An American Visited UK and His 100 Observations Have Gone Viral!

It’s a year since Scott Waters visited the UK and made his brilliant but true observations about our little isle. A hundred things we know and love but take for granted. The observations went viral so he decided to repost them a year on. We have oohed and aahed over them all, so we’re sharing them with you here!

1. Almost everyone is polite.
2. The food is generally outstanding
3. There are no guns
4. There are too many narrow stairs
5. Everything is just a little bit different
6. The pubs close too early
7. Pubs are not bars, they are community living rooms
8. You’d better like peas, potatoes and sausage
9. Refrigerators and washing machines are very small
10. Everything is generally older, smaller and shorter

    

11. There are very well-behaved dogs everywhere
12. People don’t seem to be afraid of their neighbours or the government
13. Their paper money makes sense, the coins don’t.
14. Everyone has a washing machine but driers are rare.
15. The reason they drive on the left is because all their cars are built backwards
16. Hot and cold water taps (faucets). Remember them?
17. Pants are called “trousers”, underwear are “pants” and sweaters are “jumpers”
18. The bathroom light is a string hanging from the ceiling
19. “Fanny” is a naughty word, as is “shag”
20. The signs are well designed with beautiful typography and written in full sentences with proper grammar.
21. There’s no dress code
22. Doors close by themselves, but they don’t always open
23. They eat with the forks upside down in their left hand
24. English are as crazy about their gardens as Americans are about cars.
25. They don’t seem to use face cloths or napkins, or maybe they’re less messy than we are
26. The wall outlets all have switches, some don’t do anything
27. There are hardly any cops or police cars
28. There are 5,000 year old rocks still standing around. No one is sure why
29. When you do see police they seem to be in male & female pairs and often smiling
30. Black people are just people: they didn’t quite do slavery here unless you were Irish
31. Everything comes with chips, which are French fries. You put vinegar on them
32. Cookies are “biscuits” and potato chips are “crisps”
33. HP sauce is better than catsup

    

34. Obama is considered a hero, Bush is considered an idiot. Trump frightens them.
35. After fish and chips, curry is the most popular food, with chips
36. There are still small shops
37. The water controls in showers require training and detailed instructions
38. Folks don’t always lock their bikes
39. It’s completely normal to see people dressing different and speaking different languages
40. Modern electronic devices work fine with just a plug adaptor
41. Nearly everyone is better educated than we are
42. If someone buys you a drink, you must do the same
43. There are no guns
44. Look right, walk left. You’re welcome.
45. It’s not that hard to eat with the fork in your left hand after a little practice. If you don’t, everyone knows you’re an American.
46. Many of the roads are the size of our sidewalks
47. There’s no AC
48. Instead of turning the heat up, you put on a jumper
49. Gas is “petrol”, it costs about $7 a gallon and is sold by the litre.
50. If you speed on a motorway, you get a ticket. Always.
51. You don’t have to tip, usually.
52. Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall really are different countries, despite what anyone else says.

    

53. Almost everyone has a passport, only 14% of Americans do.
54. You pay the price marked on products because the taxes (VAT) are built-in.
55. Walking is a national pastime.
56. Their TV looks and sounds much better than ours
57. They took the street signs down during WWII but haven’t put them all back up yet
58. Everyone enjoys a good joke.
59. There are no guns!
60. Dogs seem very well-behaved and welcome almost everywhere
61. There are no window screens
62. You can get on a bus and end up in Paris
63. Everyone knows more about our history than we do
64. Radio is still a big deal. The BBC is quite good
65. The newspapers can be awful
66. Everything costs the same but our money is worth less so you have to add 50% to the price to figure what you’re paying.
67. Everything is metric except distance which is in “miles” rather than kilometres.
68. Beer comes in large, completely filled, imperial pint glasses and the closer the brewery, the better the beer.
69. Butter and eggs aren’t refrigerated
70. The beer isn’t warm, each style is served at the proper temperature.
71. Cider (alcoholic) is quite good
72. Excess cider consumption can be very painful
73. The universal greeting is “Cheers” (pronounced “cheeahz” unless you are from Cornwall, then it’s “chairz”)
74. The money is easy to understand: 1-2-5-10-20-50 pence, £1 & £2 coins, and £5-£10, etc bills There are no quarters.
75. Their cash makes ours look like Monopoly money
76. Cars don’t have bumper stickers.

    

77. Many doorknobs, buildings and tools are older than America
78. By law, there are no crappy, old cars
79. When the sign says something was built in 456, they didn’t lose the “1”
80. BBC 4 is NPR
81. Shops close at 1700 (5pm)
82. Very few people smoke, those that do usually roll their own
83. You’re defined by your accent
84. No one in Cornwall knows what the hell a Cornish Game Hen is
85. Soccer is a religion, religion is a sport
86. Europeans dress better than the English, we dress worse
87. The trains generally work: a three-minute delay is “regrettable”
88. Drinks don’t come with ice
89. There are far fewer fat English people
90. There are a lot of healthy old folks wandering around participating in life instead of hiding at home watching tv.

    

     

91. The beer is fantastic, but they shouldn’t make wine.
92. You pay a monthly fee for the BBC instead of having commercials
93. If you’re over 60 and English, you can get a free bus pass
94. Displaying your political or religious affiliation is considered very bad taste
95. Every pub seems to have a pet drunk
96. Their healthcare works, but they still bitch about it
97. Cake is one of their major food groups
98. The coffee is mediocre but their tea is wonderful
99. There are still no guns
100. Towel warmers!