An American woman living in the United Kingdom said a string of British habits and laws "sometimes keep her awake at night," after outlining them in a video posted to her TikTok channel this week.
Maxine Berry, who posts as @yorkshireyank and moved from South Dakota to York 23 years ago, told viewers she still finds several British-isms funny, strange or baffling despite her long residence. Among the items she singled out were the TV programmes commonly shown in hospital waiting rooms, the ubiquity of carpets in homes, centuries-old laws protecting swans and some traditional pub dish names.
In the video, Berry said she is "pretty sure the NHS is using shows like Homes Under The Hammer and Come Dine With Me as medicine," noting that those programmes are frequently on in waiting areas. She also described what she called an "utter obsession with carpets," asking why some households do not install tile or hardwood flooring and acknowledging that her British friends often cite cold weather as a reason for choosing carpet.
Berry raised the status of swans as another source of bewilderment. She noted that laws dating back to the 1300s declare swans the property of the Crown and that subsequent wildlife protections make it illegal to kill, eat or keep swans. Until 1998, killing a swan was treated as an act of treason, and the birds remain a protected species.
She praised Britain’s postcode system for its precision, saying it can "pinpoint you with satellite accuracy," but said she finds Royal Mail responses baffling when deliveries fail, citing instances in which the service has left a card saying the nearest depot was far away. Berry also pointed to British pub dish names such as toad in the hole, bubble and squeak and spotted dick, describing them as "quite wild" and likely to sound whimsical to newcomers.
Viewers on TikTok offered context and pushback in comment threads. Several users explained that carpets help retain heat in a climate many described as chilly, while others noted that wood and tile floors are common in some homes. One commenter offered a historical explanation, writing that in past decades tiled floors were associated with lower-income households because only wealthier families could afford carpeting.
Other responses referenced older statutes still on the books, including a provision in the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 that restricts beating or shaking rugs in the street, with a limited exception for shaking doormats before 8 a.m. News reports and historical records show such laws remain part of the statutory record, though enforcement in modern times is uncommon.
Berry has previously used her account to compare daily life in the United States and the U.K., drawing attention to differences in postal arrangements and social norms. In earlier videos she noted that many Americans retrieve mail from roadside boxes and sometimes drive to collect it, and she has contrasted U.S. openness about prices and purchases with what she described as British reticence to discuss personal spending.
In the latest post, Berry closed by inviting viewers to share other British quirks they had noticed. Her observations reflect the broader social-media trend of expatriates cataloguing cultural differences, drawing engagement and commentary from both long-term residents and newcomers.