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Weird Americanisms (UK vs USA thread)
- Thread starter SquiddyCracker
- Start date
- Status
So you've been traveling to Canada to watch your movies? Seems like an awful inconvenience.
frankie_baby
Member
while plenty of people here have 3kw kettles (myself included) plenty of people get by with 2.2kw kettles just fine and its still noticably faster than a microwave
Do you go once every ten years? I rarely go to the movies and I've encountered this several times. Clapping during the movie as well (like when the good guy finally gets the bad guy, etc).
QuicheFontaine
Member
Just checked. I'm a member of the 3kW kettle master race.
Silent_Bomber
Banned
The "British" men seen in American TV shows, and British films made for the American market (ie Four Weddings and a Funeral & Love Actually) are rare in the real world.
In England we can be awkward when sober, but you rarely see that "Oh! I'm awfully flustered! I don't know what to say! well, that is I think you're very attractive!" shtick they pull in movies.
In England attempting that stuff gets you an "awwwwww", and a lifetime supply of condescension and female friends who don't want to "ruin your friendship"
EleventhDoctor
Banned
In as far as the American movie clapping experience I've seen it a few times-again Avengers is a good example-and I remember another one: in the 2009 Star Trek movie when Kirk and Sulu are plummeting towards Vulcan with no chute, and Chechov is running through the ship to teleport them and grabs them at the very last second, the entire theater all cheered in a "fuck yeah!" Kind of moment.
timcsavage
Member
Thanks, that's interesting.
What is it with these electric kettles? I'd rather be using my old fashioned stove top kettle.
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Checked, me too. I am retroactively happy with my( picking a kettle at random) choice.
I honestly never knew people still used stoves for kettles.What is it with these electric kettles? I'd rather be using my old fashioned stove top kettle.
I bought mine brand new. I bet it boils water faster than your electric kettle.
QuicheFontaine
Member
No, those are fine.
I feel like we should meet up in a car park and race them. I'm just not sure how to make it work logistically.
We should do a transatlantic kettle race. I'll paint flames on my kettle to make it go faster.
And mine will literally be powered by flames, flames of natural gas.
Aeriscloud
Banned
I think I've only heard clapping in the theater twice. The midnight opening of The Phantom Menace
when I was thirteen, and at the end of the opening of The Return of the King. Both movies were
packed houses and there were obviously large and small groups of friends there to see each film.
I cannot think of any other times where it has happened.
I find that people who bring babies with them are much worse. Babies don't bother me, it is their
stupid parents fault for bringing them.
when I was thirteen, and at the end of the opening of The Return of the King. Both movies were
packed houses and there were obviously large and small groups of friends there to see each film.
I cannot think of any other times where it has happened.
I find that people who bring babies with them are much worse. Babies don't bother me, it is their
stupid parents fault for bringing them.
I'm a bit confused about this. Once water starts boiling it always stays at 100C, it never goes above and if it drops below it stops boiling. So how exactly does this "early boil" work?
Are you kidding me, I think I remember the first Iron Man getting a standing ovation.
Do you have abnormally saggy balls? I never touch the water, regardless of the toilet, aside from the incredibly rare backsplash.
Woah that sounds kinky.. How does one take the piss out of someone?
Make fun of them.
That's because the credits didn't show an american flag.
EleventhDoctor
Banned
Very true-and it's every man for themselves.
I absolutely hate going to the movies here though-the great unwashed masses are just obnoxious for the most part. Look-the clapping thing....I don't really care for it-but I get it. once in a while people get excited. But people here are just the worst-they "whisper" to their friends in a "Loud" whispery voice. I always want to say to them "you're not whispering".
The most baffling thing is-my wife and I will sometimes get an opportunity for a date night, and we'll go to the movies-and the theater will be for the most part fairly empty-only a few other people spread out in the seats. But as soon as the lights go down, some noisy couple walks in scans the theater full of empty seats everywhere-and then zero in right on us and sit right behind us and talk the entire time, rustle through their bags of snacks, chew loudly, slurp their sodas, etc. We have the worst luck-I'm not kidding that this happens 75% of the time for us.
The best though is we sat behind this family of a father, mother and a teenage son during the movie Looper. Pretty violent movie-people getting shot, stabbed, etc. Didn't faze them. Then there is a love scene where JGL starts making out with a woman and they're going to bed. The son AND the father took their baseball hats off their heads and covered their faces so they wouldn't have to see the offensive naked woman.
PJV3
Member
You go up a mountain, water boils at a lower temp the higher you are.
Well that depends on how fat the ring is that you put it on of course, as well as how much of that heat is being wasted as it goes around it rather than heating the water.
A kettle has an element IN the water, so it directly heats it. I know from boiling water on the hob that there is a lot more heat above the pot with a lid on than there is over a kettle.
My gas hob has a wok ring which is 3.5kw and a large ring that is only 3.0kw. That 3.0kw would match our kettle, but I'm sure the kettle would win.
It's mostly about the distribution of heat. When boiling has just barely started, it means that only a limited portion of the water is hot enough and in contact with a nucleation site that allows bubbles to form. (Usually the bottom of the cup.) A "roiling boil" means that you have tons of bubbles everywhere and all the water in the cup is close to 100C, while thinner steams of bubbles indicate a lower average temperature.
And yeah, making a cup of tea is also a cooling process. The leaves "cook" differently depending on what temperature you start at, because the entire time you spend steeping is time for the water's temperature to decrease.
Would you shorten Economics to Econs?
Mathematics
Mathematic
Mathemati
Mathemat
Mathema
Mathem
Mathe
Math
Not that complicated. Shortened words don't always end with the same letter the original word does, and plural words don't always end in 's'.
"Mathematic" as a singular noun isn't really a thing. No one says "I'm working on a mathematic".
The reason for tax separate pricing in the US is because taxing varies from state to state and sometimes city to city or even county to county. It would be more difficult to create advertising because the final price for a product in Buffalo, New York, is not the same as in New York City.
Different states have different sales taxes, and lots of our advertisements are run across entire regions instead of being specific to one area. Whether or not you have to pay tax on freshly prepared food, packaged food, clothes, other groceries, etc. also varies by state and sometimes even within a state.
Some lucky bastards even live in states with no sales tax at all.
Yeah fair enough. you win that one.
QuicheFontaine
Member
See, even though I've drunk probably tens of thousands of cups of tea over the course of my life, I'm quite convinced that you know more about it than I do from these posts.
But I'm going to let myself off the hook for that by saying that while tea is very much the staple drink in the UK, it's widely seen as a utilitarian beverage: a pick-me-up, a biscuit moistener. Probably 95% of all tea consumed here is "builders' tea", your bog-standard teabag steeped for 1-2 mins (and maybe some sugar).
Personally, I don't get any work done in the office until I have my brew in hand. And while Captain Picard can walk into his ready room and say "Earl grey, hot", in real life it takes rather more care and attention, and frankly ain't nobody got time for that (as I believe you Americans say!).
Lol what an odd expression.
I imagine it originates from drunks regularly pissing their pants at bars/pubs. =D
Silent_Bomber
Banned
After a quick check it seems it has something to do with early morning erections, oddly enough.
The original thread, for the reference: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=528990
It's just that I never knew that any other way was possible and it seems quite common in the US.
That does make sense, however would the bottom really be the hottest part of a cup when heated in a microwave? It actually seems like it would be one of the cooler areas since few microwaves will be able to hit it.
Cotton McKnight
Member
Hah, it is only fighting words if I said your family members can't cook and I knew they could cook. lol
I hope they can cook...
SquiddyCracker
Banned
Seeing as I'm unbiased and objective, I think that I'm going to have to give the honour of the weirdest nation to the United States of America!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Americans cancel their outdoor sports games quite a bit due to inclement weather. A rain check is essentially the ability to get a ticket to an alternative game or the replay if the game is cancelled due to weather (this usually happens in baseball where rain stops play) so a rain check is essentially a guarantee of doing something at a later date.
EleventhDoctor
Banned
If you see a sale ad at a store for say, 200 dollars off on a Television-and then you get to the store and they actually don't have that particular one in stock-they'll give you a "rain check" so the offer and discount is still good when the product DOES come in.
GameplayWhore
Member
Finally finished reading the thread; was great, fun. Wrote huge wall-of-text post (with footnotes!), decided to post summary of summary instead:
"I could care less" is a Whedonism, not an Americanism. Around here, it is our idiot litmus.
I went to the cinema every week for nearly twenty years. People only made noise when a movie was universally terrible or when it was excessively fanservicey, and this was very very rare. I've gotten chided for using a "smartphone" in a cinema, even before the trailers started. Maybe it's a more common thing now, but I've only gone once a year in the last five.
Anyway, honest bit of curiosity here about our erstwhile masters:
Around here, people ask questions as greetings when they are passing by and obviously have no time for a conversation. They'll ask you "How are you?" and then walk away. I personally consider this to be incredibly rude, but it is a more common manner of greeting now than "Hello" used to be.
My question to our kettle-loving brethren is: Have you avoided this terrible plague? Do you have chiv-on-sight rules for people coming off the airplane when visiting from the States in order to prevent an outbreak? How do you deal with this situation when you are visiting over here?
I would really, truly like to know if I can somehow cure my people of this most heinous of afflictions.
"I could care less" is a Whedonism, not an Americanism. Around here, it is our idiot litmus.
I went to the cinema every week for nearly twenty years. People only made noise when a movie was universally terrible or when it was excessively fanservicey, and this was very very rare. I've gotten chided for using a "smartphone" in a cinema, even before the trailers started. Maybe it's a more common thing now, but I've only gone once a year in the last five.
Anyway, honest bit of curiosity here about our erstwhile masters:
Around here, people ask questions as greetings when they are passing by and obviously have no time for a conversation. They'll ask you "How are you?" and then walk away. I personally consider this to be incredibly rude, but it is a more common manner of greeting now than "Hello" used to be.
My question to our kettle-loving brethren is: Have you avoided this terrible plague? Do you have chiv-on-sight rules for people coming off the airplane when visiting from the States in order to prevent an outbreak? How do you deal with this situation when you are visiting over here?
I would really, truly like to know if I can somehow cure my people of this most heinous of afflictions.
StealthGoblin
Banned
In the UK they always have 'While stocks last' on all of the ads. If you miss out you miss out.
shadyspace
Banned
Stop talking like a weirdo.
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