Top 10 Misconceptions Americans Have About Britain

These misconceptions Americans have about Britain are not always totally true. Take it from someone who lives there, check them out!

There are a lot of misconceptions Americans have about Britain that are totally ridiculous. Not everything is always crumpets, tea, and shagadelic baby, we live like normal people too! Here are a few misconceptions I will try to clear up.

1. London, baby!

London is not Britain. London isn’t even a great example of Britain. Don’t get me wrong London is great, but there’s so much more to our country. London is very tourist and business centric, and the crowds there are like normal city crowds that have been tripled. There’s so much more to Britain than just the capital, and by confining yourself to only visiting London means you’re missing out on so much.

2. The tap situation

This particular misconceptions Americans have about Britain irritates me a bit, because it makes us seem so old fashioned. We don’t all have separate hot and cold taps – they used to be really common but now there’s only a few places that have them. Mixed taps are common, and normally if you find separate taps it’ll be a conscious design effort by the owner, or a really old bathroom.

3. Oi Oi, my lady.

If you ever try to ask someone to do a British accent you’ll get one of 3 responses – You’ll either get a posh, faux upper-class accent, a chavvy accent or a London cockney accent. There’s so much more to our country than those 3 accents! We’re really diverse in terms of accents, and just by driving even like an hour somewhere else you’ll find there to be a completely different accent than from where you left.

4. Fancy a cuppa?

Controversially, not all British people like tea. I can’t say I’m one of them, but I know lots of people who really aren’t that into tea, and even some who hate the taste of it! Shocking, I know.

5. Stiff upper lip

This is kind of one of the old misconceptions Americans have about Britain, but a lot of people still believe it. The British ‘stiff upper lip’ really isn’t a thing anymore. We’re pretty comfortable talking about and expressing our emotions – it’s really just the older generation who kinda follow that.

6. No, of course I don’t want to get out of the rain.

British people are typically quite sarcastic or have a dry sense of humour, and a lot of visitors find this to come across as really rude, but we’re not being I promise! We’re just not as outright comical as other people.

7. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir.

A lot of people believe that British people tend to not make much of a fuss, and in turn are really polite so no arguments are cause. Let me tell you, that’s bullshit. So many of us love a good confrontation, and really aren’t scared to voice our opinions – especially us Northerners!

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8. Drives me up the apples and pears!

Literally no one uses cockney rhyming slang. Unless someone has been raised around an older person who consistently used it, and so it’s part of their natural vocabulary (which is rare), or if like you know Danny Dyer, you’d be really hard pressed to find someone who genuinely uses it.

9. 3 different names? Pretty greedy if you ask me.

Ok, no. Britain does not have 3 different names and one of the most baffling misconceptions Americans have about Britain. They’re 3 completely different things, and they’re not interchangeable. Great Britain is the name of the island, England is the mainland which is bordered by Scotland and Wales, and the United Kingdom is the name given to England, Nr. Ireland, Scotland and Wales collectively. Simple.

10. I’ve still got one of my real teeth – I’m royalty!

I honestly don’t know where this misconception came from, but it’s seriously an overplayed trope in films and TV shows. We don’t have bad teeth. We have regular visits to the dentist, brush twice or three times daily, and generally just maintain our mouths the same as everyone else!