As an American I find the idea that a family would sit down to a meal and not insist that guests eat with them; likewise if I were the guest, to be absolutely insane. Incomprehensible

Jesus Christ, someone invited to your home and then eating in front of someone without being invited to join in is inconceivable to me. That’s just incredibly rude.

Tag questions was super interesting to me, because it reveals what each culture dislikes more. The Brits use tag questions specifically to be less direct, but to my American sensibility, "less direct" comes off as "passive aggressive." More direct _is_ more polite to me.

As an American when we do use tag questions I feel like they're passive aggressive. "You should make sure you don't burn the fries again, shouldn't you?" Comes off as "Don't burn the fries again and I feel like i have to tell you because I think you're an idiot."

As an American I'm genuinely shocked and horrified at the very idea of eating a meal in front of a guest without offering them anything. I would never even consider such a thing! And even if the guest refused my offer I would still probably pester them throughout the meal with more offers of food and drink because I would feel so awkward. If I was a guest at someone else's home and they ate a meal in front of me without offering anything I'd be extremely offended. I'd probably tell everyone I know how rude that person was.

In America if you're in the house when dinner is served you are expected to eat. I see myself as the HOST making my guests comfortable.

My father was from Sweden. My mother solidly American Yankee. What I was told is that the Swedish relatives would offer food but you were supposed to say, "No" unless they asked 3 times. Because they were poor and didn't really have food to share. My American family were also poor but they would ALWAYS set an extra plate ahead of time in case someone showed up during the dinner and they were doing that at times when they were so poor that they would just have baked beans and bread. But they still valued guests more than food.

As an American, I find tag questions to be supremely irritating. It's like someone is trying to use psychology, usually poorly, to persuade (or dissuade) me of something. My immediate reaction is to get my hackles up. I feel like it's them trying to think for me which, given the American love of personal liberty, is a great way to piss one of us off.

In my American family, a pretty standard question when you walk in the door is "have you eat yet? Can I make you something?" Especially my grandmother who felt it was her duty to ensure that all the world was properly fed. God rest her.

The last thing he talked about is often referred to as "the long goodbye". In the Midwest in particular it's initiated by slapping your knees and saying "whelp I suppose" but the conversation usually continues at the door while coats and shoes are put on and indeed does last about 30 min. 😂

It IS very much "taboo" to point blank ask an American what their salary is. We do very much enjoy "family meals". I and my siblings are getting "old" but every Monday we go to Mom and Dads house for dinner and we talk about or lives and "catch up" with each other. Old stories are told, laughs are had, and Mom sends us all home with "leftovers". Someday I will miss that terribly.

As an American, it’s not uncommon for my grown children, grandchildren, or siblings to bring an extra person or 3 to a family gathering for a meal. We always feed them and make them feel at home. For Thanksgiving we wound up with 23 people. No problem! As a child I was taught I needed to share whatever I had with whoever I was with, even if it was only a stick of gum or 1/2 of a candy bar.

I'm American. The idea of eating a meal while someone was visiting me WITHOUT offering them anything... is HORRIFYING. Even if I hadn't cooked much food, I'd still find a way to divide each serving into smaller portions... or stretch out the meal with something extra like bread & butter, cheese & crackers, or another quick side dish... or literally running to the grocery store. ANYTHING but eating in front of a guest without offering them something. I'd just as soon drop my pants, take a shit on the floor, and pick it up and fling it at them. If I was at someone's house and they started eating dinner without inviting me to join them, I'd leave and never return. Fuck that.

I have seen on very rare occasions a visitor not being asked to eat with the family but it is considered very rude. Actually, many American families will send leftovers home with guests if it is something they enjoyed or send a to go plate for someone not able to make it to meal.

My favorite teacher was British, we’ll call her Mrs. E. It was the 90s and I was growing up in Las Vegas, NV. Mrs. E. shocked all of us when she pointed out that we all used “like” repeatedly without being very consciously aware of it. She challenged me to try to go the whole day without using “like” (she knew I was a proud word nerd). I was astonished by how dependent I was on this dumb, lil word! Thanks to Mrs. E, I pursued a career in education. And I can like totally turn on/off my addiction to- dammit!

I was talking with some drunk Scottish guy and noticed that he was getting pissed real fast. He then stopped and said he was fighting the urge to smack me because I was eating while he was talking. I guess he thought it was so rude and I had never even heard that idea

As an American--and a Southerner--it would be incredibly rude to eat and not invite guests to join. When someone comes to your house you always ask if they would like something to drink, and I keep a box of crackers, a brick of cream cheese and a jar of pepper jelly in my cabinet for when someone shows up unexpectedly. When someone comes over, you feed them and fix them a cold drink, period. That said, a meal time coming around and not being invited to join is a common social cue that your hosts are ready for you to leave. If you're not welcome at the meal, they will hold it until you are gone, but would never be rude enough to point out that it's meal time and you're not invited so it's time for you to go. As a child, I can remember playing at a friend's house and before meal time, the mother would generally either tell me to call my mother and ask her if it was all right if I stayed for supper, or tell me to call my mother and tell her it was time for me to come home. We wouldn't ever leave a child alone in a room while the family ate without them. Unthinkable.

I was an apartment maintaince man a few years ago, and in the city I worked in there were a lot of Sudanese immigrants. I almost never went into one of their apartments without being heavily pressured to consume something. If they were making dinner they made me a plate, if they weren't they made me a tea, or gave me a fruit or a soda. Almost every time. And I wasn't even an actual guest, I was just fixing the toilet/lights/heat!

I (an American) have recently had a surprise guest show up right as dinner was being finished up. They were not someone who would feel comfortable eating with us, so instead my co-host kept the guest occupied while I discretely set the meal up to be warm and ready whenever the guest was ready to leave. Hiding your food when it isn't appropriate to share is a hosting skill here in the US.

In my experiences, usually if the host says "id better start cooking dinner now" instead of "do you want to stay for dinner" it means "go home so we can eat!" would never eat in front of a guest without giving them something, but if you're still there at that point you've made it awkward for everyone by not getting the hint. I live in Australia.

Can confirm, I'm American and it has never occurred to me to not ask a guest to join for dinner. I legitimately feel like a bad hostess not asking within the first 10 minutes if they'd like something to eat/drink!

My wife and I made the mistake of an impromptu stop at my new brother-in-laws parents house, just because we found ourselves in their neighborhood. No warning mind, you, just knocked on their door to say hi. Could not leave until I had been filled to the gills with pork chops, pasta, salad, vegetables, cakes, and more than I can remember. Had to drive away in a food semi-coma. Oh yeah, they were Italian. Now that I think about it, maybe our hospitality rules are reinforced by all the hospitality rules of the many immigrants.

My husband's paternal grandmother used to say, "Get in this house right now, but not before you give me a hug! There's a ham in the fridge and a cake under the glass" because she met you on the porch for that hug and she ALWAYS had a big ham in the fridge and a cake sitting in a big glass covered cake plate...LOL. His maternal grandmother would also meet you on the porch, but she wasn't as much of a hugger. But, she would immediately direct you to the kitchen and list off the selection in the fridge. She didn't typically have a cake under the glass, which could explain the difference in sizes. Frankly, I preferred his dad's mom, she was a sugary sweet as that cake...LOL

I'm American. The second someone comes into my home, I offer them a snack and a drink. If they're going to be a while, I think of how I can feed everyone lunch/dinner while they're with me, even if it's a surprise guest, showing up unannounced. I wouldn't dare leave anyone hungry. Just yesterday, my roommate's family was over, and even though it wasn't my family, I tried offering to buy a pizza so we could all eat together.

My mother told me that it was bad manners to eat in front of someone without offering some to them. If it's a snack, and there isn't enough to go around, keep it to yourself until later. If it's a meal, adding another side dish enables the meat to stretch so a well stocked pantry is a must. However, there have been times when I've been at someone's house and not invited to eat with them. It always made me feel like an outcast somehow. Now that I'm an adult, my pantry is well stocked and we can always make room at the table, regardless of how poor we are. It seems to me that you're more likely to be fed by a poor person - they know how it feels to do without.

My family calls that odd tendency to linger after social gatherings "getting caught in the tractor beam" but I think that's just my nerdy folks.

In Australia if someone just drops in the minimum hospitality is to offer a cup of tea or coffee. The minimum gracious response is "yes please", even if you don't want a cuppa, even if the beverages on offer are of the cheapest sort (I'm looking at you instant coffee and you, tea bag). It's not about the beverage, it's about friendship. I always offer biscuits or cake or whatever coffee/tea appropriate snack I have on hand. If it's getting close to meal time, an invite is always extended.

I cannot believe that there is a culture in the world that would invite a guest into their homes and then begin eating a meal without inviting them to join in. " Guests are sacred" is universal.

I've heard many times about LOUD Americans being noticed overseas. I'm sure there are some loud folks, but perhaps there are many quiet American tourists too, and they don't get noticed by the locals because they're quiet.

I was told by my mom that eating in front of someone else without sharing was rude no matter where we were, much more so at your own house. We definitely had an open door policy, we never locked the door and would encourage our friends to come in without knocking. My friend who was from New York often wondered how we weren't dead. The answer is obvious, day or night, our house was always full not only of my large family but all of our friends as well!! Trying to rob us would be suicide, my house is literally never empty

As a kid my brother's best friend's mother didn't invite him to eat dinner with them, despite him staying at their house until late at night, and my family thought it was really weird. It's assumed that you're gonna feed the person at your house, especially if it's a kid.

In the southern US, you can't enter a friend's house at any time of day without being made to eat something. LOL

There are few creators willing to say something positive about American culture. So thanks. Yes. We feed our guests, because we actually care about you. Its not because we are obligated to.

On the topic of sharing food, I experienced this on a whole other level when flying from the US to South Korea. The (presumably South Korean) people in my aisle offered to share their snacks with me. We hadn't been talking to one another either. This has always left me wondering if it's rude to eat in front of even strangers in public places without sharing in South Korea!

As a child I always hoped that my parents would take there time leaving, so I could play and chat with my cousins longer,( vice versa) we would always jump with joy saying "there talking about politics we will be here for another hour!" Good times before everyone grew up and started hating eachother,

As an american I realized I never ate at anyone's house growing up. Even if they were in the middle of cooking dinner when we stopped by, when dinner was brought up we would just say "no thanks we already ate" and then just...leave. And the other family would just put dinner on pause until we left. I guess the idea of not eating around guests without them joining in is SO ingrained in us that we would sooner cut our visits short than stick around without eating.

There is another angle to the etiquette rule of always offering guests food at mealtimes: it's also important that as a guest that was not invited over for a meal that you recognize when it's best that you leave and let your host and their family have their meal even if they do offer to let you join. Since it's practically unheard of for Americans to not offer guests a spot at the table, it's important to recognize that sometimes, even though your host is making a sincere offer, they clearly aren't prepared to entertain, and probably would feel a little awkward serving a guest whatever basic weeknight meal they'd planned to eat themselves. If you make an excuse and leave at the right time, you increase the chances that you get invited over for dinner when your host is actually prepared to have a dinner party.

My neighbor friend used to be dismayed when she interrupted us eating dinner. But we had no set time as my father was a surgeon. We joked that we were always eating. She was always welcome! Miss her.

Two options if you don't have enough food and there are guest in the house at meal time. 1: Offer the guest a meal and either divide it evenly and everybody gets less or feed the guests more and you eat less. 2: don't serve anyone until they leave and don't mention that it is meal time. The huge pile of leftovers in the fridge comes in handy when you have unexpected guests. You can typically augment a meal. I remember a story my mother told of the Priest visiting at meal time and we only had 2 porkchops that we were stretching for 4 people. That night it was stretched to 5.

As a Hispanic American, I can confirm that it will take 30+ minutes to leave _any_ family gathering - birthday parties, funerals, quinces, a Tuesday lunch - because your fourth cousin's best friend that's basically family wants to know how you've been

As a Louisiana American, we serve any guests first at mealtime, no matter who no matter what. I remember having contractors working on my walkway behind the house and making them stop and come eat some sandwiches with our family for lunch. No wasn't an option, and we weren't going to eat without them. It's just American, and also Southern American, hospitality.

Lived in Scotland for a few years where I ran across the phrase, "keep your pecker up". While it was a polite reference to self-esteem over there, it translated differently to a Native Californian.

The best time to learn something important about an American friend is when their hand has grabbed the doorknob to leave, they're at their most vulnerable and since they are intending to leave, feel most compelled to balance out the social negative of "leaving" with a social positive "confiding".

My son's friend was my favorite way of emptying out my fridge of leftovers.

Bear in mind: many white Americans' ancestors came to America to escape places and situations where they were food insecure, and the ancestors of Europe's working class stayed in those places and lived through food insecurity. Even now, decades or centuries later, that can have had impacts on customs. The ability to feed your guests without minding the cost is something we are very proud of, even when it is objectively no longer as big a deal as it once was.

Thank you for keeping it real here. There are so many negative stereotypes of Americans and I appreciate a non-American getting accurate info out there. But you're fully adopted and very glad to have you here!

So right about the coffee cup size! Everywhere I have ordered coffee in Europe, it came in a cup that belonged in my kids play kitchen. Sometimes it is extremely strong, like in Italy, but still very small. ( Had to use a “like” after your comment)

How loud an American is absolutely depends on Geography. In the Southeast people talk rather quietly most of the time, while Northeastern folks tend to be really loud and boisterous especially when having fun. It's fun being with "loud Yankee" friends, they really know how to pet loose and enjoy your company! 😂

I literally have lost friends because of not being invited to a meal. Me and my wife were at a college friend's house, and we had been there for a little while, when all the sudden they got up and went into the other room to have dinner. They didn't ask us to join, or ask if we wanted anything. Me and my wife agreed it was incredibly rude, and after that experience we haven't spoken since.

When it comes to food hospitality, there are generational differences between Americans. For instance, my mother, who was born near the end of World War II, was raised by parents who were products of the Depression. My mother could remember many times in her primary school years when a friend of hers would be visiting around dinnertime, and her mother would announce to the friend, "It's time for dinner, so you'd better head home." For my grandmother, who grew up in an era when few people could afford to feed their families, sending a friend home before dinner made perfect sense. To my mother it was embarrassing and felt mean-spirited, and as a consequence when she became an adult she would feed anyone who walked through her door, even if she didn't have much to feed her own family. If you visit me around meal time, you will at least be offered a plate, and at most we will feed you so much you will have to be rolled out by Oompa-Loompas.

HAHA! As an American, I immediately responded to the "you should make sure not to burn the frenchfries, shouldn't you?" with the thought, "how passive-aggressive!" It came across as more acerbic and sarcastic than "Make sure not to burn the frenchfries" would. I'll have to keep this in mind for any cross-pond interactions I have in the future!

I love how you describe tag questions. My extremely shy husband (both of us Americans) used to end his sentence with a very awkward "or..." as if he was going to suggest an alternative.

I realize different cultures have different norms, but … how in the heck do you sit and eat in front of a guest and not offer them some chow? That’s inconceivable to me.

As an American, there’s ways of having guests over without serving food. For example, I invite people over for a bonfire or dessert at a much later hour mentioning that we’re meeting up after dinner. Another option is after lunch so you’re only serving a snack, or after breakfast so you’re only serving coffee making sure people know that you have an engagement to be at for lunch. Bottom line is: You gotta serve something & if it can’t be a meal make it clear in the invite that it’s just dessert or a snack.

I lost count of how many times I would eat a peanut butter sandwich in the kitchen when one of my husband's single friends showed up at dinner time. I always offered them a meal, even if I only made enough for the two of us.

My family always had this habit when guest were leaving the house--they would walk the person out to their car, and then talk to them through the window for about 10-20 minutes. It didn't matter how hot or cold it was, or if it was sunny or raining/snowing. Every time a guest left our home, a family member (usually my dad) would walk them to their car, and then say goodbyes for 10-20 minutes. It never occurred to me that that may not be normal.

In our family, we call it the "long goodbye." We take bets on how long it will take to get from the living room to the car. 20 min.? 30 min.? "Don't forget your brownies" and "Where did the kids' shoes get to?" and "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you." I always forget about the awkward final car goodbye. One last bit of gossip...one last reminder of the next family get-together...one last "Love y'all. Drive safe!"

I've lived in Scotland, England, Norway and Sweden. The idea of feeding family but not people in the house is completely alien.

Here in Virginia, not being invited to dinner if a person is at the house at the time, is akin to being shunned. If this was to ever happen, he person not invited would never assciate with the "friend" or any other person in the former friend's family ever again.

I have to say, as an American living in France (10+ years), the tendency for the French (and Brits when I run into them) to pepper tag questions everywhere REALLY BUGS me. It comes off as passive aggressive. If you want me to do something, just say it. Big cultural difference, I find.

It is unimaginable not to include a guest in a meal in the US. I had thought this was universal.

My uncle's wife invited me over to their home to spend the day with my Grandma. It was a 4 hour drive each way. I get there, and she had made my Grandma a half of a sandwich. Didn't even offer me a glass of water. About 90 minutes later, she started making dinner and said "well, glad you could visit. Have a safe drive home." So much for an all day visit. Found out she & Uncle were starving my Grandma so she lose weight; also withheld my G's medications. We got her out of that hellish situation soon after. So, the only time I ever experienced horrible food etiquette was from a selfish, lying, conniving, and felonious in law.

My mom always makes sure we have extra rice, potatoes, or pasta in the pantry just in case someone stops by. It makes it easy to stretch pretty much any meal, no matter how much we were originally cooking.

The brevity of the Gettysburg Address is a big reason why it's become so famous - unlike most political speeches of the era, it was short enough to be reprinted in a newspaper column.

I am an American and have always assumed the tag question was people just being rude.

I’m an American living in an apartment with a lot of immigrant families with children that my son is friends with. We’ve run into the problem of our dinner invitation being denied because the children don’t eat American food but they won’t leave because they don’t understand American culture. My son has taken to just walking these kids to their home when it’s near dinner time and making his goodbyes so we aren’t put in an awkward situation.

I'm an American and, depending on who it comes from, I see tag questions as someone trying to plant an idea into my head while attempting to make me feel like I'm the one who came up with the idea originally. It's shady and weird. I hate it especially in the workplace, because my equals will use these tag questions to try to boss me around and exert power over me when they are not my boss.

Haha! I've heard that lingering while leaving a family gathering is referred to as a 'Midwest Goodbye' so it might not be a general American thing.

My father wanted plain meals, a meat and two veggies. No casseroles. There were four of us, therefore there was four pieces of meat. There was always plenty of vegetables. If a visitor showed up at meal time, my mother suddenly wasn't very hungry or the children gave up their portion of meat and got some favorite food, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.. It was considered rude to visit at mealtime. But if someone did, they were fed.

I went back to the USA to visit family - a plumber was required who was the brother of a friend and as it was after work hours I asked him if he'd like something to drink - coffee or a beer. Oh yes please. In the meantime in the other room my sister and sister-in-law, waving hands frantically and jumping up and down wording the word No no NOOOOOOO. You would never have a workman in your english households without offering a cuppa. like 100% must offer

Even though I come from a large family (14 children), we didn't have much extended family in our growing up years; and none that we saw regularly. So we just adopted everyone we got to know! I think our largest Thanksgiving ended up with 70-80 people! But, Christmas was more just for family, and a few friends that had become like family. It was always our habit to invite people that were around at mealtime to join us. But we also tried not to "accidentally" hang out at other people's houses at mealtimes (unless we had been specifically invited to do so); particularly if all of us were present! 😊 If we were invited someplace for a meal, we usually offered to bring food to contribute to the meal. Note that I've moved out, and live a good distance away from all my family, among people I had never met 2 years ago, I always feel the urge to offer food anytime a need is mentioned. (A new mom needs meals, visitors to the church need someone to host them, etc.) I even got help preparing (and paying for) a Thanksgiving meal for about 40-45 people last year!

Part of the reason for not disclosing how much someone is worth is that few people tend to care. People want to speak to each other as peers and money talk tips that balance.

What would happen if a Brit said: "sorry for the mess." when the house is pristine. Then the visitor said: "No Worries, I'll wait until you get done cleaning up."

The first thing you see when you enter our home is a sign that reads “You Are Welcome To Share Such As We’ve Got, The Leaks In The Roof And The Soup In The Pot” it doesn’t matter if your family or foe. This is how it’s always been and I can’t imagine it any other way.

At my house it is not uncommon for us to plan a cook out for Saturday for 6 and it turns into 18 or 20, we always have the ability to ramp up a simple cook out to a full blown party cook out

I don't think I could eat in front of someone, in any situation, without offering them some. Much less in my home. Good lord.

I am English and always happy to share our food with friends and if there wasn’t enough of what I had cooked for the family to share with them I would always offer them a sandwich or a salad as always have that sort of thing in the fridge. I can’t imagine sitting down to eat and not offer a friend to join us.

I have never had anyone in our house that we weren't willing to feed, including total strangers and contractors. I've never been to anyone's house that didn't invite me to eat. I come from Israel, and I live in the United States, and in both cases, it is unthinkable to eat without inviting your guests to join you, and if they want more servings, that is nothing but a compliment. The idea that you would leave someone out is unthinkable, guests have stomachs too.

My oldest son had a friend who would never sit down to dinner with us. I asked my son why, he told me friend’s family only had one serving apiece for family members. He didn’t want anyone to not have enough. Told son to have friend come into kitchen while I was cooking so friend could see how much was being served. It worked. Friend ate with us two or three times a week. Wonderful kid, we loved him.

I was raised that nobody steps into your house without being offered food/drink.

I am Canadian, you just always offer anyone at your house food and drink... period. I can't even imagine not feeding people - any people in my house 😂

When my two older kids were at the local community college and often had friends over, I would get home from work and count the cars in the driveway to find out how many people I was feeding that night. The idea of not offering them a meal was inconceivable, even if I had nothing to offer but beans and rice. I was always taught that eating in front of someone without sharing my meal was the height of rudeness.

The eating and sharing food with guests thing. i was raised with the notion that eating in front of our guests without offering them a place at the table was selfish and rude. My grandmother's opinion was, likewise, "if you don't have enough to go around, you don't eat until the guests have gone home." The unspoken but understood part of that was that not having enough was somehow a failure, and the first thing I myself do upon accepting a guest inside is ask if they're hungry or thirsty or want a coffee, too. As my mom and and grandmother did.

The social pressure to feed guests in America is very strong. It is actually so strong that many people are unable to take a polite "no thanks" from a guest. We will continue to repeat offers of food or drink, try to persuade guests to eat, and offer an increasingly wild selection of everything we have in the kitchen. Guests will often take food they don't want just to end the conversation. But if I think about it logically - if someone is not hungry, why should that bother me?

As an American, I can't imagine having a guest over and eating a meal without them. Even if they're not hungry, they're still welcome at the table. If someone's in my house, they're either a guest or an intruder. A knife may be the right call in both cases, for different reasons.

As an American that has lived in the UK for 10 years this the best KZfaq channel about Americans.

As someone from the Ohio Pennsylvania line, where most of my family is from Pennsylvania, one of the first questions anyone in my family will ask you when you walk in the house is "You eat yet?" In my parts of the woods, it is indeed ignorant to be having dinner and not invite someone if you've invited them to your home. The same can be said of visiting tho. You don't expect people to feed you. So if you're at someone's house, and their about to have dinner, you respectfully offer to leave if they'd like to eat and not feed you

I'm an American etiquette consultant married to a Brit and specialize in both cultures etiquette. Americans typically have hospitality like no other continent I've visited or lived on.

I'm German and apparently a lot of families here also don't always invite guests to eat with them. Personally I have NEVER experienced this and I think it would be beyond rude. Even if you didn't cook enough you can still share what you have and then just have a snack afterwards if you're still hungry, unless you really can't afford it.

I’m Scottish (North British for those unaware of how the UK works) and for me whether a guest eats or not depends on timing and circumstance. If they have been invited then I’ll feed them if they are still around for the evening meal, but if they have just dropped in unannounced, something not really done in Scotland, then their chances of getting fed are 50/50. If they arrive before I put dinner on then I’ll try and make enough for them but if they have arrived after I’ve already prepared the portions, or there are too many guests, then I will say, “sorry, I wasn’t expecting guest,” to which they are obliged to respond something like, “I was only popping by for a chat,” at which point they usually go. The ones who stay at that point usually aren’t bothered by not being fed. From how he described it in the video I think the difference lies in that in the USA the responsibility is on the host to be prepared, whereas in Britain the responsibility in on the guest to make their intentions know and if they don’t, accept the consequences. A good general rule for Britain is don’t assume, arrange.

I'm English and I always offer a guest a drink and something to eat, even if they have had lunch or dinner I always give them cookies with tea or coffee. Everyone also knows that if they come at meal times they will get fed and I always ask them to stay. I always have a good freezer and store cupboard - it might not be haute cuisine but you will be fed! All my family and friends do the same. My hubby passed away suddenly on 20th Dec and I refused all offers to go to others for Christmas dinner, but my next door neighbour plated me a dinner up and brought it round for me. That's Yorkshire folk for you :-)

As an American of Italian/Puerto Rican decent I can't imagine NOT inviting my guests to dinner! My food is boom and if I ever thought of doing it I'm willing to bet my Italian grandmother's ghost would beat me with a spoon.

One Christmas in Mississippi I went to a friend's home for dinner. There was MOUNTAINS of food! Two turkeys, roasted whole pig, chicken and sausage gumbo, beef brisket and all the side dishes you could imagine. There was also an eight foot table for desserts. In the South you don't necessarily invite an army of people to dinner, friends and family and neighbors just come and go all day. At the end of the day, my friend had counted 75 people stopped in and had a plate of holiday dinner.

I'm 63 , growing up in our house if someone dropped in while it was mealtime, the guest was ALWAYS invited to the table. My parents always said when a guest arrives, even if it isn't mealtime to always assume your guest is tired, hungry and thirsty. So we always offered something to drink and eat and a seat

That example of a tag question felt like a brutal insult

In my travels in Europe I believe an American accent has some quality that slices through background noise even if the volume is not any higher. Another factor is that Americans in Europe are usually on vacation and so are happier. This adds a brightness and attracts attention.

As an American and Southerner, there are two points of social order to recognize about expecting guests to eat when they're present for meal times... Obviously, everyone in the comment section has noted that we ALWAYS offer snacks and drinks when someone comes over... As a sort of "outer circle" friend who might not have visited or just isn't frequently over, there's a formal offer or invitation involved. We get up and can even suggest a whole menu of options almost like a restaurant, depending on what's on hand (and we have that memorized at least to 95% precision)... As an "inner circle" friend, you become basically family. You're expected to know you can grab a soda or beer out of the fridge, coffee from the pot, and where the cups are. You may even have one particular that's basically assigned to you, either from some fit for your personality, or simply because of your delight when you first noticed it... AND of course, it's a "standing offer" whenever a mealtime approaches, that you join right in like anyone else in the household. This might not entirely be universal through the States, but more often than not, you can gauge your standing with someone when they simply expect you to completely relax and make yourself at home... AND OF COURSE, a "to-go" plate is arranged for someone who couldn't make the get-together, especially if there was any kind of planning about it, like holiday meals or some interpersonal celebration for (say) a promotion or an anniversary of some kind. It's just awkward and uncomfortable for someone to be considered a "guest" and is then neglected or left out of things like meals. ;o)

If somebody is visiting my house, and there is anything being eaten or drank, or the time comes to do so, they're automatically invited. If coffee is on, they're offered a cup (we even keep powdered cream in case they want it, though we all drink it black). If meal time approaches while someone is over, they're offered food. Even if not, we might offer a snack when they show up. You're supposed to feed guests

Regarding tag questions, in Oklahoma, where I live, it's very common to phrase a demand as a request, e.g. "Do mind turning that down?"

In the early 80s while stationed in Germany. I was temporarily assigned to a British unit. There were rules for coffee. Morning was served black. Tea time coffee could have milk or sugar. Not both. After dinner coffee had milk and sugar. That's crazy for an American.