The British and the Americans have had a love/hate relationship that has been sprawling over the centuries. Their first encounters in history have been described as a supremacy battle that at some point saw the Brits colonizing America, something that didn’t last for long as the Queen’s soldiers were beaten by America’s finest freedom fighters.

Since then, the two countries have lived separately, though in peace, but still holding a silent vendetta. All this has played well with its citizens, especially the Americans, who silently cannot take some of the things the British embrace. It is only because the people from the West don’t find some of these British behaviors as cool or socially acceptable.

This vendetta has sprawled to the science world where the British measuring system is totally different from the American measuring system. For instance, the British would refer to the kilogram as a unit of mass, but the Americans would rather call it the pound. What Americans would find weird is that the British decided to call their currency the pound. But these are not the only weird things the Brits have done that sometimes drives the Westerners nuts. Read below to find out more.

15. They Have Separate Taps for Hot and Cold Water

If your friend knows too well what “tap dancing” is, then he/she has to be British.

While the rest of the world would have only one stream of water flowing from a single tap, the British prefer having two streams of water that you cannot even touch. On the right, you will find the water that is too hot to pour over your hands while on the left, is water that is too cold to instantly freeze your blood.

While the British find this as the perfect faucet design, Americans find it completely impractical and a good source of either a scald or freezing pain on your hands. The best way to wash your hands, in this case, is to quickly jump from one stream to the other, praying that the germs, and not your hands, are dying from the extreme heating and freezing.

14. They drink Barley water

First of all, what is barley water? The American definition would be, “the worst idea of orange juice the British ever made”.

Sure enough, barley water looks like orange juice. To make matters worse, the drink is sold in British grocery stores, so it’s nothing alcoholic that should be in a pub. But contrary to what you would expect, barley water tastes nothing close to orange juice.

Instead, it has a filthy disgusting taste that you cannot withstand in your mouth for a minute. Well, at least according to Americans. But their Brit brothers and sisters find it tasty, the more reason why you will still find the drink in its numbers in a grocery store.

13. They are always hard to approach

Nothing annoys Americans more than the seemingly standoffish behavior of British people. According to several Americans who went for holiday or work in the UK, asking a Brit for directions or a location when lost is akin to asking Kim Jong-un for his nuclear codes.

The Brits have a weird tendency of answering a question with a low growl and cold icy stare. Despite the Americans going nuts because of this reaction to simple questions such as “Hi” on the street, it is the norm the Brits are used to; it is something pretty much rooted in their social culture.

12. They have a tendency to overcook vegetables

If your friend has a tendency of pouring a gallon of water and boiling his/her veggies in it for close to two weeks, then there is high likelihood he/she is British. Well, at least to the American eye.

Americans who have happened to take a trip to or lived in the UK have not missed complaining about the overcooked vegetables the citizens of the Queen’s land love to eat. The situation is so dire that carrots in Britain can be disintegrated by your tongue once it’s been taken off a refined British boiler.

There is no need to talk about the taste of those veggies since all their nutrients usually have already evaporated with the overheated water by the time they are served.

11. They never tip

The British are not only stingy with their words but they are also stingy with their money. This is even when a fine but underpaid waitress has offered them exemplary service.

This is annoying to Americans who back in their land, tipping is as close to religion as the cardinal Sunday church offering. But this is not a problem with the British alone.

Apparently, all of Europe is against tipping. As a matter of fact, you may find yourself in some weird “watch list” if you even sacrifice a dime for the poor waitress. Surprisingly, some Americans with British blood in them (suspiciously), consider this to be a culture that should be adopted by the Westerners.

10. Their use of “It’s not an issue” and “It’s simple, really”.

Here is the problem with asking a British person a simple question. His/her answer will usually start with the phrase, “It’s not an issue”. This is where Americans go nuts. Though the Brits may find this phrase pretty much innocent, an American trudging the Queen’s soil may get offended very quickly, due to the use of the word “issue”. Apparently, in an American’s mind, this word suggests that the British find Americans too dramatic that their questions don’t really hold much water as they may suggest.

The worst bit is that after answering your “non-issue” question, the Brit will finish with, “It’s simple, really”. That’s the nail in the coffin.

9. Instead of “Hello”, they say “You alright?”

Living in the UK for a couple of weeks can turn you from 100% confident to 100% unsure of yourself. The civilized citizens of the Queen’s land have a weird tendency of replacing the subtle “Hello” greeting with a weird “You alright?” question.

This, to many Americans, leaves them for the first time looking for some weird red rash or bald patch on their head that the Brit has probably seen.

Despite making Americans feel weird about themselves every time they are greeted with this phrase, the Brits weirdly expect you to answer them back with a reciprocating “You alright?” answer. This should also be accompanied by a slight nod of the head.

8. They have a reluctance to “share”

Here is the thing with Americans – they love breaking down, crying over some issue they have and talking about it. But that is not the case with the European royalty citizens. The British have an infamous stiff upper lip that can turn a hurting American into a psychopath in minutes.

While you may be having a serious issue that you need to be addressed, sharing it with a Brit may only award you a stiff look and unwaveringly silent mouth.

What’s worse, even when they are in their own deep personal troubles, they never blurt them out. But the good thing about Americans is that they immediately offer referrals to a therapist to such a mate because without a word, you know he/she is hurting.

7. Nearly Everyone has a unique accent

Coming from America, you would be used to hearing probably the same accent for hundreds of miles between cities. For instance, people from San Francisco to Los Angeles, nearly 300 miles apart, all sound the same. However, when you head to the UK, you may get an accent overload.

Just between Newcastle and Manchester, there are approximately 57.5 accents – and they are just 200 miles apart! Nearly everyone wants to sound different from one another.

But here is where the problem is. Somewhere around 991 AD, King Egglemund the Unruly ordered all Brits to speak in funny voices for his amusement. Seemingly, this order stuck all through the ages to this day.

6. They apologize needlessly

The British have made the term “sorry” a cliché. Well, at the very least, if a Brit is to step on your toe, he/she would say sorry and it’s totally understandable. However, they go overboard when they start apologizing for things an American wouldn’t give a damn about. For instance, when the Brits get into an overcrowded lift, they say sorry. If they want you to move so that they can get in the train, they utter sorry.

Even when the food in the restaurant is cold, food which they ordered and should be brought steaming hot, they say sorry! If it were America, if need be, the waitress would have been sued – end of story.

5. R-Rated Newspaper headlines and weird food

The BBC may be subtle with its choice of words but some other press companies don’t really recognize that a 10-year-old may stumble on their newspaper. One infuriating instance was from a local daily which wrote on its headlines, “Find that b****rd who s*** down my chimney!” No comment on that one from the West.

But it’s not just the daily newspapers that are finding it hard to stick to more innocent words. Apparently, the British local stores sell Big Saucy Bangers, manufactured by Heinz. Yes, at the local stores. And they are, well, exciting to eat, to say the least.

4. They have deep love for Queues

Woe unto you if you are waiting for a bus in London. You might find yourself stuck in a queue that surprisingly, the Brits in it have no problem staying in it. Matter of fact, it is close to customary to queue in Britain that the peeps there love it.

The love is so big, that there was a rumor that an entire section of the British Citizenship Test would include a queuing test. To make matters worse, the test was going to have a theory and practical section where, in the latter, you will be required to queue for a bus that would probably never come.

Did you hear that mate? Well, in America, more than half of that line would have headed for the sub or grabbed a taxi within five minutes.

3. Toast in the morning is a treat

The last thing you would want to give an American as the perfect breakfast meal is toast. Because toast is not the most important breakfast meal for the man/woman raised in the greatest land on Earth. Well, that is not the case for the Brits.

Whenever there is toast for breakfast, it is Christmas that day. The British have a weird fetish for toast, so bad in fact (well, to the Americans), that they can have toast anytime of the day and feel good about it. The ecstasy on their faces every time they are enjoying toast is laughable to the stern American eye.

2. They love a very poor underground network

You can use the subway in America and not feel so bad about it, but in the UK, you would curse what brought you into that forsaken underground tunnel in the first place.

Popularly known as the tube, the British brag of one of the worst underground networks in the world – well at least to the American standards who they bitterly compete with.

According to Americans who have lived in the UK, you would be lucky to go past a day without experiencing a delay in the tube. The situation can get so bad that the simple signal failures can make you 30 minutes late to work daily. And what do the British do about it? They still use the old defunct system every day.

1. They drive on the wrong side of the road

Now, who on Earth said that the car should be driven on the left side of the road? Despite the inventors of the car themselves, the Germans, putting the steering wheel on the left side of the car, the British still had to do the opposite and put it on the right side.

And that infuriates Americans to the core.

Going to the UK is akin to signing up for a whole new driving lesson. What is hard to understand is that despite the larger chunk of Europe opting for the default left-hand drive, the Brits just had to be the odd ones out. What’s worse, the British love it. And there is no law coming soon that would ever change that.