Although, at first glance, the United States and the United Kingdom seem similar, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Many U.S. customs raise eyebrows across the pond! Recently, men and women living overseas gave examples of American customs that they can’t stand. Are you guilty of any of these?
1. Showing Visitors Your Home
Although common in the U.S., showing off your home to guests is considered cringeworthy across the pond. “My husband likes to give a house tour to anybody that comes over and it makes me absolutely cringe with embarrassment,” confesses one woman. “Firstly, most parts of our home are private spaces that I prefer to be kept private, and secondly, it just seems like showing off to me. Of course, house guests who are staying overnight need to be shown around, but anyone else just needs to know where the bathroom is.” I can see how people may view it as arrogant!
2. Restaurant Staff That Interrupts Your Meal
If you want to annoy a group of diners eating out in the United Kingdom, be a server who continuously interrupts their conversation! It contrasts how wait staff operate in the U.S., as they’re trained to constantly anticipate diners’ needs, even if that means interrupting private conversation.
3. Wearing a Hat While Eating
In the United Kingdom, it’s considered rude to wear a hat of any kind while sitting down and enjoying a meal. Of course, this differs significantly from U.S. customs, where not only is wearing hats to dinner okay, but so is engaging in political debate with friends, family, and even strangers.
4. Showing Off Your Hunting Skills
While hunting may be a way of life in some regions of the United States, it’s unsurprising that many people in the U.K. look down on this activity. We had a teenage visitor to our church from Texas who had volunteered to help at our local primary school,” recalls one British woman. “She was asked to bring some photos about herself and her interests. She felt it was a good idea to take along some photos of her most recent hunting expedition, including the bloody carcass of the animal she had shot lying in the back of a pickup truck. Enough said. It was not a success.”
5. Excessive Ice in Drinks
It’s official: Americans have a love affair with excessive amounts of ice in their drinks. Across the pond, drinking out of a glass filled to the brim with ice means drinking out of a straw — and garnering some dirty looks. I must be honest; I don’t see the problem. What do U.K. residents have against ice?
6. Reusing Silverware at a Restaurant
Maybe we’re not as classy as our neighbors across the Atlantic. According to many British people, reusing silverware across multiple courses in a restaurant is unacceptable. Being expected to save your used silverware for the next course in most American restaurants is something that would never be tolerated in the United Kingdom,” reveals one woman.
7. Strangers Asking Personal Questions
Intrusive questions like “What do you do for a living?” and “What part of town do you live in?” — while acceptable in the United States — raise eyebrows in the United Kingdom. Many people blame the inquisitive nature of Americans for such questions, which come off as rude and invasive in the United Kingdom.
8. Being a Typical Loud American
Unsurprisingly, Americans have a reputation that precedes them. “Being loud, pushing your opinions on others, interrupting when others are talking, and not listening to what others have to say IS frowned upon here,” states one U.K. resident. “So is monopolizing conversations.” Wait, but all those things make Americans who they are!
9. Eating With Your Elbows on the Table
Although eating dinner with your elbows on the table routinely earns anyone a disapproving look in the United States, the infraction is serious enough in the U.K. to warrant a one-way ticket out of the meal! Thankfully, as someone who learned manners as a child, I would have nothing to worry about if I visited a place like London.
10. Boasting About Anything in Your Life
Many say the quickest way to get on a British person’s wrong side is to boast about your money publicly. It’s not a good look! “Boasting about your vacations, your boat, your house, the restaurants you visit, your children, and nine times out of ten ‘exaggerating’ the truth is the worst,” explains one British woman. “Just be you. I’m interested in YOU, not your money.”
11. Not Saying Please
I’ve heard countless stories of American bar patrons in the U.K. being refused service because they weren’t polite. I love it; customers should only receive a beer if they say please and thank you. As a former bartender, I always wished for more politeness from my typical American customer base!
12. Offering To Pay For Others’s Meals and Drinks
Note to self: Don’t come off as someone who flaunts their wealth! In the minds of many people in the U.K., it’s a sign of bad taste. “For my American husband, when we are visiting family and friends back in the U.K., he insists on paying for everyone’s dinner or drinks,” reveals one woman. “It’s excruciatingly embarrassing because it would be seen as ‘flashing your money around’ in the U.K. — I had to work hard to get him to stop doing that and let people pay for their meals.”
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