Most of the conversations I have with Britons end up as mini Myth-Busters episodes. They crave to know if all the things they see about America on TV and in the movies are real.

I've been asked if American college is really like "Animal House" (it's been known to have similarities). I've been asked if we have clambakes (in New England?) and if we really have kegger parties (yes, definitely yes). I've been asked if life in New York is really like "Sex and the City" (don't hold your breath) and if everyone in America owns a gun (I hope not).

Well, turns out, I've gotten some questions of my own answered as well; some by asking, others by just living through it. Welcome to "This Column: Myth or Fact Edition."

Myth or Fact 1: The British are a cold, mean-hearted people.

Myth: Usually this persona is only exhibited on the underground, but you'd be crabby too if you worked all-day and then got stuck in a sweaty train under the ground for 30 minutes. The underground doesn't always bring out the best in people, but for the most part, above ground they're a happy, smiley bunch, which brings me to ...

Myth or Fact 2: The British have crappy teeth.

Fact: OK, this one is kind of true, but only because their National Health Service (NHS) doesn't include dentistry. Because of that, dentist visits are pretty expensive and orthodontics are usually only for the well-to-do, leaving your average Joe's teeth a little crooked. But I think it adds character.

Myth or Fact 3: The British have tea every day.

Fact: I'll admit it. At first I thought afternoon tea was a joke, but then I caught myself following my co-workers into the kitchen around 3 p.m. Things don't exactly go into a stand still, but you can bet sometime after lunch, your co-workers are going to step into the office kitchen and fix themselves a nice Earl Grey. I encourage its incorporation into the American workday whole-heartedly. Tea fixes everything.

Myth or Fact 4: The British have very pale skin.

Fact: Yes they do, but no thanks to the mere five hours of daily sunlight they see from October to March. But now that it's summer, tans are huge here. Whether it's self-tanner, tanning booths or lying out in Hyde Park all day, people crave those tan lines. Being of a paler persuasion of skin myself, I thought my pigment would surely fit in here. I thought they would embrace the light skin, dark hair combo (think Liv Tyler). Wrong-o.

Myth or Fact 5: The British say all those silly words like "shag" and "bloody".

Fact: Absolutely. I hear the slang so much I'm starting to use it myself without realizing it. Everything means something else. A jumper is a sweater, a mobile is a cell phone, a veg is a vegetable, uni means university (college), knackered means tired, to ring means to telephone, a flat is an apartment.

And woe to the boy who asks a shop clerk if they have "suspenders." They'll think he's a cross-dresser. "Suspenders" keep up old ladies' panty hose. "Braces" keep a guy's pants on.

So although there's no serious myth debunking going on here, at least we've set the record straight as far as British lingo, orthodontia and afternoon beverages go. However, you'll have to excuse me now. Big Ben just struck 3 o'clock and there's a cup of tea in the kitchen with my name on it.

Erin Prah is a senior majoring in journalism and is one of the Collegian's columnists from abroad. Her e-mail is eep5004@psu.edu.