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Question about an 'obvious sign' someone’s American goes viral: 'You hear them coming like thunder'

A Reddit user asks followers to share an "obvious sign someone's American," reinforcing some stereotypes and provided several, fun travel anecdotes.

A Reddit user who challenged followers to share an "obvious sign someone's American" received entertaining answers that reinforced some stereotypes and provided several, fun travel anecdotes.

"What’s an obvious sign someone’s american?" the user asked over the weekend.

"An Italian told me that Americans walk confidently in the wrong direction," one person responded.

"British man once told me he knew I was American because I was wearing a baseball cap backwards." another user said.

"An Italian told me they could tell I was American because I wore my sunglasses on the top of my head when I wasn’t using them," another user replied. 

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"They want ice in their water," another person wrote.

The comment sparked a larger conversation, with users chiming in with several anecdotes about trying to order ice in beverages in foreign countries.

"To quote a Latvian woman I met at a hostel: you hear them coming like the thunder," one user said. "More often than not, if they’re talking and laughing louder than everyone else, they’re American. Edit: I love my American neighbours! Sorry if I sounded rude. Canadians are also pretty loud when we get going."

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"And New Yorkers are a different breed," another user agreed. "Their regular talking voice absolutely booms over everything else. Makes sense when you have to be heard over the 1,000dB noise pollution."

"How much personal space they give themselves. Americans like at LEAST an arm length," user Zonerdrone wrote.

"Americans tend to lean on things when standing still," another offered.

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It's often said that Americans get a bad wrap in foreign cultures, and those biases routinely show up in film and television. In the first episode of the popular Netflix show "Emily in Paris," for instance, a French character depicts Americans as obese.

"The people are so fat?" Emily's boss Monsieur Brossard asks her, after a discussion on Chicago's famous deep-dish pizza. "Why are they all so fat?"

"Well perhaps from the disgusting food," her other French boss Sylvie, replies.

Other stereotypes have included that Americans are entitled, arrogant, or obsessed with their jobs.

Some Reddit users, however, had kinder things to say.

"I worked as a cashier in a touristic place in Paris, I always recognised Americans because they were kinda friendly to me and they always left tips," one user said.

Several others agreed with the sentiment.

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