Non-Americans who have been to the US.. What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird?
Non-Americans who have been to the US.. What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird?
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To name a few:
Calling yourself Americans, after the entire dual continent. There are two continents and many other countries in the Americas, you know... [I know you know. And, what are you supposed to call yourselves, 'USAians'? 'Americans' makes more sense and is easier to roll off the tongue. But it's weird.]
Holding the door open for me. Smiling at me on the street. Those are sure signs of a swindler, but it's the norm in the USA. [I am not suggesting USA folks are swindlers, only that those actions are what swindlers in much of the world use. USA people are generally super nice and a genuine pleasure to be around.]
Turning right on red light. Red means stop. It's weird and confusing.
Edit: I added a third thing.
Edit2 in []
We are far from the only people that refer to us as Americans.
Very true. I added context as you commented. I'm not putting you down for it. It's the term that makes most sense. It's just weird. Not wrong or dumb or stupid or anything else insulting. It's just a weird term to use, even though it's the one that makes most sense. I honestly meant no disrespect or offense. I actually like USA and its people (I mean, there are crazies everywhere, but they don't define the rest of you). I genuinely apologize if I offended you. Seriously, mate, I meant no offense at all.
Edit: clarity
No problems at all, I just see this opinion a lot and think its weird when people think we're the only ones that say it, when it seems pretty common for other nationalities to do it too.
It is very common. Actually, I don't think I've heard it as anything else. It's still weird to me hahaha
You can even turn left on a red if it's from or into a one-way street. I think that is state specific though
It's pretty much everywhere except for NYC and Montreal Island.
Donβt you mean βfrom AND intoβ?
No I don't. You can turn left on a red from a two-way into a one-way in Oregon and Washington. When I went to school on the east coast the locals informed me that it's not true everywhere.
Yikes!
From OR onto?
I'm just imagining someone making a left from a one-way onto a two-way, and it seems like it would be a very bad idea in that situation?
Aww c'mon, I was gonna deliver this in a much more conspiratorial tone!
Calling yourself Americans, after the entire dual continent
But we never use "America" to refer to North and South America collectively. You can say "the Americas", or just "North and South America". And there's no adjective that means "of the Americas"; you can say "North or South American". But just "American" unambiguously means "of the USA".
I've always wondered if disagreement over this comes from the fact that in some parts of the world, North and South America are considered to be one continent just called "America", whereas we consider them to be two separate continents. And we don't have a word for the pair of continents, any more than we have a word for Europe and Africa together. (I mean we do have "Eurasia", which kind of pokes a hole in the hypothesis, but maybe that's a special case because a brief glance at a map makes it clear it's pure fantasy to count those as separate continents.)
Yeah, I always wonder how often thereβs a need to refer to inhabitants of two continents together as a single entity. Like, if you say someone is South American or North American, that is never confused with being someone specifically from the US. When would those terms be insufficient?
i propose america squared
With regards to right on red. It (legally at least) requires that you must first stop at the light. So if you are turning right the idea is that you are supposed to first check for active traffic and treat it as if it is a stop sign. If someone ahead of you is waiting to turn right and then goes. Then you are supposed to pull up and then stop again before turning. Though in practice a lot of people will at best treat it more like a yield sign and just roll through without stopping. In super low traffic times or places where traffic is a non-issue (like a rural road where as you pull up to the light you can clearly see open roads without anyone) then this isn't really an issue aside from learning bad habits. Though heavy traffic places are much more of an issue.
Regarding the red stoplight:
In Germany we have a rule that you may turn right if theres a sign permitting you to do so. In that case the traffic light is to be treated like a STOP-sign.Functionally the same but inverted in the states, there are signs that tell you when it's NOT allowed. Just a matter of which is more efficient, signing when it's allowed or signing when it's not.
I'd prefer the need to look for the sign instead of hoping nobody ripped it off.
Why would it really matter as long as you can see that it's obviously safe to do so?
Because more information is better than less.
hoping somebody ripped it off? Of what? A tree? Those signs are literally huge. What next you cant get through a stoplight if it has no power because it has no clear signalling?
Those signs are the size of an A4 paper in Germany. Stop assuming everything has the same size as stuff in the US...
you're driving through america expecting the signs to be the size that they are in germany? That seems weird.
(partial /s)
No replies on the holding the door and smiling being the sign of a swindler? That actually sounds like you live in an exceptionally hostile place. I'm swedish, as in people not exactly known for showing a lot of warmth to each other in public, and I always hold the door, and smile at people very often. The smiling part might be somewhat unusual here in Sweden too, but not unusual as in bad or a sign of a swindler. Most people seem to appreciate these behaviors. Either that or I'm absolutely delusional and everyone secretly views me as a swindler Β―\_(γ)_/Β―
Calling yourself Americans, after the entire dual continent
This is one (small) reason why many USAians will tell you their state if you ask where they're from.
Is it? I just thought they were proud of their state. Honestly, I don't blame them. It's nice being in love with your state. I always thought that was cool.
It is very much state pride as well, and force of habit; most Americans don't travel out of country much (for a few reasons) so we don't often have to tell people where we're from who don't already have a good grasp of American geography.
Also, frankly, people can usually tell we're American before we tell them, for better or worse. Might as well give you a bit more specificity.
Calling yourself Americans
Wait until you find out what the citizens of indiana are called, here's a hint, it's hoosiers.