American Tourists Slammed by UK Local for One Key Error: 'Help Yourselves'

Newsweek

3 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A Reddit post from a London resident has gone viral after criticizing a common quirk among American tourists—the shortening of the names of places in the capital of the United Kingdom to the point of confusion.
Posted on July 21 to Reddit's r/london forum, u/BulkyAccident issued a humorous but pointed "PSA to Americans visiting this summer: we do not shorten place names here." The post has since garnered 5,600 upvotes since it was shared.
"Was hanging out around Victoria/Pimlico yesterday having coffee and food with friends and we had three separate occasions of holidaying Americans asking directions or for help," the user wrote. "First was how to get to 'Green' (Green Park), and that they'd come via 'Edgware' (Edgware Road—obviously a totally different part of the city to Edgware itself), the next wanted to find their hotel in 'Holland' (Holland Park, obviously not the country region)."
The post went on to caution travelers: "We see it quite a lot on the megathread and as people who live here we got the gist of what they were saying yesterday, but it's such an unnecessary layer of friction and could quite easily end up catastrophic if you're googling the wrong thing, asking for directions, researching somewhere (Gloucester instead of Gloucester Road, Liverpool instead of Liverpool Street, Leicester instead of Leicester Square etc etc). Help yourselves out while visiting, people!"
A stock image of a tourist looking at his phone against the backdrop of the Tower Bridge in London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
A stock image of a tourist looking at his phone against the backdrop of the Tower Bridge in London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
Getty
The PSA comes as the travel industry continues to show strong growth, with a "robust and sustained travel demand" this year even amid growing geopolitical tension, notes the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Around 300 million tourists traveled internationally in the first quarter of 2025, which is around 14 million more than in the same period last year, according to the UNWTO.
Newsweek discussed the frustration in the Reddit post with Jo Hayes, an etiquette expert, who said that the observation holds up.
"Unfortunately, yes, this is, largely, true. And, yes, it does make for awkward, unnecessarily difficult, problematic situations," Hayes said, adding that this is particularly true for the shortening of street and road names but is less so for the names of suburbs, towns and regions.
Hayes explained that Americans often default to a familiar pattern of shorthand. "Americans often/typically name streets and roads by their name only, e.g., 'I'm meeting him at the new cafe on third'—translate: 'I'm meeting him at the new cafe on Third Avenue'. This formula/habit/trend does not typically occur across the pond, so shortening 'Edgware Road' to 'Edgware,' does pose an issue."
The advice? Mindfulness. "I encourage Americans, when traveling abroad, to simply practice self-awareness," Hayes said. "One doesn't need to completely change one's behaviors, but be mindful that you're visiting another country—this is their turf. Courtesy and good manners dictate honoring their customs, and adapting behavior to demonstrate respect for their culture."
Georgia Fowkes, a travel advisor at Altezza Travel, echoed the sentiment. "It's true—we Americans shorten everything to the root, and we do it on autopilot," she told Newsweek. "It's baked into our language—speed, simplicity, informality. We like everything trimmed down so the words flow."
For example, in New York, no one says Fifth Avenue, but rather calls it "Fifth." Back in Pittsburgh, Fowkes always said "Carson" instead of East Carson Street, she noted.
But even Fowkes acknowledges the trouble that can cause in the U.K. "In London, I almost asked a cabbie how to get to 'Holland' because my brain was hunting for the shortcut. But in London, that can send you to the completely wrong place. My British friends cracked up: 'What's next, Big instead of Big Ben?'—and they weren't wrong."
Now, she adjusts her approach. "So, when I'm in London, I leave my American minimalism at home," Fowkes said. "I'm a conscious American in the U.K. now, and I use full names—unless I want the barista thinking I'm headed to the Netherlands and the cab driver rolling his eyes. When in London, do as Londoners do."
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