Difference between American and British etiquette?

Question

What are the differences between American and British manners/etiquette, if there are any at all?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

The British have it... the Americans don't

Answer 2

thousands of years.but it is only the english who have good manners/etiquette.

Source(s):

i am, an english gentleman.

Answer 3

I could write a book. I should write a book.
In the UK, when eating a main dish we normally take the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand, and cut the food as we are eating. In the USA, they tend to cut up all the food on the plate into bite sized pieces and then park the knife and start shovelling. A USA citizen, who was acquainted with UK eating etiquette opened my eyes when she told me that once, in the USA, she overheard someone saying 'Hey, will you look at that. Brits don't know how to eat.'
And there are many hundreds of other examples I could give.

Answer 4

There are many differences, too many to list! I'm English and have lived in the USA for about 20 years. Now back in the UK for 10 years.
I find in America people are generally more talkative to strangers, and to people they don't know well. They stand closer to each other, touch each other more, share food off the same plate, sit closer to each other, hug more, so it's more about how close you can be to others, and how much touching you can do.
In the UK, people stand further apart from each other. They talk to strangers, but far less, and more it is talk like how the weather is. In the USA informal talk among people who just met about very personal matters is common. USA people readily talk about personal matters which in the UK we would talk less about until we knew the person a bit better.
USA people make friends very quickly, yet aren't expected so much to remain friends.
UK, people make friends much slower, and expect more from friendship, as in loyalty, people not your telling secrets and such. UK people keep friends more over time, once they are your friend. People in the UK say please and thank you far more. They tend to be more polite as in holding open the door for people. In the USA that hardly ever happens. People in the USA are less aware of others around them, to do things like that. In the UK, people are more aware of others around them, and hold open doors, say excuse me, sorry, try not to bump into each other, step aside for people.
This is generalising though, and there are 'polite' Americans, and 'rude' UK people, that's from a UK person's point of view.
USA people see UK people as 'standoffish' and themselves as 'friendlier'.
Eating food, most UK people use a knife and fork, and have stricter table manners, pass the food around, wait until everyone else gets their food before they eat, ask for things to be passed to them rather than reaching over, say excuse me if they do, hold chairs out for each other, eat only from their own plate and don't share a plate, nor eat from a main serving plate, hardly use their hands to eat.

USA people use just a fork mainly to eat even cutting food with the side of a fork, which is rude in the UK, and uncommon there. They share food from the same plate, eat off each others plates, grab food off serving plates or others plates with their hands, reach over to get something on the table. Don't hold chair out, don't pass main serving dishes around, take a lot of the food, eat quickly, talk more with mouths full, talk louder.

USA people tend to talk more about themselves and fight to be the one heard, which is seen as a little rude in certain places in the UK. UK people talk more about subjects other than themselves, and try to listen more.
USA women wear a lot more make up, than UK women typically. Wearing a lot of makeup here in some places could mean people thinking you look 'trampy'. Many women here are secure not wearing any make up.
In the USA, without makeup you are looked down upon, as if you've gone out naked.
Oddly, UK people tend to be more casual these days in the way they dress and put make up on and do their hair, than Americans are. Americans tend to overdo dressing up and can be 'showy', even 'gaudy', and tend to dress the same way, to fit in. UK people actually dress down a bit, in the sense that they are less showy, but have a more individual dress sense and tend to be more eclectic, or even eccentric.

Humour: UK people can tease each other, and be witty.
Americans dislike this, and take it as a put down or criticism.

American humour is almost solely about how stupid someone is, which isn't seen as that funny by UK people, and is sometimes seen as an affront, or even nasty, or stuck up, stuck on oneself, by UK people.

All these are generalisations of course.

Answer 5

Grammatical constructions are not a matter of etiquette. Neither are degrees of friendliness.
Off the cuff I can only think of two examples of different etiquette.
Using a knife and fork.
A polite Brit will cut off a piece of food and lift his left hand to put the piece in his mouth with the fork; a polite American will cut off several pieces, lay down his knife and transfer his fork to his right hand to eat them.
Polite Americans of both sexes drink beer out of the bottle. I have always supposed that this is partly to do with the fact that American beer is flat as well as tasteless!

Answer 6

americans have no class and intuition.

but have great burgers!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

Americans do not drink themselves into a coma on a friday night at the age of 18 in full view of the Law and then proceed to urinate before them. They only wish they could.

Answer 8

It is important to distinguish between the theory and the practice of etiquette. America has—in theory—the best code of manners the world has ever seen. That's because it is based on respect for the individual, regardless of his or her origin. Good manners in America are about helping strangers. They're also about judging people on their qualities rather than on their backgrounds. These are principles that were deliberately worked out by our founding fathers to assure the dignity of the individual and to keep society nonhierarchical. Is this theory true in practice? Of course not; it's a work in progress. But let us not forget that every day, more and more people wake up to the fact that they do not have to be limited by the circumstances of their birth. What's so bad about spreading that?

The British have horrendous problems with bad manners at all levels of society, from soccer hooligans to the royal family.

In our case, many violations of etiquette are actually exaggerations of our virtues. Our loudness, for example, reflects our friendliness. Or take the American tendency toward casual dress. In more-hierarchical societies, leaders had to create sumptuary laws to prevent people from getting too competitive about their appearance and clothing. In England, they introduced a tax on wig powder to discourage the conspicuous consumption of the upper classes. By contrast, the principle in America is that we have no class distinctions, so everyone can wear the same type of clothing. Of course, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and our antihierarchical instincts have also eroded some very legitimate hierarchies within society among young and old, boss and employee. That erosion has repercussions that more traditional societies can't stomach.

So you can see that our etiquette is not as bad as most people think. Our etiquette world wide is based on American films of violence and betrayal that is shown. And all though the people watching haven't been to America they will base their opion on what they have seen on film. And no matter where you go in life not everyone will have manners or show proper etiquette.

Source(s):

Some is from Miss Manners and other parts are from life's experiences

Answer 9

One of the things I always notice is that in Europe it is impolite to put your hands under the table when eating but Americans only eat with one hand and put the other one in their laps.

Answer 10

In Britain it exists, In America it doesn't.

Source(s):

I am only joking.

Answer 11

I have wondered this myself, and the answers have given me some ideas. I am american, and please no offense fellow americans, but for the most part, our younger generations have lost all sense of manners and ettiquette. I work in a restaurant and very seldom hear please and thank you. Parents let their children scream and argue with them and they then try to appease them!!! My child would be taken out of the place and we'd go home and she'd be put to bed with no dinner if she acted like that when we were out to eat. And people wonder why their kids have no respect for them or won't help them when they are older.

My next door neighbor walks her daughter to the bus in a robe and pjamas at noon. too lazy to get dressed?

She will give her kids money to go to the store and say nothing when they throw pop bottles and chip bags on the lawn, which then blow over onto my property.

Parents please teach your children not to be scumbags, and learn yourself if needed.

Answer 12

British like to think they are better than everyone else.

Answer 13

I'm not sure that there are that many differences. I've been told Americans cut their food first before they eat with a fork, whilst the British cut and eat as we go along...(?) Not exactly a major difference.
I think the Americans seem to have a clearer perception of customer service than the British do. American customers seem much better at saying if they unhappy with something, whilst the British, in many cases, just grumble and say nothing. Reversely, British people dio not have a clear idea of customer service in shops - sales people either fawn all over you, are too pushy or are totally uninterested and rude. I quite like the idea of the Ameican 'have a nice day' philosophy, cheesey as it is.
That's my tuppence worth anyway.

Answer 14

We Brits have a bigger stick up our ar-se.

Answer 15

WOT A LOAD OF OL BOLLOCKS

Answer 16

British - formal attitudes.

Americans - Informal.

Answer 17

No bleeding difference, mate.

Answer 18

Apparently, the British think it's proper etiquette to bash the Americans repeatedly on Y.A., and then do not have the good manners to be ashamed of themselves. We are certainly not a country of crude barbarians, as they like to portray us.

Answer 19

Americans pretend they like you, even if they don't. British pretend they don't like you, whether or not they do.

I like to think that British are more honest when they meet other people. Americans are more superficial and smile warmly when they are about to stab you in the back (not all of them, for sure, but in a broad generalisation)...

Well, my mum's British and I live in NZ (quite anti-USA), so I can't say I'm non-biased.

Answer 20

The ettiquette is pretty much the same in both countries (I am American) however the ettiquette on Y/A from the British is absolutely embarrassing at times. Traditional ettiquette is the same, don't put your feet on the furniture, say please and thank you, don't correct someone even if they're wrong if you don't know them well enough, don't curse especially in front of older people, respect for your elders, etc....The way in which the two people handle these ettiquettes - both countries have people who don't act like they're supposed to (village idiots who quite often find their way in front of a camera - i think it's the shiny objects that attracts them).

Note to the lady below: Her generalizations are a bit slanted towards the British as well as to the older group of people in the UK. As one who lived in both places as well I would say the younger people (26 like me and around that age) the difference isn't the same. Like for instance in America we're more likely to hold the door open for someone who is behind us going through as well or hold out a chair usually for someone of the opposite sex - so these generalizations of Americans appear to be dependent on where she was living as it's not the same all over US. In UK, nobody ever held open a door for me, and only in stores did they ever talk to me not knowing me. I found it's easier for British to get to know you if you already know someone they know or else they tend to ignore you on the bus sitting right next to you or walking past you on the street (they don't like to make eye contact in fear the person is "dodgy" and tries to start something with them). The large number of immigrants in the country appears to have made people very stand-offish and hence it's hard to get to know people like it is in US.

Answer 21

Having toured the UK following my explosion onto the rap scene, I can tell you the difference...

The British have eitquette...

Answer 22

Wait? the Americans have their own type of etiquette?



LOL, sorry thumbs I thought etiquette was universal regardless of continent or country, please email me an show me my ignorance.

Silly sods. lol

Answer 23

I don't think that there really are any, except for Americans don't drink tea.

Answer 24

While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL programs. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour - color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy - or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.

Use of the Present Perfect

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:

I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English:

I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:

I just had lunch OR I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.
Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?

Possession

There are two forms to express possession in English. Have or Have got

Do you have a car?
Have you got a car?
He hasn't got any friends.
He doesn't have any friends.
She has a beautiful new home.
She's got a beautiful new home.

While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn't have etc.)

The Verb Get

The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English - He's got much better at playing tennis.

Vocabulary

Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:

Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)

Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)

There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.