"You Can Always Spot The Americans. They’re Wearing..." — 19 People Shared The Things That Make Americans Stick Out Abroad
I don't know about you, but when I travel abroad, I become quite self-conscious about my "American-ness." I remember my Canadian friend telling me that people she met abroad were instantly relieved to learn she was from Canada, not the United States, upon meeting her.
Not wanting to be associated with the bad lore (ca-caw 🦅 ca-caw 🦅), I found myself on an anxiety-provoked "American stereotypes Reddit" Google search and fell upon this thread on the r/NoStupidQuestions subreddit, which asked, "What do Americans do that makes us stand out?"
Now, before I get into all the claims made about Americans, I wanted to preface by saying this: on the internet, it's not uncommon for false bits of information to spread as fact, so I tried to find the origins of some of the suggestions where I could (like the "American lean," or how, apparently, some Americans can't squat on their heels???).
Still, as often as people are influenced by Internet hearsay to generalize cultural groups, it is a little interesting what stands out as most "uniquely American." I was also shocked to hear that it's not all bad (like being super friendly made a Swedish kid happy!!! +1 Americans!).
So, for the American-identity-conscious minded like myself, here are all the things that might make you stand out as an American abroad, according to the informed but sometimes-spreading-hearsay people of Reddit:
1."I'm American and tried impersonating a Brit once over text. Someone instantly called me out on using the word 'got.' Apparently, 'get' and 'got' are more frequent in American than British English, at least in this case between me and this other guy."
"I think in my specific case, I said something like, 'Lately, I've gotten some complaints about... ' and a Brit responded by telling me that the word 'gotten' in this case is super American. I imagine someone would say, 'Lately, I've received some complaints...' or something like that."
2."The American lean is a big one. We see a wall and immediately assume we need to lean on it to hold it up. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it."
Ok, so this idea pops up frequently — often alongside a claim that the CIA trains spies not to lean because it's a giveaway that someone's American. Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson of the Endless Thread podcast set out to try to find the source of this claim (I, too, have struggled to find one) and found it likely originates from the CIA's former chief of disguise, Jonna Mendez, who wrote in her book that Americans appear "slouchy" and "sloppy" compared to US enemies who "stand up straight and don't lean on things." Brock and Siverston hypothesize this may be where the claim originates, but it's still uncertain. So, while this claim was once again highly upvoted, it could be just another Internet nugget repeated over and over again.
3."The clothing is a definite tell. Much more athleisure for all scenarios."
4."I'm a Belgian in the US right now. You guys are TOO friendly; what the FUCK. Some cashier at Ross was showing me pictures of her nephew skating in Lake Havasu 12 seconds after I said hi."
"Just as a non-judgmental counterpoint to that... I'm American, my wife is Swedish, and we live in Sweden. Our son was raised in Sweden since he was 2. We visited the US for the first time when he was a toddler, gregarious at age 5. On the second day, after getting home from an outing and some shopping, he came to me with wide eyes and a smile and said, 'Pappa! People talk to me here!' To me, as an American living in Sweden — and still, after 10 years, struggling with the Swedish social codes — was both funny and heartbreaking at the same time."
5.Similarly, "Being very forward. In the US, I can go to an event and make a new connection, and in the end, they will hug me goodbye. A complete stranger! However, I am American, so it never really struck me. When I lived in South Korea, though, they would look at me as if I had two heads when I hugged them. Same with handshakes. It was a reaction that I never really thought about until then. Oops. We are an overly friendly bunch."
6."Preternaturally white teeth."
7."I remember reading that Americans squat on their toes, not their heels."
This claim, too, is littered across the Internet, likely thanks to the 'Asian Squat' (of which BuzzFeed is a contributor), a questionably-named mid-2000s Internet trend (and workout move) whereby people suggested Americans can't squat for shit (literally, sorry) without lifting their heels. Atlantic writer Sarah Zhang investigated the origins of these claims, and while she found "no one appears to have actually studied innate ability in deep squatting across ethnic groups," she pointed out that the claims may come from squat toilets, which are more likely to be found across Asian countries, whereby the toilet-goer must squat, heels on the ground, to do their business.
8."Americans inevitably have a drink in their hands when out (water, coffee, fancy Stanley cup…). One of my colleagues pointed this out to me when we were in Belgium for a work meeting."
9."Loud, love small talk, exaggerate everything, and speak in absolutes. Such as, 'This is the best meal I've ever had.'"
Similarly, "You use words like 'awesome,' 'amazing,' "tremendous,' etc., all the time. Nobody else does that. You can refer to the chart."
10."[Understanding] personal space. American here. I've been around some French people while vacationing at a national park. I'm not sure why they need to be right next to me. I was close enough to the French tourist often, so close I could’ve whispered sweet nothings into their ears."
11."I lived in England for a while for grad school, and one of my English friends told me and another American early on that she knew we were American right away because when we were meeting people at the first grad school function, we'd go up to people and immediately introduce ourselves by name. Maybe one sentence of small talk first, if the conversation started from someone making a side comment to us, but then right to 'I'm Amy, I'm studying anthropology' and possibly even shaking hands. She said English people had to do small talk before exchanging names, though I'm not sure how true that is."
From a Brit: "The name thing is true, lol. Since I’m English I’ve only ever seen people immediately introduce themselves in movies. I always thought it was for the audience’s sake and nobody actually does that. Usually, it’s the last thing we say before our goodbyes (say, if you just got talking to a stranger and you’re never gonna see them again). Which is kinda funny now that I think about it, because there’s no point telling someone your name at that point."
12."I’m in Denmark now, and a waiter told us that Americans always order drinks first and then food while Danes order food first and then drinks. I had never heard that before or thought about it and thought it was a kind of sweet, simple thing to notice."
I could not find any proof of this, and people were skeptical in the comments — if you're Danish, let us know the truth.
13."Positivity bias is a big one. When doing business in the US, I was coached to stop speaking plainly and start exaggerating because in US corporate culture, people tend to assume that everyone's putting a positive spin on everything. So, if you're modest, they perceive you as unimpressive or weak."
"Related to the fact that Americans have a deep-seated, pseudo-religious belief in the power of positive thinking, so they perceive doubt as tantamount to opposition. Generalizing hugely, obviously."
14."My grandfather telling every European he met that we saved them in WWII."
"Ugh. Reminds me of when we were in Denmark, and my aunt kept telling everyone that we are Swedish. We are American; we just descended from Swedish immigrant ancestors. The looks of confusion on people’s faces were priceless, as we were obviously from the US."
15."I went to Mexico City on a work trip to visit some colleagues, and my Mexican colleague made an offhand comment: 'You can always spot the Americans… they’re wearing shorts.' 😂"
16."Based on my experience, when we ask you, 'Where are you from?' Americans will typically mention the state they are from instead of the United States. I've only gotten this type of response from Americans, haha."
17."I’m in Darwin, Australia. American men can always be spotted by the collared check shirts, beige shorts, trainers with socks, and very similar haircuts. They also travel in packs of 3 or 4. I own a shop and I’ve been known to say, 'What part of the states are you guys from?' before they even open their mouths. We get a lot of US Army boys here, and you’re in uniform even when you’re out of it."
18."How we use a knife and fork. Many Americans will cut something with the knife, set it down, move the fork to the hand the knife was in, then eat the food; repeat. That's not as common in most other countries. Most people keep the utensils in their hands the entire time without switching which hand they are in."
Apparently this is a real thing in dining etiquette, specifically — there are how-to business dinner guides that teach "American-style" dining etiquette (the style above) versus "Continental-style" dining etiquette, the reported European style of dining in which you essentially hold the fork and knife in the same hands the whole time while eating.
And lastly:
19."We generally walk 'tall,' look people in the eye, and smile a lot. That’s how I was called out as an American in Poland right after the Soviet Union dissolved. Although I spoke Polish fluently, people knew I was American before I spoke because of how I carried myself."
Of course, most of these beliefs are just opinions, and it's not exactly fair to generalize an entire country home to people of many different racial and ethnic origins. However, whether you agree or disagree, it is interesting to see what made Americans "stand out" abroad and what claims non-Americans make about Americans.
SO — I flip it back to you. What do you think makes Americans stand out in a crowd abroad? If you're American, how did someone know you were American before telling them? Or, if you're not American, how do you think you can identify an American? Let me know in the comments or at this anonymous form.
