An American woman living in the UK has revealed the everyday habits from back home that Britons find baffling – including one US tendency she claims is seen as ‘crass’.
The woman, known on TikTok as Yorkshire Yank, regularly shares her take on the cultural quirks she’s noticed since settling in the UK.
In a recent video that’s already gained plenty of traction, the expat took a deep dive into the subtle differences between British and American life.
And the most notable difference between the two nationalities is the inclination to talk openly about money.
‘One thing that you’ll hear in the States is how much somebody paid for a house, or whatever,’ she began.
‘I remember going around a house tour once and being told, “We got this sofa from Ethan Allen and it was $1,500… and here’s our beautiful stove and this is how much it cost.”
‘Brits just don’t talk about differences in money because, honestly, it’s crass and why do I need to know how much your sofa cost? It’s like you’re bragging or something.’
In her view, this difference reflects a broader cultural mindset: ‘I think UK people are more mindful of others… more mindful of how others do not have things, while in the US, it’s more like, “Well, I have this and you don’t”.’
An American woman (pictured) living in the UK has revealed the everyday habits from back home that Britons find baffling – including one US tendency she claims is seen as ‘crass’
The candid clip also touched on other staples of American life that simply don’t exist, or don’t translate, in Britain.
‘Another thing that we don’t do in the UK that’s really common in the United States is we don’t have tailgating parties,’ she explained, referring to the pre-game gatherings in car parks (often fuelled by hot dogs, lawn chairs and portable grills) before American football games or college sports.
‘Could you really imagine a bunch of football supporters having a tailgating party prior to the actual match?’
She continued: ‘Another thing that we don’t really do in the UK is we don’t really have cheerleaders to the extent that we do in the United States.
‘I mean, in the US we would have kids doing cheer when they were tiny. I was a cheerleader when I was very young – I was from the YWCA cheerleading days, so that will tell you how old I am.’
The YWCA, or Young Women’s Christian Association, runs youth programmes across the US.
The TikToker also mentioned how rites of passage in American schools simply don’t carry over to British education.
‘As far as I know, the UK doesn’t really have the senior picture thing… we don’t have the graduation parties, the yearbooks, the senior pictures to the extent that we have in the US.’
The woman (pictured), known on TikTok as Yorkshire Yank , regularly shares her take on the cultural quirks she’s noticed since settling in the UK.
When she says yearbook, she means a huge, photo-packed book that captures the full high school experience, including extracurriculars, friendships, class photos and embarrassing hairstyles.
‘It literally covers everything that we did in our high school years – it was fantastic and it’s an amazing memory.’
She reminisced about one event in particular: ‘Another thing we did in the high school I graduated from, which you would probably not have here, is we had a locked-in party.
‘They locked us into the school and it was fantastic – it was one of the best parties I ever had.’
She added: ‘Another thing you don’t do is you don’t have the high school graduations. We had your uni graduation but for high school – kind of cool, actually.’
Yorkshire Yank went on to show off some throwback photos from her own high school graduation, complete with a towering 1980s perm and an impressive celebratory cake.
Wrapping up her list of observations, she said: ‘This is my final thing – we don’t really have the yellow buses like we do in the United States.
‘They do use city buses [in the UK] but you’re not going to see the yellow buses like we do in the US.’ In the States, the yellow school bus is a symbol of childhood itself.
Britons rushed to the comments to clarify their position on discussing money, confirming the TikToker’s idea
British commenters were quick to weigh in, with many confirming that openly discussing money remains firmly off-limits in UK culture.
One viewer wrote: ‘We brag more about how cheap we got it. I’m a charity shop shopper.’
Another agreed: ‘Whereas in Britain you might tell me you like my dress and I’ll immediately brag about getting it on sale… or the pockets.’
One person reflected on the British distaste for financial disclosure, writing: ‘It’s not classy to talk about money, and I personally don’t want anyone to know my financial situation. I don’t want people to borrow money or feel sorry for me because I don’t have any lol.’
Another said simply: ‘We don’t talk personal money in the UK. It’s just not on.’
While the US and UK may share a language, certain customs don’t always cross the Atlantic.
