35 Americans Recall The Funniest Foreign Misconceptions About USA

One country that acts like the popular mean girl of the world is America. Of all the nations, U.S.A. has a reputation for thinking they are the “it” girl and everyone wants to be them or hang out with them. But what do outsiders really have to say to Americans? Someone online became curious and asked, “Americans of Reddit, what’s the funniest thing a foreigner has said to you about America?” Scroll below to read all the amusing anecdotes folks responded with that are sure to elicit a hearty chuckle or two. 

#1

Image source: ISDM27, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash

It wasn’t said to me directly but i read somewhere that eariler this year when tiktok was down in the US a bunch of users migrated over to RedNote and for a couple days there was a basically unmoderated cultural exchange between US and Chinese users asking each other questions, and my absolute favorite question I saw a Chinese citizen ask of an American was “why do you eat like your healthcare is free?”.

#2

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I was at an airport and was in line at a Wolfgang Puck Express. A Japanese man was ahead of me and saw the margarita pizza and asked for one slice. The worker said sorry but it’s sold as a whole pizza. The man was incredulous and turned to me and jokingly said “This is why Americans are so fat” and left. I then ordered that same margarita pizza.

#3

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Not me specifically, but when I was in Afghan an obnoxious Marine was going on and on about how much better America is compared to the rest of the world (his first time leaving the continental US so how would he know).

A British soldier looked at him dead in eyes and said “I’m not going to argue with someone whose country is younger than my doorknobs”. I FELL OUT.

#4

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A Persian man that I worked with did a redneck impression. He said “I’m an American and I like guns and Jesus” in a perfect southern accent.

#5

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A waiter in Prague asked where I was from. I told him Boston. He said, “Oh, I have a friend named Tomas Dvorak in Wyoming. Do you know him?”

#6

Image source: djcashbandit, Mike Mozart/flickr

I’m in Paris with my wife and we booked a professional photographer for an hour. He kept telling us his favorite thing about America was that there was a CVS on every corner.

I said to him the best part about Paris is that there is not a CVS on every corner. It was a funny moment.

#7

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A British friend of mine called southern sweet tea “the most vile, disturbing, horrific swill ever created. Please bring another pitcher.”.

#8

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“You are the richest country in the world, surely you have universal healthcare?”
That put me in such a laughing fit that I bruised a rib. Doctor’s bill after insurance was only $27,680.

#9

Image source: Ok_Cranberry_4956, Sarah Stierch/flickr

A French guy asked me if we really put ranch on everything. I said, “Yes, even salad,” and he stared at me like I’d just admitted to living in a dumpster.

#10

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A French guy once told me, “You know, I think Americans hate taxes because they get nothing from them. In France they give us things.”

It’s not funny but I’ll never forget it.

#11

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I was told by a German colleague that the US was the “nicest third world country” he’s ever been to.

#12

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I used to live in Chicago. When I traveled outside the country, I’d tell people where I lived and more than one person pantomimed firing a machine gun along with sound effects, like it was still prohibition and Al Capone was running things.

#13

Australian guy when I was said it’s weird they use the term petrol instead of gas for filling up their car… “Why do you call it gas? It’s a f*****g liquid mate”.

Image source: Gentleman-Jones

#14

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An International Student (from Malta) and I were hanging out at the “Smoker’s Lounge” aka the place in front of the dorms where people smoked. A raccoon popped out of one of the trash cans, and he freaked out and said that the animals in North America were the size of monsters.

#15

I had a friend come over from Belgium and she was shocked, saying “there is so much wildlife up close!” The wildlife in question? Squirrels and deer we passed by when driving…She couldn’t believe that our area had so much more wildlife that she wasn’t seeing (bears, coyotes, beavers, etcetc).

She also didn’t understand how dangerous tornadoes were.

Image source: french_revolutionist

#16

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My wife’s Swedish cousins thought they could go explore both New York City and Los Angeles in a single weekend.

#17

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Theres an air bnb on my street. I was walking to my car one day and these 3 youngsters (freshly 21 )were staring at me as my wife and I were walking out to my car. 2 of them looked away and one kept staring at me so I gave him the “wassup” head nod. Like “keep it moving.” The kid yells out “aye bruv! You wanna give us a ride to the pub?” And it made me laugh pretty hard. I was driving passed the bar anyways. So I said yeah hop in. We only spent about 5 minutes in the car. They were telling me “this place isn’t like everybody says huh? I haven’t seen a single gun the whole time I’ve been here!” That’s when I had to let them know people with guns don’t want you knowing they have guns. We don’t walk around with them in our hand all day. He asked if I owned guns and I laughed and said “there’s a gun in this car right now. You think I’d let 3 punk kids in my car without one? I’m from the ghetto.”.

#18

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While in Japan a young lady that had visited the states stated she was dumbfounded by the amount of land used for parking lots.

#19

I have caused several incidents as a foreigner living in the US, if that counts? Including not understanding the protocol for when your car is stopped by the police for speeding. Apparently you are meant to stay seated, put on the interior light and put your hands on the dashboard. Not what I did: I leapt out the car and asked what the matter was. I couldn’t tell who jumped more, me or them. When very angrily asked if I’d never been stopped for speeding before, I replied “no, we just have speed cameras do that back home.” They didn’t take that well, either.

As for general hiccups, more than I can count. When I first arrived, I tried to plan a road trip to Texas. I was quite shocked to learn just how much of a distance that was… also quickly stopped calling my underwear “knickers” when I saw the horrified looks and way it made everyone quickly turn with whiplash speed to our black colleagues.

Image source: AppropriateLeg6419

#20

My Chinese roommate told me, “In America, if some is enough, more is always better.”.

Image source: TheMeanestGenius

#21

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When I studied abroad in Germany, my host family told me “We bought lots of peanut butter for you. We know Americans need peanut butter.”

I do love peanut butter, but I had definitely never heard that stereotype before!

#22

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I am the foreigner in this case.

My uncle gaslit me for years regarding the meaning of Red and Blue states. I was about 4 years old during the 2000 election and we had family dinner once a week, before dinner we’d usually watch tv. And at the time the big thing in the news was about George Bush’s victory in the election. And they’d show all the infographics.

So I asked my uncle why some places were blue and others were red. And he told me that in the blue states you were allowed to wear blue, but not red, and vice versa. And he kept that s**t going into my teens. As a non-American i never really cared to look into it, and obviously as a 4 year old i didnt understand the concept of a political party, so i just took him at face value.

Fast forward to 2010, i’m now 14 and my family goes on vacation to Florida. And i’m walking around seeing people wearing both red and blue. We go to a restaurant and I ask the waiter why people are wearing both, when its only legal to wear one or the other. My mother was mortified.

#23

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When I was thirteen I was in Paris with my (French ) friend and we went to the Paris McDonald’s. Just before we take our food to the table to sit and eat, I do the “mom-grab” and take as many napkins as I can fit into a handful. My friend says, very alarmed and aggressive

“MICHAEL!! THIS IS A RESTAURANT! NOT YOUR HOUSE!!”.

#24

I was in spain, and a very loud irish man told me that i was “very quiet for an american”.

Image source: Pitiful-Lobster-72

#25

Had some visitors from Japan, and they asked if they could swing over by the west coast for an afternoon. I explained to them that it was about 3000 miles away and would take several days to drive there.

Image source: Apprehensive-Care20z

#26

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This wasn’t to me directly but I’ll never forget seeing a viral tumblr post where someone said “I was today years old when I learned that Country Roads Take Me Home is in fact not your national anthem.” (Not the exact wording because I can’t remember but I thought it was hilarious).

#27

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Saying I had an angry sink because it had a garbage disposal in it.

#28

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My friend and I asked an Austrailian guy at our local bar why he was dressed so fancy and he said “I’m not American, when I go out I don’t dress like…” and gestured to us wearing hoodies and jeans.

#29

My Chinese dorm-mate sometimes struggles with English so when she walked in on me cooking completely hand-made enchiladas, she was surprised and asked what it was. when I told her and demonstrated how to do it, she beamed, started bouncing in excitement and said, “I didn’t know you liked the brown people food!”

it was genuinely adorable and we both laughed XD.

I guess she had never heard the word ‘Mexican’ in English so she just improvised XD.

Image source: Natasha_T

#30

French guy at a bar in Paris would not believe that we had more varieties of beer than just Budweiser or Bud Light. I tried explaining that there was a bar where I lived with probably 50 beers on tap made just in my small midwestern state alone. Could not convince him that there are thousands of craft beers in the States. .

Image source: f_14

#31

Was at the Grand Tetons and a bunch of Korean older men asked if I was Mormon. I replied no sorry we’re not from here. They all started giggling and go we’re not from here either.

It was so adorable and we all got a good laugh.

Image source: coobmaroog

#32

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Do you have any permanent houses?

This man I knew in college – was from rural Kenya. Apparently your temporary house was constructed of wood. Folks that had gained enough wealth no longer had a wooden house.

#33

Freezing cold day in Maryland. Friend from Ukraine – “You think this is cold?”.

Image source: TheFemale72

#34

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Are cheerleaders real? – teenager in London in 2006. Cheerleaders were in movies but they had no idea if that was a real thing. It was a charming conversation as a teenager.

#35

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I told someone who wanted to visit both coasts in a couple days, “It takes like 8 hours to fly from one side of our country to the other.”
He answered, “Do American planes not fly as fast as other countries’!?”