7 Myths British People Believe About America - Part 1

I once heard a story about a Canadian visiting Scotland, and a Scot refer to them as an Yank(American) based on their hearing speak not affected english. The Canadian corrected them that he was a Canadian, with the Scot replying "Same thing". The Canadian then cheekily said the Scot must be Irish. The Scot got incredibly incensed if not out right insulted and insisted they were a Scot, to which the Canadian replied " Same thing." The Scot then understood the difference.

I once read a comment in a magazine, way before there was an internet, that the tragedy of Canada was that it could have had American technology, French cuisine, and British culture. Instead, it ended up with American culture, French technology, and British cuisine.

This didn't happen in Britain, but it possibly could have. My husband and I were on the Paris Metro, talking to a woman who asked us where we were from (our bad French must have given us away). When we told her we were from America, she said, "You can't be from America. You're not fat!" True story.

Not only is America not the same as Canada, America is not the same as America a few hours in any direction.

As an American from the Midwest, I never thought of "bonkers" as a British word. It's just a normal American English word for me. Also, "autumn" and "fall" have always been interchangeable for me.

The simultaneous use of “fall” and “autumn” has been in America my whole lifetime at least and I’m 50. I do tend to notice “fall” being used more practically like “fall schedule” and autumn is usually reserved for something more descriptive like “an autumn breeze”.

In regards to the fall/autumn debate, they seem to be used interchangably in Tennessee, but Autumn seems to have a more elegant feeling to it. You might plan a campout with some friends in the fall, but you'd plan your wedding to be in autumn, if that makes sense.

I honestly think land mass misunderstandings play a gigantic part in stereotypes of American life. Also, regional romantic notions tend to skew more towards fictional , almost comic book like depictions. I live in Texas. I do not own a horse or cowboy boots. But it still takes 10 hours in my Honda to drive to see mum and dad (also in Texas).

My favorite memory of explaining something American to a Britt was when we ran into a young man in Vietnam, he asked why Americans are so obsessed with cars (and trucks). I asked him how long it would take to drive across the UK, he said “from south the north, about six hours”. I pulled out my phone and pulled up a map of the US, I zoomed into the state we lived in, Washington, and I told him to drive West to East across all of Washington state would take you six hours. There was a long pause, his eyes got big, thats when I knew he understood. He finally exclaimed, I didn’t know the US was THAT big!

My British husband believed that we have stacks of pancakes for breakfast everyday and I found this idea hysterical. I might have pancakes once or twice a year at most.

The big difference is that Canada was Britain’s nice little child while America was Britain’s wild rebellious naughty child!

Two stories relating to the size of the US: 1) When I was a kid, several decades ago, my godfather hosted some of his distant relatives from Finland at his house in Minot, ND. When the relatives started talking about the day trips they wanted to take, they started of with Disney World and Epcot. That's roughly 2000 miles and will take several days. "But it's only this far on the map!" they exclaimed. 2) Phil Hansen was drafted by the Buffalo Bills from NDSU (Fargo, ND) and drove there. Middle of the continent (basically) to (almost) east coast, a little over 1000 miles. After his playing days ended he moved back to the Fargo area and followed the NDSU team as they played University of Montana. North Dakota and Montana are next to each other, but Fargo to Missoula is also roughly 1000 miles.

"You can just walk into a store and buy a gun no paperwork" Worked at a gun shop and had many foriegn nationals, not just brits, come in and think they could buy a gun on their travels in the USA as a tourist. Even more thought we just sold guns no paperwork or background check.

Lawrence being sponsored by Brit Box is the most appropriate sponsorship on YouTube.

I have lived, attended university, worked, and paid taxes in both Canada and the United States. The similarities between the two countries (ranging from governmental structure to cuisine to speech habits, etc., etc.) FAR outweigh the differences. ENORMOUSLY. The similarities tend to run north-south, rather than east-west. If one is in the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island), one can easily imagine that one is in New England. If one is in the industrial heartland of Canada (Ontario), one can easily imagine being in the industrial heartland of the States. Saskatchewan is very agricultural, and very similar to Kansas or Nebraska or Iowa. Alberta is largely ranching country - and very similar to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. British Columbia is very similar to Washington and Oregon (especially the major cities). Even a LOT of retail chain stores, major industries, supermarkets, banks, and restaurant chains are identical in the two countries (the Canadian ones being subsidiaries of American parent companies; and vice versa - as in TD America Bank being a subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank). There is a joke that pretty much sums up everything - "How does one distinguish the Canadian at the dinner party? He's the one speaking with a Minnesota accent."

The room with the toilet and the sink and the bathing facility is called a bathroom because it DOES have bathing facilities. If the room doesn't have bathing facilities, it's a restroom.

Autumn and fall have always been used pretty much interchangeably here (in my 56 years, at least), although fall is more common, and autumn sounds a little fancier / more old-fashioned / poetic, depending on the context.

I emigrated from Kansas to Alberta. Many Canadians didn't even notice my American accent, since the American Great Plains and the Canadian Prairies accents are very similar. One day I met a gentleman who, after about five minutes of conversation asked, 'When did the wind blow you across the border?' LOL!

I'm an American that taught English overseas, and after being asked questions about the meaning and common usage of certain terms, I realized that in my area and generation, there's a lot of overlap in words that feel "old fashioned" and "British". I can't count the number of times I'd answer a "Do you use this word often?" question with "I don't use it often, but I'm familiar with it. I feel like I usually hear older Americans or British people use it." I wonder if it's an indication of a cultural shift of British influence in the US slowly fading out from a time when it was once more dominant.

I saw a quote from an ex Canadian Prime Minister that Canada was supposed to be a Great Experiment in which it had French culture and British politics but the experiment went Horribly and Horrendously Wrong leaving Canada with British culture and French politics!!! 🤠👍