George Washington
Harry is singing a lovely song all about George Washington being a ‘great, great man’ at the moment, which he was taught at school. And a super little ditty it is too, except that when I listen to the lyrics I realise it’s all about how marvellous the president was at getting rid of the British….hmmmm! However, sing it he will, and learn about American history he must.
It makes me realise the irony of my excitement at getting to experience July 4th….but a party is a party in my book!
Cheerio to the Brits, said George
Fruitcake
I got told recently that Americans like to take the piss out of fruitcake. Really? Not a big fan myself, but why so amusing?
Many blame the much maligned fruitcake’s reputation on Johnny Carson. Back in December 1985, Johnny told his late night TV audience that there is only one fruitcake in the world, it is very heavy, and people keep sending it to each other.
Doorstop anyone?
People refer to fruitcake as a doorstop – some I’ve eaten have been similar, it’s true. Every January a “Great Fruitcake Toss” is held in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The object is to throw a fruitcake as far as possible, sometimes even using catapults.
Interesting fact, non?!
British / Ohio accent
The other day I got asked: ‘Where you from, Ohio?’.
a) I’m pretty sure the British and Ohio accents aren’t that similar and
b) I’m unsure if this is deemed to be a compliment or not….
Cheese rolling
A British tradition is Cheese Rolling, and it takes place annually near my home in the Cotswolds. This year an American won it!
We should bring it the USA. Perhaps we could roll fruitcake….?
Crazy people running down Cooper’s Hill
American beliefs
This amused me…..
Paul McCartney is a lookalike? Not even a lookalike would play Hey Jude that many times at various British concerts….
Would the real Paul McCartney please stand up (and not play Hey Jude)
Coming to visit?
If you are a Brit and coming to visit me in the USA, take a look at this and then you will know exactly what to do with patio doors and air con. Honestly, it’s a minefield in the US home!
Watch out for the air con in USA houses
13 things that Americans do that the rest of the world find bizarre
Ever wondered about Walmart? Cheese in the USA? Cheerleaders? Carrying coffee? Puritanism? It’s all here so that we can understand our delightful American cousins a little more 🙂
Everyone loves a cheerleader!
ukdesperatehousewifeusa 
We learned at a young age that in the 1600-1700s you Brits were big ol meanies! Then I don’t remember what happened, but once the revolutionary war was over we were all just BFFs apparently. I have a feeling that’s not really how it went down though. And you think we’re weird while you’re rolling giant cheeses down the hill! 😀
Let’s have a weird day swap!
Fruitcake is blood awful, and it’s still used as a derogatory term as well, probably more by babyboomers than anyone else. 😉
Yes, I know a few fruitcakes!!!!
I’ve lived here for a bloody long time, and people still ask me if we have the 4th of July in the UK. My reply is that we do and it usually falls somewhere between the 3rd and 5th of July. Generally that gets me a bemused look as a reply and they don’t ask again.
(oh and I can confirm the fruitcake toss in Manitou Springs just up the road from us in Colorado Springs. It’s quite a big deal)
That is an excellent reply! 🙂
Sent from my iPhone
In all fairness the fruitcake in the USA has these wierd day-glo fruits in it and tastes completely artificial while the UK one is made over time with nuts, fruits and brandy and tastes a lot better. I don’t know why americans find fruit cakes so funny but from my research all I can find is that ‘Johnny Carson most often gets the blame for fruitcake’s image problem. He famously joked that there’s actually only one fruitcake in the world, which gets passed from household to household.’
It looks v different from our UK version. I’ll have to try!