An American woman living in the UK has ruffled feathers after revealing four features of British households that send her ‘into a coma’.
Known as @yorkshireyank on TikTok, she often comments on the cultural differences between her adopted home and the US.
In a video that has been viewed more than 200,000 times, the woman identifies four facets of UK homes that baffle her – and would similarly send her fellow Americans into a spin.
The woman, who has almost 15,000 followers on the platform, starts with plug sockets, which she calls ‘outlets’.
She explains that she has been caught out by the on/off switches that control the power used by appliances.
‘I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve actually tried to make toast and that darn thing was not on,’ she says.
The second common characteristic of UK homes that she believes would alienate those living in small apartments in major US cities is the space available.
‘Space is a premium – now I have lots of it,’ she says.
In a video that’s been viewed 212,700 times, an American woman living in the UK (pictured) identifies four facets of British homes that baffle her
Third on her list is timekeeping, specifically, the 24-hour clock which is widely used in Britain, especially on digital alarm clocks and appliances like ovens.
‘Yorkshire Yank’ refers to this as ‘military time’, adding that ‘most people’ in her home country wouldn’t be able to interpret a screen displaying 17:16.
She says: ‘Most people would see this and go, “I don’t know what time that is,” when it’s really 5:18.’
By using the 24-hour clock, Brits ‘overcomplicate it,’ she adds.
But, the feature of UK homes that she appears to find most frustrating is the lack of ‘closets’.
It would seem that she expected to find fitted wardrobes in her Yorkshire house.
She says to viewers: ‘Why does my house not have any closets?’
The US national explains that there was ‘an empty cupboard with nothing in it’ which she transformed by adding shelves.
One feature that she finds confusing is the use of the 24-hour clock, which she believes is an example of Brits overcomplicating things
She elaborates: ‘There’s no other closets in the whole house – just an under stair [closet] and I turned that into a pantry.’
To remedy this, she turned her spare bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe, adding that it would have cost her £10,000 to have one built in a new-build home.
‘When we were looking at new builds, one of the new builds actually quoted me £10,000 to build a closet,’ she says.
‘And it was just glass doors on rails, and that was it. I don’t get it.’
The video attracted a lot of attention online, amassing almost 450 comments – but the majority of these were not sympathetic to the US woman.
One person wrote: ‘You’re telling me America really doesn’t know what the 24 [hour] clock is?’
Another appeared to agree when they said: ‘Calling [the] 24-hour clock “overcomplicated” has absolutely sent me’.
The US woman’s video amassed almost 450 comments – but very few of these were sympathetic to her
A third person was similarly critical when they commented: ‘Outlet? It’s a plug socket! And it’s for safety – our electricity runs at 240V, American [electricity] is only 120V.’
A fourth TikToker was left confused by the US woman’s video – but not in the way she had expected.
They said: ‘I’m sure toasters won’t even click down if they’re not plugged in.’
While a firth person explained: ‘Yup, we buy standalone wardrobes. Not sure why we don’t have built-in cupboards – maybe space?’
A sixth user was so incensed by the woman’s critique of UK homes that she wrote: ‘If it’s so bad, you can choose to leave’.
Yet, not everyone was disappointed by Yorkshire Yank’s appraisal of British households.
One person admitted: ‘I’m British and these things annoy me also’.