Apparently, even something as simple as a drink’s name can be a cultural divide.
Despite sharing a common language, the UK and other English-speaking nations like the US have numerous cultural differences. From variations in spelling to having two distinct sports called “football”, there’s a significant gap between us and our transatlantic counterparts.
This cultural disparity isn’t limited to the US, as a Canadian expat in London discovered when she encountered a surprising language barrier while ordering a drink at a restaurant.
In a viral video, Jenna Bennett recounted her confusion when she requested a Sprite with her meal, only to be told by the waitress they didn’t have Sprite but offered lemonade instead. While this would make sense to a Brit, Jenna was perplexed because in her native Canada, “lemonade” refers to an entirely different beverage.
On TikTok, Jenna shared her experience: “I will never forget the first time I tried to order Sprite in a London restaurant. This was about a month after I moved to London and I went out to eat by myself. The waitress comes over and is like ‘What can I get you?’ and I didn’t know what I wanted to eat but I knew what I wanted to drink, so I said: ‘Can I have a Sprite please?’
“She looks at me and she’s like, ‘Oh we don’t have Sprite but we have lemonade’. My initial instinct is just that she didn’t hear me, I said Sprite but she thought I said something else. So I said it again, and she replied with the same thing. So now I’m extra confused. In my mind, I’m like, where do I go from here? Because clearly there’s some kind of misunderstanding.”
Jenna then clarified her understanding of lemonade as a drink made from fresh lemons, typically sold “as a little kid on the side of the street”. In places like Canada and America, “lemonade” translates to what is often known in the UK as “old-fashioned lemonade” or “American lemonade”, comprising only fresh lemon juice, water, and sugar – without fizz.
The baffled patron finally got clarity when the server grasped the miscommunication.
Jenna recounted: “It wasn’t until I started describing the can that she said to me, ‘Oh, we call that lemonade’. When was somebody going to tell me that in the UK, Sprite is known as lemonade?”
In the end, Jenna let the waitress serve her their version of lemonade, albeit expecting a still beverage. She was surprised to receive a Fever Tree lemonade, which she likened to a “super bitter Sprite”.
Viewers of the video expressed confusion as Jenna claimed the UK “calls Sprite lemonade”, when in reality, Sprite is simply a branded lemonade in Britain. They also clarified that drinks ending with “-ade” are typically carbonated.
One commenter explained: “The UK calls Sprite ‘Sprite’. They understood what you wanted but they didn’t have any, so offered you the next closest alternative. Hope that clarifies things.”
Another pointed out: “Sprite is a brand of lemon and limeade. Made by Coke. As a Brit, I always find it interesting that US lemonade isn’t fizzy. Any drink ending in ‘ade’ in the UK means a fizzy drink.”