America is a great country - the Brits love it there. Britain's tiny island, comprised of three little countries, is essentially uniform throughout - Essex and Durham, for example, have the same wildlife, the same chains of shops and (roughly) the same weather. In America, every state feels like a different country - you could literally spend the rest of your life exploring the United States and each trip would feel like you were visiting a new nation. Indeed Florida, in the Southeastern region of the United States, has become the second most popular holiday destination for British tourists (behind the ever-popular, and significantly cheaper, Balearic Islands), thanks largely to the popularity of the theme parks there, but Brits are starting to become more adventurous and head to the likes of New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles more regularly too. However, upon arrival in the United States, it's not all plain-sailing for Brits. You can encounter a number of problems and little niggles that can really get your goats - contrary to the stereotypical view that Americans actually have of Brits with "stiff upper lips" - and that's what this article is going to be taking a light-hearted look at. Here are twenty-two problems that only British people in America will understand...
22. A FOOTball Is Something You KICK
This is something that Brits detest in general, but when you're actually in America and you hear football being described as "soccer", and a game far more similar to rugby being described as "football", all hell is likely to break loose. You see the Brits invented the game known as "soccer" in the mid-1800s - forms of the game had been played for centuries before that around the world, with Cambridge Rules "footeball" having been played since the 1500s (long before "the United States of America" was even recognised as a nation), but the "football association" wasn't formed until 1863. The term "football" wasn't used for the NFL version of the game until 1876 - AND IT BARELY INVOLVES THE USE OF FEET! So, on that note, why the heck is the NFL game known as "football" (it should be "handegg") and association football known as "soccer"?! Baffling.