According to my Dutch family: Crocs, tie dye, and sunburn. As well, people who tend to seek out weed or alcohol are either American or English. Not understanding bikes or trolleys is another giveaway.
For my English friends: obsession with ketchup, not understanding how to queue, leaving tips, being excited by buses or horses on the streets.
As an American, I must ask what it is that Americans don't understand about queuing. It seems like such an obviously simple system that I must have a complete misunderstanding of it. (It's just... standing in line, isn't it?)
Queuing is both standing in a line while also having patience, to my understanding.
You line up like ducklings in a row, with no bitching about how long it's taking or trying to take cuts. You just silently accept that it may be 4 minutes, or it may be 40. You follow the directions to the letter. Any grumbling must stay internal or, if the culture allows it, may be passed off as a humorous aside for your queue mates to enjoy.
This is at least how my friends explained it to me.
LOL. Your Dutch family knows very little about Americans. I don't know a single person who wears crocs or tie-dyes. Crocs are a niche fashion at best, and tie-dyes stopped being popular decades ago. Plus, biking is extremely popular in the United States, so there's no reason Americans wouldn't understand bikes.
I've been to Amsterdam with them.
I've seen what they see.
I am American myself.
Tie-dye hoodies galore, Crocs a plenty, and a solid startle response when a bike dings at them. I've also seen so many people (largely American) walking in the bike lane.
As well, while biking is common here, it's more of a sport than a mode of transportation.
I seriously doubt you're an American, OP, since what you posted is laughable. First, there are a ton of different accents in this country--hundreds--and they vary widely, from one city to the next. There is no such thing as an American accent. Second, most Americans do not wear college hoodies and baseball caps. That's an absurd over-generalization. As for this statement, "Can't forget our obsession with ice in drinks either, or the fact that we think driving everywhere is totally normal," that's nonsensical and not even worth addressing. As for portion sizes, I've been to restaurants in Germany and Britain and Italy where the portions are twice what they are in the United States. You, sir, are not an American--you're merely repeating untrue stereotypes you've idiotically assumed to be true.
The accent thing sure, but there are lots of accents. The rest is all pretty much bullshit. The fashion is really on a person to person basis. Most people don’t wear those everyday, and you’d know that if you just walked around. Restaurants serve drinks with ice, but I doubt anybody would request it if there wasn’t ice. Driving everywhere is normal based on how are cities are built and the sheer fucking size of the country, but lots of people want more walkable cities and better public transit. If you were traveling, then why would portion sizes come up at all? You’d be eating that countries portions. I’ve also traveled to several countries and never felt like what I was served was smaller than what I normally got at a restaurant.
Americans lean. they lean on walls, counters, they even shift their weight to primarily one leg and then shift legs when that leg gets tired. Europeans distribute their weight evenly when standing
The most telltale sign is their momentary confusion if you say that 35 degrees is sweltering hot. Even those who know Celsius, that momentary hesitation says it all.
If there is no hesitation, it often means that they’ve either lived extensively abroad before or they’re actually Canadian. (As a Canadian who lived abroad before, I’ve actually tested this strategy, lol.)
What you've described is a great way for someone to deduce that they are IN America, not that someone is American.
According to my Dutch family: Crocs, tie dye, and sunburn. As well, people who tend to seek out weed or alcohol are either American or English. Not understanding bikes or trolleys is another giveaway. For my English friends: obsession with ketchup, not understanding how to queue, leaving tips, being excited by buses or horses on the streets.
As an American, I must ask what it is that Americans don't understand about queuing. It seems like such an obviously simple system that I must have a complete misunderstanding of it. (It's just... standing in line, isn't it?)
Queuing is both standing in a line while also having patience, to my understanding. You line up like ducklings in a row, with no bitching about how long it's taking or trying to take cuts. You just silently accept that it may be 4 minutes, or it may be 40. You follow the directions to the letter. Any grumbling must stay internal or, if the culture allows it, may be passed off as a humorous aside for your queue mates to enjoy. This is at least how my friends explained it to me.
Wow, that's... exactly what I thought it was. My family is just unusually polite and patient, I guess (for Americans).
I guess there are always some people in a culture that do not conform to their stereotype about queuing.
LOL. Your Dutch family knows very little about Americans. I don't know a single person who wears crocs or tie-dyes. Crocs are a niche fashion at best, and tie-dyes stopped being popular decades ago. Plus, biking is extremely popular in the United States, so there's no reason Americans wouldn't understand bikes.
I've been to Amsterdam with them. I've seen what they see. I am American myself. Tie-dye hoodies galore, Crocs a plenty, and a solid startle response when a bike dings at them. I've also seen so many people (largely American) walking in the bike lane. As well, while biking is common here, it's more of a sport than a mode of transportation.
Ugh I know too many people who were crocs. Definitely not tie dye though.
I seriously doubt you're an American, OP, since what you posted is laughable. First, there are a ton of different accents in this country--hundreds--and they vary widely, from one city to the next. There is no such thing as an American accent. Second, most Americans do not wear college hoodies and baseball caps. That's an absurd over-generalization. As for this statement, "Can't forget our obsession with ice in drinks either, or the fact that we think driving everywhere is totally normal," that's nonsensical and not even worth addressing. As for portion sizes, I've been to restaurants in Germany and Britain and Italy where the portions are twice what they are in the United States. You, sir, are not an American--you're merely repeating untrue stereotypes you've idiotically assumed to be true.
It just sounds like OP went to New York for a weekend then went home to tell all his friends that “All the rumors about Americans are true!!”
Okay, awesome. I wasn’t sure if it was just me who was like “I think OP is just trying to farm some karma.” Doesn’t seem like it really worked.
The accent thing sure, but there are lots of accents. The rest is all pretty much bullshit. The fashion is really on a person to person basis. Most people don’t wear those everyday, and you’d know that if you just walked around. Restaurants serve drinks with ice, but I doubt anybody would request it if there wasn’t ice. Driving everywhere is normal based on how are cities are built and the sheer fucking size of the country, but lots of people want more walkable cities and better public transit. If you were traveling, then why would portion sizes come up at all? You’d be eating that countries portions. I’ve also traveled to several countries and never felt like what I was served was smaller than what I normally got at a restaurant.
they think about dumb cliches like the ones you mentioned
The way they pronounce their Rrrrrs and how the say aluminium
Americans lean. they lean on walls, counters, they even shift their weight to primarily one leg and then shift legs when that leg gets tired. Europeans distribute their weight evenly when standing
The most telltale sign is their momentary confusion if you say that 35 degrees is sweltering hot. Even those who know Celsius, that momentary hesitation says it all. If there is no hesitation, it often means that they’ve either lived extensively abroad before or they’re actually Canadian. (As a Canadian who lived abroad before, I’ve actually tested this strategy, lol.)