americans

Americans are known for a lot of things. Some stereotypes are cool, like how we are known to have the craziest college experiences, fairly good customer service, and unlimited drink refills. These generalizations don't tend to bother anyone. However, there are less flattering ones as well... Unfortunately, Americans don't have the reputation of being the sharpest tools in the shed. Which, of course, is not always true! But after seeing these comments from TikTok, it might help you understand where this stereotype came from.

Americans take many things very seriously, much to the rest of the world's confusion, including but not limited to portion sizes, the American flag, and Halloween. Everywhere else, Halloween lasts one day, people dress up and may or may not go trick-or-treating, and that's about it. But in America, Halloween lasts a month, everything is pumpkin-flavored, and no one understands why. These tweets articulate the rest of the world's confusion with America's go-big-or-go-home attitude when it comes to the spookiest day in the calendar.

Vegemite, the Australian version of Marmite, is an acquired taste, which not everyone has. Australians are very protective of their precious spread and take offense at the way Americans eat it, as they make pretty clear in these tweets. If there's one thing Aussies are passionate about, it's clearly Vegemite. We don't know why, because it's gross...

Apparently most Americans don't know when Brits are being passive aggressive. The polling firm YouGov has found that many US citizens they polled wouldn't notice when British people use dismissive phrases like "with the greatest respect" and "I'll bear that in mind."

Barbara Peacock is a successful photographer from Portland, Oregon. She has recently started a new project where she aims to photograph the hidden and transparent complexities of who Americans are through detailed and intimate portraits taken in the bedrooms across the USA.