No one wants to admit they’re easy to read, but when Americans travel abroad, there are a handful of habits and behaviors that give us away: Our big American smiles. A general friendly air that can verge on “disconcerting” to some Europeans. Our love of yoga pants (and athleisure in general) and iced coffee (if ice is even on hand).
But apparently, our posture gives us away, too. Online, plenty of non-Americans say you can spot an American abroad just by the way we stand: It’s so ubiquitous among us, there’s even a name for it now: the “American lean.”
Say you’re in line at Disneyland Paris, waiting to get on “Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain.” Instead of standing upright like most adults, if you’re American, you’ll lean back on a wall or generally slouch your way through the whole 75-minute ordeal.
Why? We could posit a few reasons: It’s awkward to stand around; leaning is a great way to conserve energy you’d otherwise waste standing up; and if what your heart really desires is to sit, leaning is a wonderful in-between. (On that last note, though, may we introduce you to the Asian squat?)
Ronke Lawal, a PR and communications consultant in London, has noticed many Americans leaning in during her time. There’s specific body language that just screams “American!” to her, and the lean is one.
“I’m not sure where it stems from but it does indicate confidence, a laid-back attitude and, to some degree, a lackadaisical approach to life in general, which is a little bit counterintuitive to what one thinks about the ‘hustle’ nature of some Americans.”
“It’s a way of taking up space and being comfortable even in new environments,” she told HuffPost.
The Londoner thinks there’s just an “innate sense of confidence that many Americans seem to convey ― a way of taking up space and being comfortable even in new environments.” (At least traditionally, we’ve conveyed that. Maybe we’re slouching now, not out of cool confidence, but because we’re a dying empire and exhausted.)
But we digress. The “American lean” is so pervasive that, apparently, the CIA even tries to reeducate spies based in Europe to correct their lean and stand up straight, so they’re not giving themselves away.
Europeans view Americans as “slouchy, a little sloppy,” Jonna Mendez, the former chief of disguise at the CIA, told Colorado Public Radio in 2019.
″[Europeans] stand up straight, they don’t lean on things,” she said. “They are on two feet and we’re always on one foot with that other foot kind of stuck out.”
Remi T. Shimazu, an American travel blogger, has been leaning all the time but never realized it was a cultural thing until now.
“Honestly, I didn’t even realize that I was doing it, and I never thought of it!” she told HuffPost.
Shimazu was born in Japan and often travels there. When she does, she’s less likely to lean because she tries to take up as little space as possible out of respect for people’s personal space in big communal spaces. (Subway stations, for instance.)
“Spatial awareness is one thing that makes foreigners stand out sometimes in Japan,” she said. “I tend to be more hyper-aware of what people around me are doing because I want to be respectful.”
That said, if a train in say, Osaka, is blissfully empty? You better believe she’s going to lean.
“If choose to stand, more often than not, I am definitely leaning on the side of the car,” she said. “I guess that’s when my American side comes out!”
Stefania Crivellaro, a Londoner by way of Italy who blogs about her travels, notices the American lean, too. She figures it’s a smart energy conservation effort by travel-weary yanks. But there are other tells she notices more, she says.
“I notice a lot of baseball caps with college logos or sports teams, huge water bottles and tourists asking for ice in the water,” she said. “With Americans, you can usually hear them before you see them.”
That said, it could just be a relaxed person thing.
Of course, leaning is not strictly an American thing. We don’t own it! (Though we have perfected it. See: James Dean in the 1955 “Rebel Without A Cause” poster. Now, that is an immaculate lean.)
Nadine Arab, a travel blogger from Cairo, Egypt, said Egyptian people tend to lie back on surfaces, too.
“The lean people describe online sounds pretty normal to me, so I guess we do it too?” she said. “Plus, as someone with ADHD, I usually move a lot, change my position, and pace whenever I’m sitting or waiting in line, so I guess leaning on a wall or whatever’s nearby always felt natural, and not necessarily cultural.”
The big tell of American-ness for her instead? Wearing athleisure any time, any place.
“Not just when they’re outdoors: at the airport, museums, restaurants,” she said. “There’s always a pair of hiking sandals thrown in the mix, too.”
Luli Monteleone, a Portuguese travel and fashion blogger, said she sees tourists of all nationalities leaning around Europe.
“Especially in long queues or after walking all day,” she said. “I just see it as a universal ‘my feet hurt and I’m trying to survive this line’ move, not a cultural trait.”
Other things, though, are uniquely American ― like our expectation for grande-sized portions.
“Watching an American look at a European-sized coffee is always cinematic,” Monteleone said. “There’s that moment of pure confusion — ‘This is it?’ — that never gets old.”