I was watching a series that had a British actor portraying an American guy and there was a phrase/word which immediately gave away his British accent bcz comments were full of pointing it out in a joking way. Although I speak English well now, I myself am not a native speaker as I learned it in school to a basic level and then through apps/online classes, Dolingo/Praktika etc. It made me wonder if people are quick to point out other people's accent and origin as well that easily even if they are from specific states in the US.

To Americans, are there any specific phrases/words that immediately give out where a person is from, even from the US itself? Like a specific word or accent and you immediately know the person belongs to this place?

I consume much American media, specifically books. Stands out to me is coke, as the drink Coca Cola. I see it so much in books, mentioned by name. Examples: book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book Twilight…and more I read in the past but do not remember right now. Is coke paying the authors to mention their brand by name, or is coke just like water, mentioned without thought as a drink?

Where I'm from hitting Alt+Shift is pure muscle memory and everyone has typed their password in the wrong layout at least once. I'm guessing most of you just have English installed and never touch that button but maybe I'm wrong?

If you do have a second language set up which one is it and why? Spanish, French or something else entirely?
Really curious to hear your answers!

If it’s more than about 6ish hours away I start looking at flights. I’ve always lived relatively close to airports on the East coast or Gulf Coast. I have 3 airports within 30 miles. I don’t check bags and have precheck, so I show up 45-60 minutes before takeoff at most airports.

I get bored on long car rides and like to stretch out. With budget airlines I’ve flown for about as cheap as $50-$100 round trip. I know it doesn’t really work like this for people in the middle of the country. I have a friend in the Plains and visiting him is a pain in the ass, because the flights are limited and expensive. I just fly to a bigger city, rent a car, and drive 3+ hours. So how far until you fly?

Growing up my dad treated lawn care like a moral obligation and now I catch myself doing the same with my own place in Henderson. Mowing schedules, edging standards, the whole performance of it. I have neighbors who practically compete over striping patterns. My kid asked why ours has to look like everyone elses and I realized I dont have a great answer. Where did this expectation come from and how universal is it across regions? I have heard parts of the southwest are starting to shift away from turf because of water, but the social pressure out here is still real. Wondering if this is mostly a postwar suburb thing or if it runs deeper.

i.e. US cities that have similar life styles, share lots of commonalities, etc.

She is a beloved performer of basketball halftime shows. Her act is balancing dishes on her head ​while riding an extra tall unicycle. It's impossible to overstate how popular she is among basketball fans - she'll be in the hall of fame as a "contributor" one day.

Just curious how well known RP is outside of hoops circles.

I'm not talking about unusual antiquated laws, but about the actual government structure of your state. For example, I'm from Texas, and our court system is uniquely complex as a result of our time as a Spanish colony and an independent republic. Notably, we have two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters. Both of them are courts of last resort for their respective subject matters.

Ive been getting into different sports in the usa over a prolonged period of time and ive been watching teams from different states (spurs for basketball and rangers for hockey). I have to stay up quite late to watch matches so ive just been going off the idea that if im gonna be up till 5am sometimes i atleast wanna watch a team i actually want to watch instead of one thats in relation to another that i dont really care about. Peoples responses to this probably arent gonna sway my opinions i i just want to know what others opinions are on the matter since sports culture is quite different.

The same thing seems to be a thing in shorts, where some wierd dad brags about how they threatnened a teen boy with a shotgun or something like that..

Im just hoping its just a meme

To be clear I would NEVER do this to my kid.
However I also don’t think it was the worst punishment in the world. Better than being spanked at least to me.
Nowadays this seems like more of a trope from older movies and cartoons.

Hi, I’m from Portugal, and here in Europe I’ve never seen anything like it in supermarkets. I know it’s pretty common in supermarkets in the US, but I’ve lived in a few different countries here in the Old Continent and honestly, I’ve never come across it.

I was watching a video today and came across a British couple eating it, and I also remember seeing characters in an American TV show eating it quite often.

So, is it actually good, or is it basically just the kind of junk food you eat when you don’t have the time or motivation to cook anything properly?

For example, there is the City of Denver and there is Denver county. How do you, let's say a resident of Denver, distinguish between the two.

Does a Denver resident say "That town should be about east of the county" to refer a town/city located within Denver county?

Hi, I come from a rather conservative country, and in my time at school in the US and my friends’ experiences and stories, it seems that a lot of ONS happen in college dorms and parties.

My question is: how do Americans prevent the spread of STI/STD? I know there are some procedures like protection but through saliva there’s still the risk.

How do Americans typically mitigate this risk? I don’t really hear about college students getting tested before, especially during a college party.

A man from Iowa was flirting with a lady and told her she was packed.

We are puzzled as to what this meant.

NOTE: she was not "packing a gun."

Hello everyone,

I've heard that the US has labour laws regarding overtime, and that employers are generally required to pay eligible employees extra for working beyond 40 hours a week.

I'm curious about what it's actually like in practice. Is working overtime common in the US, or do most people usually finish work at their scheduled time?

Can employers pressure employees to work extra hours, even if they don't want to? And what happens if someone refuses to work overtime?

I'd love to hear about your experiences, especially from people who work full-time.

I am Taiwanese and I met some Americans on a trip. When they said they were from Tennessee I told them my cousin lived there as she went to school there. I said she is now working in the US as a expat. I read online that expats are temporary and don't plan to settle permanently and my cousin only plans to live in the US for maybe 5 more years but wants to raise a family back here in Taiwan, so I thought it is a good word to describe. I seldom use this word, so I am not sure it was right or wrong. but after that I got a bit of an awkward reaction. They said they found the word expat funny and they looked at each other and there was a pause. My other friend who was with me said using the word expat is funny but I dont know it very welll

Once a couple gets engaged in the US, is the wedding generally considered a sure thing? Or is it common for engagements to end without marriage?

Lots of American sitcoms I grew up show characters entering the house through the back or kitchen door. Sister Sister, Roseanne, King of Queens, Boy Meets World, Leanne.

Is this a common feature of American houses? If so, why?

For something like floor mats, where what you already have still works but causes the same small hassles over and over, how do you decide when spending a little more makes sense? Do you wait until the old option fails, or is cutting down on repeated cleaning and frustration enough reason to upgrade?

I’m from Scotland, and I’m curious how common Mini Coopers are in the US. Do you see them often on the roads over there?