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There probably isn't a country in the world that can escape stereotypes about its people. The French are all snobs, Germans are all incredibly organized and love rules, the Japanese are really hard workers, and all Australians eat is shrimp on the barbie. Americans are probably the most stereotyped people of all.
Especially online, the Internet is ripe with folks having all kinds of opinions about those who live in the U.S. of A. In one thread, people shared their opinions prompted by the question, "What are obvious immediate giveaways that someone is an American?" The answers ranged from quite wholesome ones like the enviable social skills many Americans might have to more quirky ones like the all-American condiment – ranch.
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#2
They try to explain to me, an Italian, that they're just as Italian as me because their great great great grandfather's second cousin's aunt was italian, then proceed to lecture me on what being italian really means, then tell me I'm wrong about my own country and culture.
#3
When they think liberals are the far left.
Nils Skirnir 9 hours ago
US liberals would be center right in Australia or Japan, far right in NZ, and far left only in Hungary.
#4
Displaying a huge U.S. flag on their vehicle... In the U.S.... Never quite understood the concept behind that one. No joke it baffles me.
Janissary35680 9 hours ago
On the vehicle, in the yard, on the house, on the roof, on the dog, on the cat... Just about anywhere there's room for a flag basically.
#5
VOLUME.
aural89:
In a museum in London where everyone is speaking quietly, and then BOOM, an American accent out of nowhere just catches you so off guard.
ewoofk:
You hear most of them before you see them.
Christos Arvanitis 3 hours ago
I was in Hiroshima recently at Peace Museum about the nuclear bomb that annihilated Hiroshima. Very solemn and dead quiet... until some people started speaking Portuguese loudly. Every culture has its rude and loud people.
#6
Deliberating whether or not to go to the hospital after a serious injury.
Jane No Dough 9 hours ago
Hmm, live the rest of my life in poverty or take my chances with Death?
#7
My friend (Australian) walked into a McDonalds in the US and there was a man sitting at one of the tables reading a Bible and openly wearing a gun around his waist. That is a uniquely American combination.
#8
When they say they are in Europe and not France, Germany etc.
Janissary35680 9 hours ago
(Looks at date app on phone) "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium".
#9
Talk of freedom while also worrying about the constant fear of medical bills.
CanadianDimes 9 hours ago
I’ll take “communist” medical systems over the freedom to get shot, thanks
#10
Claiming that they "Don't have an accent," when literally everybody has an accent.
Firm_Knowledge_5695:
I work in a hotel, and anytime I’m talking to the residents and I can clearly tell that they're from America, I always ask them what state they're from. And 99% of the time, they immediately ask what gave it away, and after I tell them it’s the accent, it’s usually followed by, 'I don’t have an accent.' Never fails to make me giggle.
LB 9 hours ago
This is similar to how privilege works. You're the reference category so you don't experience that aspect of your experience consciously. There's a documentary in Dutch called "white is also a color" and the person goes around asking people what color they are. It's very interesting to see how many people here feel like their skin is just skin colored.
#11
When they’re in another country (vacation, business etc) when a local asks them where they’re from they say their state instead of their country. I’m sorry but not many people in Brazil know what a “Delaware” is.
shelbywhore: 'The Midwest' of what, exactly???
#12
When they say,
"My great great great (ect.) Grandparent was Irish, therefore I'm Irish."
It happens way too often and it genuinely annoys a lot of us Irish people.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 10 hours ago
I remember seeing a tik tok or a youtube about a black Irish woman, with a thick Irish accent, whose family has been in Ireland for generations tell a story about an American telling her how she was not irish, because she was black, and he was more Irish than her, despite having never set foot in the country, because his great grandparents came from Ireland.
#13
Having a private conversation that everyone within 20m can hear.
Oerff On Tour 7 hours ago
I assume that Americans have problems hearing because of their loud Freedom
#14
If they complain about the portion size of their meal being too small.
Janissary35680 9 hours ago (edited)
And you can recognize a European in a US eatery when they look at the plate and say "I just ordered one portion". 😄
#15
Use of the Imperial system.
As soon as someone starts talking about it being 70+ degrees and they’re still alive, foregone conclusion. Same with any use of the word gallon in a modern context.
Multa Nocte 9 hours ago
Here in France you are likely to hear British people using an astonishing combination of terms for measurement. They frequently use "miles" for distance and then switch to "stones" for personal weight and then use "pounds" for money. I need to carry a conversion table when I am having a meal with British, French, and Americans.
#16
British man once told me he knew I was American because I was wearing a baseball cap backwards.
Dcman333444:
This is what I was told when my brother and I went to England, Singapore, and Australia years ago. People all immediately identified me as American because of the baseball caps.
#17
I said 'y’all' when I went to Europe. Immediately outed myself.
Donkey boi 7 hours ago
The Irish version is 'Youse', although some of us have been known to us 'y'all' as well.
#18
I am German, and when a woman told me about a sinkhole in their hometown, they said, "I don't know what you measure in, so it was the size of about 2 McDonald's restaurants." that woman is now my Fiancée.
#19
Their sense of 'center-of-the-universe'-dom.
Debby Keir 5 hours ago
Well, in some ways every country has that - but also in micro terms - London is the 'centre' of the UK, despite the vast majority of the UK being way north of London, and having somewhat different values.
#20
Tipping.
Maymundo:
Every time I visit my relatives in Italy, they say, 'Don’t ruin it for us.' They don’t want the whole tipping thing to catch on.
Søren Schilthauer 9 hours ago
Funny. Years ago i went to Italy and discovered that the menu price wasn't the actual price - there was a mandatory 10% service surcharge.... So essentially a 10% mandatory tip
#21
- **Teeth:** Americans are all about cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics, the ones that aren’t are probably not able to easily afford international travel, so we don’t see a lot of Americans without perfectly aligned, iridescent white teeth in the UK or Australia.
- **Talking to strangers:** Americans absolutely love talking to strangers and when this clashes with the British imperative to avoid talking to strangers, I find it kind of hilarious ! I quite enjoy when I see Americans on the tube in london, prattling away to British commuters who look like they are dying inside.
- **Flip flops/sandals:** In warm weather you’ll see Americans wearing leather flip flops. As a flip flop connoisseur (I’m Australian) I spot the American style flip flops a mile away.
#22
If the U on their keyboard is dusty.
#23
Ranch.
kelliwk:
I stopped at at a steakhouse in Frankfurt, and a salad came with my meal. They asked if we wanted Italian or American dressing. American was ranch.
And yesterday I learned that Cool Ranch Doritos are called 'Cool American Doritos' in certain parts of Europe, and you bet your a*s I’m taking a selfie with a bag when I go."
Jane No Dough 9 hours ago
I loathe ranch dressing and don't understand it's popularity. It's as if people who like it have to be zealous about it, as if they're in a Ranch cult.
#24
Covering things with assorted cheeses of the liquid persuasion.
#25
Small talk. I'm not much of a small talk person even as an American, but I tried to be polite and chat with a cashier at a market, and he looked baffled and didn't really know how to reply. Americans will chat with anybody and everybody, especially if you're from the South.
Rachel Pelz 3 hours ago
Hurts no one, honestly. For a cashier, it may be awkward but otherwise, it's a small period of potentially annoyance versus two people feeling connected, human, amused, understood, whatever. One of my late mom's highlights were little chats with tourists from the US.
#26
I am an American and was at a restaurant in France. They brought me warm soda in a glass. When I asked them for ice, they brought a tiny bowl of ice with a little set of silver tongs and put two ice cubes the size of sugar cubes into my glass, which melted immediately, lol.
aspidities_87:
Are you me? This was my exact experience. We stopped at a little café in Marseilles, and it was sweaty and hot, so I wanted a lemonade and asked for ice. They did this little song and dance with the bucket and popped a single cube into my drink. I watched it melt in two seconds and just quietly said, ‘Merci.'
#27
They try to communicate with people who speak different languages by speaking English really slowly and making way too many hand gestures.
#28
Gleaming white teeth, using the words restroom, sneakers and soda.
Rachel Pelz 3 hours ago
My non-US kid wanted to have sneakers -a word we adopted in Germany- and kept pronouncing it "Snickers". Went into family history ;)
#29
When I was in Austria, one of the locals said you could always tell who the Americans were because they were the only ones jaywalking.
Dilly Dally 2 hours ago
Me and my family were some of the only ones NOT jaywalking when we went on a trip to somewhere.
#30
When they talk about the 2 kinds of political ideologies.
#31
Commenting "BuT it'S SuMmeR" whenever anyone from Australia posts about doing winter activities in June or July. This is a pretty consistent theme on TikTok, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened elsewhere.
#32
They either carry huge backpacks for a 1 day trip into the jungle or carry nothing and walk in barefooted.
dark_blue_7:
Bruh, I've seen people carry huge backpacks just to the office and back. I don't understand the phenomenon, but you're right.
#33
Talking to strangers in public. After living in Germany for two months I was horrified when a stranger on the bus commented on my shoes.
HeeseungsAce:
Yup! Went to Florida, and when I went shopping I was wearing a skirt, and a girl maybe a few years older than I was commented on how she loved my skirt. Would NEVER have happened in Denmark, that’s for sure.
#34
I'm an American that works for an international company. Europeans are often amused by how we describe distances. Instead of saying, "we're x number of miles from that city ", we'll say, "we're two hours away" , or "that's a four hour drive". They're also universally blown away once they realize how big the US is.
#36
“Aluminum”.
Agfox 9 hours ago
We stayed with some friends in Minneapolis. The husband was a charter boat captain & mentioned something called a 'booee', which we discovered was their pronunciation of 'buoy'. In Australia, we'd only ever heard it pronounced 'boy'. We never found out if that was a friends pronunciation, a Minneapolis pronunciation or a US in general pronunciation
#37
As my mexican wife says.
you americans will talk to anyone. just walk right up and before you know it they are your buddy from so and so place and you are going off with them for a while.
#38
Im Canadian, generally americans are far less reserved and love small talk.
Verena Fiori-Jambor 3 hours ago
Hi, how are you doing’? I’m great! Fantastic, have a good day.
#39
To be fair I’ve said “the US” or “America” to people in foreign countries asking where I’m from and they always say “yeah obviously, but where in the US”.
#41
"So what do you do for a living?"
You can't talk to an American without jobs eventually coming up.
Lost Panda 9 hours ago
This one isn't solely American. The Japanese will do it too, and when they find out you are American or a person who speaks English they instantly think you're a teacher.
#42
Pre-Covid having hand sanitizer clipped to their backpack. Not sure that’s still as accurate today.
Nexrosus:
God, I was always so jealous of the people who could afford cute-a*s fancy Bath & Body Works hand sanitizers that clipped to their backpacks. That s**t was like $5 for the really chic small, glittery, cutesy ones all the popular girls had. You know what, Valerie? S***w you and your red velvet sparkle cake hand sanitizer backpack clip.
#43
Very straightforward.
Donkey boi 6 hours ago
Are we talking about their city planning or highways? Cos I quite like the simplicity of it.
#44
Dude , man.
keyboardtek 5 hours ago
Only if you are from California. Nobody elsewhere uses dude after they have become adults.
#45
The weirdest stereotype I have heard while living abroad is that people from the United States always slam car doors. You can always tell someone is from the United States because of how hard they shut the car door.
sturmwesen 10 hours ago
hu... or maybe they grew up with an old Renault and are used to it...can't really shake the habbit after 30 years
#46
Trying to communicate with other languages by just speaking english but slowly and making way too much hand gestures.
#47
When they walk around like they just slammed a space probe into an asteroid.
#48
British lady once told me she knew I was American because I was drinking a Coke straight from the can,no straw.
What do you think ?
Hans Georg 8 hours ago
The standard "europe mind can't comprehend" is in the pipeline.
Load More Replies...
Michael Largey 1 hour ago
Outlining cultural differences is not in every case offensive or stupid. And I am an american.
Load More Replies... Hans Georg 8 hours ago
The standard "europe mind can't comprehend" is in the pipeline.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 1 hour ago
Outlining cultural differences is not in every case offensive or stupid. And I am an american.
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