American woman shares the four things she discovered that make ‘British people mad’ after moving to the UK

An American woman has discovered four trends that immediately infuriate Britons who witness them.

Ash Loren, who moved from North Carolina to London in early 2023, frequently compares and contrasts the two cultures on his popular TikTok account, where he has nearly 20,000 followers.

Among the topics he has addressed lately are things that upset Brits, whether as an affront to their standards of etiquette or as a matter of personal space.

“Here’s a list of things that make British people angry,” Ash began in the one-minute video.

“The first thing is to jump the line”, that is, in American parlance, to cut the line.

“The British are polite and take queuing seriously,” he explained.

“And if you don’t respect the line, I think they get very angry.”

“Big rule followers,” he emphasized. ‘(Which brings me to my next point.’

Ash continued, “When you pronounce things wrong, they get really angry.”

She uses the word “herbs” as an example, and Ash pronounces it like Americans would with the silent “h.”

“They (the British) call it ‘herbs,'” he explained, articulating the “h” sound according to the UK pronunciation.

‘I did a review on Yorkshire tea. A lot of the comments were about how Americans always mispronounce “Yorkshire,”‘ Ash offered as another example.

As for the third thing Brits “hate”, “noisy people”, Ash said.

“Whether you’re on the subway, in public or at work, you’re not going to win over a Brit by talking obnoxiously loud or overly enthusiastic,” he explained.

He added that he thought that was “one of the reasons why” Americans and Brits “typically” didn’t “get along” so well.

Last but not least, Ash continued: ‘The British don’t like huggers.

“I’m American and when I meet people I give them a hug,” he admitted. ‘I don’t think that’s allowed here. I think they look down on that. So yeah.’

Hundreds of viewers, many of them British, took advantage of the comments to express Ash’s opinion on what irritates them.

There was a quick consensus on the importance of queuing.

‘Queues are important to remind everyone that no one is more important than anyone else. “We’re all here for the same reason,” one enthused about the ethics of waiting in lines.

‘Have more than 10 items and queue at the register of 10 items or less. We count the items in each person’s basket and smoke in silence,” said a second.

Likewise, many pounced on the mere mention of a mispronunciation of a word like “herbs.”

‘Why would you say erbs when you spell herbs?’ one snorted.

‘British here. “Erbs drive me crazy,” a second agreed.

As for keeping the volume low when speaking in public, there were two opinions.

‘Do not speak in public. It’s that simple,’ defended one.

But another added a qualifier: “You can pull off something so loud and enthusiastic, but you also have to be funny and charming, and to be honest, the American accent doesn’t usually lend itself to that last bit.”

As for hugs?

“The English hug each other frequently, but it’s about respecting personal space,” argued one.

“Hugs have become more and more common, but we still feel very uncomfortable with it,” admitted another.