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What’s totally acceptable and completely normal in one country might get you some funny looks elsewhere. Or, in other words, welcome to Planet Earth where there are loads of different countries and cultures that are bound to blow your mind when you travel.

This time, we’re looking at the differences between the United States and the United Kingdom. Even though both countries have a ‘special relationship’ (not to mention a rocky initial history together), far from everything is the same there. Hopping ‘over the pond’ means traveling a large distance both physically and culturally, too. Like you'd expect when going to any new country when you fly abroad.

Redditor TownImmediate9060 went on r/AskReddit and wanted to find out what’s socially acceptable in the US but would be horrifying in the UK. The thread went viral and the responses made us seriously realize the extent of the differences between the two allies. Check out some of the best answers below and remember to upvote your fave ones, dear Pandas.

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#1

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Healthcare that bankrupts you

chhurry , Olga Guryanova Report

Final score:
302points
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#2

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Paying more than the price you see on a price tag in a shop due to taxes. WTF just put how much it costs!

gibsterminator , Akshay Chauhan Report

Final score:
290points
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#3

Cashiers being forced to stand... give them a chair you masochists

andy_james_78 Report

Final score:
275points
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Britain continues to use soft power to spread its influence abroad. Its cultural impact is off the charts. Just consider how influential the Harry Potter books, musicians like Ed Sheeran, and football entities like the Premier League really are.

They’re known and respected globally. As such, the UK’s able to draw in plenty of tourists (global pandemic notwithstanding because it’s hit everyone badly) and students from abroad because it remains at the forefront of people’s minds.
#4

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Politicians mentioning religion when campaigning

awbayley97 , wikipedia Report

Final score:
270points
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#5

New mothers going back to work almost immediately after giving birth, because they don’t have paid maternity leave

MultipleDinosaurs Report

Final score:
257points
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#6

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK An $800, four-block ambulance ride.

jeff_the_nurse , REEET JANK Report

Final score:
238points
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However, research shows that the confusion and uncertainty around the long-term effects that Brexit, the UK’s exit from the European Union, will have slightly dampened the country’s influence abroad.

Meanwhile, the British Council found that it’s actually culture, not politics, that deepens the ties between the UK and the US. And it’s culture that’s going to play a vital role in the future of both nations as well.
#7

That whole thing where American kids pledge their allegiance to the flag. That is completely weird and scarily totalitarian to us Brits.

Naugrith Report

Final score:
219points
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#8

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Overworking. It's rewarded and encouraged in the U.S., but during my time in the U.K. my colleagues were horrified by the long hours and lack of holidays that was the norm in the U.S.

CuriousAboutLife0 , Alex Kotliarskyi Report

Final score:
214points
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#9

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Greeters in supermarkets. Just feels fake.

smokingthegateway , Kristina Paparo Report

Final score:
195points
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“Culture and history were the two top rated factors contributing to the UK’s attractiveness among American respondents, with 43% identifying ‘cultural and historic attractions’ as a major draw and 42% identifying ‘history,’” the British Council explains what it discovered in its research.
#10

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Driving everywhere.

In the UK it's perfectly normal to have your kid walk to school and walking to the shops to do your shopping.

X0AN , why kei Report

Final score:
181points
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#11

Offering full-time employees anything less than 28 days of paid holidays per year - it's not only socially unacceptable - it's illegal!

RandGenUserName Report

Final score:
179points
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#12

Bragging about how expensive something was.

In the US "this is a $100 shirt" ...smug face

In the UK "can you believe I got this whole suit for £25!" ...smug face

NCC-2000-A Report

Final score:
170points
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Despite some of the more superficial cultural differences between the US and the UK, both nations appear to care about pretty much the same issues.

“The research showed a high degree of shared concern about global issues among young people in both countries with poverty, extremism/terrorism, and climate change as the top factors chosen by young people in both the US and UK,” the British Council found. “The research suggests the relationship between the two countries is at root a cultural as much as a political phenomenon, and viewed in those terms it is indeed special.”
#13

Labelling the winner of a sports tournament that only your country plays as ‘World Champions’

Calling Football ‘Soccer’

DM1994 Report

Final score:
165points
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#14

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK A rubber in England is not the same as a rubber in the US.

Butwaip , Annie Spratt Report

Final score:
163points
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#15

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Gaps in bathroom stalls

8xxx5 , ttarasiuk Report

Final score:
158points
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Ironically, the actual term ‘special relationship’ sees very little use in the US, primarily being a British way of categorizing the tight bonds between the two nations. However, this doesn’t change the fact that both countries are very much skipping along arm-in-arm, primarily admiring each other’s cultural output (leaving politics a secondary concern).
#16

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Making tea in a microwave.

fantsukissa , MoneyBlogNewz Report

Final score:
155points
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#17

When my Brit friends were visiting, they were horrified when the waiter took their credit card to swipe back at the terminal. This made them REALLY uncomfortable.

cn45 Report

Final score:
151points
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#18

Cutting lines for things, I’ve seen some people when going to Disney world trying to cut lines for random reasons. Queueing in the uk is like our national sport

CMDR_omnicognate Report

Final score:
144points
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Redditor TownImmediate9060’s thread about the differences between the US and the UK was a roaring success. It got more than 67.7k upvotes in just over a week. What’s more, the thread got over 51k comments which just goes to show that the OP hit the nail on the head and chose a niche topic that plenty of folks were interested in.

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The thread also got over 300 awards, proving that TownImmediate9060’s fellow Reddit users really appreciated them asking the question in the first place.
#19

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK My (British) partner & I (American) were in London, running late to meet our friends. Just as we get to the tube station, I see our train has just pulled in; we haul ass across platform and I yell, “HOLD THE DOOR.” Someone does, we make the train, I don’t see a problem. My partner, by contrast, is mortified. This was 4-5 years ago & he is still mortified. Apparently we were meant to just...let the train leave? Without us?? & wait for the next one???

Ok-Cryptographer8906 , Chris Yang Report

Final score:
142points
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#20

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Asking new neighbors, "Have you found a church yet?"

boganvegan , Cosmic Timetraveler Report

Final score:
141points
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#21

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Huge portion sizes. Kids meal in U.S is like a adult meal in U.K.

Revolutionary_Ad5901 , Ashley Green Report

Final score:
140points
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What’s your opinion about the relationship between the US and the UK, dear Readers? What, in your opinion, makes this relationship between the two special? What do you think are the main cultural differences between Americans and Brits? Let us know what you think in the comment section below. We’d absolutely love to get your take on this, especially if you’re currently living in the US or the UK.
#22

I was in Japan once and there was a vending machine selling beer outside my hotel room.

So, being British, I bought a can and went to the elevator where I shared an excruciating couple of minutes with two American business men. They were horrified at my early day drinking, and I at their willingness to express this.

armosnacht Report

Final score:
139points
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#23

As a Brit in the US, this is a fun one!

Pharmaceutical adverts on the TV are still weird af to me

The length and frequency of commercial breaks in general on TV is shocking

Low hanging fruit, but anything relating to child beauty pageants just makes me feel physically sick

Here's a nice one: taking 20+ minutes to help a complete stranger who is struggling with something. The amount of times a total stranger has stopped to assist me or someone I know? Y'all really make my heart melt!

Toxic_Orange_DM Report

Final score:
136points
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#24

Spray on cheese

Stew32 Report

Final score:
133points
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#25

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Addressing a stranger as ‘Sir’

UnsaddledZigadenus , Wikipedia Report

Final score:
124points
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#26

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Responding to work emails while on leave/vacation.

rekharai Report

Final score:
124points
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#27

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK high fructose corn syrup

itssteveninnit Report

Final score:
118points
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#28

Chanting the acronym of your country at any given opportunity.

NeonDave Report

Final score:
118points
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#29

I don’t know how common it actually is there, but going fucking wild at the cinema during a hugely popular film like Avengers: Endgame or a Star Wars film. There’s a bunch of videos on YouTube of the audience reactions to various big franchise films and I don’t know how anybody lasts more than a few minutes in that room.

When I saw The Force Awakens, like two people half-heartedly cheered when the title screen came up and then someone immediately told them to shut up.

pinksoetko Report

Final score:
117points
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#30

Refuse a drink to a grown-ass taxpaying 20 year old

Chapelirl Report

Final score:
113points
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#31

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Telling me how much the tip is going to be.

dumbdoogy , Sam Dan Truong Report

Final score:
39points
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#32

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Not wanting to call for an ambulance if hurt

EdgeofaBlade998 , Diana Polekhina Report

Final score:
37points
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#33

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Anything taking over an hour to get to being a "short trip"

Drakeskulled_Reaper , Flemming Fuchs Report

Final score:
33points
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#34

Chatting with a stranger on the street. I do it all the time. My best friend is English. It horrifies him.

I said “how do you meet new people, like to date?”

“Oh, we get positively trashed in a pub and then it can happen.”

crestonfunk Report

Final score:
33points
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#35

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Chatting casually at the lift.

Maleficent_Chance , Steven Ley Report

Final score:
32points
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#36

Not pronouncing the 'h' in 'herbs'.

Blandiblub Report

Final score:
30points
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#37

Not horrifying but pausing a show or event to ask members of the military to stand up for an applause would be weird over here.

0ldAndGrumpy Report

Final score:
30points
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#38

The fake enthusiasm that everyone knows is fake but everyone buys into and plays along with.

I'm Irish but work for a company that has a very large UK client and a very large US client and I don't really see that fake enthusiasm coming from the Brits. You might get the odd person but everyone will just think they're a wanker where as with the yanks it's on a whole other level. Gets pretty dry when absolutely everything is "awesome".

incendiaryburp Report

Final score:
30points
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#39

Talking so loud that everyone within 100 meters can hear what you are saying.

Whooping. Just don't Chad, you aren't on a bucka-roo now.

Listing your positive qualities like you are in a job interview, but in a normal conversation. You must only speak ill of yourself.

penelope-bruz Report

Final score:
28points
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#40

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Americans will ask 'How ya doing?' but not really expect an answer.

thefirstdetective , Victor He Report

Final score:
28points
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#41

Naming your child Randy.

British people ITT: wait, people don't really name their child Randy, do they?

Americans: what's wrong with Randy?

AmigoDelDiabla Report

Final score:
26points
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#42

As I found out is done in another thread the other day "eating sandwiches without butter on the bread" being from the UK this horrifies me.

TrickedintoStuff Report

Final score:
25points
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#43

Coming from the perspective of a British guy, your style of customer service. Not universally, but very commonly, it’s way too over the top for us.

_Nick_2711_ Report

Final score:
24points
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#44

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK I’ve learned from my British friends that you have to be very careful giving peace signs. If you have your hand facing a certain way, it’s like a “f**k you” in the UK basically, whereas in the US it doesn’t matter which way it’s facing really. Several years ago I sent them a picture with me doing an “incorrect” peace sign and they were appalled

ETA: The offensive version is where your palm is facing inwards

Hawkholly Report

Final score:
24points
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#45

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK When somebody says you should come to their house sometime, actually going by their house sometime.

Overall_Dependent_43 , Milan Popovic Report

Final score:
24points
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#46

Asking for a tour of their house. *SHUDDERS*

notthrowingshade Report

Final score:
24points
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#47

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK Saying “hello” when you pass people.

Interesting_Shock788 , Jacek Dylag Report

Final score:
22points
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#48

Calling "Where's Wally" "Where's Waldo".

hamm71 Report

Final score:
19points
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jennetterajesh avatar
birdie asf
birdie asf
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

tf is a wally

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Abby Parker
Abby Parker
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s short for Walter :) it can also mean someone who’s done something silly. As in, “what did you do that for you Wally?”

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booHguy
booHguy
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In France, we are calling it "Where is Charlie ?" But I know it is different in other coutries https://www.flickr.com/photos/144115035@N08/51104372956/

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Carol Emory
Carol Emory
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably don't call it Wally here because people have flashback of the "Leave it to Beaver" Show.

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Susan Egan
Susan Egan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did you look it up? Wally became Waldo here, Charlie in France and Walter in Germany. Those are the first few names I found. Each publisher chose what they thought would sell.

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#49

strangers asking "where" not if you go to church.

Aakwanderer Report

Final score:
19points
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#50

When someone says, 'make yourself at home' actually making yourself at home

Simple_Boysenberry17 Report

Final score:
16points
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#51

A lot of ice in drinks. My grandfather visited Ireland and asked for ice in his drink. He said the people at the restaurant were confused and gave him two ice cubes.

padillerpadooder Report

Final score:
16points
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#52

30 People List What Things Are Accepted In The US While Are Totally Horrifying In The UK "Bum bag", not "fanny pack".

VapoursAndSpleen Report

Final score:
13points
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#53

Saying someone has a lot of spunk

Sociolinguisticians Report

Final score:
11points
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#54

Talking about money. It's a bad habit of our never to discuss wages.

prettyfly4aporkpie Report

Final score:
11points
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#55

Looking around someone's house and complimenting things

Caladan109 Report

Final score:
3points
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