14 differences between British and American life

Americans recently discovered the chip butty, and Brits weren’t happy about them trying to pass it off as something new.

But this isn’t the first time they’ve butted heads. The two countries, while sharing lots of similarities, also have many differences.

Here are a few:

1. Deep-fried Mars bar

Deep frying a chocolate Mars bar in batter is a Scottish delicacy. There is no such thing in the US.

2. Biscuits

British people have biscuits and tea. America has biscuits and gravy.

3. Air conditioning

In the UK, 0.5 per cent of homes are air conditioned: in the US, with extreme temperatures reaching 134 degrees Fahrenheit, 87 per cent of homes are air conditioned.

4. Mail boxes

In the UK, mail boxes tend to be built into the front door. In the US, they tend to be separate structures outside the house.

5. House size

The average size of a home in the US, is 2,330 square feet. In the UK, average homes are just 1,063 square feet.

6. Crisps

The UK has Walkers crisps: the US has Lays.

7. Tea

The average Briton drinks 2.5 cups of tea per day. The average American on the other hand, drinks 0.7 cups of tea per day – not even a full cup.

8. Waste

British citizens fill their bins with 560kg of waste per person, per year. The average American fills it with 760kg of waste.

9. Dating

According to Insider, dating in the UK and US is very different.

In the UK, exclusivity is assumed and people don’t tend to approach strangers in public for dates. In the US however, exclusivity has to be confirmed, and approaching someone you find attractive in the US is more normal.

Also, British people are more likely to ‘go Dutch’ – pay equal on a date – than Americans.

10. Guns

In the US, it is legal (and in parts normal) to carry a gun and it's even written into the constitution of the country. In the UK on the other hand, citizens can't carry a gun in public, and neither can regular police officers.

11. Email anger

American Whitney Kay Bacon, who has been living in the UK for a number of years, said:

As the British are typically polite people, the rage can often come out in emails - aka the keyboard warrior.

12. Drinking alcohol

The UK drinking age is 18, whereas the US drinking age is 21. In practise what that means is a lot of illegal drinking goes on in America.

Still, the UK’s ‘standard drink’ is just 8g of alcohol, compared to the US, which is 14g.

13. Grilled cheese sandwiches

The US has them, Britain doesn't. Instead, the UK has cheese-on-toast, or a 'toasty'.

14. Healthcare

Th UK has universal standardised healthcare in the form of the NHS. Although Barack Obama attempted to crate a health model similar to this, there is almost always a cost for using the health system in the US.

Writing for Business Insider, Jim Edwards, an American who has spent time in the UK, says that there is “basically no paperwork with the NHS”, as opposed to the American healthcare system, and it's much cheaper in the UK to see a doctor.

h/t Huffington Post, Reddit

More: America has just discovered the chip butty and Brits aren't happy

More: Eight things banned in America that aren’t guns