"You Can Always Tell Who The Americans Are": 19 Cringey Things Only People From The US Do That Non-Americans Consider Major Red Flags
Look, American culture is many things, but subtle isn't really one of them. As for real-life examples, on TikTok, people are sharing their honest, apt, and very spot-on answers to this one crucial question: "Non-Americans of Reddit, what's something someone can say that indirectly screams 'I'm an American?'" Here are 17 examples that stood out:
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
1."When asked where they are from...Australian: 'I'm from Australia.' British: 'I'm from the UK.' Indian: 'I'm from India.' Chinese: 'I'm from China.' American: 'I'm from Wisconsin.'"
"I know they're very different, but to some people, it feels like saying 'I'm from Europe' instead of 'I'm from Austria' or something."
—None
2."Americans always write the date as mm/dd/yyyy, but it's the worst date format. I can forgive you for not following the rest of the world in adopting metric units, but this is just unforgivable."
"I watched The Matrix trailer recently, and I didn’t even recognise the numbers at the end as a date until I remembered that America does it backward. I was staring at it like 'WTF is 12/22/21?'"
—Spooginho, Aetheus, and Wiggl3sFirstMate
3."The college experience"
"I grew up in a 'college town' in a 'flyover state.'"
—None
4."Saying 'sophomore, senior,' etc."
"To this day, I don't know what this shit means."
—None
"It probably doesn't help that I have no idea what a middle school is. I get the concept, I mean the clue is in the name after all. But as someone who only had primary and secondary schools, I don't get why you need a third one."
5."I was taking a walking tour in Ireland once, and the guide mentioned Notre Dame for some reason. This American guy tried to correct her pronunciation as 'Not-er Daym,' not 'Not-re Daam.' It was a wildly uncomfortable few minutes."
"I’ve heard people attempt to ‘correct’ French tour guides in Paris."
—None
"A tour guide in Paris told me that, when he is guiding American tourists, he always asks at some point if anyone is staying at the Hôtel de Ville, and there are always few that put their hands up."
"That’s what we call Town Hall for those who don’t get the joke."
6."900 sqft: Is it a palace? Is it a broom closet? I never know."
7."I call ranch dressing 'American Sauce.' One time, when eating with a group of friends, I said, 'Pass me the American sauce,' and they all knew what I was talking about. It's dumb, but I get a kick out of it because ranch feels so American. Even the name: ranch. What a cowboy thing to call it."
"Asking for ranch dressing."
"My friend is a teacher in the UK and had a student transfer from Tennessee, so she was asking me a bunch of questions when he would mention something. I was his American translator almost lol. She specifically asked about ranch because he said it was his favorite, and they obviously didn't have it at school. I helped her pick a bottle out because she wanted him to feel more comfortable. Truly adorable."
8."It was 90 degrees outside. (I hope that is a reasonable number.)"
"Yeah, everywhere else in the world that would be near boiling, and you'd be dead."
"I was in Minnesota talking to a bartender, and he asked where I was from. I told South East Asia. He asked me, 'How was the weather out there?' I said around 35 degrees on a daily basis. He said 'Oh, that's even colder than here.' I just laughed it off being confused, only later it got to me they use Fahrenheit."
9."Based on my own experience as an American abroad: realizing that other countries don't have donut shops open for breakfast because donuts aren't a breakfast food."
"That was one thing that shocked my (Aussie) husband when he went you the US. Iced donuts available for breakfast?? Although knowing him, I’m sure he wouldn't have hesitated grabbing a few!"
"Any time I want a donut, it always happens to be 9pm and all the donut shops are closed :("
—None
10."Where are you from? 'I'm from *insert random American country town.' No, I mean 'What country?'"
"Once a guy (online) replied 'London.' I commented on how late it was there. He said 'No, it was morning.'
Turned out he was in London, Ohio."
11."Oh, I'm Irish, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather ate a fucking potato once."
—None
"I work in an Irish pub, and this is also how every real Irish immigrant starts off a conversation with me."
—None
12."Thinking I have a British accent (I’m Aussie)."
"I'm British, living in the US, and I'm losing the ability to tell. People here think I'm Australian about 80% of the time."
"I was in NY (also Aussie) at a sort of rooftop ticketed lunch experience, and we were chatting about what we were doing that day. I was extremely excited because I was going to see Hamilton that evening. A woman asked me, 'Oh have you seen it in London?' and I couldn't reply in my mess of confusion over a) Why I'd see Hamilton in London and then in NY ($$$) b) I've never been to London c) why she'd assume I'd been to London when we'd never spoken before this minute so I was completely silent and we stared at each other awkwardly. About an hour later, I realised she thought I was British."
—None
13."School spirit!! I work in an international school with lots of American colleagues. The expectation to be excited about everything is A LOT, but I see why it would be infectious if you were brought up in the states. I do like when the European teachers are all grouped together awkwardly not knowing what to do with the spirit and cheer..."
"I feel this so hard. I'm the only American working for an Irish company, and my constant enthusiasm is exhausting for them. Thing is, I'm not even that excited for an American. I'm pretty morose and low-key, but even that is too much for them."
14."When they say everyone else has an accent, and they do not."
15."Whenever I hear 'meer' instead of mirror.'"
"Also 'Creg' for 'Craig' instead of 'Cray-g' and 'Gram' for Graham instead of 'Gray-um.'"
"For years, I wondered what 'Gram Crackers' were until I saw a packet and I was like, 'They’re saying Graham!?!'"
16."On Canada Day, Americans like to come north either to visit friends and family or to party. You can always tell who the Americans are by how much of their clothing is covered in maple leaves. The more articles of clothing, the more likely they are to be American."
17."I've been living in the States for over a decade. I bought my mom this cleaning product that was cinnamon and clove-scented, and I told her, 'It smelled like Christmas.' She just looked at me weird and said, 'Wow, I guess you really are an American now.'"
18."When trailers say things like, 'Opening Memorial Day Weekend.' I have no idea when that is."
19.Finally, "I find this hilarious, and it drives me insane at the same time: I'm Italian, and, honestly, I still can't believe the amount of Americans that tried to explain (what they thought was) my own culture to me when they had never been to Italy and didn't even know the language, just because their great-grandparents emigrated from Italy to the US. I think it's great that they're curious about their family history, but a lot of people I met didn't want to learn more. They really thought that eating pasta sometimes was all they needed to be Italian."
—None
How many of these do you agree with, or have you heard others that have stayed with you? Let us know in the comments below!
