eople are always astounded when I say that Americans are a lot more polite than Brits. It’s one of the first things I bring up when I’m asked about differences between the two countries (which I am at surprisingly regular intervals, most recently by a group of NYU students who had me as a Zoom-based visiting lecturer for a quick half hour). For some reason, we scheming Brits have managed to spread a rumour round the globe that we are all closely related to the royals and graduates of strict schools of etiquette. As far as many Americans are concerned, we’re refined and perhaps even a little stuck-up. In other words, they see us in the same light we often see the French.
Of course, as any woman who’s been yelled at by a man in a white van on a summer evening can tell you, the streets of London are not teeming with people just desperate to invite you round for a cup of tea and a crumpet. The truth is that Americans are much more careful with their words (“damn”, “hell” and “ass” are all legitimate swearwords over here that would often be starred out in American newspapers and certainly never uttered by Republican politicians or on Fox News) and much more concerned with general niceties than your average person living under the flag of St George. Much of them are descended from the most puritanical Europeans, after all, who came in search of a more religious and righteous brave new world.
His dictator-style speech alarmed a lot of those Latin American voters, and now it seems they may be turning to Joe Biden instead
