25 Signs Foreigners Use As Key Identifiers To Spot An American In Public

An interesting topic recently popped up on the r/NoStupidQuestions subreddit, when user Vector1013 asked, “What do Americans do that make us stand out?’ Foreigners worldwide responded in the thousands, citing everything from smiling to leaning on walls. Even being out in public and lost in throngs of people, Americans set themselves apart with certain habits and behaviours unique to them. Scroll below to read the top favourite observations that made folks say, “Oh, that’s definitely an American”.

#1

Image source: YoucantdothatonTV, Secret Garden / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Americans hold a bouquet of flowers like it’s a trophy but Europeans carry them downward as it’s gentler on the flowers.

#2

Image source: JessKicks

You’ve been programmed that America is the best.. and it drips off of you.

#3

Image source: cbmom2, Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Smiling. Very American thing to smile at people when making eye contact. It’s actually an interesting anthropological anecdote. Since America was more diverse (albeit mostly European) smiling was a way to indicate you were friendly with someone who might not speak the same language.

#4

Image source: Senior_Term, Jamar Crable / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

The clothing is a definite tell. Much more athleisure for all scenarios.

#5

Image source: anon, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Americans are loud. I say this as an American. After a few weeks in Scandinavia, encountering other Americans in public made me think, “why are you so damned loud?”.

#6

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Expect to pay in USD everywhere. Like, no. Just no.

#7

Image source: NOthing__Gold, Hans / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

A default assumption that people outside of the US have general knowledge of US states, cities, geography etc. (while not having that same knowledge about other countries).

#8

Image source: TheBigBadBlackKnight, Brooke Cagle / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

Imma go against the usual grain of Europeans c***ping on Americans and everything American

They’re the best kind of tourists here (Greece) and somehow in recent years, they’ve all decided to come here?

Anyway, polite, smiling, enthusiastic, chill/down to earth. You MAY think this is how most people are on their holidays but believe me, they’re NOT. I don’t wanna mention here other uh… potentially problematic nationalities I compare them to (ALL from Europe btw…)

So as far as I am concerned, what makes Americans stand out is being this cheerful, outwardly polite person. MAYBE that’s a facade, it probably is, but this salesman type of personality is what I think of when I think of a stereotypical American.

#9

Image source: anon, Yura Timoshenko / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

Loud, love small talk, exaggerate everything and speak in absolutes “this is the best meal I’ve ever had”.

#10

The American lean is a big one. We see a wall and immediately assume we need to lean on it to hold it up. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Image source: monk3ybash3r

#11

Image source: ConsciousTangerine75, Tony Litvyak / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Preternaturally white teeth.

#12

Image source: ChopSueyMusubi, Lala Azizli / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Tipping. If you want to look less American, then stop tipping for every little thing. It’s a dead giveaway.

#13

Image source: thefluidofthedruid, Curated Lifestyle / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

How we use a knife and fork. Many Americans will cut something with the knife, set it down, move the fork to the hand the knife was in, then eat the food; repeat. That’s not as common in most other countries. Most people keep the utensils in their hands the entire time without switching which hand they are in.

#14

Image source: Hof525, Alex Haney / Unsplash (not the actually)

Americans wear a lot of sports team clothing.

#15

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Americans inevitably have a drink in their hands when out (water,coffee,fancy Stanley cup…). One of my Asian colleagues pointed this out to me when we were in Belgium for a work meeting.

#16

Image source: Antmax, Getty Images / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

Calling people Maam and Sir. Being super friendly and optimistic.

Ducking and looking around when they hear a loud bang, like someone dropped a plank of wood in a hardware store. Americans tend to be quite edgy about that kind of thing happening unexpectedly.

Saying excuse me when walking around in a crowd and thinking you are getting too close or they are in the way when they aren’t. Partly because most of America isn’t as densely populated as most European countries. Americans typically have a larger personal space and talk loudly too.

I’ve been living here for a couple of decades, and still not really used to it.

#17

Image source: Same-Chipmunk5923, Getty Images / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

My grandfather telling every European he met that we saved them in WWII.

#18

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As someone from The Netherlands, Americans stand out to me because they speak quite a lot louder in public than other native English speakers. There’s also common phrases only Americans tend to use like they ask “how are you?” to someone they’ve never met before. It’s just meant to be friendly but it often confuses non Americans where this sudden interest in a stranger’s private life comes from.

#19

Image source: lawfox32, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I lived in England for awhile for grad school, and one of my English friends told me and another American early on that she knew we were American right away because when we were meeting people at the start-of-term grad school function where we met, we’d go up to people and immediately introduce ourselves by name– maybe one sentence of small talk first if the conversation started from someone making a side comment to us, but then right to “I’m Amy, I’m studying anthropology” and possibly even shaking hands (though I don’t think I did that). She said English people had to do small talk first before even exchanging names, though I’m not sure how true that is.

I know I got a *lot* of odd looks when I sat on the floor in a bookstore to look at some of the books on the lower shelves. And once I was sitting on the floor outside my advisor’s office, waiting for him and reading an article. I was sitting criss-cross and one of the other professors came by, walked past, did a double take, back-tracked, and then asked me what I was doing. I was like “Uh, waiting for a meeting with Jay?” and he said “Oh, I thought you might have been praying to Mecca or something” (again I was sitting criss-cross applesauce and. reading. He was pretty racist though). I think it’s not unusual to sit on the floor in a bookstore or library in the US, and it’s not unusual for students to sit on the floor in the hallway when there aren’t chairs, or to sit on the floor in a dorm to sprawl out and study. Apparently this is not universal.

We *are* generally loud. People in England also commented on how much Americans smile, which my mom also remembered being something people said a lot when she visited the USSR as a college student.

I think that while we can be blunt/direct, or maybe more like straightforward, we also tend to not like to say overtly negative things– I’ve heard comments like “When you ask Americans how they are, if they say “Great!” they mean “Fine,” if they say “Fine,” they mean “I’m hanging on by a thread,” if they say “Okay,” they mean “miserable,” if they say “Oh, hanging in there!” they’re on the verge of breakdown.”

#20

Image source: professornb, Alan Bowman / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

Besides loud and good teeth – look at the way Americans walk. We walk like we own everything and everyone- it is a sort of mega confidence that I have only seen in Americans (yes, there are elites elsewhere, but Americans have that strut and go fast).

#21

Image source: Competitive_Row_473, Olivia Hutcherson / Unspalsh (not the actual photo)

The notorious American laugh can be heard from all corners of the world.

#22

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Baseball caps and leaning on things.

#23

Image source: fermat9990, Anna Tarazevich / Pexels (not the actula photo)

I’ve heard that we are sometimes seen as being overly friendly to strangers.

#24

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Personal space. American here. Been around some French people while vacationing at a national park. Not sure why they need to be right next to me. I was close enough the French tourist often; so close I could’ve whispered sweet nothings into their ears.

#25

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Our sense of entitlement is one thing. I was in France one time and we were at a restaurant ordering food. I had asked for a small change, like no onions or something. The waiter was shocked that I had asked for that. You’d think I had asked they change their entire menu or something. Me asking the chef to change the way he makes food was an insult to them. Haha. Lesson learned.