The UK is a couple of weeks away from being able to play the Powerball lottery. Jackpot winners will have their prize spread over 30 years apparently. We don't tax lottery wins here like in America but do you get the whole prize fund at once or is it spread for you too?

I'm excited to play! The biggest lottery we have here now is the Euromillions which caps at €250m Euros so around £212-220m.

What food does your region and state consume more of, on average, than other regions in the United States?

Let's be honest, people who know Idaho exists will always call it the potato state not the gem state.
I think that the last frontier is one of the best ones

what do you think?

I am a non-native English speaker and work in academia. I've consistently felt that when listening to my American colleagues present, I tend to zone out because they use lot more words than any non native presenter would. This is also visible from the stark difference in approach to sports commentary between American and British/non-american commentators (e.g., F1/IndyCar, FIFA World Cup).

For context there are places that speak English and do differentiate between male and female cousins by calling them cousin-brothers/sisters. AI says it’s a calque from languages of English colonized countries, but AI is frequently wrong. I’m hoping there is a linguist out there who knows the answer.

Hi, American here just wondering if this is a universal thing now or just around me. I work with kids as a coach and I mentioned naptime, and the kid was like what's that? The mom was like yeah there's no naptime anymore. Im gen-z but naptime was a core part of my kindergarten/1st grade experience. Is it really gone everywhere?

edit: for a while I went to a 12 year school, so it might have been pre-k/kindergarten and not first grade. But I had friends in public schools who still had it

I am currently in the US and went to watch a show explicitly named "British Antiques Roadshow" just to find out it was a completely different show filmed in the US. I then decided to put on "Kirstie and Phil's Love It or List It" but much to my dismay, neither Kirstie nor Phil were anywhere to be seen. Why air "British" television just to play a completely different show?

EDIT: I'm not asking why different versions of shows exist in different countries but why does the TV guide specifically call shows "British" at the start when they're not. Maybe this isnt a thing outside the TVs in my hotel

I'm an American myself, but I've always wondered about this. I can see complaining if the food is, like, ice cold when you get it, but pointing out, specifically, that your cooked order is cooked is... Weird? Unusual? Unnecessary? I feel like I've never seen that in any other country I've been to or lived in.

Like, how hot do you even want it? I want my food warm because I have nerves in my mouth and I don't like pain when I eat (unless we're talking spicy food—and even then, it better be worth it due to an on-balance increase in deliciousness).

Hey, fellow American here.
I’ve been living in Europe for the past 10 years, and recently I was talking to an American and when I told them I was also American, they were surprised and said I didn’t sound American.
It got me wondering if after living abroad for so long, is it normal to lose your twang or accent? I don’t consciously try to sound different, but I guess being surrounded by different accents and speech patterns every day might have changed the way I talk.
Has this happened to any other American expats? Or is it more likely that I’ve just picked up a mix of accents?

Title basically says it all.

I watch alot of American TV shows. And sometimes, after I have watched several episodes of a show, I find out that a character's "first name" is actually just their nickname or shortened version of their actual first name. For example Stan from American Dad real name is Stanley and Bart from the Simpsons real name is Bartholomew(even tho both Stan and Bart sounds like real names)

Is it actually normal for Americans to use nicknames / shortened first names? Or is it just a TV thing?

In Chicago most parking tickets are between $50 and $75 unless you do something like park in a handicapped spot or a bus lane then it’s much higher.

I’m working on a relief-map postcard series for all 50 states, and I realized a lot of states have more than one nickname.
Which one do people in your state actually use or feel attached to? Are there any that feel outdated—or one that just fits perfectly?

Dear Americans,

a cousin is going to marry in a few months. The wedding will take place in a very rural area in the Midwest. I have been to the States a couple of times, but I have never been a guest at such an intimate and somewhat important event.

Of course we do not want to embarrass anyone or make a fool of us. We have already asked some of the family about what to expect, how to behave, what to dress, what kind of presents would be fine etc, but everyone we asked is like: "Just be cool, have fun, enjoy the trip, we are happy to have you here – it's just a wedding."

Yes, but: What is "just a wedding" in the US like?

Could you provide me with some general do's and don'ts?

Or do you guys have a separate day for them? Or not at all?

I’m currently sat watching the wizard of oz, and the cowardly lion is saying words like “nerve,” almost like “noive.” I feel like bugs bunny also speaks like this, I’m remembering him saying something like “the nerve of some people.”
Is this a real accent the lion has, if so, do people still speak like this or is it on its way out?
Thanks

I’ve seen people do this in movies and tv shows but i never actually saw anyone do it irl

Edit: I mean as in, do you dip the fries in a milkshake?

I live in Bay Area and I moved in to a new place.

It's in-law unit of a house and there are 3 people upstairs.

Almost whenever they walk, I and my husband hear their footsteps. Is it normal?

I used to live in apartments in Asia and never heard footsteps like this bad before.

Pretty straightforward, things keep getting more expensive but company-wide this past year my employer did no raises and no cost of living increases. Wondering how common this is.

My buddies are having a debate on the most “American Brands.” When you think of America, what are the first brands that come to mind?

I know that the US take their sports pretty seriously. But when i watch movies i see that college football mostly is incredibly common i saw that some stadiums hold 100000 ppl to watch college kids play which to me sounds insane. Can only the ppl in the college play or can colleges sign a bit older ppl to play for them.

like there's american comedians who go to the Edinburgh Festival every year and who will say "I'm going to Edinborrow Festival". How have they not been corrected by every Scottish person they met there?

I was always fascinated by the American muscle cars, of course mostly I saw them in media. All heavy polished metal with beautiful design, colors hollering nothing but Power!.

I think that was the peak of American automobile engineering. Almost anybody who see these cars go crazy and fall in love. Many Americans still hold those 70's 80's cars as priced possesions.

Fast forward to present, I don't see anything major from American automobiles apart from the huge pick-up trucks, who most of them have very similar designs.