'I'm an American in the UK and there's 1 thing people coming here must be warned about'

Anyone visiting another country is bound to experience some level of culture shock. Whether it's the time people eat their meals, whether or not folk wait for the traffic light to cross the road, or the attitude to alcohol, there's often something which seems utterly baffling to outside eyes. One man has issued a warning to fellow Americans about something unexpected they may experience when visiting the UK.

Hawaii native Kalani Smith has 3.3 million followers on TikTok, where he shares content related to his experiences in cultures around the world. He recently posted a video marked as a "warning" to fellow Americans coming to Britain.

"Americans need to be warned about this before ever setting foot in the UK," he said.

Continuing, he said: "Today we're gonna be talking about British sarcasm. British sarcasm isn't really about what you say, it's about how little you react when you say it.

"Brits have all of these ways of telling you one thing, but actually meaning another. If a Brit says 'that's one way of doing it', they're telling you you're doing it the wrong way.

"Or if they look at you and they say 'oh, brilliant', they don't actually mean it's brilliant, trust me."

Concluding, he said: "If you're a Brit and if you've interacted with Americans, whether it be in person or online, let me know if there's been instances where you've been very sarcastic and it's kind of just missed, it didn't hit like it should've, because some times in America we don't get your guys' sarcasm."

People from both sides of the pond shared their own experiences in the comments. One said: "When I arrived in the States I was picking up the rental car from the airport and the guy at the desk asked 'how are you today sir?' to which I replied 'yeah I'm not bad thanks'.

"He immediately looked very concerned and said 'I'm so sorry to hear that, how can we make your day better?' I didn't understand, so sarcastically said 'wellll... an upgrade would be good', which we promptly got."

Another said: "I’m a Brit who used to live in the US. I felt like my total deadpan delivery of sarcasm was so utterly confusing to Americans because they just could not detect the sarcasm AT ALL. To be able to detect it, they needed me to deliver it with more of a playful/slapstick eyeroll or something. No judgement, just very interesting! It was quite an exhausting experience tbh!"

Others shared how they had had a bit of fun with the cultural difference. One said: "I was asked by an American girl if we had Christmas in England. I said no, I’ve never heard of it."

Someone else wrote: "Found this out first hand. I stated to an American 'I used to be a ballerina, I’m deceptively agile' (I’m 20st and 6ft 4ins). They asked me where I danced and for how long."

A different user wrote: "I was in Mexico on holiday and this American girl ran up to me and asked 'are you English? Do you know my dad? He lives in Chester.' I told her 'of course I do, I'm English, we all know each other, it's only a small place'."

And another said: "Brits are never sarcastic. We love people from the US. They are so worldly (and) knowledgeable."