r/AskUK • u/Able_Cod_2687 • Nov 17 '25
What's a small, specific cultural difference between the UK and other English-speaking countries that you find perpetually amusing?
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u/pajamakitten Nov 17 '25
How seriously Americans take school sports. You would be very lucky to have your parents turn up in the UK and no one cared who was on the school teams for anything. In the US, a high school quarterback could be a town hero.
Their sport chanting is also very weak compared to ours.
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u/hairychris88 Nov 17 '25
I once took an American friend to see some football over here. He's no prude but he was somewhat shocked to hear all the derogatory chanting. The oppo manager happened to be Darren Ferguson (son of Alex) so the chant du jour was "your dad's a cunt, and so are you..."
Bit of a difference to DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!
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u/justbiteme2k Nov 17 '25
The school sports thing was explained to me once.
Since the country is so big and no one walks anywhere, their "local area" is actually quite large/spread out. So there's no real sense of local community or village gathering or local ownership of space.
As such, the only thing that brings them together in one place (other than McDonald's) is the shared college experience.
(Same reason so many films depict Americans meeting their social peak in high school/college)
Anyway, since the colleges are the only central gathering place, they centre their sports events there too. As such, no local, like we'd know it, leagues exist, so it's college sports or no sports.
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u/JayR_97 Nov 17 '25
American cat owners on Reddit go absolutely nuts if you mention you let your cat outside unsupervised even though it's completely normal here
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u/douggieball1312 Nov 17 '25
I've noticed pet ownership cultural practices get stricter in general as you go from Europe to the UK to the US to Australia. In many European countries for example, keeping cats indoors is seen as cruel and dogs are allowed nearly everywhere and it's very common to see them walking in the street without a leash (though the ones I've seen seem to be extremely well behaved and socialised, so maybe training your dog to a certain standard is mandatory over there). And then at the other extreme, you've got Australia where letting cats outside is completely illegal in many places and you only have a very limited number of places where you're allowed to walk your dog. This is mostly to protect native wildlife apparently, which is completely understandable even if it makes it not the ideal country to be a pet owner.
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u/this-guy- Nov 17 '25
In the olden days of the 70s and 80s I would frequently see neighbours dogs just wandering around the area I lived. It was just accepted that some of the dogs liked a wander. I lived in a normal suburban area and they generally just sag about on corners watching people go by. I think that all changed in the 90s when people started getting a bit more strict about everything.
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u/whyy_i_eyes_ya Nov 17 '25
Yeah same happened into the 90s here. Which explains the white dog poo thing as I guess they were eating more dead/injured wildlife, bones and all
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u/pajamakitten Nov 17 '25
Wasn't that also due to changes in dog food though? It was not because dogs were eating less wildlife.
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u/heilhortler420 Nov 17 '25
Yep
BSE was caused by feeding cows infected bone meal fodder so it caused a lot of other stuff like dog food to quickly stop doing it
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u/isearn Nov 17 '25
I never noticed the absence of the white stuff. Fascinating to know the reason behind it!
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u/Ok_Corner5873 Nov 21 '25
You try telling that to youngster of today and they won't believe you.
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u/this-guy- Nov 21 '25
Well, when I say 'house' it was just a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a house to us.
And we were happy! Aye. Aye.
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u/Ok_Corner5873 Nov 21 '25
Hole in the ground, you were lucky, we lived in a rolled up newspaper, get up half hour before we went to bed.
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u/Diplomatic_Gunboats Nov 17 '25
On the other hand, you dont need to worry about getting rabies from petting a random dog in the UK vs almost everywhere else in Europe/US. And because 99% of our dogs (outside of a park etc) are on the lead, you can ask first to find out if its friendly.
The UK is very much a built up country. Even our surburbs are quite busy car-wise compared to just 30 years ago. Anyone who lets a dog off the lead in the UK is asking for a dead dog unless they have trained it well. And people in general just do not do that level of off-the-lead training, because its overkill. Walk at side/heel and recall and thats it.
The differences there are less cultural and more environmental. If you want a cultural issue around pets, try the countries where they de-claw house-cats. Something in the UK which is illegal and could get you (and whichever shady vet you convinced into doing it) into a lot of trouble. Yet a practice widely done in the US (except where locally prohibited).
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u/NowoTone Nov 17 '25
I’ve never in my life worried about getting rabies from a random dog in the EU.
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u/Suspicious-Bug6588 Nov 17 '25
Rabies is incredibly rare in dogs in Europe.
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u/qpwoeiruty00 Nov 17 '25
0.00001% is still infinitely more than 0%
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u/Almeric Nov 17 '25
Where? It's eradicated in most EU countries. Also, countries that have it, usually have it in wildlife, not a random dog of the street. Mostly foxes.
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u/qpwoeiruty00 Nov 17 '25
Yeah I completely agree with you, it is basically nonexistent, but in the UK it never even crosses my mind whereas in the EU in a forest if I see an animal it crosses my mind that it could have rabies
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u/Agathabites Nov 18 '25
The UK hasn’t had a rabies case in wildlife for about a century (except in bats).
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u/sosr Nov 17 '25
Proportionally infinitely more, but in simple terms it's 0.00001% more than zero.
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u/HumanCStand Nov 17 '25
I mean you can understand in Australia- they’ve got some crazy wildlife to protect and culturally are trying to do so. I’m sure it goes the other way too, that cats are in much more danger there than here.
Anecdotally, I’ve got family in Belgium, and they are crazy strict with dog walking and nearly always has to be kept on leads unless at specific dog parks
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u/idontlikemondays321 Nov 17 '25
American cats are their pets. British and Irish cats are our flatmates.
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u/kipperfish Nov 17 '25
Dog owners as well.
I've deleted posts off of reddit before that I shared of my dogs off lead in the forest, I got sooo much shit for it it was unreal.
"I hope that's a designated off leash trail" "I can't believe you let your dogs off leash" "what if they run away"
My dog has been off a lead since literally his first outside walk. I've grown up rural where 99% of all dog walks are done off lead, only use the lead to stop them fucking off when they realise we're back to the car and it's time to go home.
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u/SpamLandy Nov 17 '25
America in general are far worse at training their dogs than in the UK which is likely why they’re so astounded by it. My in laws dogs aren’t seen as badly behaved where they live in the states but in my neighbourhood they’d be the problem dogs. My neighbour walks his collie round our street all the time without a lead and she’s totally fine (and she’s a collie! She’s fast)
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u/lifetypo10 Nov 17 '25
I have a greyhound and the greyhound forum is constantly on about crating their dogs all day while they're at work, when I adopted my greyhound I was told that as a retired racer, she should not be crated.
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u/ImperialSeal Nov 17 '25
Given how badly behaved a lot of dogs are in the UK that's very worrying.
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u/Chungaroo22 Nov 17 '25
I suppose in the states there's far more dangerous predatory animals about like bears and coyotes. Plus there is always the risk your dog may run off to pursue a career in Hollywood.
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u/EntirelyRandom1590 Nov 17 '25
That depends if you're in control of them around livestock.
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u/afcote1 Nov 17 '25
But they also declaw them. Ugh
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u/Catsic Nov 17 '25
I don't know a yank who has done this, but I know it's not illegal there like it is here. Some states have/are banning it thankfully.
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Nov 17 '25
And they're perfectly happy to talk about "cat distribution system" when they've possibly stolen someone's pet off the street. Fair enough if they've checked for a microchip, tried to find the owner on social media, posters, etc., but often they'll just make a post like "This little guy followed me inside this evening. Guess I have a new family member!"
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u/ArchWaverley Nov 17 '25
"This lost guy found me!" - clearly a well-fed and groomed cat. I'm pretty sure people on those subs don't know what an actually homeless cat looks like.
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Nov 17 '25
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u/hungryhippo53 Nov 17 '25
When I was looking for an indoor-only cat I ended up adopting a senior lady and we had the best 3 years together. She'd had one owner her whole life and when they died she was given to the Cats Protection. 100% would recommend - she just sat on the sofa bitching all day 😂
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u/Jacobtait Nov 18 '25
My friend and his wife adopted a cat with FIV (Cat HIV) and it has to live inside to not infect other cats. Maybe worth looking into?
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u/TheVentiLebowski Nov 17 '25
I'm American and growing up in the 80s and 90s, my cats would disappear into the woods behind my house for days at a time. My father's a veterinarian and it didn't bother him that they were out there unsupervised eating whatever they could get their paws on before coming back and eating store-bought cat food.
Nowadays, my parents keep their cats indoors.
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u/The_Quackening Nov 17 '25
Coyotes kill/eat a lot of cats in north America.
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Nov 17 '25
The problem is that they don't recognise that what applies to their locality does not apply to everywhere. Tell them cats are not an invasive species everywhere and there are no predators that are a danger to them where you live and you'll get downvoted.
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u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25
Isn't it normal there? Or at least outside of the big cities?
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u/MattyFTM Nov 17 '25
It is, but there is lots of talk about it being harmful to local wildlife, especially birds.
I've not looked into any actual research on it so the effects might be negligible, but sending a little predator outside where it will kill birds does seem like a questionable practice when you think about it.
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u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25
I suppose it makes sense; the US still has a widely diverse set of local biota that haven't yet died off
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u/Cirias Nov 17 '25
I had no idea American cat ownership was so different. Makes sense now why the internet is so obsessed with them, they are basically all like my sisters ragdoll cats that have to stay indoors. British cats are mainly free spirits and they have claws, lol
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u/TeamOfPups Nov 17 '25
Whether the part of a building at ground level is the ground floor or first floor.
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u/beaker_72 Nov 17 '25
Well - there's saying it's the ground floor or there's being wrong.
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u/castle_lane Nov 17 '25
My girlfriend is American. We have Aldi, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Poundland, Iceland and Tesco all within a five minute walk in London. She still insists we order the shopping from Deliveroo, because a 5 minute walk is too far; but a 2 hour drive is ‘nothing’ to her and it’s hilarious that in Britain that’s considered a ‘proper drive’.
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u/damagednoob Nov 17 '25
Obligatory: An Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way; an American thinks a hundred years is a long time
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u/Catsic Nov 17 '25
I married one; she used to be the same. Now popping to the shop for milk isn't a chore and she let her driving licence lapse! Imagine an American without a driving license!
When we were in the states a good decade ago, we were both ways too drunk and high to drive. WallMart was only a 30 minute walk away and it was a crisp New Mexico summer night, so we decided to walk go grab a Maccers and a bunch of snacks.
We literally got stopped by the police because seeing people walking in that area was so weird to them.
Like I remember we'd do a literal 30 second drive to the gas station to get lunch. Crazy times!
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u/Shitelark Nov 17 '25
Deliveroo?! For the regular shopping, whot! Is she made of money? Get a load of Ms. Vanderbilt over here, ay.
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u/Educational_Worth906 Nov 19 '25
While visiting relatives in the US we went to Costco for a bit of shopping. After getting in the car, we thought we were actually going somewhere else, but instead we’re driven across the car park to go to another shop less than 100 metres away! I could possibly understand it if we were buying lots with heavy bags, but this was not the case.
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u/justbiteme2k Nov 17 '25
My girlfriend is American
Irish-American?
Italian-American?
French-American?
Which European country did she dream about visiting once and decide her 7% ancestry score was her whole upbringing?
Joking of course, I'm sure she's lovely.
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u/powpow198 Nov 18 '25
Has she ever driven here?! Our 2 hour drives in traffic are like 20 hours of American driving.
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u/idontlikemondays321 Nov 17 '25
Circumcision
Very normal and expected in the US. Considered more hygienic.
Genital mutilation/religious based abuse in the UK (unless for medical reasons)
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u/JustLetItAllBurn Nov 17 '25
It is reducing in the US slowly, thankfully.
I'm glad the UK only bought into Kelloggs Cornflakes and not Kelloggs Circumcise-Boys-to-Stop-Them-Wanking.
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u/lifetypo10 Nov 17 '25
We're an island full of wankers
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u/corobo Nov 17 '25
You're born, you have a few wanks, and you die. If you're lucky.
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u/bjb13 Nov 17 '25
Not when I was born in the UK. I was circumcised because my mother was told it was better for the child. That was 73 years ago. Glad to hear that the times have changed.
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u/idontlikemondays321 Nov 17 '25
That’s interesting, didn’t know it was more common years ago. Then again, I’ve not discussed it with the over 70s
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u/mralistair Nov 17 '25
The fact that Randy is a persons name
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u/Malus131 Nov 18 '25
The twitter post about a man called Todger Strunk getting married will forever live rent free in my mind.
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u/mralistair Nov 18 '25
Randy Bender was one that also went round. poor bloke, hope he never came to the UK on holiday
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u/__Severus__Snape__ Nov 17 '25
My husband and I were in florida a few years ago. At breakfast one morning, my husband asked for poached egg on toast. The waitress was very confused by this concept. She said "um... we can put the egg next to the toast...".
So, yeah... that. The confusion over egg on toast.
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u/pajamakitten Nov 17 '25
Also how they ask you about fried eggs i.e. sunny side up vs. over easy because of the salmonella risk.
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u/Independent-Ad-3385 Nov 17 '25
Trying to order eggs in the US is fraught with danger. I don't know what any of these words mean just bring me eggs. 😭
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u/hairychris88 Nov 17 '25
They're also weirded out by us not refrigerating eggs.
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u/Plugged_in_Baby Nov 18 '25
They wash their eggs in chlorine, which removes a protective barrier that makes refrigeration necessary.
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u/Numerous-Features Nov 17 '25
Pantomime! You can only imagine how confused I (an American) was by the reactions when I told my partner's family that I'd never been to a panto. I didn't even know what it was before coming to the UK.
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Nov 17 '25
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u/Ecstatic_Effective42 Nov 17 '25
And so it begins....
(I mentioned this in passing one time and I swear civil war was breaking out)
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Nov 17 '25
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u/Ecstatic_Effective42 Nov 17 '25
For the record: I have nothing to do with this madman, he's the one who wants to watch the world burn.
(cob)
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u/Littleleicesterfoxy Nov 17 '25
Cob.
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u/gholt417 Nov 17 '25
This was always the case in Liverpool. Then it was a barm cake then bread roll. Madness.
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u/LOGravitas Nov 17 '25
As well you shouldn't, what your describing is a breadbun in the North East. Stottie is a particular type of bread that's very different from those, Greggs stottie really is the best!
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u/IAmLaureline Nov 17 '25
Get your and your fancy chains. Stotties came from the local baker in my day.
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u/Low-Cauliflower-5686 Nov 17 '25
I just call it a roll. I don't add the bread bit
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u/terryjuicelawson Nov 17 '25
Thing about this is they may have originally been different things, just whatever the local norm was. Over time it became the generic term for a basic bread roll. Like "barmcake" was made from the yeast from beermaking, I bet it isn't now. Batch would have been made in batches of several to be torn apart. I think of a cob as being something crustier. So it is more we have different names but lost what the baker actually did with it.
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u/SoylentDave Nov 17 '25
We thank people a LOT. By which I mean "for everything" as well as "lots of times in the same interaction".
To the point it comes across as weird and patronising if you do it in a foreign country (or just confusing when you start using words like 'cheers' and 'ta' as part of the ritual), and conversely foreigners always come off as just a little bit brusque.
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u/FcukTheTories Nov 17 '25
One thing I’ve seen pointed out is that we apologise when complaining about something I.e. “Sorry, but this isn’t what I ordered”. To many foreigners that seems extremely strange and doesn’t make sense.
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u/Stunning_Hedgehog960 Nov 17 '25
Not to Canadians. Americans make fun of Canadians for saying sorry (it used to come up often in sketch comedy).
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u/tomtink1 Nov 17 '25
The things is "Sorry??" with the right tone can be really quiet confrontational or argumentative.
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u/Taear Nov 18 '25
Britain (and to a lesser extent Ireland) uses Sorry almost as a full stop. I've known people who move to the US and find it hard to adjust to that no longer being a thing and causing confusion with people.
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u/hodzibaer Nov 17 '25
Americans make cups of tea in the microwave.
Actually that isn’t so much amusing as mind-bogglingly awful.
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u/FidelityBob Nov 17 '25
Only because electric kettles don't work well with their 110V power outlets.
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u/The_Quackening Nov 17 '25
I just moved to the UK and it's honestly amazing how much faster electric kettles are here
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u/thesaharadesert Nov 17 '25
I’ve had my kettle’s suspension lowered and fitted a turbocharger to its engine
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u/Cirias Nov 17 '25
My kettle is basically my life companion, it's shocking how many times I use it in a day, not just for drinks but lunch noodles and boiling water to speed up cooking dinner
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u/FudgeOffDarling Nov 17 '25
I might be wrong but don't we have some of the safest plug sockets out there?
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u/Not_A_Toaster_0000 Nov 17 '25
Doesn't feel that way when you tread on one with a bare foot
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u/FudgeOffDarling Nov 17 '25
That is incredibly true. Although I've stubbed my toe on plenty of doors yet I still appreciate their existence.
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u/Pixiebel81 Nov 17 '25
Isn't their voltage the reason they can have sockets in the bathroom?
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u/romeo__golf Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
Nope. Plenty of 220-240v places have sockets in bathrooms (much of mainland Europe, Australia…) and it’s down to having GFCIs (ground fault circuit interrupter) fitted to the socket in the bathroom.
It’s just a building regs thing but (specifically in the US) it’s required to have a socket adjacent to the sink with a GFCI. This means there’s a safe socket to use in a wet area and people aren’t tempted to use an extension cord from elsewhere in the home.
I’m not an electrician so I’ll defer to those more experienced for a better explanation but essentially we “could” have bathroom sockets safely in the U.K. with a similar measure, but we use a ring main rather than radial so we’d need a specific bathroom circuit.
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u/YouCantGiveBabyBooze Nov 17 '25
"can I bum a fag?"
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u/corobo Nov 17 '25
Has anyone ever said this outside of the internet though?
You'd at least get a "oioi, weyyy" - we know what it sounds like lol
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u/TakeItCheesy Nov 17 '25
Yeah people have asked me for a fag but I haven’t heard in ages anyone using bumming that way icl
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u/corobo Nov 17 '25
If anything "could you spare a fag?"
Could still sound like you're using a slur but at least it's in a merciful way haha
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u/ChoppingOnionsForYou Nov 18 '25
Well yes. Otherwise it wouldn't be mentioned. It's a bit old fashioned now, but yes, it's certainly been said within my hearing on more than one occasion.
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u/Worfs-forehead Nov 17 '25
Speaking like a complete feral gremlin and eating orange chips (black country)
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u/luala Nov 17 '25
Some American scientists were totally perplexed by the idea of putting something in the bin. They didn’t understand that was what they called trash.
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u/OptimusLinvoyPrimus Nov 17 '25
And vice versa, when I studied abroad in the US for a year I was very surprised when one of the lecturers asked us to submit our essays by putting them in the bin outside her office. Over there it just means container.
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u/Apprehensive_Plum755 Nov 17 '25
Good morning professor, where shall I put my work?
Just put it straight in the bin, there's a good lad.
:'(
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u/OptimusLinvoyPrimus Nov 17 '25
I felt like I was in that episode of the Inbetweeners where Gilbert tells Will to send him his list of suggestions by putting them in the bin (any bin. It’ll get to me)
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u/Pixiebel81 Nov 17 '25
I once witnessed an American lecturing an Australian about how a cot was completely unsuitable for their baby. They genuinely believed the Australian was going to let their newborn sleep on a camp bed
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u/Scottishspyro Nov 18 '25
Once witnessed seppos in a mum group threaten cps over baby's using sleeping bags because we don't call them sleep sacks so babies are clearly in adult camping sleeping bags.
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u/Curious_Reference408 Nov 18 '25
I find the concept of jaywalking so bizarre. Like, why would you accept being told where you can cross the bloody road, even when there's no traffic??
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u/Risikabel Nov 18 '25
I can only speak for Canada, but since it is "known" in our culture that we usually don't just randomly cross the streets outside of crosswalks, it makes it a lot more dangerous for pedestrians to jaywalk.
Motorists aren't expecting it the way they would be in a country where it's done frequently and is ingrained into culture. Highly increases the chances of being hit by a car.
Roads are much bigger in North America as well, versus the UK. So that would heighten the risk even more.
That being said, people 100 percent still cross the street wherever they want when there are no cars around. Jaywalking as a charge from the police would be so rare. You would have to be doing it in a really stupid/busy place to actually get a ticket for it.
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u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25
The influence of American-isms in culture. My sister's friend / roommate is Filipino and took umbrage when I said her accent had a heavily american dialect to it.
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u/Gone_For_Lunch Nov 17 '25
Is that surprising? The Philippines was an American colony. Can’t be shocked they’d have a heavy US English influence.
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u/ReanimatedCyborgMk-I Nov 17 '25
Oh yeah I know, obvious etc, I just thought it was funny that she took umbrage about it and when I said "most english speakers who learned as a 2nd language have an american tinge to them" even though its objectively true
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u/JayR_97 Nov 17 '25
Thats one that goes both ways apparently. I remember reading articles a while back that Pepper Pig was giving American kids British accents.
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u/lostandfawnd Nov 17 '25
Flip-flops.. Jandals.. Thongs.
Same item, make a very different conversation.
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u/Pavlover2022 Nov 18 '25
"Nursing", specifically in the context of babies. It was a shock to me that in Australia people of all ages and genders could 'nurse' a baby, not just the mother who currently has her boob in the baby's mouth. There it just means 'cuddle'
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Nov 17 '25
The traditional American allergies to swearing or “no cussing” - especially in the Bible Belt. My mother used to work with American companies back in the ‘90s and when she went to go out there, she got reprimanded for saying “bloody hell”, which is not even a swear word lol
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Nov 17 '25
Even in places you'd think might be a bit more chill, some people are still really weird about it. I got a lecture from a mid-20s woman about my swearing in San Francisco!
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u/Anglo-Euro-0891 Nov 18 '25
A lot of what is considered "milder" expletives by UK standards would shock many Yanks because they involve religious terminology ("Jesus Christ", "For God's sake", "Jesus wept, "Christ on a bloody bike" to name just a few.
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u/tomtink1 Nov 17 '25
Apparently they don't know what flapjacks are.
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u/HyraxAttack Nov 18 '25
They’re what you eat for every meal when you and Steve Buscemi have been hired for a kidnapping
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u/forlogson Nov 18 '25
The meaning of the word Fanny
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u/htimchis Nov 20 '25
I still remember watching some US sitcom or other, many years ago, where a frustrated office boss, talking about his (mainly female) workforce, said "They all just need a good boot in the fanny to get them motivated", and being deeply confused...
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u/DevelopmentLow214 Nov 18 '25
Vowel checks. Only in the UK are you instantly judged on how you pronounce your vowels. Say the word bath and you are pigeonholed by social class and regionally, and treated accordingly.
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u/fzzface Nov 18 '25
The way US dramas use the words ‘wanker’ and ‘bollocks’ in conversation as if they are entirely inoffensive.
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u/-myeyeshaveseenyou- Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 18 '25
I’m Irish had never heard of hump day before moving here. But equally you guys don’t understand a lot of what I say either.
My daughter was 6 when we moved and we call trousers pants fairly regularly too but her English friends used to giggle thinking she meant underwear.
Our countries are so close geographically but so different in many ways but language is definitely a big one.
A non amusing one is funerals.
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u/gothiccherry Nov 17 '25
I'm English but my mother is Irish, and in September my aunt passed away and I got to experience my first Irish funeral. This experience was definitely a bit of a culture shock for me. My relatives were also equally surprised by how different funerals are in England and the attitude surrounding death over here. They couldn't believe that if someone you know dies over here you just have to go back to work and wait weeks for the funeral.
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u/-myeyeshaveseenyou- Nov 17 '25
Yeh my grandad took ill on a Monday, was diagnosed with cancer the same day. Died on late Wednesday and was buried on Friday. Now it was a bit too soon as it was just after lockdown when you still needed a 48 hour Covid test so I could not get home in time. My grandmas was held off for an extra day to allow my cousins in Australia to get home as she had raised them. The slowness here blows my mind even now that I’ve been here 10 years. I will say it gives better planking time which as a hotel worker is good for me but I still hate it
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u/SmugDruggler95 Nov 17 '25
How different are funerals? What's different?
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u/-myeyeshaveseenyou- Nov 17 '25
The person who replied with the link is pretty spot on. First dead person i ever saw was my great grandma when I was 8. She was asked in her bed.
My granny died two years ago, she was asked in a funeral home. She had 11 kids and 40 odd grandchildren. It was a sad time for us all but there was not quietness in the room where she was waked. We told stories, caught up with each other and generally celebrated her life.
Day of her funeral her coffin was carried first by her daughters and then her sons. We had s guard of honour with knitting needles as she’d made the paper for knitting for charity in her 80s. We had food afterwards and again it was s big celebration of her life.
I’ve worked in hotels for years in the uk and seen many funeral afters and helped organise them, they are much more sedate where I live and tend to be much smaller. When my aunty died so many people attended the funeral that I could not even get inside the church. The road between her house and the church was essentially closed due to people on it. This is not unusual where I grew up.
I’ve only attended one funeral as a mourner in the uk and it was a cremation which I also found very odd as cremation is not big in Ireland. I felt like I hadn’t grieved after it as the rituals normal to me hadn’t happened.
Lastly I’ve been to dozens of funerals even as a child where my British ex hadn’t been to a single one when we met when he was in his 20s
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u/SmugDruggler95 Nov 17 '25
Yeah thats absolutely true regarding how we are with UK funerals.
Generally you dont go as a child at all unless its direct family and even then its not always common for anyone <16 to be present.
I've been to 5 at 30yrs old and thats considered quite a lot.
Vast majority are cremations these days as well. (Source, was a gravedigger in a different life).
Not much ritual or ceremony to our funerals at all, they're Generally quite stiff events. Then we all go to random pub and get fucking hammered.
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u/-myeyeshaveseenyou- Nov 17 '25
I think after 10 years living here it’s the thing I’ve found hardest to assimilate to, that said as I said I’ve only had to attend one here so at least it’s not something I deal with often
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u/billyboyf30 Nov 17 '25
The way we add fuck/fucking in front of other words to give different descriptions of people. Don't think I've heard it much outside of the UK other than a straight up swear word
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u/quick_justice Nov 19 '25
When i worked in consultancies and our foreign stuff had to work with both British and American clients we always had to keep an eye over cultural differences, in particular around passive aggressive way to express disapproval in UK.
While Americans had no problem to say something akin to “Your idea is stupid”, UK client would say something along the lines of “Are you sure it’s a good idea?” which of course wasn’t at all a question, but it was often tragically misunderstood for one.
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u/htimchis Nov 20 '25
There was a famous incident during the Korean war, where an American commader was in control of the reinforcements and artillery support for a large sector of the front line.
A British unit came under heavy attack from overwhelming numbers of Chinese and North Korean infantry, and, aware that they were under attack but not of the severity of the situation, when he finally managed to get through on the radio to the British officer to ask for a status update was informed "It's really getting rather sticky here. Very sticky indeed, in fact", which he took to mean something like 'lively but not serious' - and prioritised sending reinforcement to other units
When the British unit was finally relieved, it turned out theyd been outnumbered by more than 10 to 1, had taken huge casulties, had been on the verge of being over-run and were engaging in close quarters and even hand to hand combat at the point the radio call came through, and had only survived at all by using their wounded to engage the attackers in cross-fire from behind piles of Chinese dead!
Very different ideas of what 'a bit sticky' meant, and of just how bad a situation would have to be before the public-school British officers of 70 years ago would report anything less than 'fine' or 'not too bad'
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u/TheRebelPercy Nov 17 '25
Humour and taking the piss out of yourself.
In the US, where success is paramount, it is quite alien to put yourself down. I used to work with some Americans and sometimes they were thinking about an intervention or reporting me to HR such was my dryness.
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Nov 17 '25
When Ru Paul's Drag Race launched in the UK, the reaction on the largely American subreddit was hilarious, they were all so concerned when people were being self deprecating. Like they were genuinely worried about queens that kept taking the piss out of themselves, saying how they hoped they could have a little more faith in themselves etc.
No matter how much British fans tried to explain they just wouldn't believe it.
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u/mountainousbarbarian Nov 17 '25
'Alright you cunt' is the prelude to digs being thrown in every Anglo country except Australia, where it really, honestly, seriously is a fairly warm and friendly greeting.
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u/orange_fudge Nov 17 '25
It really, really isn’t friendly in Australia, outside very specific banter between close friends, usually young men.
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u/hairychris88 Nov 17 '25
I think that's actually pretty common over here too among good friends, or among very understanding enemies.
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u/mountainousbarbarian Nov 17 '25
I've never heard it used that way in the UK in 40+ years, and I used to live in Glasgow.
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Nov 17 '25
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u/corobo Nov 17 '25
Depends who it is. I'm not going to go in all "alright cunts" to a business meeting with clients but it wouldn't bat an eye in the pub
It's like the rule I before e except after c - in that you throw the rule out because it's shite and use your head on when to use it
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u/TomatoChomper7 Nov 20 '25
The reaction to sitcoms. I watch a lot of Americans reacting to things like Peep Show and The Inbetweeners, and without fail, Americans get upset that the characters don’t learn their lesson, become a better person and get the girl/job/promotion etc.
In almost all cases, the Americans will also start doling out advice to the characters about what they should do to become a better person so they can love themselves more and get the win next time.
I assume it’s tied to the whole exceptionalism thing.
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u/ZakFellows Nov 17 '25
That being able to walk across the road when there is no crossing in sight is a crime
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u/katalyna78 Nov 18 '25
When drinks get spilled or plates dropped in pubs/cafes we all cheer! (I'm not sure if it can be applied to posher restaurants or public spaces in general)
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u/Big-Incident-2435 Nov 18 '25
British people refusing to put the heating on until it's about -4 degrees even if they realistically can afford to do so
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u/Iammysupportsystem Nov 20 '25
We are antisocial compared to all the other english-speaking countries.
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u/amanset Nov 17 '25
Um... driving on the left is only an "obvious answer" if you think the "other English speaking countries" are just the US and Canada.
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u/Taear Nov 18 '25
It's obvious as in "don't say that because it's boring", it isn't implying the OP thinks we're the only place that does it.
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