The differences between North America and England

[bella]

I live in England and have just spent the last three months travelling aross America from San Francisco to New York, and have been asked a few times what the differences are between the US and my home, so I thought I'd let you know too!

* Firstly in the US, you seem to want to put cheese on everything! On a beef sandwich, a tuna sandwich, anything? I was looked at as though I was mental when I said I didn't want it!!

* You have no roundabouts, and loads of one way roads, and huge 7 lane roads everywhere. Almost all our roads in England are two-way and two lane!

* There are billboards everywhere by the side of the road. We dont have that in England at all really.

* You have loads of mini-malls, with car parks for just a few shops. We don't have that at all.

* Motels are really really rare in England.

* You are allowed to use phones whilst you are driving! Totally illegal at home

* Your streets are all built in blocks. You hardly ever get that in England. I think i find our windy streets more interesting, but your easier to navigate.

* Addresses in England rarely go past 100! Yours seem to go up to the thousands!

* We saw 'one thousand six hundred and fifty two' whilst you would say 'one-six-five-two'

* Cinammon flavouring is everywhere in the US!

* You have no add taxes on to stuff you buy - seriously annoying! In England, the price you see is the price you pay!

* I felt, it was rare to find fruit or veg in America that rivalled England's. Fruit isn't 'fresh' in the same way as at home.

* You say 'erbs and 'erbal, which cracks me up. We say Herbs and Herbal with an 'H'!

* In New York and Philadelphia there were lots of hot air vents in the floor, that were steamin hot!

* I think the English will walk a lot further than Americans. We were often recommended taxies for just short distances, like 10 blocks! Taxis do seem cheaper in the US.

* You have these weird walkie-talkie things, that are like a mobile but you talk into the bottom and everyone can hear you conversation. What is that about?

* Your cars are HUGE

* And you have loads of flags EVERYWHERE

* Your Television is really different!!! Adverts seem to pop up in the most annoying times, like when watching friends it goes:
ADVERTS before friends begins - the intro to friends - ADVERTS - friends part one - ADVERTS - part two - ADVERTS - the ending bit which lasts about 30 seconds - ADVERTS. Man that used to drive me mad!!!! And it always says 'closed captionning provided by ...' That's strange too.

* No offence to anyone, but there is a distinct smell of vomit in Florida. We travelled to Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Miami and with the exception of WPB it all smelt a bit pukey!

* Pet dogs don't seem very common in the US

* The presenting style on the News is far far far more relaxed and informal that in England. Also why the hell is Nancy Grace always on? That woman is terrible!

* There are loads of adverts on the Television for weight loss ALL THE TIME

* Also careers are advertised on the TV all the time. That doesn't happen apart from for the Army in England.

* We both have the name Craig, but we pronounce it 'CrEg' whilst we say 'Cray-g'

* Cadbury's chocolate does not taste as good in the US with the Hershey's influence!!!

* There are no old women in the US!

* You sell pizza by the slice!

* No offence but having to pay for the health service right when you need it totally sucks!

* Is a quarter the biggest coin? I think I saw a dollar coin twice! We have 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p then £1 coins, so always have lots of change, and no £1 notes!!

* Seriously, learn to queue people!!!

* I have never before known anywhere in England where the cashier doesn't hand the change right to your hand but instead it drops into a little dispenser for you to collect! Really unfriendly I thought!

* People talk loudly in the cinema in the US

* You seem to have a real culture of sueing which is a bit scary!

* Your baths are way way way lower - English baths are raised off the ground

* Sirens are very different on ambulances and fire engines!

* Are licence plates not needed on the front of vehicles?

* I like the way you have different licence plate designs for different states!

I love your adverts for Vlasic pickle, geico, head on (apply directly to the forehead!!! ), vonage, sharpie mini etc. And I also know who Kelly Ripa, Katie Couric and Anne Coulter are as well. Result!

So we really loved the west coast best - San Fransisco was gorgeous, but Santa Cruz was a bit blah (). Las Vegas was fabulous and so so exciting, Beverly Hills and Hollywood were great too, Chicago was cold and windy, Orlando was nice but a bit flat looking and samey, I loved West Palm Beach more than anywhere else in the world, and hated Miami more than anywhere else in the world! Loved the Bahamas (not US I know), Washington was very pictoresque, Philadelphia was quite nice too, but I didn't really like New York - I suppose I didn't see it as a 'glamorous' place that I expected it to be, although Central Park is nice.

[Sojiita]

Nice Post.
-There are more pet dogs in the United States than there are people in the United Kingdom.
-So sorry that you had to find out about one particular vicious rabid dog of ours(Ann Coulter).

[bella]

Originally Posted by Sojiita

Nice Post.
-There are more pet dogs in the United States than there are people in the United Kingdom.
-So sorry that you had to find out about one particular vicious rabid dog of ours(Ann Coulter).

Maybe you just don't walk your dogs as much. I rarely saw anything but those nasty little rat dogs in bags being walked/carried around in the cities

[IceQueen]

I think it depends on which part of the country you were in. Things in the Pac NW are certainly different than the SE, or NE! Its seems like the SW states don't require front license plates. In the Pac NW, you need them on the front AND back.
LOL at the no old women in the US - did you not drive through Arizona and Florida?
The walkietalkies are Nextels phones. Seems more annoying to me, so I don't have one.
"You have no add taxes on to stuff you buy - seriously annoying! In England, the price you see is the price you pay!"
We don't have sales tax in Oregon, so the price you see is the price you pay. In other states, I always forget that I have to pay more!

[Icepik]

lol

You were in Florida and didn't see any old women???

[olivia720]

And, conversely, I can't believe how small your cars are!

that's true about the cheese on everything.

Most americans think ann coulter is nuts, just so you know.

Lots of americans have dogs. Some might be too lazy to walk them on a regular basis.

Im sure people in england walk a lot more than americans. We tend to drive everywhere.

We have license plates on the fronts of the vehicles.

our primetime shows have Wayy to many ads. It is annoying.

[zorbeet]

Some areas do have traffic circles. Most Americans do not know how to use them and just blast into them indiscriminately.

Our ground floor is the first floor- not the second basement and the floor above it is the second floor.

Did you get a chance to go into a grocery store?

[DeChayz]

Only big city streets are in grids

I've never seen this change-dispenser thing of which you speak

Everyone around here has dogs, some let them run around their yards instead of walking them. Much easier

And in most cases '1652' would be pronounced sixteen fifty-two.

I'm hopefully going to Englad and Ireland in the spring, I'll have to keep an eye out for these differences

[buttmunch]

Lots of roundabouts where I'm from, plenty of windy roads outside the city, and don't get me started on the herb with or without an 'h'. Do you call Prince William the heir to the throne with an 'H'? Like saying he's the 'hair' to the throne? Or do you drop the 'h' on that one? This is an ongoing discussion with my brit friends and also encompasses pronounciation of basil, oregano and a host of other things.
I would say that alot of what you observed was probably localized, meaning that the US is a big place and even an hour's drive can see a big change. I'll agree about the ads and general tv stuff. I much prefer British telly.

[Sleuth]

I know this is completely not relevent considering my question involves oz,
is it true that Americans have trouble understanding Australians because we talk too fast??

[Lil]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

don't get me started on the herb with or without an 'h'. Do you call Prince William the heir to the throne with an 'H'? Like saying he's the 'hair' to the throne? Or do you drop the 'h' on that one?

According to Fowler's Modern English Usage, the 'h' is silent in words like honour, heir, and hour so it's 'an heir', 'an hour' etc, but the 'h' in herb is aspirated so it's 'a herb'. In American English the 'h' is silent in 'herb', but both are correct, depending on which side of the Atlantic you are from. Some people still use 'an' for words where the 'h' sound isn't stressed like 'hotel' and 'historic', but whilst it's technically OK, it is considered a little old fashioned now. God I'm such a bore.

No idea with basil and oregano though. Or Colin.

[GoldFingers]

I have only been to America one, it was to celebrate my 21st birthday. The only difference I noticed was that nobody stank of curry, beer and cigarettes. It was amazing!

[buttmunch]

According to Fowler's Modern English Usage, the 'h' is silent in words like honour, heir, and hour so it's 'an heir', 'an hour' etc, but the 'h' in herb is aspirated so it's 'a herb'. In American English the 'h' is silent in 'herb', but both are correct, depending on which side of the Atlantic you are from. Some people still use 'an' for words where the 'h' sound isn't stressed like 'hotel' and 'historic', but whilst it's technically OK, it is considered a little old fashioned now. God I'm such a bore.

It depends on where you come from. Even among us Yanks, there are differences in pronounciation. I have friends that aspirate the h and then there are those of us who don't. It depends on the region you come from.

[Lil]

Ah right. Like scone (to rhyme with gone) and scone (to rhyme with bone), that kind of thing.

[bella]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

don't get me started on the herb with or without an 'h'. Do you call Prince William the heir to the throne with an 'H'? Like saying he's the 'hair' to the throne? Or do you drop the 'h' on that one? This is an ongoing discussion with my brit friends and also encompasses pronounciation of basil, oregano and a host of other things.

Haha 'erb makes me laugh. Why drop the 'H'!!!

In England we pronoune heir 'air', not 'hair'