American tourists baffled by common feature of British houses when they visit
Published
| Last updated
You often don't realise how unusual the mundane details of your home country actually are until someone visits and points them all out to you.
Whether it's the slang words you use without thinking twice, your go-to snack when you're feeling peckish, or the layout of your street, what's pretty standard stuff for you can be a major culture shock to someone else.
For example, when Amercians come to to the UK, they're probably not too surprised by the odd cobble-stoned street, the pies, our funny little accents. But there are a lot of details they don't see coming.
.png)
Laura and Nathan Curton, who own a stunning little English Vacation Cottage in Dorset, have had their fair share of American tourists pass through over the years, and they've managed to narrow down the main features about Britain that tend to shock tourists.
The number one detail that they struggle with, which is honestly probably something you would never expect, is our small front yards.
"As soon as we leave London, there are loads of surprises in store," they told Sun Online Travel.
"It's something about driving through the small towns and villages, like how close the houses are to the roads.
"In America they often have large front yards, but lots of our houses are on right on the pavement.
"When we drive through towns and villages sometimes we come to a complete stop at a set of traffic lights, and our guests can't believe that you can see into people's front rooms."
I must admit, I've never been in one of these houses myself, so I've wondered about this too. What must it be like to have strangers peering in your living room window when you're trying to sit back and watch some Netflix?
The couple has also revealed the main British words that leave Americans stumped.
You'd think that after watching shows like Skins and Black Mirror, The Office, and even Downton Abbey, they'd have gotten the hang of the way we speak - but apparently some of our go-to phrases are still an enigma.
On their list were words like 'High Street' - you know, like the place we all go to buy new clothes - 'pavement' - the thing that's apparently too close to our front doors - and 'bum bag' - which, to Americans, are referred to as 'fanny packs'.
I know, I know. 'Fanny packs'.
.png)
Another word that seems to confuse our American friends is 'car park', since people park their cars in 'parking lots' over in the States.
While I do appreciate these language gaps can be a little confusing, I'd argue that the word 'car park' is pretty self explanatory.
