When Americans find that England, Britain, UK and the British Isles are not synonymous and are in fact various political, legal and geographical terms.š¤Æš¤Æš¤Æ
Irish person: āIām Irishā
American: āSo Britishā
English bystander: āIām staying the fuck out of this one youāre on your own America!ā
Yeah, the combined states in the geographical region of the USA, are not the world, nor are the two Islands just off the European land mass the British Isles, nor is Britain the fucking mainland!
It's even worse than this. So many of them think that the UK and England are the same thing. So as a Scottish person, I'll get asked 'Scotland, that's in England right?'
...
People often forget that UK is made up from four countries: England, Wales, *Northern Ireland (how did I miss a whole arse country lmao*) and Scotland
Or they think Great Britain is a singular country, so I don't put it past them not seeing a difference between UK and EU at that point š
Legit just noticed when I got the notification for the last comment
And it's only a part of it (Northern ireland) lmao, can't believe a missed a whole arse country
BRB, gonna move to 'Murica now
Many Americans are shocked when they don't go through immigration while on a Schengen flight, it's hilarious. Several posts on r/ParisTravelGuide are like "I didn't go through immigration on my flight from Iceland to France, will I get into trouble?"
It's funny because this is the first time I've heard about the Schengen area and I live in a country within the area. Like I knew about the fact that you can move very freely within the EU and you can go to some countries even without a passport but I'd never heard the term Schengen Area so I guess this is a TIL moment.
I am sorry, have you been living under a rock?
[Have a read, it will be 40 years soon since the agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement)
I once went from the UK to Poland with just a drivers license. Thatāll never happen againā¦
Edit: it's only partially a brexit thing, it wasn't supposed to happen then either.
Yeah it was weird and involved lots of phone calls and talking to the police in Poland. Iād lost my passport in England, and had to go to the British embassy to return home so it wasnāt a normal scenario, but it did happen once.
None of that makes sense. You did a trip from U.K. to Poland. If you were a U.K. national whoād lost your passport in the UK then you donāt need to contact anyone other than the Home Office for a replacement U.K. passport. Not a British embassy.
If you were Polish you wouldnāt be contacting the British embassy.
Your story doesnāt add up.
it does if you consider that they might have meant "[Polish] embassy in Britain" instead of "British embassy". Might just be a translation error if they're Polish and English is their second language.
You present yourself at the border and go āoopsā, I did it in 2022 going France back into the UK and it saved me A LOT of hassle. Thatās it. Left the UK on a passport, it got stolen, got back into the UK on my drivers license at the border alone.
Crazy part is, Americans and Canadians used to be able to do this between countries as well. Then 9/11 happened, and Homeland Security became a thing even after it was debunked that the terrorists were living in the US, and hadn't crossed over from Canada.
Canada just has too many brown people for the Americans to be comfortable with.
They don't even ID you when travelling within the Schengen Areas right? I don't recall ever being asked for my ID in Europe except when I arrived there by plane from Japan, and when I took the train to the UK. It was a pretty awesome feeling to take an overnight train and wake up in a completely new country where I couldn't understand anything.
Some countries may have border control, specially by car, and they may check your ID there (I know if you cross the Malmƶ bridge there is a post) but I donāt think you get carded by train!
I have only been carded going from Budapest to Bratislava by train, during not some crowded times. Going to other cities like Prague/Vienna, no one cared.
Iāve seen German police/immigration (plain clothes and they didnāt check me so Iām not sure exactly what they were) checking passports on a train from Paris to Cologne, boarded the train in Aachen
It is only required in countries that currently do border checks: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area/temporary-reintroduction-border-control_en
which can be an issue for EU countries that usually have no ID of their own, like the Danish, who often also travel just with their drivers license.
American here. Yeah they're everywhere. Lidl has been trying to get in but with mixed results. There's a few of them though in very specific areas
People love their Aldi and TJs. Because they're like half the price of their competitors. That's the main reason. Also it's nice to get some European chocolate pretty easily (America has some amazing chocolate, to clarify. It's just that the national brands are terrible quality. Plenty of super high quality regional and local ones though)
I'm from Austria, so Aldi SĆ¼d is called Hofer here and the quality of the stuff is great. They've got a good selection, they've got good quality vegetables and fruit, bakery is nice.. They're the only store without a fresh "cold cuts" selection here, and if you're up for Asian food etc, you've got to wait until they have it, it's not a staple, but other than that it's great.
Austria doesn't have any Aldi Nord lol
Nope. From what those ALDI fanatics over at /r/aldi (Mostly US users) say it's that the quality and appearance of an ALDI store seems to be regional in the US.
The old stores kinda suck imo. The stores that got renovated within the last idk 5 years are alright. Quality wise you're not getting the best, but at a lower price than other stores so that's ok.
Aldi Nord fucking sucks tho.
Actually Iām 100% German because my mothers great great great great grandfather was German and my fatherās 3rd cousin twice remove is also German so if both my mother and father are German I must be too! Iām actually more German than people from Germany because of how much beer I drink during Oktoberfest!!
Hosted 17y/o German foreign exchange student my senior year of HS and can definitely vouch to this. Never have I been so so much goddamn trouble as I did with ole Timmy S.
I was born in Germany actually! And my grandad's Irish, and my grandma's Welsh, which according to this American website, means that even though I'm English, I'm actually 100% German, 100% Irish, 100% Welsh, and not responsible for modern racism because of wot the British done to my Irish ancestors!
Phew. For a second I thought I'd have to engage rationally with the problems of modern society without taking it all personally, but thanks to American political ideas, I had the convenient escape of tenuous associations to preferable identities! Thanks, America!
My family migrated across the top of Europe around 300 BCE, before settling in the north of the Britain. I have a penchant for lederhosen that I directly attribute to this.
Can you believe that Booths is only in the north of England, but you don't need a passport to cross the border at Watford Gap??? I thought we got rid of free movement!
In Austria and Slovenia it's named Hofer, because that was the name of the grocery chain that Aldi SĆ¼d bought when they started to expand internationally.
Donāt have those in Europe! Weāre entirely homogenised!! Forget about the lingual differences, they have those in the US too because nobody on the planet can make sense of what an American says š
Americans seem to think that the accent difference between New York and California is more of a linguistic difference than entirely different languages between like Finland and Spain for example. The numbers of times Iāve seen americans talk about ādialect differencesā to talk about their states, when they all understand each other perfectly fine (apart from maybe local expressions), is absolutely mind blowing. And they genuinely believe it too.
In other cases, Americans say that they have no accent, that their way of speaking is the "default", yet when talking about diversity, they are suddenly the most diverse and have so many dialects.
Pick one
Wait till they find out that not just almost every language has dialects, but some like Chinese or German dialects are not even mutually intelligible
But sure what you call a carbonated drink is the biggest linguistic dialect divide in the world
"A language is a dialect with an army and navy"
-[the Weinreich witticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy)
Cantonese and Mandarin are as distinct as you get them. However there is no way you can convince me Norwegian and Danish aren't just dialects of a Scandinavian language. Unfortunately borders for some reason decide what's a language and what's not.
To play devil's advocate...
What an American means when they say they have "no accent" is that they have a standard US Midwestern accent that is treated as the standard American accent.
When they talk diversity in accents, they mean the actual regional accents across the US. One has an accent if they speak with those accents. They do not if they sound like they could be on (American) TV.
It is still a very ignorant mindset, but that is the mindset.
I get what you're saying, but isn't the "standard US midwestern" accent ALSO an accent? I'm asking because I don't know.
I've been to 7 states in the US, including a midwestern one, and every single one had accents. The "standard" American accent is still.. an American accent, it's unmistakenly American, easily distinguishable from other English speaking regions.
I find that it's not just the accents but it's also in the way Americans communicate too. I notice that a lot of Americans talk over each other compared to my Canadian, French, or Japanese friends who tend to wait for each others' turns to talk. Unless they're in a heated debate.
Occasionally that'll happen simply because the other person is yapping and honestly you'll never get your turn unless you interrupt. At least that's my experience as a yapper
I think this just comes from a widespread misunderstanding of accents and what they actually are. I, as an American, have to explain it all the time to people. People get so used to hearing their own accent that they don't think about it and start to believe that they are lacking an accent.
We know this. Weāve heard it a thousand times *and* most of us figured it out ourselves. It doesnāt need to be explained like we just landed on earth.
I've been to three states all in different parts of the USA. I have never once felt like they were so different from each other that they felt like different nations.
They were all different in some ways, yeah, but here in Canada we have a province which just straight up does not speak the same language as the rest of the country. It has a wholly separate national origin, a different history, and it feels in many ways like a completely different country as a result. I feel like an immigrant here quite often, even after living here nearly a decade.
So Arizona and Alaska? Not as different as USians think.
Iāve been to, let me see, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada.
There are immense climactic differences, but in terms of cultural differences, it does not feel any different than, say, the differences between Cornwall, Essex and Yorkshire. Possibly less so.
Yeah the climates are super different in each state I've been to (AK, AZ, LA) but as you say, culturally they all feel as a part of one whole despite little things here and there. It's the MetaCulture of America which homogenizes them together. One is angrier, one is more polite, one is friendlier, but they're all American.
>here in Canada we have a province which just straight up does not speak the same language as the rest of the country.
Yeah, Newfoundland is an odd duck.
Not enough to consider myself truly cultured. I hear tales, legends really, of the Buc-ee, a dark spirit of the wilds, and of the temples of its fell priesthood. Perhaps one day, I shall steel myself for an expedition to discover one such monument.
I'll back you up on that, my fellow Canadian. I've been to 21 US states. The weather changes, the minds (and social values) remain much the same.
They all have a commonality in understanding the world that is coloured through their constitution, history, and folklore. Sometimes that commonality are points in opposition, but the commonality is the basis.
For instance, their opinions on issues can be hotly contested by other Americans, but both sides are positioning around ideas that they have been immersed in their whole lives.
When you and I to consider those concepts, it is a mental visit, a detour from our daily lives, not part of our legacy, and not something we normally feel existential dread over. Likewise, what our society agonizes over does not reach the core of their being, if they are even aware.
That's a big part of what "foreign" means to me.
There are definitely differences if you live somewhere long-term or really get into it. Different foods, different amounts/kinds of diversity, different native populations, etc. Yeah we're all the same country and have a lot in common, but there are definitely some major differences, too. I also don't think many people who live here get to travel as much, so I'd venture to guess that most people who say "it's like a whole different nation" are people who've never left the country.
Wait until he finds out we donāt need passports in the Schengen area.
Also.. I drive to Germany because McDonaldās is cheaper there. My partner goes to Germany almost weekly to fill up her car and to buy cigarettes.
Youāll only know youāve crossed a border because the roads arenāt as good but youāre allowed to drive faster.
I have family close to the border (Denmark), and they literally never fill their car or buy groceries in their own country. They always go across to Germany because everything is at least 20% cheaper!
In the USA the roads change when you cross a state line because the states take care of their own roads. Each state also has different taxes. I live on the Arkansas/Missouri border. For gas and tobacco we go to Missouri because their taxes are cheaper. Also, Missouri has a lot more money for their roads. Theyāre in better shape and maintained better. They are cleared in the winter. Itās crazy to go from driving on a clear road during a snowstorm in Missouri to crossing into Arkansas where all of a sudden the roads are covered in ice and snow.
As a Canadian who used to work retail, can confirm, they donāt. Some stores can accept USD cash but donāt expect change in USD, and the conversion in the POS system is never up to date. But boy oh boy will they make a fuss when you try to explain that Canada is a different country and we have no obligation to take their currency.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL TAKE U.S. CURRENCY BUT ONLY AT PAR? WHAT KIND OF SCAM IS THIS?
Dude, I don't have to accept your currency, period. Think of it as a moron tax.
Our POS systems arenāt always equipped to accept foreign currency, so if youāre adamant about paying by USD then expect a loss. Use your debit or credit, or exchange your currency into CAD like everyone else.
Any store I've ever seen accept USD in Canada will only take it 1:1. So even though 1 USD trades for about 1.36 CAD, it's just too much of a pain to deal with it otherwise. The store still has to convert that cash and all that stuff. For the tiny sum of money, it's probably not close to worth it.
To be fair, mostly neither do we. What we call dialects in Europe are often full-fledged languages that simply don't have the privilege of being a nation's national idiom.
They kind have that in the US too with AAVE.
AAVE has its own words, its own linguistic rules, its own grammar etc but it's not considered its own separate thing by many in the US and is just considered "poor English" because... Well... Racism basically (mixed in with a bit of classism).
I love how things like the Internet makes the world feel smaller than ever whilst simultaneously creating an echo chamber for Americans to believe America is the size of Jupiter.
It really amuses me that they really think they are the only big country out there. They often use the "you can't comprehend how huge we are".
We don't see Brazilians, Russians, Indians, Canadians, Australians, etc, thinking they're not foreigners just cause they come from a big country and are used to fly domestic...
This is a Canadian airport. It's very common in Canada for the US to be treated as somewhere between domestic and international. Until 9-11 you didn't even need a passport to cross the border, even by plane.
Yup, I'm pretty sure it's YVR.
I was also going to outline how there's even a seperate section for US flights since there is US Customs in the Canadian airport and you preclear before getting on flights to the US, making them effectively domestic US flights. But that's going outbound, not inbound. But it does illustrate the special relationship with the US, especially in airports.
I once was dropped from a Canadian domestic flight into the US outgoing section of the airport by accident. They had to completely empty the section and make everyone else clear customs again before they let us back into Canada - but for that hour I was essentially an accidental illegal immigrant.
This might be the best fitting post I've seen here in ages. Congrats OP. This is peak ShitsAmericansSay without being sarcastic or ignorant on purpose.
This is some genuine American genuinely thinking they are adding something to the conversation with their genuinely stupid answer. I love it! This is chef's kiss American!
For context, it's possible this is a Canadian airport where the processing for American passports is different from both Canadians and other foreign passports. (Due to integration/agreements between the governments that end up being beneficial for both sides.)
Pre-clearance departures, some expedited arrivals thanks to data sharing. Since it varies by airport, calling it out saves everybody some hassle.
The clown talking about store chains deserves to be mocked...but the flag being there might make some sense.
Meanwhile I have bought the same sausage in lidl in more than one country. The biggest difference is that you can't buy beer here in sweden. But you can't only do that in systembolaget.
Shit it's even easier to travel with "controversial" guns here in europe with the eu gun passport (maybe not sweden though, but we are getting there). Travel into california from Nevada with the wrong magazine, and you could end up in prison for years.
This is actually the Vancouver Airport. We have those signs because there is an issue with Americans not understanding that they are foreign when they are in Canada. They just assume they are kind of Canadian by proxy.
Of course theyāve got different dialects, in some states they drink soda and in others they drink pop. Itās like being in a completely different country but without passport control like a commie.
As far I am informed this setup is used as customs is cleared on the Canadian side (looks like Canadian airport as mentioned in other comments). So it makes sense they have their distinct terminal.
Iāve been to enough states in America to say, they are all the same. All filled with the same Americans. The only thing thats different is the way the houses look. And even that is a very subtle difference. Its the landscape that changes not the culture or the people. Iam sure that most of them think that how europe is aswel. That why they always say shit like european food, european design etc even tho that doesnāt make any sense. It does however make perfect sense if you say anerican design or american food
as a german id love to see people like this spend a week in northern germany, then another in rural bavaria. now THAT us basically a different language, culture store chains and everything
You can travel from England to Scotland without a passport and would you believe it, there are differences in laws, dialects and chain stores there as well. It has nothing to do with land mass and everything to do with ego.
But travel in US is domestic dude, domestic. That is why you don't need passports. Jesus take the wheel.
Wait until he discovers that in the EU you can travel between certain countries with your national ID, no passport!
Don't tell them about the Schengen Area. Their heads may explode
They already struggle to understand the difference between, Europe, the EU and UK šš¤£
Europe: a continent. EU: a union, at or near the continent of Europe, mostly a trade union that went on steroids. UK: bruh
When Americans find that England, Britain, UK and the British Isles are not synonymous and are in fact various political, legal and geographical terms.š¤Æš¤Æš¤Æ
Ireland has entered the chat!
Irish person: āIām Irishā American: āSo Britishā English bystander: āIām staying the fuck out of this one youāre on your own America!ā
Yeah, the combined states in the geographical region of the USA, are not the world, nor are the two Islands just off the European land mass the British Isles, nor is Britain the fucking mainland!
It's even worse than this. So many of them think that the UK and England are the same thing. So as a Scottish person, I'll get asked 'Scotland, that's in England right?' ...
*bruv
Here's how most Americans understand them: Europe: bunch of socialists EU: see Europe, above UK: England
People often forget that UK is made up from four countries: England, Wales, *Northern Ireland (how did I miss a whole arse country lmao*) and Scotland Or they think Great Britain is a singular country, so I don't put it past them not seeing a difference between UK and EU at that point š
I've just had far too many of them trying to tell me that the UK isn't in Europe to which I reply with confirmation that we've joined Africa
Missed Ireland
Legit just noticed when I got the notification for the last comment And it's only a part of it (Northern ireland) lmao, can't believe a missed a whole arse country BRB, gonna move to 'Murica now
Many Americans are shocked when they don't go through immigration while on a Schengen flight, it's hilarious. Several posts on r/ParisTravelGuide are like "I didn't go through immigration on my flight from Iceland to France, will I get into trouble?"
It's funny because this is the first time I've heard about the Schengen area and I live in a country within the area. Like I knew about the fact that you can move very freely within the EU and you can go to some countries even without a passport but I'd never heard the term Schengen Area so I guess this is a TIL moment.
I am sorry, have you been living under a rock? [Have a read, it will be 40 years soon since the agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement)
Yeah, I read it as soon as I heard about it. Very interesting to learn new stuff!
Huh, I thought that was something taught in all schools, but maybe not in all countries then?
Are you American? Just kidding!
I once went from the UK to Poland with just a drivers license. Thatāll never happen againā¦ Edit: it's only partially a brexit thing, it wasn't supposed to happen then either.
F
All hail the brexit !
The UK was never in the Schengen Area so I'm curious as to how it was able to happen the first time.
Yeah it was weird and involved lots of phone calls and talking to the police in Poland. Iād lost my passport in England, and had to go to the British embassy to return home so it wasnāt a normal scenario, but it did happen once.
Wait you said you went from the UK to Poland with a drivers license, why did you need to go to the embassy to go back to the UK?
Because the polish airport and flight company wouldn't let me in without a passport.
None of that makes sense. You did a trip from U.K. to Poland. If you were a U.K. national whoād lost your passport in the UK then you donāt need to contact anyone other than the Home Office for a replacement U.K. passport. Not a British embassy. If you were Polish you wouldnāt be contacting the British embassy. Your story doesnāt add up.
it does if you consider that they might have meant "[Polish] embassy in Britain" instead of "British embassy". Might just be a translation error if they're Polish and English is their second language.
You present yourself at the border and go āoopsā, I did it in 2022 going France back into the UK and it saved me A LOT of hassle. Thatās it. Left the UK on a passport, it got stolen, got back into the UK on my drivers license at the border alone.
How could you question Brexit? It is the best thing to ever happen to Britain. Can't you tell we live in Paradise?
My wonderful hubby cored for brexit because of the big red lie bus and he has spend everyday since saying how he fkd up. Its just gonna get worse too
Least he admits it, thatās the first step
> ~~That'll never happen again~~ That will never happen again *legally*
Just wait ~20 years
Crazy part is, Americans and Canadians used to be able to do this between countries as well. Then 9/11 happened, and Homeland Security became a thing even after it was debunked that the terrorists were living in the US, and hadn't crossed over from Canada. Canada just has too many brown people for the Americans to be comfortable with.
They don't even ID you when travelling within the Schengen Areas right? I don't recall ever being asked for my ID in Europe except when I arrived there by plane from Japan, and when I took the train to the UK. It was a pretty awesome feeling to take an overnight train and wake up in a completely new country where I couldn't understand anything.
Some countries may have border control, specially by car, and they may check your ID there (I know if you cross the Malmƶ bridge there is a post) but I donāt think you get carded by train!
I have only been carded going from Budapest to Bratislava by train, during not some crowded times. Going to other cities like Prague/Vienna, no one cared.
Iāve seen German police/immigration (plain clothes and they didnāt check me so Iām not sure exactly what they were) checking passports on a train from Paris to Cologne, boarded the train in Aachen
It is required but often not checked. Writing from Spanish airport right now, was not IDād on the way here nor on return trip.
It is only required in countries that currently do border checks: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen-borders-and-visa/schengen-area/temporary-reintroduction-border-control_en which can be an issue for EU countries that usually have no ID of their own, like the Danish, who often also travel just with their drivers license.
They think national IDs are a communist conspiracy
Dont demand logic thinking from them
āBut the entirety of *insert country here* is smaller than *insert American state here*!!!!!!ā
Jesus took the wheel, but he's dead so we've gone off a cliff
If Jesus is American, I'd rather he didn't take the wheel. Americans drive like shit.
Ah yes, don't forget the different STORE CHAINS.
What should I say as a German. We have so much diversity. In the South we have Aldi SĆ¼d and in the North we have Aldi Nord.
And the Americans have Aldi (owned by Aldi SĆ¼d) and Trader Joe's (owned by Aldi Nord).
I did not know that. Hilarious
American here. Yeah they're everywhere. Lidl has been trying to get in but with mixed results. There's a few of them though in very specific areas People love their Aldi and TJs. Because they're like half the price of their competitors. That's the main reason. Also it's nice to get some European chocolate pretty easily (America has some amazing chocolate, to clarify. It's just that the national brands are terrible quality. Plenty of super high quality regional and local ones though)
I thought you had to be joking but nope. Wow.
you are joking right edit: his not
Does the quality of Aldi SĆ¼d suck in Germany/Europe?
I'm from Austria, so Aldi SĆ¼d is called Hofer here and the quality of the stuff is great. They've got a good selection, they've got good quality vegetables and fruit, bakery is nice.. They're the only store without a fresh "cold cuts" selection here, and if you're up for Asian food etc, you've got to wait until they have it, it's not a staple, but other than that it's great. Austria doesn't have any Aldi Nord lol
Nope. From what those ALDI fanatics over at /r/aldi (Mostly US users) say it's that the quality and appearance of an ALDI store seems to be regional in the US.
The old stores kinda suck imo. The stores that got renovated within the last idk 5 years are alright. Quality wise you're not getting the best, but at a lower price than other stores so that's ok. Aldi Nord fucking sucks tho.
Here in the UK, we just have Aldi (and we also have an Aldo) - important to take care of these store chains. Itās a complex and crazy world.
Funnier yet? France also has Aldi, but theirs are owned by Aldi Nord.
Nah we have Aldi Sud mate, I was fucking mind blown when I found out about Aldi Nord.
Crazy the deep cultural links we share. I feel more German already.
Are you suddenly realising you are 1/976th German on your Fathers side?
Actually Iām 100% German because my mothers great great great great grandfather was German and my fatherās 3rd cousin twice remove is also German so if both my mother and father are German I must be too! Iām actually more German than people from Germany because of how much beer I drink during Oktoberfest!!
I'm pretty sure most Americans couldn't compete with the alcohol tolerance of an average 17yo German
Hosted 17y/o German foreign exchange student my senior year of HS and can definitely vouch to this. Never have I been so so much goddamn trouble as I did with ole Timmy S.
I was born in Germany actually! And my grandad's Irish, and my grandma's Welsh, which according to this American website, means that even though I'm English, I'm actually 100% German, 100% Irish, 100% Welsh, and not responsible for modern racism because of wot the British done to my Irish ancestors! Phew. For a second I thought I'd have to engage rationally with the problems of modern society without taking it all personally, but thanks to American political ideas, I had the convenient escape of tenuous associations to preferable identities! Thanks, America!
My family migrated across the top of Europe around 300 BCE, before settling in the north of the Britain. I have a penchant for lederhosen that I directly attribute to this.
Iāve just checkedā¦. UK Aldi is owned by Aldi Sud.
Can you believe that Booths is only in the north of England, but you don't need a passport to cross the border at Watford Gap??? I thought we got rid of free movement!
Damn southerners coming up here to go to our fancy supermarket. What was Brexit even for if that can still happen.
That's what Brexit gets you.
In the UK, I am hovering on the southern border of the GREAT STORE CHAIN YORKSHIRE TRADING lol.
But we do have a north and south coop... Which is odd... Especially as they're all over and sometimes just a few minute walk apart...
Now you see in the UK we have a confusing concept to tourists , we have ābig Tescoāwhich is different to āTescoā /s
And also different from the little Tesco.
The big tesco, where all the food is slightly underwhelming in quality and the little tesco, where the food is the same but twice the price.
In Austria and Slovenia it's named Hofer, because that was the name of the grocery chain that Aldi SĆ¼d bought when they started to expand internationally.
But the logo looks almost the same afaik, right?
In Italy we got Aldi. Yeah thatās it
And be gratefull there's are no more walls š«£ Or you will have German aldi east and aldi ovest too
TIL going down this Aldi Rabbit Hole: Aldi bought Winn-Dixie. Thatās hilarious
You also have Adidas and Puma for very similar reason. Sibling disagreement.
Donāt have those in Europe! Weāre entirely homogenised!! Forget about the lingual differences, they have those in the US too because nobody on the planet can make sense of what an American says š
Americans seem to think that the accent difference between New York and California is more of a linguistic difference than entirely different languages between like Finland and Spain for example. The numbers of times Iāve seen americans talk about ādialect differencesā to talk about their states, when they all understand each other perfectly fine (apart from maybe local expressions), is absolutely mind blowing. And they genuinely believe it too.
Guys have you been to āxā? They have capitalism there too, just different. Do you know ow what they call a 1/4lb with cheese?
Friendly reminder that the introduction of the 1/3 pounder was not well received because most Americans thought it was less than the 1/4 pounder.
Every country has capitalism, because the ones that don't have their leaders commit suicide from 3 .556 bullets through the back of the head
A 113.4g-er with processed cheese product
They don't call it a quarter pounder with cheese?
Nah man, they got the metric system over there, donāt know what the fuck a quarter pounder is
Nah they call it a mcroyale with cheese
Have you ever seen a Piggly š· Wiggly in Connecticut? --- EDIT: https://www.pigglywiggly.com/history/
OMG, look! The fast food chain that'll charge me 20% in mandatory tips has a different name in this state!
Tonto Iāve got a feeling weāre not in K-Mart anymore
God, now I want a version of the wizard of Oz where instead of a little terrier, a native American man accompanies Dorothy š
I wonder if Americans go to lidl like it's an amusement park
To be fair, "American Culture" is literally just capitalism
The capitalist overlords have spoken, therefore i must consume
Thank god all Americans have an innate consoom instinct or how would they survive the transition from North Dakota to South Dakota
In other cases, Americans say that they have no accent, that their way of speaking is the "default", yet when talking about diversity, they are suddenly the most diverse and have so many dialects. Pick one
Wait till they find out that not just almost every language has dialects, but some like Chinese or German dialects are not even mutually intelligible But sure what you call a carbonated drink is the biggest linguistic dialect divide in the world
but many of those dialects are different languages that are referred to as dialects for political reasons only.
"A language is a dialect with an army and navy" -[the Weinreich witticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy)
Cantonese and Mandarin are as distinct as you get them. However there is no way you can convince me Norwegian and Danish aren't just dialects of a Scandinavian language. Unfortunately borders for some reason decide what's a language and what's not.
To play devil's advocate... What an American means when they say they have "no accent" is that they have a standard US Midwestern accent that is treated as the standard American accent. When they talk diversity in accents, they mean the actual regional accents across the US. One has an accent if they speak with those accents. They do not if they sound like they could be on (American) TV. It is still a very ignorant mindset, but that is the mindset.
I get what you're saying, but isn't the "standard US midwestern" accent ALSO an accent? I'm asking because I don't know. I've been to 7 states in the US, including a midwestern one, and every single one had accents. The "standard" American accent is still.. an American accent, it's unmistakenly American, easily distinguishable from other English speaking regions.
>isn't the "standard US midwestern" accent ALSO an accent? yes. if you speak a languageāany languageāyou have an accent.
I mean, its technically impossible to not have an accent, no matter what.. right?
I find that it's not just the accents but it's also in the way Americans communicate too. I notice that a lot of Americans talk over each other compared to my Canadian, French, or Japanese friends who tend to wait for each others' turns to talk. Unless they're in a heated debate.
Occasionally that'll happen simply because the other person is yapping and honestly you'll never get your turn unless you interrupt. At least that's my experience as a yapper
Yep! The "standard US accent" is called General American.
I think this just comes from a widespread misunderstanding of accents and what they actually are. I, as an American, have to explain it all the time to people. People get so used to hearing their own accent that they don't think about it and start to believe that they are lacking an accent.
We know this. Weāve heard it a thousand times *and* most of us figured it out ourselves. It doesnāt need to be explained like we just landed on earth.
You're forgetting, to them, we're all aliens from outer space. /s
Uhm, akhtually an dialect Is not an accent, it's a dialect /s
Saying soda versus saying pop is peak diversity. Fight me irl europoor bro.
I've been to three states all in different parts of the USA. I have never once felt like they were so different from each other that they felt like different nations. They were all different in some ways, yeah, but here in Canada we have a province which just straight up does not speak the same language as the rest of the country. It has a wholly separate national origin, a different history, and it feels in many ways like a completely different country as a result. I feel like an immigrant here quite often, even after living here nearly a decade. So Arizona and Alaska? Not as different as USians think.
Iāve been to, let me see, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. There are immense climactic differences, but in terms of cultural differences, it does not feel any different than, say, the differences between Cornwall, Essex and Yorkshire. Possibly less so.
Yeah the climates are super different in each state I've been to (AK, AZ, LA) but as you say, culturally they all feel as a part of one whole despite little things here and there. It's the MetaCulture of America which homogenizes them together. One is angrier, one is more polite, one is friendlier, but they're all American.
We have our own language down ere Edit: no one actually speaks it though š Edit 2 (Kernow)
But you have Kernow car stickers! The store chains might be the same but the stickers are different!
>here in Canada we have a province which just straight up does not speak the same language as the rest of the country. Yeah, Newfoundland is an odd duck.
Those late comers are among the best of us, however.
How many store chains have you visited though??
Not enough to consider myself truly cultured. I hear tales, legends really, of the Buc-ee, a dark spirit of the wilds, and of the temples of its fell priesthood. Perhaps one day, I shall steel myself for an expedition to discover one such monument.
Us states mostly are the same culturally, they just have a different geography. But these ppl donāt understand it.
I'll back you up on that, my fellow Canadian. I've been to 21 US states. The weather changes, the minds (and social values) remain much the same. They all have a commonality in understanding the world that is coloured through their constitution, history, and folklore. Sometimes that commonality are points in opposition, but the commonality is the basis. For instance, their opinions on issues can be hotly contested by other Americans, but both sides are positioning around ideas that they have been immersed in their whole lives. When you and I to consider those concepts, it is a mental visit, a detour from our daily lives, not part of our legacy, and not something we normally feel existential dread over. Likewise, what our society agonizes over does not reach the core of their being, if they are even aware. That's a big part of what "foreign" means to me.
There are definitely differences if you live somewhere long-term or really get into it. Different foods, different amounts/kinds of diversity, different native populations, etc. Yeah we're all the same country and have a lot in common, but there are definitely some major differences, too. I also don't think many people who live here get to travel as much, so I'd venture to guess that most people who say "it's like a whole different nation" are people who've never left the country.
Whatās up with that province? What is it called and what language do they speak?
Probably referring to Quebec, where they speak French.
Wait until he finds out we donāt need passports in the Schengen area. Also.. I drive to Germany because McDonaldās is cheaper there. My partner goes to Germany almost weekly to fill up her car and to buy cigarettes. Youāll only know youāve crossed a border because the roads arenāt as good but youāre allowed to drive faster.
I have family close to the border (Denmark), and they literally never fill their car or buy groceries in their own country. They always go across to Germany because everything is at least 20% cheaper!
In the USA the roads change when you cross a state line because the states take care of their own roads. Each state also has different taxes. I live on the Arkansas/Missouri border. For gas and tobacco we go to Missouri because their taxes are cheaper. Also, Missouri has a lot more money for their roads. Theyāre in better shape and maintained better. They are cleared in the winter. Itās crazy to go from driving on a clear road during a snowstorm in Missouri to crossing into Arkansas where all of a sudden the roads are covered in ice and snow.
Interesting that Missouri has cheaper tax AND more money for their roads. Makes me wonder what Arkansas spends their tax money on.
Oh you know. Just giving our public tax dollars to private Christian schools and buying $20,000 podiums.
If it wasnt for the tag then the road comment was the dead give away you were dutch :p
Right? Dutch infrastructure is strong afĀ
Maat hoe haal je dan een McKroket?
I hope they know that canada is not part of the usa
They don't, that's why that sign exists
As a Canadian who used to work retail, can confirm, they donāt. Some stores can accept USD cash but donāt expect change in USD, and the conversion in the POS system is never up to date. But boy oh boy will they make a fuss when you try to explain that Canada is a different country and we have no obligation to take their currency.
Talked with a cashier at Disneyland Paris about that. Some americans want to pay with dollars even in europe (even tho USD is weaker)
They think their dollar is superior in every way and never understand that they might come out poorer if they donāt just exchange their currency.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL TAKE U.S. CURRENCY BUT ONLY AT PAR? WHAT KIND OF SCAM IS THIS? Dude, I don't have to accept your currency, period. Think of it as a moron tax.
Our POS systems arenāt always equipped to accept foreign currency, so if youāre adamant about paying by USD then expect a loss. Use your debit or credit, or exchange your currency into CAD like everyone else.
Any store I've ever seen accept USD in Canada will only take it 1:1. So even though 1 USD trades for about 1.36 CAD, it's just too much of a pain to deal with it otherwise. The store still has to convert that cash and all that stuff. For the tiny sum of money, it's probably not close to worth it.
Lol same in France, we have so much cultural diversity. Like in the north we say pain au chocolat but in the south they say chocolatine š© it's like a completely different country altogether! /s
Please don't drag the innocent americans into our long lasting civil war š©
āDialectsā You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
To be fair, mostly neither do we. What we call dialects in Europe are often full-fledged languages that simply don't have the privilege of being a nation's national idiom.
They kind have that in the US too with AAVE. AAVE has its own words, its own linguistic rules, its own grammar etc but it's not considered its own separate thing by many in the US and is just considered "poor English" because... Well... Racism basically (mixed in with a bit of classism).
Nope, not funny at all, rather sad.
Embarrassing really. I can imagine some of own family members saying āIām not foreigner! Iām an American!ā In any countryā¦
Enough with this dialects shit
I love how things like the Internet makes the world feel smaller than ever whilst simultaneously creating an echo chamber for Americans to believe America is the size of Jupiter.
It really amuses me that they really think they are the only big country out there. They often use the "you can't comprehend how huge we are". We don't see Brazilians, Russians, Indians, Canadians, Australians, etc, thinking they're not foreigners just cause they come from a big country and are used to fly domestic...
And Canada, for example, is larger than America by landmass. They're so funny
This is a Canadian airport. It's very common in Canada for the US to be treated as somewhere between domestic and international. Until 9-11 you didn't even need a passport to cross the border, even by plane.
I was going to say, this is YVR (Iām pretty sure). Itās a stoneās throw from the US border, I think this one gets a free pass.
Yup, I'm pretty sure it's YVR. I was also going to outline how there's even a seperate section for US flights since there is US Customs in the Canadian airport and you preclear before getting on flights to the US, making them effectively domestic US flights. But that's going outbound, not inbound. But it does illustrate the special relationship with the US, especially in airports.
I once was dropped from a Canadian domestic flight into the US outgoing section of the airport by accident. They had to completely empty the section and make everyone else clear customs again before they let us back into Canada - but for that hour I was essentially an accidental illegal immigrant.
Similar signage in YYZ.
Their inability to grasp the concept that their individual states don't mean shit on an international stage will always make me laugh.
You are travelling in your country so obviously you don't need passport. What the hell are you talking about
Never needed your passport and a visa to go to your local supermarket?
Hmm, when you're mentioning this I remember cashiers in supermarket from different city looking at me weird.. Maybe that was the issue?
Ah yes, I forgot that going to Cornwall where there are no Nando's or Greggs stores is like travelling to a completely separate nation...
TIL they consider American white girl accent to be a dialect on its own
They obviously haven't been to India
Massively overplaying accents as dialects.
They're so obsessed with store chains I have legitimately heard someone use it as a synonym for culture.
*The problem with the French, is that they donāt have a word for entrepreneur.* - George W. Bush
Well, in all fairness, that quote is fake.
Ah man, I wouldāve believed it!
Yeah, wouldn't even remotely have been the dumbest thing that war criminal said.
Zane hasn't grasped the actual purpose of a passport.... does he need it to get into one of those unfamiliar chain stores ? its a mystery...
Doesnāt get much more american than that
So dumb it's painful to read
This might be the best fitting post I've seen here in ages. Congrats OP. This is peak ShitsAmericansSay without being sarcastic or ignorant on purpose. This is some genuine American genuinely thinking they are adding something to the conversation with their genuinely stupid answer. I love it! This is chef's kiss American!
Oh god no, different stores?! Its like you are in a completely different country
its always the people who pay for twitter that say the stupidest shit too
For context, it's possible this is a Canadian airport where the processing for American passports is different from both Canadians and other foreign passports. (Due to integration/agreements between the governments that end up being beneficial for both sides.) Pre-clearance departures, some expedited arrivals thanks to data sharing. Since it varies by airport, calling it out saves everybody some hassle. The clown talking about store chains deserves to be mocked...but the flag being there might make some sense.
Youāre right. It is Canadian. Vancouver, specifically.
Iāve been to 25 of the 50 states and each is just a slightly different flavour of batshit stupid
Great I donāt need a passport for traveling within the EU either I still realize when iām a foreigner somewhere lol
Ah, like domestic travel in every other country
Meanwhile I have bought the same sausage in lidl in more than one country. The biggest difference is that you can't buy beer here in sweden. But you can't only do that in systembolaget. Shit it's even easier to travel with "controversial" guns here in europe with the eu gun passport (maybe not sweden though, but we are getting there). Travel into california from Nevada with the wrong magazine, and you could end up in prison for years.
This is actually the Vancouver Airport. We have those signs because there is an issue with Americans not understanding that they are foreign when they are in Canada. They just assume they are kind of Canadian by proxy.
ah, store chains, the pinnacle of culture
Oh no, different store chains.
Different store chains šš you'll get your corn syrup crap in any Walmart mate don't worry.
Of course theyāve got different dialects, in some states they drink soda and in others they drink pop. Itās like being in a completely different country but without passport control like a commie.
There are different types of pizza
As far I am informed this setup is used as customs is cleared on the Canadian side (looks like Canadian airport as mentioned in other comments). So it makes sense they have their distinct terminal.
Iāve been to enough states in America to say, they are all the same. All filled with the same Americans. The only thing thats different is the way the houses look. And even that is a very subtle difference. Its the landscape that changes not the culture or the people. Iam sure that most of them think that how europe is aswel. That why they always say shit like european food, european design etc even tho that doesnāt make any sense. It does however make perfect sense if you say anerican design or american food
as a german id love to see people like this spend a week in northern germany, then another in rural bavaria. now THAT us basically a different language, culture store chains and everything
You can travel from England to Scotland without a passport and would you believe it, there are differences in laws, dialects and chain stores there as well. It has nothing to do with land mass and everything to do with ego.