What Europeans Incorrectly Call "American" - European Reacts 

I didn't know that type of fridge is called a french door fridge. It makes sense because the doors open like french doors.

What a horrible expression. I’d much rather see an “American smile” than live in a place that judges people for smiling. Misery loves company.

I don't understand why some Europeans say that American's smile is fake. Who wants to look sad or miserable? In America, there's a belief that just a simple friendly smile can make someone's day better. We all go through bad times and know life can be hard so why not try to brighten it up a little for someone?

When Americans refer to a "French Door" refrigerator, it isn't because we think of them as typical of refrigerators in France. The doors resemble "French doors" used in buildings. French doors were invented in France in the 17th century. A side by side refrigerator has two vertical compartments; one side for the freezer and the other side for the refrigerator.

They are called French doors regardless of were they are found. They don’t have to be on a fridge

Grid Iron football = "American" Football Association Football = Soccer The term Soccer was actually coined in Great Britain.

I find it seems to be Germans who think Americans are shallow and superficial because of our natural friendliness and tendency to smile, while it’s certainly possible for an American to fake his smile, it’s possible for any person to do that, superficiality is not a specifically American trait, to imply that it is is incredibly insulting.

I'm so sick of people saying Americans are fake because we smile. I’m smiling literally ALL DAY, I don’t even realize I’m smiling half the time. Nevertheless, I have never fake smiled at someone, when I smile at people when they walk by and they smile at me it literally makes me happy. I’m also smiling because I want to convey that I’m open and happy to help with anything and I’m generally happy to see YES that stranger. Seeing that stranger that I’m smiling at literally makes me happy, why this is such a hard concept to understand is beyond me. Seeing other people is fun and smiling at them creates a welcoming atmosphere which creates comfort and reduces tension. When everyone in the elevator smiles at each other the elevator ride becomes much more relaxed and enjoyable. Same goes if you’re shopping at the same clothing section as another lady and you smile at each other it makes the space feel more shared and a feeling of I’m ok with you, you’re ok with me have a nice time shopping. If they don’t smile I know to maybe give them a little more space and look somewhere else until they move on. It’s not fake it’s communication.

American smile are real, I smile at people and I care about my fellow Americans feeling. We have a saying if someone is depressed a simple smile and asking if they are ok, can change there mind maybe of hurting themselves make them feel someone cares. I know it corny but I honestly care about other people and their feelings. I smile to let them know I see you.

For the most part is Americans are ok with people from other countries. We are very forgiving of misconceptions. But the smile thing kinda pisses us off. It’s not being mad at a Russian for being pessimistic. 😊It’s just who we are and it’s not fake.

All potatoes are from the Americas. Native Americans were eating potatoes for thousands of years before Europe even existed😊

The first French door style fridge was made by US manufacturer Amana in the 1990s. The "french" doors refers to duel doors that can both be opened to make a larger entryway. It is a common architectural feature invented in France during the Renaissance period.

I would suggest that the thought that American Smiles are "fake" reflects more so on European culture. I have heard that, when visiting Germany, Americans are warned not to smile at strangers. It apparently makes them nervous and/or even offended. They do not do this within their country and distrust foreigners that do. In America people are generally friendly and smiling and/or waving is considered polite behavior - not considered "fake" from our point of view.

Honestly Andre, if an American smiles at you, it's sincere. It's a myth that every American smiles! Some Americans are distracted, some Americans are sleepy, in some Americans just get in a bad mood, but we smile and we are sincere!🔥🤟⛪👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🇺🇸🐊

On the bread, we certainly don't call it American bread, but just basic cheap bread and better breads are available with labels of "artisan " or whatever special type of bread it is. But there's also Texas toast bread, which is super thick slices that are essentially great as french toast. In Texas, even the American bread is way bigger 😂.

There is a big misconception about the American smile. One thing that the world shares in all languages is the smile, so when you have a country full of immigrants speaking all different languages, the smile can say a lot, mainly that you are friendly and pose no threat. These days most immigrants either learn English, or stay in certain areas that host their native language. Great reaction, thanks for sharing.

Americans do tend to smile when meeting people. It’s considered polite. Not smiling can seem rude. We don’t consider it fake at all. It’s just natural polite behavior. If we’re feeling grumpy, perhaps we won’t smile. But then, our poor attitude will be making us rude, because we won’t be expressing friendliness. Americans are generally friendly, when we pass people on the sidewalk, when we are in the same area. If we’re spending a bit of time in the same space, it’d be rude to not at least give a little smile. Even more polite, we’ll say hello, or hi, and, upon leaving the area, we’ll say something like Have a nice day. Sick would be rude.

Swiss Rolls are just a kind of Little Debbie treats. They're kind of like Twinkies but with chocolate "cake" instead of the sponge cake Twinkies used. Definitely not meant to seem like they're from Switzerland. We also have a brand of hot chocolate called "Swiss Miss". No one would think it's actually Swiss. The only things we'd--on a large scale--probably think are higher quality from Europe are wines, some cheeses, and some fashion items. And as a bonus, "American cheese" was actually invented in Switzerland. Yep, that "cheese product" that everyone rags America for wasn't even invented here...

I'm going to guess he hasn't had many people smile at him. Also the word " football " originally referred to a variety of games in medieval europe which were played on foot rather than on horseback and usually forbid kicking...

It’s called French Door Fridge because when it comes to doors, that’s the French Door style

It's called "American Football" simply to distinguish it in Europe because in Europe "football" means something what Americans call soccer. The aversion to the word "soccer" is pretty weird... in living memory are millions of Brits that used to call their football "soccer". So to act like it's some exotic American word is just odd. Were American football invented today and you came up with a name, sure "football" might not be the best choice. But so what? There are endless English words that make little sense: "Film" and "tape" referring to recording a video on your phone. "Footage" referring to a recorded video. This term literally comes from the early days of filming and film was measured by the foot. "Driveway" is where you park, "Parkway" is where you drive. Brits have a "mail" service and when you mail something you "post" it. Americans have a "postal" service and when you mail something you "mail" it. There are an extremely large number of things like this.

French doors were popular before sliding glass doors were available.

I think those terms are just used to differentiate styles or types or sometimes origin. We don't call it American Football, just football, but they use the American term to differentiate. We have French Fries, European Butter, German Potato Salad, French Bread, Mexican Coke, Russian Dressing, English Breakfast Tea, etc. People from Philly don't call them Philly Cheesesteaks, just Cheesesteaks. I'm from Texas and don't call it Texas BBQ, it's just BBQ.

Well, I mean we certainly have payback with French bread (or Italian bread), French fries, Greek (or Spanish) olives, Hungarian goulash, Spanish omelet, Japanese beetles, and the "black Russian" cocktail (and I'm sure a lot more).

You probably don't have to buy that "American potatoes" spice pack. Cut your potatoes into wedges, won't a very light coating of oil, then toss in a spice mix. The most basic would be salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Of course you can add whatever sounds good, I like a little hot pepper (ground Cayenne pepper) in my mix. Roast them in a pretty hot oven, and you're good to go. You can dip them in ketchup, ranch dressing, or fry sauce (mix like 2 parts mayonnaise and 1 part ketchup. You can kick it up with a dash of good vinegar, maybe add some seasoning).

America has many things around the world that we enjoy and embrace. We are Avery diverse people

We had to replace our fridge several years ago, and went form a standard (freezer on top, fridge on bottom) to a French Door Fridge. So much easier to grab things out of the fridge. Only have to open half of the top of the appliance, so wastes less cold air. Plus, since cold air sinks, it's more efficient to have the freezer on the bottom. The big question is do you want through-the-door water and ice? We did not, as we aren't huge ice consumers (I know, weird). That gave us more space on the left door side of the fridge, so we can put more items in. No ice maker on top, more space for food. But I know a lot of people prefer to have the filtered water and ice without having to open the fridge door at all. In our architecture, French Doors are side by side, rather than one door or sliding glass door. So yes, we call that style French Door.

No. We call things from different countries like French fries.But we know it was made in America.The swiss roll was made in america. Americans also realize that many things that Have names that insinuate that they are foreign are often american made and american Conceived.

European (or European-style) butter is higher in butterfat/lower in water than standard American butter. For pastry bakers this is a critical difference, and if the recipe is written for European butter it will be specified.

That is the tiniest loaf of "American" bread I've ever seen!!!

We also have those automated robots. I got chased down aisle by aisle in a Sam's Club once and it beeps constantly so that blind people will know it's close. Very annoying.

The history behind the "American Smile" is that in the earlier days where we had mass immigration from Europe, people didn't speak the same language (french, german, polish, swedish, etc.) when they arrived so smiling in conversation is an easy way to let the person you are talking to that you are trying to be friendly if they cant understand you. Now days it is considered part of manners. It is considered polite.

In the word muscle, the c is silent.

I'm with you. I'm not getting strong agreement with his list. American football, yes. American cigarettes, that's a WWII thing because ours were mass produced, not hand rolled, maybe, and came in a neat package, I'm not sure. Anyway, thanks for your reaction ❤

I can't get over how this guy pronounces the letter "D." He didn't say bed he said "bet." And he didn't say bread he said "breat."

We also call "American" bread white bread because the flour is bleached to give it the white color.

Of grocery items, they seem to be more centered on the country, not "Europe" on the whole. Yes, I get "Irish" butter, or "French" bread (our attempts at baguettes), or "Iberian" ham (which is amazing, when I can find it).

We call a fake smile our "Work Smile" or "Customer Service Smile". But other countries often refer to our polite/friendly greeting smile as fake.

Side by side: one side is refrigerator, one side is freezer French door: the top half is refrigerator that opens like french doors, sliding drawer freezer on the bottom

As an American living in America, I've never owned an "American style fridge". I've always, even now, and our fridge is relatively new, we just bought it last summer, has one door that opens into the freezer and one door that opens to the fridge. Calling that an "American fridge" is like throwing hot dogs on a pizza and then claiming it's an "American pizza".

I grew up in the 1960s and 70s and nobody ever called them french door refrigerators we called them side by sides😊

I cant believe how little they bread they give you. Its so small . We would go through that in one day. Crazy

I'm an American, and I have been to Germany, and I don't ever remember them calling these things "American". They probably have some equivalent German moniker, but I've never heard of them specifically called "American" items. And in all honesty, here in the United States I've never seen a loaf of bread with that large surface area as what this man shows in his video!! Those slices are literally 1 1/2 times as large as normal "Wonder" bread or something similar! I wish we did have slices that large here in America!

I live in the states never heard of “American” potatoes. For a family that tiny loaf of bread would only last a day.

I call the amercan/French door fridge fancy I have the standard freezer on top frig on bottom

So you call both the side-by-side fridge *and* the French Door fridge an "American Fridge?" Basically, anything but the standard freezer-on-top, fridge-below layout is "American?"

There's a difference between a fake smile and an intentional smile. If you're intentionally smiling, it's probably in the hopes of conveying that positive energy to those around you.

I would say that the inverse of this in the US is that we refer to a lot of things as French or English that probably aren’t. For instance I’m pretty sure English muffins aren’t actually English. The French get the brunt of it. (I speak some French so I’ll be putting the French words for these things next to what Americans call them.) French bread= baguettes, French fries=pommes frites, and occasionally you’ll see French pancakes which are of course crepes. French doors are called portes-fenêtres in France. As far as doors go, we also have Dutch doors in the US which are doors that open separately on the top and bottom halves. The only other things I can think of with country names referring to Europe are Italian bread (similar to French bread but in a round shape), Swiss cheese (like a domestically made Gruyère style cheese or really any cheese with holes), and Greek yogurt, which is a thicker, strained yogurt that I think might be actually Greek? Americans, feel free to add extra things in the comments we refer to by European country names.

Britain used to call soccer, "soccer". So when Europeans came to America, naturally it was still called soccer. Idk when you folks over there, including England, started calling it football, or why, but you're wrong. "American" football games are started by one team kicking the ball to the other team. Not sure if that's why it's called football. Just letting this guy, who speaks better American English than I do🤨, that the foot is actually what starts a game - as well as other plays that involve kicking the ball.

We do the same thing marketing European items, like Greek yogurt, French bread, or Italian pasta. Importing food is more expensive and we just make European products here and slap the name on them. Most American made European copies are not very good and would not be considered European by Europeans. However, we are a Country of Immigrants and you can find excellent authentic European crafted products produced locally. These are often the best and amazing products.

Like any of us eat potatoes only 1 way.

When my car breaks down I get a Czech engine light.

We usually refer to onion soup as French Onion Soup.

You can still hear the communist propaganda regarding how Americans smile. Yes, we smile, most smiles are friendly. We are polite, happy, friendly people. He, and I would guess, his other countrymen use the American smile as a form of insult. I'll take being friendly, happy and smiling over being unfriendly.

Most refrigerators I see in the US have the freezer on the top and the fridge part on the bottom and a single door for each.

An awful lot of Americans don't have enough space for those huge fridges. Side-by-side fridges and French Door fridges are too wide.

As an American farmer, no absolutely not 😂 your farm equipment sucks to work on and maintain. American made equipment fails like a 100th of the time, no joke. Look up Massey furgeson/heston Our new baler (American made in heston Kansas) vs a baler made in Europe is like night and day. Fix a knotter every ten bales or so or fix one like every 500-1000

I feel like he doesn't like America if he is just nitpicking.

"Soccer" originated in Europe. It was originally "assoccer" which stood for Association of Soccer or sometimes called "Socker". At the time Ruby was referred to as "Rugger" and football "Soccer". So technically while it may seem American to call it "Soccer" it is actually not and we just used the name that was currently in use at the time of the 1800s. It was the Europeans who changed from "Soccer" to football which created the need to say "American Football".

The most interesting thing that is faux European is the "Continental Breakfast", as in european continent. But now its so disconnected from being "european" that most people think it just means cheap free food.

I wish we would start finding more "Made in the USA" items in our American stores. Im getting tired of all the foreign disposable appliances. I have a 1970s Roper stove made 100% in the USA, and it's still going strong!!!

Yeah sorry but most of the stuff in that dudes video is fancy upper crust stuff. Those fancy refrigerators and beds aren't things a vast majority of Americans own. Most fridges are single door models because they are cheaper, A smaller upper door for the freezer and the large lower door for the refrigerator part. Most folks also buy the cheapest beds that are nothing but a head board and foot board connected by two rails that the box springs sets in and the mattress goes on top. As for the bread most folks buy the stuff that is mass produced and sold in stores as cheaply as possible. You go to a bakery or a large chain store if you want fancy bread.

17:54 The USA isn't the only country to call it soccer. Canada, Australia and New Zealand also call it soccer and not because the USA does. They call it that because that is what it was called when it was first brought over from England. Back then there were two types of football in England, Association Football and Rugby Football. To not get them confused, the British abbreviated association down to soc and then put cer on the end of it to make it a word, so soccer. During this time is when it spread to friendly countries first which is why these countries still call it soccer. After a while, they dropped the football from rugby and then started calling soccer, football. During this time is when the rest of the world started finding out about soccer which is why they all call it football. In reality, the countries that call it soccer are the "OG's" of football and everyone else are the kids that are just following the new trend.

OOH you should do a Portuguese word or phrase of the day!

Walmart uses robots to clean too.

In general, any american with a smile that big is either completely sincere, or exaggerating for comedic effect.

Chocolates from Europe - especially Belgium and Swiss - are excellent!

Both of those fridges are french door fridges, because we call all sets of doors that open like that french doors. That said, the kind with 2 sets of doors is newer. Usually it's the side by side fridge/freezer or the french doors up top with freezer drawer below. Those have been popular for decades, but the smaller fridges are common in apartments. I have one closer to that but the freezer part is usually up top for us on small fridges.

Most major Grocery stores in the USA have an International foods isle.

Americans do tend to think certain kinds of things must be high-quality if they're from certain parts of Europe. Notable examples include wine from France or Italy, cars from Germany, chocolate from Switzerland or the Netherlands.

Yup, that’s a French door fridge. Fridge with two doors that open outwards on top, freezer with drawers on the bottom.

When it comes to putting "European/insert country here" in front of anything, almost always it means something different. Not better. There are times when it is the case, but it's not as often as people would think. Especially for the dude in the vid.

The funny thing is that "American Bread" is called Italian bread here, or if it's rye bread or a non normal flour bread. Our regular sliced bread is the same size as theirs.

Omfg….do people still use those coffins like Dracula??? 😧 Also, the products that are American made in America is considered of better quality. I don’t know of anything that anyone I know has referred to as European.

Seems to be very picky.

American fridge in this video is the type of fridge I see in homes of people who have $$$$

French doors are what we call two doors side by side that open up outwards, creating one space with no post between. Hence, French door fridge has doors that open up to one space, with no post in the middle. Often the bottom freezer section of these fridges pulls out like a drawer.

If someone smiles at you it IS sincere since we don’t care enough to fake smile!

You hit the nail on the head, it's all marketing.

We like to smile. We like to make each other smile. We are also perfectly capable of not smiling when we don't feel like it. Association football (Soccer), Rugby football, Australian football, American football.

As an American I’ve never heard of calling a fridge with double doors a French door fridge. We just call it a double door fridge . Now about the smile , I was born and raised in US and lived in Europe 7 years and travel all over Europe and I’ll never understand the issue Europeans have with American customer service. It legit bothers them when they walk into a store in the US and get asked hi how are you? They take it as being fake , and for all we know it might be , but customer service is huge in the US. As someone who has experienced extremely rude attitude in a typical European store , I think I enjoy the fake smile vs the rude. Just my opinion .

I live in the United States. I’ve never heard of an American coffin! American potatoes? Don’t know what that is. American cereal. Yes we have a lot of it. I rarely eat it. What’s wrong with smiling? It’s better than being grumpy. Regarding cars. I have a 14 year old Honda CRV.

Americans call any double door without a post in the middle a french door.

I love your channel! I feel like I'm watching videos with a friend!

I live in Missouri & work at a Walmart that has several automated floor cleaners. They can also be driven by a person.

In his own mind...He is brilliant. To the rest of us...Not so much.

" French doors " are double doors for one portal. In addition to being on refrigerators ; "French doors " are found on buildings . and windows are prolific in New Orleans (former French colony) . "French doors" are popular on American homes for patios, porches , verandas

We had French doors on our dinning room that went out onto our back porch. Two doors with glass panels that swing open in the center. We also had special French door curtains on them. That were connected on the top and the bottom on little curtain rods. They could be tied in the center to let more light in. The curtains themselves were sheer. We mostly used one door to go in and out of. They could be locked in place one at a time., to use only one door. I'm half Czechoslovakian, so this is interesting to me.

The most common refrigerator design in America, has the freezer on top (taking up about 20% of the total space), and the refrigerator below that. Both compartments have their doors hinged on the right by default, but some models are designed so that the door can be taken off and re-mounted on the other side if desired. Inside the freezer, there will be an ice maker (usually on the left side). Inside the refrigerator, the top shelf is the tallest space, that's where you put things like large pitchers of milk or tea or whatever, and there's often a drawer to the right of that for cold cuts and such. There will be two or three regular shelves (a few inches high) below that, typically used for Tupperware containers full of leftovers, and then at the bottom there will be two drawers, for fruits and vegetables. Jars and bottles (ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, pancake syrup, etc.) fit in a rack built into the refrigerator door, and at the top of that rack there's usually a small compartment, historically used for butter, with a transparent clamshell cover, that isn't really useful on most modern models of fridge because anything you keep in there falls out whenever you open the top. (It's terrible design, but it never gets fixed because it's such a small compartment that nobody really cares about it anyway.) Side-by-side refrigerator/freezer models do exist in America, but they are much less common. And yes, "French doors" are paired doors that open symmetrically, with the hinges on the outside and the handles in the middle; but I've never seen that term applied to a refrigerator, probably because French doors usually consist mostly of either windows, or louvered slats, with only the frame being solid. French doors are common e.g. on master-bedroom closets, or sometimes on sun rooms and such. The standard term for a side-by-side refrigerator is "side-by-side".

7:21 viewings/open casket funerals are not an "American" thing they've been around since prehistoric times as a way to handle death. Earlier deaths were often dealt with in house rather than a funeral home. The family would make the loved one presentable and there would be a wake or a vigil or viewing. Various cultures have had a variety of this forever. We do have the custom in America but it's certainly not unique or the only way to handle funeral customs especially nowadays. As for the American Smile...that's not very flattering. And no, we certainly wouldn't say that. We aren't generally fake and insinuating an entire culture is raised to be fake friendly constantly is ....certainly ...a view.

Correction, the potatoes come from Peru in the mountains. They had to figure out a way to make them non-toxic. So a lot of years of growing and re-planting until the tocsin was gone.😮❤

Do you have french doors in Portugal? For example, patio doors that open side by side? We do. So a fridge that has side by side doors is a French Door fridge here.

We refer to many food items by European names, for example, Spanish onions, Italian bread, London Broil, Swiss cheese. Ironically, we do use the term, American Cheese in the US. I've never used any of the terms presented in the video. Most smiles are not fake, we're taught that it's polite to smile when we meet someone new and present our best face. it's a nice custom, I don't understand why so many Europeans have a problem with it.

Yes, "coffin" especially in the UK refers to a six-sided box with a flat top. In the US, Canada and other countries, a "casket" is square with four sides.

The style refrigerator with the two doors on top is called French doors but they are not from France. We even have the French door style doors on our homes usually going out to our backyard patio’s or inside going into a room usually an office.

As an American, I’ve never seen the fridge style where you have French doors for fridge and freezer with freezer on bottom. Normally fridges here are either French doors for fridge on top with a drawer for the freezer on bottom, side by side with freezer on left and fridge on right, or single doors with freezer on top and fridge on bottom.

In what we called Football 🏈 we used the feet most of the time. We run more than anything else in a game

He got the fridge thing wrong. Both types he showed are French door refrigerators. Qnd they're really only common in houses or newer apartments. They're a lot more common now than 5+ years ago too.

Football is 83% footwork

Americans simply smile a lot. We are scarily friendly. It’s simply our culture.