For example there are a few in the UK: (1) We all like Tea. (2) We all have bad teeth. (3) We are all posh. (4) British men are all charming. (5) We have fish and chips every day. The list goes on….

33 comments

  2. that America and or American’s are how they are portrayed on tv and in movies…

  4. Oh dude, your TV shows destroy that reality. Trust me, I’ve watched the British version of Love Island. No one is charming, the accents aren’t the “high class” ones we often associate with Brits, they’re all vegans or whatever, teeth are nearly perfect….well, except for the tea thing. They all drink it pretty much exclusively when they aren’t drinking alcohol.

    I guess my most annoying stereotype is guns. People think its either a war torn hell hole or that there are militias in the streets. I live in a red county in a red state and outside of law enforcement, I can’t recall the last time I saw a firearm locally. Now in my travels to the sticks of Indiana, yeah, I might see someone carrying a firearm in a holster at the local diner, or if I’m in PA during hunting season . But just out and about in my daily life? If someone is carrying, they’re concealing it pretty well.

  5. That our friendliness towards strangers is fake. When I ask “How are you doing?” I don’t really expect much of a response, but if someone wanted to give me an honest answer and talk, I would listen and actually care. When I tell someone to have a great day, I mean it and want them to be happy. When I give a compliment in passing, it’s completely heartfelt. Obviously not every American is the same as me, but I truly believe most of us are being genuine.

  6. that all americans are alike in pretty much any way at all

    i don’t care if you think we all love pizza and hot dogs tho

  7. I seriously don’t care.

    People that assume silly stereotypes probably aren’t really worth my time.

    If you try to correct them they aren’t interested. They LIKE believing them.

    Why bother?

  8. That were all overweight loud arrogant assholes who go to Walmart and hate everybody. In reality the average American is just like the average Brit, albeit with some major differences (region, transport, outlook, etc).

    I’ll tell you one I do like, that people seem to think we’re outgoing. Don’t get me wrong many are, but from my experience an equal amount are quiet and reserved.

  9. The British men are charming thing, is not exactly false. But that is not a British quality, it is an American quality. Psychologically Americans tend to think many British accents are sexy. This can even work in weird ways. For instance, black people with British accents in the US tend to experience less racism in the US than other black people.

  10. About America or about Britain? : )

    I think the teeth jokes are really tired and unfunny for what it’s worth.

    Anything that stereotypes an entire populace probably is equally tired and unfunny.

    Pretty much all the stereotypes about us are wrong.

  11. I don’t mind stereotypes so much as I mind hostility.

    People love to hate us — most of them never met us or set foot here at all.

  12. That all Americans are fat. We undisputedly have a higher obsity rate in the USA, but that doesn’t evenly distribute itself in the love handles of every man, woman, and child in the US. It just means that we have a higher proportion of zeros to ones.

  14. That Americans are especially ignorant about the world and bad at geography. Sure, some are, but that goes for just about any country. Perhaps ignorant Americans just get more media exposure than ignorant people in other countries.

  15. I think it’s dumb that stereotypes about a certain type of rural/conservative person in America (some of which are true, some are exaggerated, etc) are applied willy nilly to everyone. It’s like assuming everyone in Europe drinks cappuccino at a cafe with the eiffel tower in the distance every day.

  16. I’m not frustrated by any of them. People can think we are all fat, gun toting idiots, I don’t care. Love me or hate me, I stay hate free 😊

  17. Tired of hearing that we are dumb, loud, obnoxious, and racist. We have some of the best colleges in the world, we are the forefront of technological and medical advancements. Sure, there might be some loud and obnoxious Americans, there are also a ton of loud and obnoxious chavs in the UK. And for racism, Europe is pretty homogenized and there is still a growing anti-immigrant sentiment there, hence Brexit or Le Pens popularity.

    Edit: I forgot to mention that not every school is a fucking shooting range, so fucking tired of them making fun of kids dying.

  18. > (3) We are all posh. (4) British men are all charming

    Don’t worry we don’t have that misconception about people from the UK.

    With regards to misconceptions about the US… I don’t know that any “frustrate” me. But it’s unfortunate how many people think the whole country is practically an old west shootout. Crops up with some regularity on this subreddit even.

  19. The most frustrating misconception about Americans? Such a long list.

    That any stereotype is going to apply to 330 million people from every walk of life in a massive country.

    I’ve always loved learning about foreign cultures. I am a map an geography nerd. I’ve studied 3 foreign languages and majored in an internationally focused degree. Two study abroad programs, 4 continents. I’ve worked as a global program manager. I love learning about other parts of the world. And in general we’re more alike than different. The human experience is the human experience.

    And 100% of my real world dealings across the globe have been amazing.

    And then there’s reddit.

    For some reason, the most angry, arrogant, pedantic trolls like to spend their online hours being jerks. I come here because we get some really interesting questions from folks anxious to learn about this country. I wish more people would have that approach to asking questions.

  20. The list of (accurate)conceptions would be shorter. For example, yes, large disposable red plastic cups are frequently seen at parties here.

  21. That we are more bigoted than the rest of the world. Because we are so diverse there may be more examples of bigotry. But there are a lot of countries that are so bigoted that they don’t have a chance to become diverse.

    And if those xenophobic countries have any minorities they often treat them worse than the United States treats their minorities. It’s just that they get away with it because the minorities are rather small and voiceless, whereas in the United States minorities may soon outnumber white Americans and have real political power.

    I’m not denying bigotry is a problem in the United States. I’m just saying that it’s a problem everywhere, but it’s often easier to ignore in other less diverse countries.

  22. The one that most bothers me the most is the misunderstanding of many Americans’ connection to their heritage. Some Europeans seem to act as though none of us have any “real” heritage from our ancestors, as if a parent or grandparent doesn’t pass on a great many traditions, attitudes, and cultural legacies.

  23. I think my main annoyance is having people assume I’m in support of or have any responsibility for whoever the current US president is as well as US policies. I was in Japan during the Iraq War and had people complaining to me about that as well as President Bush, and I was in China during the Trump administration and had multiple people start complaining about Trump or the tariffs as soon as I said I was an American.

    Approval ratings for Trump and now Biden have shown that the majority of Americans aren’t always in support of our president and their policies, yet somehow as someone from a rural state that consistently leans Republican in national elections, it’s expected I have stereotypical views on politics.

  24. Our television shows are a VERY bad place to learn about everyday Americans and everyday American life.

    Please know this, when forming your opinions of us.

  25. That all of us are just a bunch of racist, xenophobic, gun toting, truck driving, loud mouthed man children.

    That doesn’t describe me at all. I mean, imagine me driving a truck. Give we a wagon or hatchback any day.

  27. Ignorant, arrogant, navel-gazing Mrrcans think they’re THE “free country” and the “best country of all.” Proclaimed in an unnecessarily loud voice with a grating accent.

    Ugh. I apologize for certain troglodytes who really do act like this, but believe me, the rest of us cringe at this stereotype.

  29. That we are more conservative than the rest of the world and Europe in particular. Which really doesn’t pass a basic smell test.

    Not a stereotype but when people from other countries get defensive about their country and they immediately go to making jokes about shooting kids which is waaaaaaaaay out of line.

  30. That we are still here.

    Europe, the bomb wasn’t your fault, you have to let us go.

  31. Slightly annoying and not that important: that our bread is sugary. Sounds random but most UK commenters strongly believe all out bread is just sugar and flour. I think they think we all eat wonder bread.

    More seriously, that America is extremely dangerous and we’re always walking around with guns. I’ve never even seen a gun outside of tv/movies

  33. I am fairly tired of hearing people living in European cities brimming with grand architecture built on wealth extracted from colonizing and ruthlessly exploiting brown people tell me how racist America is and how shameful our history is.

    We abolished slavery before you gave all those countries back to their native inhabitants, which in many cases you only did because you squandered your hoarded wealth blowing each other to bits, and lost your ability to suppress rebellion.

    The horrible mistreatment of minorities in this country, there is no excuse for, but before you assume we are just worse people than you, remember your ancestors never had to rub shoulders on their home turf with the brown people they were exploiting. Or be surrounded by them when you finally let up the boot heel. If you think your great great grandparents would have been too enlightened to fall into guilt-fueled paranoia, well you’re entitled to your opinion but I have my doubts.

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