A Non-American Asked Why The "American Lean" Is A Thing, And The Responses From Americans Are Hilarious And Sad

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07-05-2025

You may have heard that one of the ways non-Americans pick out American tourists is by the "American lean." That is to say, we tend to lean against objects or shift our weight to one foot when we're waiting around.
Apparently, there's some truth to this: According to former CIA chief of disguise Jonna Mendez, Europeans think Americans are "a little slouchy" and the CIA would train spies to stand up straighter in order to better blend in overseas.
But why do Americans do this? Redditor Raski_Devora asked the people of Reddit that very question, and honestly, the responses from Americans were a little TOO real.
A lot of explanations basically boiled down to "we feel awkward."
"I didn't know it was an American thing, but I often feel awkward just standing there. Leaning against something makes me feel less awkward, I guess? I donno. It's kinda like asking why Slavs squat. It's just what we do, I guess."
— Santos_L_Halper
Because frankly, standing completely squarely would make you look suspicious, don't you think?
"Who the f**k stands with both feet firmly planted? What are you bracing yourself for, the emotional impact of finding out you're a dork?"
— bipocni
I mean, you're just cooler when you lean.
"Cuz we posted up straight chillin at all times"
— Embarrassed-Buy-8634
Maybe we're just too cool, ever thought of THAT?
"Americans are less formal in most situations, good posture is less emphasized. It's cool. Think James Dean or fashion models."
— No-Oil-1669
However, most comments landed on a specific issue: It feels like we're never allowed to sit.
"American and I've gotta lean on everything because every job I worked was aggressively against us sitting in case the customers saw us comfortable, I guess? There's a weird notion that sitting equals lazy."
— pickleruler67
I mean, how often do you see a cashier sitting? Rarely.
"Every retail job I had acted like a customer seeing you sitting would be the most offensive, f***ed up thing you could do."
— Neat-Client9305
I think you should be legally allowed to reverse-fire your boss if they speak this phrase to you:
"Not allowed to sit at work, so we tend to lean against things. The phrase, 'Time to lean, time to clean,' is also very prevalent. We're not okay btw."
— W3R3Hamster
And then there's just our general work culture.
"My back is sore from carrying the company."
— stoolprimeminister
The grind, the hustle.
"We're exhausted all the time."
— Jackanatic
The lack of national work holidays.
"Like four days off work a year. We tired."
— redboe
And then there's the whole health insurance (or lack thereof) thing.
"We have a shit ton of injuries from never going to the doctor and OSHA violations."
— Upstairs-Parsley3151
The '90s kids will relate to this one, too. We have a very specific source of back pain, especially since we had roughly one minute to get to our next class and therefore no time to get to our lockers.
"My back hurts from going to school between 1990–2004 and wearing dual shoulder strap bookbags that hung low and destroyed an entire generation's spine."
— EndersScroll
Now, some Americans in the thread refused to believe the validity of this "American lean" concept. And to be fair, it's not like every single American leans, and every single non-American stands like a dang statue.
"I do not believe non americans don't lean.... what if they've been standing in a line for an hour?"
— Always_Worry
But people mentioned the prevalence of squatting in some countries and cultures.
"Drive down the street in South Korea and you see folks squatting instead of leaning."
— Artistic_Potato_1840
And the Brits in the thread were being very British.
"Englishman here. We don't lean during queueing. We just suffer, it's what we're good at."
— kennypeace
My personal theory relates to this observation:
"I've noticed this since the 1970s. It's because there is a lack of good public infrastructure for seating, plus the idea that sitting down is frowned upon in work culture at the working-class level."
— FreeNumber49
There's a war on seating in this country, because god forbid people spend time somewhere without spending money.
"There is literally nowhere to sit in public. No chairs in stores, no benches on the street, no tables near gas stations. America can't stomach the idea of a homeless person resting anywhere, so there are NO comfortable places to sit at all."
— BuddhistNudist987
@nyctsubway / Via x.com
But I would also buy an argument like this:
"I don't know if it's just an American thing, but it's body language. It's saying, 'I'm comfortable talking to you, I'm here to listen, I take you seriously, but this isn't a professional meeting, and you're not my boss.'"
— paco64
Or, maybe this person is right, and it's all just confirmation bias.
"My assumption is that it's mostly false pattern recognition. They notice Americans for a lot of real reasons: clothes, travel guides, looking around unfamiliar with the surroundings, accents, and then since they are paying more attention to them they notice smaller things like when they lean on things. They probably aren't paying nearly as much attention to their fellow locals who may also be leaning to a comparable degree."