What gives away that a fictional British character has been written by a non-British author?’ – 23 telltale signs

13.

‘Misuse of ‘bloke’. North Americans seem to think it works like ‘dude’. A Canadian I know wrote a story where people were saying things like ‘Come on, bloke, you can handle this…’.’
–vicarofsorrows

14.

‘Not a character, but I remember being really annoyed when a major plot point in a book relied on the character accessing an above ground fire hydrant in London. Which we don’t have.’
–coachhunter2

15.

‘I had to switch off an episode of American Housewife because some relative came over from ‘England’ (it’s never one of the other countries? Unless they’re Scaddish).’
–Darthblaker7474

16.

‘I read a book where the author says that the main character stayed at a Premier Inn in Manchester and helped herself to the ‘minibar’. The same main character also talked about a romantic interest being a ‘bounty hunter’ – in Scotland!’
–Morriganalba

17.

‘Every Scottish character is a gruff but friendly fantasy barbarian Highlander. Relatedly, the Scottish Lowlands where the vast majority of Scottish people have always lived does not exist.’
–Old_Donut8208

18.

‘I read a book once where the character asked for ‘another slice of shepherds pie’. You can’t slice that sort of pie damn it!’
–blood_oranges

19.

‘Misuse of aristocratic titles. I mean it can be tricky to use the correct one depending on the circumstances, but in no world is ‘thank you, Your Dukeship’ ever going to be correct . (Yes Bridgerton season one, I’m looking at you). It sounds unbelievably jarring.’
–Pavlover2022

20.

‘They get the subtle class markers all wrong, often with an American view of how rich people live: the supposedly aristocratic character’s house will have a gym, a pool and a cinema room, driving a Ferrari. Real Old Money people in England live in big old houses with Victorian plumbing, full of smelly dogs, stuffed weasels and paintings of pigs, and they drive Land Rovers.’
–CiderDrinker2

21.

‘Calling trousers ‘pants’ and not underwear. Waistcoasts are called ‘vests.’ Colour and favourite and not spelled correctly. ‘Across the street’ and not over the road. Taking the tube on Xmas. No mention of chippies.’
–AnneBoleynsNecklace

22.

‘I once read a book where the main character was working in a bar in London and driving back and forth to work and everywhere else. Hahahahahaha fuck no. Another by the same author talked about the meatiness of a mince pie. (These books are not good, per se. But I read them anyway.)’
–katie-kaboom

23.

”Dear boy’ as if every Brit is Sir John Gielgud. The only people who ever start a sentence with ‘Dear Boy’ are English characters written by Americans.

And first names like Kent or Ashton. That’s a blue-blood New England thing, not an upper-class old England thing: our posh boys have actual human names not town names.’
–Embarrassed-Return86

READ MORE

Brits are losing it at how these American film characters pull their Christmas crackers

Source r/AskUK Image Screenshot