7 Questions Americans Have About Britain | American Reacts 

He’s got the whole beer thing wrong. When people say our beer is warm they’re referring to ale which is served at room temperature. What Americans call beer we call lager which is served cold

Math sounds really strange... it's like an incomplete word!

Maths is the abbreviated form of Mathematics

In school my English classes weren't called "English", students did called them that, but we had "English Language" and "English Literature", which didn't need to be pluralised (pluralized). Also, I didn't have a "Science/Sciences" class. I had "Biology", "Chemistry", and "Physics".

We might ask our mother/wife 'what's for pudding?'. The answer could be jam Roly Poly, apple pie, fruit cocktail, ice cream etc.

Except 'Yorkshire Pudding' is normally eaten as part of a full Sunday roast dinner with Beef, potatoes, veg and gravy on the same plate.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="669">11:09</a> a lot of American attitudes to food of the British Isles date to world war 2 and US GIs coming over, hating the food and telling everyone all about it at length on their return home. Never mind that refrigerators and freezers were expensive and rare. Never mind that we were at war and food rationing was a thing. In reality things have moved on considerably since then.

The "warm beer", It refers to proper ale (cask ale), not lager which Americans might refer to as beer, for example Bud or Coors. Just like the rest of the world this is drank ice cold out the fridge, have a bbq and a cold "beer" goes down a treat. if its cask ale, it isn't ice cold, but certainly isn't "warm". They are and should be served at cellar temperature and not artificially cooled. Because its not ice cold, it created the myth/stereotype that we drink warm beer. The same myth about Brits having bad teeth, when infact we have some of the best in the world (at one point we held top spot). Americans are known for having more dental cosmetic work than any other country, but tooth decay in American children is off the chats.

I visited The Epcot Center as a teenager, where they had an 'authentic' English pub, serving 'authentic' English ales. They had beer warmers! Like those electric element thingies you stand in a cup of soup. They were literally heating up beer and serving it and lots of Americans were lining up to try it the 'British way'. How wrong can they be? I had never seen or heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. I think it's something that was initially misunderstood from old times when hundreds of years ago, the ales served in pubs were only as cold as the cellar they were stored in, but no beer is ever served warm.

Just to make things more confusing, Pudding *is* just another word for dessert, *but* there's a lot of other things we refer to as pudding as well, such as Yorkshire pudding, which is basically pancake mixture baked in the oven in a tiny bit of hot fat, and served with a main meal, usually roast beef, but it goes well with any roast. It's up to you how you have it. We also have meat puddings, like steak and kidney pudding. These are sponges made from suet and steamed. We also have black pudding, which is made from pigs blood and cereal and I'm not sure what else. Anything else you might have for dessert can be referred to as pudding. For instance ice cream, a fruit salad, Rice Pudding, a flan etc.

Pudding is, to many of us, a generic term for dessert. For example "Mum, what's for pudding?" Additionally, actual pudding can be sweet or savoury and encompasses everything from black pudding to treacle pudding.

Sorry but when Americans say Math my head spins 😂😂

In Britain we call sports PE which is short for Physical Education.

A "British" person is someone from the UK, just like an "American" is someone from the US. We don't have a better demonym for someone with UK nationality. ("British" also extends to people outside the UK like the Isle of Man and Channel Islands if we're being technical.) The term "British" is controversial within Northern Ireland. There's some parts that are adamant they are British and NI is fully part of the UK. Whereas other parts are adamant they are Irish and live in occupied territory. To solve this someone born in Northern Ireland is able to choose to have British, Irish or both citizenships.

Don't forget Lennon was a Scouser so it's the accent in Liverpool

PUDDING, I think the origin is anything boiled, wrapped in a cloth or skin, from a time before ovens. Which can be sweet or savoury.

Before refrigeration everyone was drinking warm beer, well it would be kept in a cellar but it would still be just about room temperature

In the US, 'pudding' is a horrible synthetic gloop. In UK, pudding can mean almost anything we want it to mean, from black pudding via Yorkshire pudding to almost any dessert.

I'd love to see him reacting to Scottish slang!

The beer question is simple we drink cold lager which you Americans drink but call beer, which came from German immigrants, where here in Britain beer used to mean bitters and mild beers which traditionally served at room temperature, so we say Lagers and beers

lol, when you said... mathematics, you used the plural! Maths is the shortening of the word mathematics.

Most people don't know UK is actually a corporation. England is a country in Britain!

The "r" thing is most definitely an English thing. As a Scot I have never added and "r" on any words.

Ale in the UK must be stored in a cellar at around 54 degrees Fahrenheit (old imperial units for context, and because that was how I learned it 30 years ago). Warmer than that and the beer spoils. Colder than that and you lose flavour, which is the point of drinking ale.

Fun facts: The majority of people don't know that the British Isles consists of OVER 6,000 islands (an 'isle' is considered an area larger than 1 hectare of land; about the size of an International Rugby pitch). Also, although the hectare is a non-SI unit, it is the ONLY one accepted as a measurement for use with SI units. Many of these islands disappear under water in a 24 hour period due to falling & rising tides around the UK. Great Britain is the largest island, Ireland the 2nd largest and then Scotland's 'Lewis & Harris' is the 3rd largest (which is just one island of the Outer Hebrides, but having two named parts). Also included in the British Isles are the Channel Islands off Northern France (although they are geographically NOT part of the British archipelago). Officially (and not counting sign language), the BI's have over 13 languages I.e. English, Manx, Welsh, French etc. 😊

The majority of people from Northern Ireland will say they are British or Irish. People from Scotland will say they are Scottish. If asked where I'm from I will say England. You forgot about the Commonwealth. Canada only became independent from Britain in 1982. In Australia, New Zealand and Canada the head of state is still King Charles.

He's talking out of his arse..the question refers to UK cask beers Lawrence is comparing keg beers, both served the same in the UK & US. Cask beer is a whole different story, needs looking after in the cask, served warmer than keg beer so has a vastly different flavour profile. Far too complicated for you Tyler.

In the UK beer is never served warm, it is either sold at room temperature or cellar temperature. The reason for this is because beer is a living entity because beer contains living yeast. When you chill beer you kill the beer. We like our beer natural and unfiltered and without chemicals. In the states they chill beer and add a small amount of poison to kill the yeast, the beer is then filtered. Who wants to drink chemically altered beer?

We do talk about the sciences in Britain.

PS, the Monarch is the UK (and others of his realms) is best described as having extensive constitutional powers, none of which (or very few of which) he exercises. He delegates almost all of these powers to the government. The value of this is that the monarch legally has those powers which he could exercise as a last resort, such as the Prime Minister refusing to call an election after five years, or trying to call out the military to make himself a dictator.

We don't have warm beer we drink it at the correct temperature and we also like to be able to taste it

As a previous comment state, Beer is a collective noun for the various types of beer. Ale (a type of beer) is drunk at room temperature so regardless of the availability of a refrigerator, it should be stored at room temperature. Lager (another type of beer) is drunk chilled and so it is either stored in a refrigerator or passed through a chilling system as it is pumped into the glass. Ale is a traditional British beer whilst Lager is an imported format/recipe even if it is manufactured in the U.K. these days. American beers are mostly if not exclusively of the same format as Lager. Stout is another form of beer. Originally served at room temperature, it is most often served chilled these days. Examples are Guinness and Beamish (Irish origin) and Mackeson (English origin).

Puddings are basically any item, that *is or traditionally was* cooked by steam. Christmas Pudding, Steak& Kidney Pudding (ie) Suet Pudding and Black Pudding etc... etc...

The putting of an 'R' in between certain phrases is a real thing, one that I did not notice until a Syrian friend I made a a festival in the Czech Republic asked me about it and I suddenly realised it was true!

The term British is the catch-all for anyone living in the British Isles, thereby including those living in Northern Ireland.

People born in Northern Ireland are generally considered British citizens by birth under the British Nationality Act 1981 if one of their parents was either a British citizen or legally settled in the UK at the time of their birth.20 Oct 2022 (house of lords).

'Mathematics' has its final 's' because it derives from the Classical Greek word mathematikos (transcribed from the Greek alphabet.) As educated people were writing in Latin and Greek it was quite natural to retain the 's' although treating the word as a singular. As to beer, English beer is served at very slightly below roomtemperature as this is the temperature at whch is most flavoursome. American (and German) beers have very little taste at room or fridge temperature. Think of win. Red is usually served at room temperature and white chilled. (Although I know some Americans serve red wines chilled - there is clearly no accounting for taste or the lack of it!)🙂

His voice didn't change much when he coppied him 🤣

Lager can be drunk cold. Beer - Bitter, IPA, porter etc taste better at room temperature (usually) .

The 'warm beer' the Americans moan about comes from WW2 when we generally did not have fridges. It came out of the beer cellar, which was cooler than room temperature. It was necessary as our beer, not lager types, needed to be kept at.

The beer thing: Pubs serve beer from casks (historically, wooden barrels) stored in the cellar - generally colder than the public bar area. So it would not be warm, but should be a few degrees cooler than room temperature. In contrast, America can generally get much hotter than Britain, so air conditioning is standard and widespread - and drinks are generally cold, as cold as you can get them. For instance, the burger chain A&W don't just cool their signature root beer in the fridge, they also store their glass mugs in the freezer, so it stays colder for longer after it is served. In contrast I used to regularly drive past a home-made sign at the side of the road advertising the local pub. It was in southern England in an area with lots of visiting Americans. It advertised the pub with "warm beer, lousy food".

ENGLISH IS THE MOTHER LANGUAGE ,NOT WHAT THEY SPEAK IN THE US , [ THAT'S SECOND-HAND ]

The adding an r sound is not a British thing but a English thing, it's not done in Scotland. In terms of U.K and British United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the name of our country where as British is our Nationality.

One correction, everyone in the united kingdom is considered British, Great Britain is now considered the main island of England, Wales, Scotland. So even people from Northern Ireland would consider themselves British if they're not a unionist when they would consider themselves Irish. As it use to be the British Empire, based from Great Britain but as it collapsed UK was adopted

We have mathemetics, so it's maths. .. so do the USA have mathemetic lol "define pudding" 😂

It is a word for dessert - - but we also have yorkshire pudding and steamed suet pudding - which are not desserts

As others have stated "warm beer" is not referring to common lagers . Real Ale /Cask Beers/ old fashioned pint of bitter are not traditionally served ice cold. I used to drink Directors which was best at 4°C.

No, we don't drink warm beer, Ale maybe, but beer is always served chilled.

I think the thing you are missing about people saying they are British is, whilst Northern Ireland is not in Great Britain those living their are British citizens, which is why they would/might say they are British. Hope that helps

Room temp is cellar temp 55, real ale pubs serve it at 55. Im from 30 years in pub trade. We actually like our lager and cider much cooler and is therefore chilled with equipment. The reason is that real ale is served at cellar temp is why their is this mis-understanding. Dessert is an adopted French word, and the olde English word pudding is an old Viking word for a honeyed bread. The reigning Monarch can hang government in national emergency and form anew only under certain conditions though.

Pudding is Dessert

Most Brits wouldn't say the r in words like saw.

I'm British, and you're right, we say we're British more than UK, that's probably just because there isn't a word for "UK resident". What are we going to say, "I'm UKish", "I'm a UKaian"? Secondly, he's right about British people loving to moan but it goes beyond that. We UKians love the underdog. We feel most comfortable and at home when we see people being humble and failing, a LOT. We mostly don't like people who succeed or do well, because we generally do not do well. The best we hope for is to survive, to get through it, to endure what ever shit is raining down on us. American's though (I understand) like to believe that they will succeed, they will do fantastic, they will achieve the (American) dream. That just makes us mad, especially if they actually are doing well. More than that you believe in your country, think it is great. We love our country also, or at least we love our own little slice of it, but thats for our innermost thoughts and for when others attack it, but most of the time, we like to put it down ourselves and moan about how rubbish it is. Also, lager is drunk chilled and bitter is drunk at room temperature (although that might more accurately be from the cool beer cellar).

I am British and not from the UK and I am not Irish so do not forget the dependencies.

Tyler he is wrong about the beer, hope you read this i know you dont respond. no its not warm beer, or room temperature, we have been drinking beer for centuries, there were no cold chillers back in the day. beer was stoored in the cellar, usual at a similar temp through out the year. late in time chillers for beer, was brought in as a thing, but, many beers have stayed the same These are normally locally brewed ales, in a keg or casket, and cranked to the glass from the keg. The thing with real ale, which you will know as warm beer, has a short life span, the keg is opened, gas let off, and ale can be pumped or cranked as you see, at cellar temp, , this keg now only has a 4 week life span, from opening at its best, to 4 weeks later, have lost the edge but still good Now, if you chill ale, like your cold beer, it tones the flavour down and is lost, through cooling down through refrigeration. if you want to know the difference, drink standard guiness, at cellar temp, and then drink, what is the extra cold guiness two different tastes, i will be honest i find standard guiness, bit to much, i like the extra cold toned down, by the chilling method

Keg beer is served ice cold and cask is cellar temperature

Americans don't like the taste of beer so they almost freeze it so it no lunch nher taste like beer, the British like the taste of beer and the warmer beer is the more taste it has. Each type of beer needs to be kept at a particular temperature to retain maximum flavour, the US haven't figured that out yet.

I don't know anyone or have met anyone that likes warm beer that's a bad rumour, beer (larger) is always best served chilled ; )

Pudding as a term for the entire dessert course: this is both regional and class based. Formal occasions and fancy restaurants and posh people and quite a lot of Southerners would refer to it as the dessert course rather than pudding. Informally, among working-class people and in the North, pudding very much is still used. Of course it's also used to refer to specific dishes, not all of which are desserts.

The king does have power but openly exercising it would cause constitutional problems. So the situation is usually that the government doesn’t put the monarchy in an awkward position and the monarch doesn’t interfere (at least openly) with the running of the country.

From my experience people from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 & Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 will often say they are British, However they often often say they are from UK.

Ale is room temperature. We love ice cold beer too but traditionally this was referred to as 'lager' as it came here from Europe where they don't typically have ale. I don't drink ale.

Regarding UK vs Britain: "British" _doesn't_ mean from Britain. British is the name of the nationality. So *all* people from the UK, whether in Britain or not, are British.

People say they are British if either they or their immediate family have a British Passport (or other commonly used official documents), but Scottish will refrain from using British AMAP, the Welsh have similar attitudes and the Northern Irish would say they are Irish or Northern Irish. Within England most would say British, unless you are from the North who would use English or even the home district. Being British is used very loosely compared to other nations. The full title on a British passport is "British Passport - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and are Blue.

Mathematics....plural ! No argument ! English is a SINGULAR language ! You can't have a plural ! Only uneducated people would say " saw r" !! We DON'T drink warm beer. I always put my beer in the fridge. Real ales will be hand pumped at room temperature. What Americans call BEER is actually LAGER ! Most Americans don't know that the UK has beaches. Even though we are an ISLAND !! Never mind the fact that we are surrounded by small islands as well. Pudding can mean DESSERT or a SAVOURY DISH (YORKSHIRE PUDDING, BLACK PUDDING). We often say " what's for pudding ?". Meaning, " what's for dessert ?".

Dark beer and porters are made to be warm or room temperature. Larger beer is made to be chilled. Would you drink a cold drink in the snow? So on the Pennines it is normal for some traditional beer drinkers.

It might refer to real ale rather than lager/beer which is always cold

I would consider someone from Northern Ireland to be British too.

It's true that the royal family in the UK is mostly ceremonial in nature but the king is still regarded as head of state and nothing happens without his approval. The royal family are not involve in the politics of the country and choose to remain impartial to keep the country's stability preventing any uprisings.

"Pudding" describes any desert that served after a main course. Deserts not served after a main course will just be called their product name (cheesecake, etc) or collective name (such as ice-cream, etc).

As someone who has studied an MA TESOL, there is actually something called “Englishes” it is used to describe the different types of English spoken in the world.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="370">6:10</a> Mate, as an Aussie I can tell you that 1. We don’t add R’s, we drop them the way Cockneys drop H’s and 2. That was an abysmal attempt, only partly because you didn’t know 1.

The debate between "math" and "maths" often centers around regional differences, with "math" being used in the United States and "maths" in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries. However, the reasoning behind the use of "maths" goes beyond the idea of it being a plural form. A more accurate explanation lies in the etymology and the way the term is used. "Maths" is short for "mathematics," which is derived from the Greek word "mathematika," meaning "things related to learning." The word "mathematics" is treated as a singular noun despite ending in "s," and in British English, it's common to abbreviate it as "maths" to reflect its full form. The British preference for "maths" also aligns with how they abbreviate other subjects or terms that end in "ics," such as "physics" becoming "phys" or "economics" becoming "econ." In contrast, American English tends to prefer simpler, shorter abbreviations, leading to the use of "math" instead. Thus, the choice of "maths" is not because it is plural, but rather as a reflection of its full form "mathematics" and the linguistic convention in British English.

British (or Briton) is the name used for people from the U.K. it's as simple as that. English are from England, Scots are from Scotland, Welsh are from Wales. They are also British, because they are from the U.K. I separated Norther Irelanders because some will identify as Irish (or will say I'm from Northern Ireland), whilst others British. I am English, I am British, and I'm from the U.K. Why we use "Team GB" at the Olympics I don't know... as it sounds like it excludes Northern Ireland. --------------- Pudding: I think pudding is (or was when I grew up) the most common term in the North of England for "dessert". I think "dessert" might have been more common down south (where the posh folk lived)

"British" is a nationality. "Britain" (Great Britain to be proper -- more on that below) is a geographical location. "British" is a collective nationality ascribed to English, Scottish, Welsh and members of the Unionist communities in Northern Ireland (who consider themselves to be British). However, the Nationalist communities in Northern Ireland consider themselves to be Irish as a nationality and would, on the whole, be quite offended if they were referred to as British -- like calling a Scottish person English). Together, the geographical locations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern make up the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" -- this is not a geographical location, but a political and constitutional entity. "Great Britain" comes from the French region "Bretagne" or "Brittany" in English. At the time of the French invasion of England in 1066, the French speaking invaders, led by William the Conqueror, referred to their conquested land as "Grande Bretagne" (they still do) or "Greater Brittany" in English -- which evolved into "Great Britain". Last note -- the "British Isles" includes the whole island of Ireland as well as the main land and surrounding islands, but that is a carry over from the past when Ireland was entirely ruled by the British and so in this exception, the "British" in "British Isles" does not refer to a nationality, but to a geographical location.

I'll add a little bit of Dutch in the mix, about when he was talking about sport vs sports. In Dutch the plural of sport is sporten. When we say we love "sport", it means we like watching it. But when we say we love "sporten", that means we like doing it ourselves.

It’s easier and more traditional to say I’m British. It’s also on most of our official forms when they want to know your nationality.

The lager or blonde beer is run through a cooling system. The ale isn't. It's served at the cellar temperature, the cellar is also chilled.

British is the legal nationality of a person, absolutely nothing to do with a place, people from worldwide little islands we own are British too like Gibralter, Falklands etc.

Did you notice the R in arse. lol

the king is not just the monarch of the uk but also the British common wealth country and Irelands around the world was once called the British empire

You do make me laugh. So thanks

1. The king and the extended royal family are largely a tourist attraction. We mostly don't care as much about the royals as Americans think we do. However the king does have constitutional power. he must always remain neutral and not favour one political party over another. The royal family also act as ambassadors for the UK overseas. 2. Maths is short for mathematics, ergo it is plural 3. We do not hate the American's. We insult people we care about in jest (we call it harmless banter). If anything it means we like you 4. Pudding means literally any dessert. What Americans call pudding is just processed gloop that no British person would touch 5 The "R" thing, can't say I ever noticed that. 6. We do not have warm beer. What the Americans call beer, we call lager which is served cold. We serve our ales at room temperature

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="963">16:03</a> - 'UK people' say "British" in much the same way that 'USA people' say "American". It's just a matter of habit and convenience, despite Britain and America referring to different geographical concepts.

Gym is actually a noun and is the abbreviation for gymnasium

It’s the same reason as why white wine is served chilled and red wine is not. White wine has “off” flavours which are suppressed by chilling. Same goes for lager/Pilsner beers. Ales are traditionally served at cellar temperature.

The language difference between the US and UK is deliberate. The US has a program to twist the English language to try and make it their own.

Calling England the UK is fine, since it is both. The issue is when you refer to the whole country as England, this will upset the Scottish and Welsh.

US did have a monarchy up until 1776

Mathematics is plural, therefore maths is correct.

I'm Scottish. Its so jarring when I am chatting to Americans on TikTok and say 'I'm Scottish' and I get the reply ' Oh you're from England!?' ... um.. no...

The UK King has power. He gives Royal approval to laws, he can assign and fire Prime Minister's, he can dissolve/perogue parliament, he commands the UK Armed Forces, he can bestowe titles on people, he effectively owns many institutions given to him by Royal Charter (e.g. the British Broadcasting Corporation, etc). So the King is not a sitting duck.

ice-cold real ale is ruined real ale, it's cool enough when it is hand pulled at the pump, from the cellar.

Cask ales are served at cellar temperature. This is the correct temperature for ales, because it means you can actually taste it. Lagers are of course served cold. Unfortunately, most British people drink the same kind of beer as is popular in the USA, ie cold tasteless (at best) macrolagers. The 'British people drink war beer' myth originates from confused American servicemen in the war, who didn't know how beer is supposed to be served, back when most pubs still served decent beer 😂 There is big revival of real ale at the moment, alongside the craft beer scene, which is great!

Pudding isn’t synonymous with dessert. It’s synonymous with *sweet* desserts, i.e. not a cheeseboard. So if you were to go for a 2-3 course meal you may be asked whether you want pudding or cheese for dessert; whereas 4 or more courses will (almost always) include pudding and then cheese.

The best phrase for the monarch regarding the British Constitution is that "The monarch reigns but does not rule."

Maths is a contraction of 'mathematics', whereas math is an abbreviation of same. As such, the American way should be written with a full stop - or period - at the end: math., as that indicates the word is cut off. With sport, we generally use that as an all-encompassing term rather a singular one, as it appears to be used in US, explaining their pluralisation. With beer, while lagers are generally served cold, ales and bitters are served at cellar temperature - around 4°C. As such, lagers are kept in temperature controlled metal casks whereas ales are stored in more porous wooden casks.

"its technically correct, which is the best type of correct" - classic!!! ill be stealing that and using it myself pretty soon. Cheers average American geeza !!

The way we say it in Britain is right because its our language that began in England. Yes it's true about the R , in North Wiltshire the local accent puts in R in quite a lot of words,when their isn't one. No beer isn't warm in Britain, but unlike the frothy beer in America ,which you get in Britain, but locally brewed beer is a denser brew, far more full bodyed beer usually known as bitter. Worth a try if you visit. We aren't very keen on how you butcher engish ,that's our perogative.

Ale is served at room temperature which covers, mild, bitter, brown ale, stouts, pale ales, and light ales which have largely been replaced by lager which began as a novelty until they realised that German lager had a higher alcohol. Word with R in Glarss instead of glass. Carstle instead of castle which tends to be more prominent around London and the home countries. This guy has never had a run with the law, you soon find out that you are a subject to the crown, not a citizen, you answer to the government and the government to the crown, the monarch can veto laws and QEII did so on many occasions just to put things right. The police the armed forces and the judiciary swear allegiance to the crown, not to parliament.