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The United States... or the United Kingdom?

For each statement, guess whether it applies to the United States, the United Kingdom, or both.
Quiz by adrmcm
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Last updated: January 12, 2021
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First submittedMarch 14, 2019
Times taken56,972
Average score73.3%
Rating4.87
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1. Has a President as its head of state
United States
United Kingdom
Both
2. Has a higher GDP per capita
United States
United Kingdom
3. Has a higher population density
United States
United Kingdom
4. Has a red, white, and blue flag
United States
United Kingdom
Both
5. Is the birthplace of Daniel Radcliffe
United States
United Kingdom
6. Is part of NATO
United States
United Kingdom
Both
7. Has a higher murder rate
United States
United Kingdom
8. More than 20% of adults are obese
United States
United Kingdom
Both
As of 2016, the obesity rate was 36.2% for the U.S. and 27.8% for the U.K.
9. More than 10% of residents were born in a different country
United States
United Kingdom
Both
14.4% for the U.K and 15.1% for the U.S.
10. Has the higher average latitude of the two
United States
United Kingdom
11. Eggs are typically refrigerated in the grocery store
United States
United Kingdom
Both
12. Road signs mostly use miles, not kilometers
United States
United Kingdom
Both
13. Paper money comes in different sizes
United States
United Kingdom
Both
14. Drinks more alcohol per capita
United States
United Kingdom
15. Judges and lawyers commonly wear wigs in court
United States
United Kingdom
Both
+4
Level 61
Mar 18, 2019
Good quiz!
+10
Level 54
Nov 12, 2020
Surprised so many people missed latitude.
+27
Level 86
Jan 12, 2021
Perhaps (like me) they thought it was a trick question to trip you up by forgetting about Alaska.
+6
Level 94
Jan 13, 2021
It helped me that it said "average" latitude...
+5
Level 46
Jan 20, 2021
Scotland is virtually the same latitude as Alaska as well
+4
Level 63
Jan 20, 2021
That needs to change.
+13
Level ∞
Jul 16, 2022
Agree. Let's try to move Alaska and Scotland to different latitudes. Very confusing.
+1
Level 75
Sep 10, 2022
Scotland is virtually the same latitude as Alaska?
+8
Level 82
Sep 10, 2022
Alaska's southernmost point, Amatignak Island is farther south than London. Alaska ranges from about 51.25°N to 71.38°N, whilst Scotland ranges from 54.63°N to 60.85°N, so about 31% of Alaska's latitudinal range overlaps with Scotland, and another 17% is farther south than Scotland. That said, most of Alaska's people live farther north than Scotland's - Juneau is similar to Inverness, but Anchorage is north of any point in Scotland, as is Fairbanks. The more southerly parts of Alaska are also a small part of the overall landmass, consisting of a thin coastal strip and associated islands, the Alaskan Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands.
+38
Level 76
Jan 13, 2021
I missed it... my brain short-circuited and I thought it meant "elevation."
+4
Level 46
Jan 13, 2021
same
+4
Level 63
Jan 20, 2021
same
+5
Level 64
May 28, 2021
Glad we're all going crazy together
+27
Level 63
Jan 15, 2021
I misread it as altitude and I'm guessing I'm not the only one.
+4
Level 83
Jan 20, 2021
Yup. I did the same.
+4
Level 93
Apr 12, 2021
misread it as altitude...
+3
Level 78
Aug 30, 2021
Somehow I read it as 'higher altitude'....
+10
Level 89
Jan 12, 2021
The wig thing is a straight face test for defendants. Well, for everyone.
+2
Level 79
Jan 12, 2021
it's pretty rare now outside the criminal courts.
+1
Level 79
May 14, 2021
For you*
+15
Level 75
Jan 13, 2021
Wait what? British signs use miles???
+4
Level 27
Jan 13, 2021
I didnt know the US did lol
+5
Level 78
Jan 13, 2021
Yep, signs are in miles. Although the driver location markers at the side of our motorways are spaced in kilometres.
+28
Level 57
Jan 13, 2021
Arguably, British units of measurements are even stranger than us Americans. At least we stay consistently stupid.
+11
Level 78
Jan 21, 2021
Whoever decided 'stones' was a good unit of measurement obviously never had to teach it. Teaching multiples of 14 is not easy or fun.
+1
Level 83
Dec 30, 2022
Nobody teaches stones however. In school we exclusively learn the metric system.
+10
Level 55
Jan 15, 2021
British banknote currency is largely polymer. All notes apart from the £50 note are currently polymer (which is getting a plastic one in 2021). They are different sizes but it is worth pointing out that they are made of polymer, not paper.
+2
Level 84
Jan 15, 2021
Canadian bills are polymer as well. Just use the term "bills" to differentiate from coins.
+11
Level 73
Jan 20, 2021
I know what you mean, but in the UK, we refer to our paper/polymer money as 'notes' rather than bills. In a restaurant you'd pay a £20 bill with a £20 note. Chances of hearing money referred to as a bill would be slim-to-none.
+14
Level 69
Jan 20, 2021
It would be funny if you allowed to pick the answer "both" for Daniel Racliffe's birthplace.

Though, chances are there is at least one person born in United States with this name too.

+4
Level 57
Jan 20, 2021
15 is Both. Plenty of judges and lawyers wear toupees.
+1
Level 64
Jun 27, 2021
🤣🤣🤣
+1
Level 68
Jan 20, 2021
why do they not refrigerate their eggs? do they just keep them out in the open?
+21
Level 71
Jan 20, 2021
Yes. Eggs have a natural cuticle which seals them against bacteria, and if it is undisturbed it is safe to keep them at room temperature, so you will typically buy and keep eggs this way in Europe. Farming methods in Europe resulting cleaner eggs that don't require washing.

In the U.S., this coating is washed off, allowing bacteria into the egg. This cleaning is needed due to factory farming methods that result in more frequent external contamination. Due to the washing, the eggs need to be kept refrigerated.

More detail here: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-europeans-dont-refrigerate-eggs-2014-12?op=1

+2
Level 67
Jan 25, 2021
This is very interesting!
+3
Level 75
Jan 26, 2021
My grandmother kept her eggs on the counter but refrigerated them if they weren't used within a day or two. Hers hardly ever had chicken poo on them but when my cousin's did she knew they wouldn't keep well if washed, so she would let the poo dry and then sand it off with sandpaper! When my kids were home we ate all the eggs we collected each day so I didn't have to worry about where to keep them or if they needed washing..
+3
Level 57
Sep 10, 2022
Here in Britain we vaccinate our chickens and keep them in more sanitary conditions so theres no need to wash the eggs.
+3
Level 55
Jan 21, 2021
Why in the world are English signs in miles instead of kilometers?
+12
Level 53
Jan 22, 2021
Because we use miles for distance when we're driving. For the same reasons we still use imperial measurements for people (height and weight), but metric for everything else (i.e. no reason whatsoever)
+3
Level 59
Jan 23, 2021
For historical reasons - we've been using them for centuries, and we are very attached to miles (and a few other imperial weights and measures, like pints).
+9
Level 60
Jan 26, 2021
Because The Proclaimers would never have had a hit with '500 Kilometres'.
+1
Level 93
Apr 12, 2021
Changing the speed limit signs would be fairly easy as national speed limits are just marked with a symbol and others are fairly close to round numbers of km/h. Mile marker signs tend to be more precise so would either require all of them to have non-round numbers or be moved to the nearest km unit which just seems not worth it.
+1
Level 64
Jun 27, 2021
It was a Brexit plot hatched by Boris Johnson and his cronies to drag us kicking and screaming out of the EU 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
+2
Level 79
Sep 10, 2022
I think the weirdest bit is the fact that fuel's only been sold in litres for almost 30 years, but we still measure consumption in miles per gallon. Bizarre.
+2
Level 66
Sep 10, 2022
It's easier to teach kids at school about metres and kms than it is to change all the road signs when every car has its meters in miles and drivers that would not approve/be confused on the road
+1
Level 78
Jun 1, 2021
I guessed a few here but was lucky and got 15/15. Interesting quiz.
+4
Level 53
Apr 6, 2022
so the Uk always jokes saying imagine not using the metric system yet they use Miles more Lol
+2
Level 49
Sep 10, 2022
Since when has the UK joked about not using metric?
+2
Level 57
Sep 10, 2022
Lots of people on various websites ridicule USA for using anything but the metric system, at least we use it sometimes in the UK, just not on our roads.
+5
Level 82
Sep 10, 2022
True, but generally speaking it’s not usually Brits mocking Americans for this particular thing - we keep quiet because we know we are in no position to throw stones (no pun intended) when it comes to measuring systems.

But I’ve found on this site that American users assume anyone mocking the US must be British, and British users assume anyone mocking the UK must be American….

+1
Level 73
Sep 23, 2022
I've certainly enjoyed mocking Americans for their use of Imperial on several occasions, however it really doesn't compare to the stupid, incoherent jumble that we use on this side of the pond
+2
Level 67
Sep 10, 2022
Got them all except the obesity question. Didn't realize the English were also a bunch of fatties.
+3
Level 82
Sep 10, 2022
*British. Being a fatty in the UK is sadly definitely not limited to England.
+1
Level 50
Sep 11, 2022
England makes up almost all of the UK and on our side of the pond, 'British' and 'English' are basically interchangeable.
+1
Level 83
Sep 28, 2023
@TheOrca I say this as an English person but do NOT refer to Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish people as English lol
+1
Level 70
Sep 10, 2022
only missed the size of paper notes because all british notes i’ve seen were the same size
+1
Level 57
Sep 10, 2022
All our notes are different, both in size and colour. I thought USA had different sizes to make it easier to tell which note is which as they arent different by colour which makes it easy to tell at a glance.
+1
Level 81
Sep 12, 2022
Nope, the US bills all use the same size and colors AND none of the coins clearly use numerals for their values. The lowest coin value says 'one cent' but we call it a penny and it has no 1 on it. The smallest coin is ten cents, but it says 'dime'. The largest coin is fifty cents, and it says 'half dollar', etc. The dollar coin is distinctive being golden colored since the Sacajawea coin was issued in 2000. US currency is very confusing.
+2
Level 49
Sep 10, 2022
Doesn't really help when you are neither British nor American lol
+1
Level 67
Sep 10, 2022
This UK uses speed limits and road signs in miles because they shifted to the metric system relatively late, in the mid-1960s, when imperial measurements were well established. A conversion to kilometres would have been confusing. People also informally still use imperial measurements when referring to their height and mass.
+2
Level 75
Sep 10, 2022
Fine quiz, fills the time, but... There's an editorial laziness in "x-or-y?" quizzes including the option "Both". Why not include "None" as well and make it even easier to write clues.

I did a quiz ("Gabon or Peru?") that was specifically in protest of this. No "none", no "both", just clues that lead to one or the other - as the name implies...

+1
Level 88
Oct 7, 2022
I disagree with your assessment. IMO having the "both" option on some questions makes it more interesting and challenging. You're welcome to make your quizzes however you see fit, but I don't think it's accurate to characterize this quizmaker's effort as lazy.
+3
Level 65
Sep 11, 2022
UK doesn't have paper money anymore, our banknotes are made from polymer.
+1
Level 39
Sep 12, 2022
Wisconsin would like to respectively disagree on the alcohol consumption part of the quiz. My fellow countryman can't hold their liquor like us Wisconsinites.
+1
Level 39
Dec 15, 2022
Was very surprised about the murder rate. I have lived in both countries and my anecdotal evidence would be that the UK is higher. Alas
+2
Level 83
Dec 30, 2022
The USA's murder rate is something like five times higher but now I'm curious what sort of 'anecdotal evidence' you have...
+2
Level 26
Sep 6, 2023
We don't use paper notes anymore in the UK, only plastic.