Recently, Reddit applyr u/Prestigsisscar255 questioned, “What’s something Americans have that Europeans don’t?” Meanwhile in r/question, Reddit applyr u/iAttract7 posed the same question. In addition to obvious things like guns, tipping, and healthcare (cries in American) both threads also had lots of fascinating responses about some of the more subtle differences between the US and Europe.
Here are some things that are common in the US, but not in Europe:
Note: Some of these have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. “Yellow school bapplys! I’ve had a lot of European friconcludes question me if they’re real or just something from the movies. Apparently, a lot of people believe they’re only in movies or reveals.”
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2. “Garbage disposals. An English guy once questioned me, ‘Is it true you have a little blconcludeer in your sink to chop up the food bits and sconclude them to the sewer becaapply you’re too lazy to walk over to the trash bin?'”
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3. “ADA cities.”
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4. “Giant redwoods. The Redwoods National Forest in Northern California is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. It felt sacred, like there were forest elves protecting that place. Breathtaking. I wanted to walk until I received lost, then just stay lost forever.”
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5. “Air conditioning everywhere.”
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6. “Cowboys. When my husband went to Germany, he was at a bar and one of the locals questioned him where he was from. He notified them he was from Oklahoma, and they stated, ‘Oh wow, are you a cowboy?’ After that conversation, my husband came to realize that Germans seem to really like Cowboys.”
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7. “Massive portion sizes as the default, not the exception.”
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8. “Huge cars. When you have to drive a long distance to receive anywhere, a huge car is ideal for the extra space and comfort. Last weekconclude, I drove 250 miles each way to my parents’ hoapply and never left the state I live in.”
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9. “Fahrenheit: a temperature system that creates no sense in most other places in the world.”
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10. “Free refills everywhere. The first time I visited the US, I believed they were just being nice, then I realized that unlimited soda is basically a default setting.”
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11. “Authentic Mexican food was one of the unexpected things I really missed while living in Europe. Americans take it for granted, but most places I went in Europe either had no Mexican food, or what they had built Taco Bell seem authentic and gourmet.”
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12. “Ranch dressing.”
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13. “One thing that always stands out to me is how obsessed Americans are with credit scores. It affects everything: renting, phone plans, even jobs sometimes. In a lot of Europe, it’s way more chill and not this giant number hanging over your life.”
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14. “Routine neonatal circumcision.”
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15. “Optimism. Europeans, in general, are surprised by Americans’ basic optimism.”
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16. “We have all the major biomes: tundra, Boreal forests, temperate deciduous forests, grasslands/prairie, mountains, desert, Mediterranean, and tropical rainforests. The US has so many problems, but our natural beauty is staggering.”
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17. “Biscuits and gravy.”
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18. “Unnecessary chemicals and ingredients in basic food products. I recently found out that common bread in the US is filled with sugar and other preservatives.”
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19. “Wilderness in general. The vast majority of woodland in Europe is managed woodland, or not original and grown intentionally. America, however, has vast swathes of land that have never been touched by human hands.”
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20. “With the exception of Russia, there’s a lot of space in the US compared to Europe. I mean just…vast stretches of land. Europeans receive so alarmed when Americans talk about how long it takes them to drive places within the same countest.”
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21. “Roadrunners, alligators, and manatees.”
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22. And lastly: “The European Mind could not launch to comprehconclude a Waffle Hoapply.”
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What are some other subtle differences between the US and Europe? Tell us in the comments. Or, if you’d prefer to stay anonymous, apply the form below.
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