American turns to Reddit to ask if the concept of Brits ‘going to the pub’ is real

The concept of the pub is the site of the latest culture clash between Brits and Americans.

Americans, apparently, are unsure whether people go to the pub as often as it appears in British films and television and it looks like our drinking culture shocks them.

Posting on Reddit, someone asked: “Is ‘going to the pub’ a real thing in the UK?”

Reddit

They continued: “When I watch TV shows and movies set in the UK, they make it seem like people ‘go to the pub’ fairly regularly and it’s a normal thing to do. But is this really how it is?

“For example, here in the US if you go to bars multiple times a week and mentioned this to people they might think you are an alcoholic – which is fair because at a lot of bars the only people that are regularly there during quiet times really are alcoholics (as in they are drunk a lot of the time).

“But it seems like in the UK people might go to a pub regularly and not be an alcoholic. What’s the reality, do actual UK people ‘go to the pub’ once or twice a month usually? Or do people really ‘go to the pub’ all the time?”

Reacting to the post, people quickly let the American known that, yes, British people love the pub.

One said: “If you have a good local boozer then you end up knowing everyone in there and you can pop down there when you’re bored because you know they’ll be someone in there you can chat to for a bit. I bloody LOVE the pub and don’t fully trust people who don’t!”

Another added: “OMFG! Yes! It’s like the best pastime ever! Once a week a bare minimum; however, I have been 2-3 times through the week after work - a few beers before home.”

And a third said: “The pub is life! I get withdrawals if I don’t go at least once a week!”

Meanwhile, after a screenshot of the post was shared on Twitter, others weighed in with their pub opinions:

Amid all the surprise, the original poster later added: “And yes I understand pubs are a real thing, but if you watched 90s movies you might think that people really did ‘go to the mall’ all the time when in reality it’s something people generally do only a couple times a month. It just seems like these TV shows are exaggerating how common it is to actually ‘go to the pub’.

If anything, the shows are doing the opposite.