Research reveals Americans think British people have bad teeth and Australians think we're ugly

May 2024 · 6 minute read

New research has revealed what other countries really think of us Britons, and it doesn't paint a very flattering picture. 

While you might like to imagine curious foreigners doing some research on topics such as the royal family, or the beauty of the British landscape, new findings have suggested they're busy Googling why we have bad teeth and are constantly cold. 

The findings were uncovnered by OnBuy.com, using data from SEO tools Ahrefs and SEMrush, to see what people from other countries have been searching along with terms such as 'British', 'British people' and 'Why do British...'. 

So what exactly do our European neighbours and friends across the pond really think of us? 

Some of the top search terms about Britain from around the world including Spanish people asking why people in the UK are so cold, Italians taking an interest in our television and Polish people asking where it is warmest (stock image)

Some of the top search terms about Britain from around the world including Spanish people asking why people in the UK are so cold, Italians taking an interest in our television and Polish people asking where it is warmest (stock image)

AMERICA

The new research revealed that people from the US are most interested in the state of dental hygiene in the UK, with one common search being: 'Why do British people have bad teeth?'

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While some simply left it at that, others went one step further and questioned why Britons have 'crooked' teeth. 

What foreigners research about Britons 

US: Bad or crooked teeth, what we call biscuits and why do we eat beans for breakfast

Australia: Why are British people ugly, how do we shower and why do we say 'innit'

Canada: Also curious about the state of our teeth, the pronunciation of scone and how much tea we drink

Spain: Teeth again, and why we're always cold

Italy: Teeth, who won Bake Off and who is The Stig 

Germany: Driving on the left and why British people are 'crazy'

Netherlands: Why are houses so expensive but cars so cheap

Poland: Warmest spot in the UK, heir to the throne and 'What's up with British girls'

Portugal: Crooked teeth, what a scone looks like and what the food is like

New Zealand: Teeth yet again, and how to find a British boyfriend 

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Another hot topic for Americans was food, with one of the top results asking: 'What do British people call biscuits?'

Just to confuse matters, the US and the UK use the same term 'biscuit' to name two completely different items. 

The UK's version of a biscuit is a small savoury or sweet treat compared to the North American flour-based baked food product.

Americans were also curious as to why British people eat baked beans for breakfast - a staple of the Fully English. 

Australia

Rather brutal in their search terms, one of the top questions Australians asked about Britons was: 'Why are British people so ugly?'

Staying true to the apparent stereotype, they also asked why people in Britain have 'bad teeth'. 

The Aussies were also curious as to why we say 'innit' and bizarrely questioned: 'How do British people shower?' 

Canada

In agreement with the Americans and Australians, Canadians were also incredibly curious about British people's teeth - this time asking why they are 'yellow. 

For those north of the border, they showed a huge interest in British speech, asking how they say hello and how they pronounce scone.  

Again, in line with the U.S, Canada were also interested in our food customs - questioning what our 'eating etiquette is' and just how many cups of tea a day we tend to drink. 

Spain

Meanwhile, in Europe, the Spanish have been asking Google to explain why British people are 'so cold'. 

Rather disappointingly, the Spaniards continued the trend of questioning why Britons have bad teeth.  

Italy

Oddly, one of the top searches for Italians was trying to understand how they are British, closely followed by: 'Who won the British Bake Off UK?'

Television appeared to be a common theme with Italian people, with one of the most common searches questioning who 'The Stig' in the UK Top Gear is - and of course, asking why Brits have yellow teeth. 

Of the 11 countries involved in the research, seven of them made reference to Britain's 'bad' and 'crooked' teeth in their top searches (stock image)

Of the 11 countries involved in the research, seven of them made reference to Britain's 'bad' and 'crooked' teeth in their top searches (stock image)

GERMANY 

German searches were straight to the point with the number one phrase being: 'The British are crazy'.  

While 'British Lidl' also proved a popular search term, Germans were also extremely interested in English drivers, searching ‘Why do the English drive on the left?’ and ‘Why do the English have their steering wheel on the right hand side?’

NETHERLANDS

People in the Netherlands we much more interested in how the British way of life as opposed to how they look. 

They were keen to find out ‘Why are houses in England so expensive?’, ‘What's the British secret service called?’ and ‘Why are English cars so cheap?’ 

POLAND

In Poland, residents wanted to know ‘What’s up with British girls?’, as well as being curious to find out ‘Who is the heir to the UK throne?’, 

They were also keen to know what the warmest spot in the UK is, perhaps hoping to avoid the chillier spells.  

Portugal

The top findings for Portugal were mixed, but still featured the favourite question: 'Why do the British have crooked teeth?'

Other regular searches centered around British food, asking what we typically eat and researching what an 'English scone' looks like.  

New Zealand 

Being a little kinder to Britons, one of the top searches for people from New Zealand was: 'How to find a British boyfriend.' 

However, despite the Kiwis' desire to find an eligible bachelor in the UK, they were still keen to find out 'why are British teeth so messed up?'  

American's were keen to find out what British people call 'biscuits'. Picture: Stock Confusingly, the  American biscuit is very different to those found in the UK. Picture: Stock

One of the top American searches related to food, with the residents trying to understand the difference between the UK biscuit (left) compared to the US version (right). Pictures, stock

And what do British people search about themselves?

The UK population most frequently search about themselves with the findings revealing searches such as: ‘What do British people look like?’, ‘Are Scottish people British?, ‘Are Irish people British?, ‘Is tea British?’, and ‘Why do British people drink so much?’.

Cas Paton, managing director of OnBuy.com commented: 'Stereotypes have been around for a long time. We all have specific perceptions on the habits of other countries, but never really look back in the mirror. 

'Some of these findings are humorous and surprising, and some we will probably never know the correct answers to. 

'However, these results have made one thing clear which is that we need to invest more in our dental hygiene!' 

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