the staff at a restaurant, as we went there a lot. This topic came up one time and it's partly to do with the whole tipping culture that the US has for those job types. They hope the attention and refills will lead to a worthy tip, so it's their way of keeping the customer happy. As an Englishman it was really strange and I don't think I ever truly got used to it, even after a year, but as long as it's not while I'm eating, then I can live with it.
The compulsory but not compulsory tipping thing is really odd too. They should pay them decent wages and make tipping completely optional, like it is in the UK. A tip should be for good service, not just because you've been served and are expected to help make up the shortfall in someone's wages.
Trip Astute well, just say "no" on refills!
Moonshine Buck Oh I know that, it's just incredible how much a tip can change your service!
Moonshine Buck It's just nice having someone who doesn't seem pessimistic about everything serving you. You really should tip though, aren't their wages extremely low.
i didn't know that america doesn't use military time 😂
It's really not common in the US, and the weird thing is that it seems like it's the default format for electronics and appliances outside of the US. But in the US, everything comes loaded in the 12-hour format, so a lot of folks never get exposed to the 24-hour clock (unless they spent time in a job that requires it, like military, law enforcement, or aviation). 😊
Yeah, I got warned about it when I started working for an American company. Got my british co-worker to check over a global email before I sent it and he told me to change the 24hour reference to a 12 hour one, because they don't tend to use/understand it.
We still generally use 8pm/8am when talking, but in writing its more usual to use 24 hour.
Trip Astute
Conversely we Brits notice how Microsoft sometimes seems to assume we want 12hr time ;)
Brits have difficulty knowing whether 12am means midnight or noon. (Strictly speaking am means before noon and pm means after, so neither is pedantically correct. We tend to say 12noon rather than use am/pm or 1200.
Back in the day, every byte mattered and programmers refused to code a special suffices for Noon and Midnight
Two friends of mine, based in SanFransisco and in London respectively and running similar businesses organised a phone conf call to bring in new clients for both of them. They turned up on the phone lines 12hours apart. Didn't impress the prospective clients who had been promised a transatlantic dialogue :(
I've never heard it called military time before. Another small difference between us
The 24 hour clock is pretty standard for displays but unlike the French (who use it verbally) most British predominantly use AM and PM standard time verbally.
As a brit approve this video was respectful and accurate
Thanks! Glad my admiration for the UK came through in the video. 😊
I do live in England up in the northeast. I have never been to the USA before but we have been to Tenerife,Spain. Yes I have been to London only twice. The first time was for a holiday and the second time was for capital FM’s summertime ball.
I definitely want to visit the northern part of England. I've heard that it's culturally quite different than the south. 👍
As a British person watching this I just laughed at a lot of these things!!