Smoking Crow posted:

The difference between the US and UK is eight letters.

Ferdinand the Bull posted:

8?

Kingdom? (7)

-

States? (6)

=

1

What?

Smoking Crow posted:

K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Ishmael posted:

I'd say there are some significant cultural differences. British humor (cliches incoming) is generally more dry and deadpan. With my British coworker it almost seems like he's got a bet going with someone to see how little he can laugh at things he finds funny. Sarcasm also comes up a lot.

I'd say, as a generalization, Brits are a bit more open about things good and bad going on in their lives.

Binge drinking is a way of life in the UK, especially under 40.

If you make under 75k US a year in London, prepare to live in a matchbox. Or live at least an hour by tube from the city center. It's goddamn expensive there.

Liar posted:

Someone said in a far older thread that having an American trying to speak Brit slang would be like a white guy just randomly trying to speak Ebonics to a black dude. I don't know how right he was. I mean in terms of it being viewed as humorous or offensive to Brits.

Ewan posted:

Impressions as a Southern Brit having spent 6 months in Connecticut and various shorter trips around all corners of the US. All are generalisations, clearly there are exceptions. I've tried to keep it balanced.

Brits have volume control, Americans don't. Americans in a social situation act like Brits do after about 3 pints. Americans like to "woop" a lot, and I have never heard of people clapping or cheering in a cinema in the UK.

Both countries have weirdos, but there are more in America. There are more visibly poor people in the US. Race and poverty divides are far more obvious in the US.

US roads give no trust to the driver (but are generally of far higher quality), Brit roads rely a lot more on judgement. US roads need traffic lights and Stop signs to regulate junctions with equal priority. UK roads just rely on the driver to judge when it looks clear (and/or have a roundabout, which again relies on speed judgement of when you have a safe gap in traffic to go). US drivers pull away from lights reeeaaally slowly because they all drive automatics and have massive cars. Automatics are rare in the UK. Parking is a lot easier in the US - in the UK, most carparks you have to pay for by finding a machine, printing out a ticket, and putting it in your car. This is even for carparks serving supermarkets (although some supermarkets are increasingly letting their customers park for free). But, we also park on the roads a lot more haphazardly (and we don't need to face the direction of traffic, and pretty much anywhere is fair game). People drive faster in the UK, partly because our speed limits are higher: 70mph on all motorways (think freeways), and then most smaller roads (as in single track with one lane in each direction) in the countryside are 50/60mph. City roads are 30/40, although 20 is increasingly more common. It is very common to drive 90mph on the motorway. UK has a lot of static speed cameras, but they are often turned off. British police don't tend to operate "speed traps", although they may pull you over if they think you are speeding or being dangerous. Drink driving (US "DUI") is less common in UK cities, and I got the impression it was a still common (relative to the UK) in the US (although clearly variable and increasingly more socially unnaceptable in the US too). Drink driving (but not full-up drunk) is widespread in the UK countryside, where pubs are too far to walk and there are no taxis - rural police are more likely to turn a blind eye. A drink-driving conviction is a major thing in the UK, and can be life-changing (lose job etc, many jobs won't take you with a past conviction, etc). If we are pulled over for suspected drink driving, they will breathalise on the spot - you don't have sobriety tests like in the US.

Eating out in the US is less of an occasion than in the UK, partly because it is cheaper. Customer service (not just in restaurants) in the US is far far better, partly because service jobs rely on tips, but also because of the general US extrovert culture. I've never tipped a barman in the UK, and would be considered very strange if I did (bar staff, especially female ones, do get tipped occasionally, especially in "local" pubs, but it's normally in the form of "get yourself a drink on me"). Steak, burgers, and fries are of FAR higher quality in US restaurants (not incl. fast food, which is the same). US fast food comes in larger portions (US regular is a UK med or even large). You canot find a decent equivalent of British "fish and chips" in the US - every attempt I have tried has either got the batter wrong or the fries wrong (or normally, both). Most US tourists who try "fish and chips" will get it from a pub, so will have an equally lovely attempt - you have to get it from a fish n chip shop.

Brits, especially young professionals drink A LOT, and generally drink to get hammered. Drinking to the point of blackout is very common. Drining is expensive in London, in a pub you'd pay £4-5/pint, and in a bar/club you might pay over £10 for a spirit and mixer. UK spirit-based drinks are weaker because they have to be poured to measure (25ml single (some places 35ml), 50ml double). When Brits are out drinking, we are far more likely to stay within our group of friends than interact with other people, although this clearly changes if you are looking to hook up and/or as you get drunker. Drinking in public (incl in the street) is legal in most of the UK (some trouble spots have locally outlawed it). It's very common to openly drink in a public park (if it's sunny) with a group of friends. Likewise, if walking to a bar from home with some friends, it's relatively common to "take one for the road". Drinking in vehicles is also not illegal, and technically even the driver can drink as long as he remains under the limit (good luck arguing this with a police officer).

Police in the US come across as a lot more forceful in their authority, although I may have been slightly shaped by the "gently caress the polie" attitude you get on the internet. The British poice seem far more tolerant (especially of drunks), although of course are not without their problems and occasional reports of violence. Your standard British police officer carries no more than a baton and maybe pepperspray. Only specially-trained officers may carry tasers, and it's even rarer for police officers to be trained on firearms. Self defence laws in the UK are ambiguous, but typically favour the one who was defending himself (especially when public opinion gets involved). A famous counter-case was Tony Martin, a farmer (that is why he had a gun) who shot and killed a burglar (in the back) - he went to jail for murder, although later downgraded to manslaughter.

Pretty much every UK household has an electric kettle for boiling water to drink tea and coffee. We drink far more instant coffee than proper coffee, but proper coffee is getting very popular. We normally make proper coffee in a cafetiere (US "french press"), coffee machines are still relatively rare but increasingly common. Most people drink tea made from teabags, and most but not all have it with milk, and some have it with sugar. A Brit will struggle to find tea he/she likes in the US (and Lipton yellow lable is utterly despised here), but likewise many Americans will not enjoy standard Brit instant coffee.

Brits normally have their washing machine in their kitchen, and they are almost all front loaders. Washer/dryers are not that common, most people dry their laundry outside or on their radiators. Central A/C or air-based heating is very rare in houses, and rare (but less-so) in flats (aka apartments). Most houses and flats have "central heating", which is where the water boiler heats water and pumps it round radiators in each room. This is efficient, but it has a large timelag. Un-mixed taps (US "faucet") in the UK are far more common (in that we have a "hot" and a "cold" tap). Mixer taps are still pretty common though, especially in anything remotely modern.

British mass-produced bread has far fewer ingredients than US mass-produced bread, and is not sweet like the American stuff. I'd say it's much higher quality. However, it doesn't last as long and goes mouldy after a few days. "Gourmet" bread is of similar good quality in both countries. Every sandwich in the US seems to have mayo in it by default (and often cheese too). This isn't the case in the UK - we like our mayo, but a lot of sandwiches don't have it (especially homemade one, where you get the "moisture" by using spreads such as margarine). Cheese for UK is more likely to be the main ingredient of a sandwich, rather than the "accessory" it appears to be in the US. "Standard" cheese in the UK is far higher quality, although the US has very nice "gourmet" cheese. A typically easy sandwich (esp for kids) will be two slices of bread with margarine, with just some slices of processed ham. Cheese and pickle is another very common sandwich (bread, margarine, sliced proper cheddar, and Branston pickle (there isn't a US equivalent of pickle, although of course I know you have "pickles" and "chutneys", none are anything like Branston (although you can get it in some US stores)). Similarly, it is impossible to find the equivalent of UK baked beans in the US unless imported. The US equivalents appear to be in some sort of mollasses/syrupy/sugary mix, rather than the tomato "juice" that British ones come in. Someone told me "Heinz vegetarian baked beans" are close, but I tried them and they are not at all. In fact the Wikipedia page explains how the UK beans are made in the US, but now to get them in the US they have to be exported back...

Banking technology in the UK is ahead of (and more standardised) than the US, although the US is catching up. No one uses cheques (checks in US) any more, and household bill payments have been automated by variable electronic payments known as "direct debits" for many many years. Anyone with a smartphone and who banks with any of the major UK banks can log on their online banking from their phone, and instantly transfer something up to £2k to a friend. Similarly, it's easy to set up instant one-off or regular electronic payments to anybody in any UK bank. Most Current accounts ("checking" in US) are free, with people paying for "premium" accounts (approx £10-20 a month) that offer perks such as free travel/cellphone insurance. No one "signs" for transactions in shops, it is all PIN based. Contactless (and PIN-less) is becoming more common for small transactions in urban areas (Starbucks, etc). Cash withdrawals are free no matter what bank's cash machine you use (you get some "private" ones that charge, but these are normally inside a pub or in a small shop and are clearly identifiable).

Mobile phones are more standardised in the UK, and any phone will work on any network as long as it is "unlocked" (normally v easy). UK mobile contracts ("plans") are expensive, but are generally inclusive of more than enough minutes and texts. No "plans" charge for receiving texts or calls unless abroad.

Television in the UK is less varied than in the US - we have fewer channels, and very few "local" channels. Most people have "Freeview" (~100 channels), cable (pretty much under monopoly by Virgin media) or satellite (pretty much under monopoly by BSkyB). Virgin and Sky have very similar (in terms of quality and cost) services, and both now offer TIVO-equivalent capabilities as standard. Major US TV shows used to be shown on a lag (1-2 weeks later), but they are increasingly being shown the day after (or even "simulcast"). This is to combat people downloading them. Most major ISPs in the UK have now blocked major torrent sites, but the ISPs did this reluctantly, with many in government tryign to convince them to cut off customers who downloaded pirated TV/films. Most major TV channels have a free "on demand" service ont heir website, BBC's "iPlayer" is a very good example. The UK tends to be a little bit behind the US in the uptake of things like HD TV, on demand, and recording devices. All three are now v common.

Americans start work earlier in the day, and tend to eat lunch earlier (11-12 start eating, rather than 12-1.30 start eating in UK). Brits get far more vacation (I started my job with 25 days paid vacation plus 8 days public holiday). In a normal salaried job, we don't tend to get docked pay for being ill nor do we have a set allocation of "sick days". But, clearly, you get in trouble if you take off a lot of days without good reason. I can go on 6 month sick leave on full pay if I am long-term ill. Americans tend to have higher salaries, although day-to-day cost of living seems to be higher in the US (obviously very variable), but housing is a lot more expensive in the UK. UK houses are more likely to be built out of bricks (and so last longer), whereas I saw a lot of wooden houses in America. I've never seen a wooden house in the UK, other than old country-style cottages in the middle of nowhere. Petrol (US "gas") is far more expensive in the UK, but we tend to drive less and have a far better inegrated national public transport system.

Education is far more expensive in the US, although the UK fees are increasing. When I went to University (US: "College") (04-08), my fees were £1.1k a year. Most students now pay £9k a year, but this can be deferred like a loan. My era of students got v. low interest (1% above Bank of England rate) student loans from a government-backed agency - these loans do not affect our credit rating, and the payments come out of our salary automatically like a tax. This has changed a bit now, with the loans closer to commercial interest rates. Education (at all ages) is of a simlar quality. Like the US, the UK has its fair share of world class universities, and a lot of total poo poo ones. Our degrees are taken a bit differently, we don't do "major" in something, we just do a degree in a single subject with no extra unrelated classes (double degrees exist, but again it's not "major/minor", it's just "Economics with French" or something).

Speaking of tax, UK income tax system is highly automated. Most people do not need to file a tax return - it all happens automatically. You generally only need to file if you earn over a certain (high) threshold, have multiple (or specific types of) sources of income, or are self employed. In shops, VAT (UK equivalent of sales tax) is included in prices.

Ewan posted:

Liar posted:

Good article. I get so tired of reading articles on America that basically say, "America's poo poo and full of fucks". Seems like it's us Americans who have the lowest opinions of ourselves in those regards though.

The article did make me wonder, what the Christ is up with clothes washers in the kitchen? I saw this a lot on the UK version of 'How Clean is your House' and I could not figure it out. Where the hell is your clothes dryer? Why would you keep them in two separate locations?

Liar posted:

I get so tired of reading articles on America that basically say, "America's poo poo and full of fucks".

Gromit posted:

I'm glad we phased out coins below a 5-cent piece here, but you still need all that shrapnel in the US. Then again maybe you're all moving to electronic payments so it doesn't really matter?

Gromit posted:

The biggest thing I hated was prices listed with no tax included. I'm glad we phased out coins below a 5-cent piece here, but you still need all that shrapnel in the US. Then again maybe you're all moving to electronic payments so it doesn't really matter?

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Most Americans just sort of throw it all in a jar or something and cash it in once a year. I keep some quarters in my car for tolls and meters but I never actually carry coins with me. When I visited the UK I was slightly annoyed by the fact coins were actually worth money and that I had to keep track of them.

Ferdinand the Bull posted:

Yeah, I imagine London won't be weird in the slightest.
Which is a bit disappointing, to be honest.

Gromit posted:

The biggest thing I hated was prices listed with no tax included.

sanchez posted:

I always figured this was done because individual states, counties, cities etc can all have their own levels of sales tax which would make advertising prices difficult if not impossible on TV/radio.

PT6A posted:

The US actually seems rather behind on electronic payment -- I still have to actually sign receipts when I use my credit card down there. What is this, the time of Charlemagne?

Gromit posted:

Wouldn't those ads just say "$xxx plus local tax!" and you'd see the proper full price instore?

Gnossiennes posted:

I dunno, unless I'm in my hometown, I actually have no idea what the local sales tax is or what the percentage will be when I buy something. I usually just bank on it being around 10%. I've never seen signs in stores or anything telling me what the salestax will be -- you find out when you go to pay.

Ewan posted:

Yeah, the UK has had Chip & PIN standard for like 15 years here.

I found this for online use too, and the US has been slow on the uptake of a standardised online banking system like we have, as well as with equivalents for Direct Debits and Standing Orders, all of which are heavily ingrained and taken for granted in the banking system in the UK. When I lived in the US for 6 months (Connecticut), I had to go in person to my utility company to pay by cheque or card. I couldn't just pay online. I know in a US city its probably a bit different, but that is unheard of here.

nozz posted:

Drive through ATMs are a completely alien concept.

Ewan posted:

Yeah, the UK has had Chip & PIN standard for like 15 years here.

I found this for online use too, and the US has been slow on the uptake of a standardised online banking system like we have, as well as with equivalents for Direct Debits and Standing Orders, all of which are heavily ingrained and taken for granted in the banking system in the UK. When I lived in the US for 6 months (Connecticut), I had to go in person to my utility company to pay by cheque or card. I couldn't just pay online. I know in a US city its probably a bit different, but that is unheard of here.

Grand Prize Winner posted:

Wait, you couldn't mail the check in? Digital payments are increasingly common now; my utilities send me a little "hey start using e-payments and save trees or some poo poo" thing in just about every bill and my bank advertises it pretty heavily, too. I won't make the switch based on the (possibly poor) logic that if both the bank and the utility is in favor of it, then it probably represents some new way to screw me over.

Mustang posted:

Uh, all of those things are in the US too and I've been using them for at least a decade. I've never even heard of paying utilities in person and I've lived in 6 states so far.


These have also existed here for quite some time.

You guys should try living in places where people actually live.

adamarama posted:

Gastropubs are a great option in the UK but there didn't seem to be an equivalent in the US.

appropriatemetaphor posted:

The american equivalent of an english style gastropub is basically a thing called a gastropub. it's like a pub, but with fancier food and like a million beers.