Eagleland Osmosis

English

Etymology

Coined by TV Tropes user Scooter007 in 2008.

Noun

Eagleland Osmosis (uncountable)

1. (slang) A phenomenon in which consumers of American media mistakenly assume that other countries' cultures are similar to that of the United States.
   • 2011 May 18, bobds, “AusCERT arrest - yes, "arrest"”, in Hacker News‎^[1], archived from the original on 2022-08-16:

     It's called Eagleland Osmosis.

   • 2021 August 29, BronzeHeart92, “The story behind the very first scene of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007)”, in Reddit‎^[2], harrypotter, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     Eagleland osmosis maybe? Sure, WB is an American studio but since the movies happen in Britain, they shouldn't shoehorn blatantly American measurements as the result. And besides, I'm sure many Americans have at least some knowledge of Celsius anyways.

   • 2021 December 19, DiverseUse, “Have you guys ever experienced eagleland osmosis?”, in Reddit‎^[3], AskAGerman, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     I think a lot of things related to the legal system are vulnerable to Eagleland Osmosis, because many people never have any first-hand experience with stuff like getting arrested/sued, etc. and instead all their knowledge comes from shows and movies. For example, I thought for awhile^[sic] that the right to make a phone call after getting arrested was a thing here as well.

   • 2022 February 27, Filthy_Swan, Twitter‎^[4], archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     think this is called "eagleland osmosis"

   • 2022 June 8, Ben_Aaronovitch, Twitter‎^[5], archived from the original on 2022-06-08:

     My LIfe Is Murder just had a guy referred to as having graduated summa cum laude from the London Business School - either this is a clue or somebody's sufgering^[sic] Eagleland Osmosis :)

   • 2022 June 19, GaidinBDJ, “What are some of your favourite misconceptions about law?”, in Reddit‎^[6], legaladviceofftopic, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     That one is pure Eagleland Osmosis.
     In the US, the people get one shot at a conviction. If someone is found not guilty, they generally can not be tried again, even if new evidence comes to light.

   • 2022 August 7, ThatRoebuckGuy, Twitter‎^[7], archived from the original on 2022-08-14:

     I think it's called Eagleland Osmosis: The constant reframing of the debate to be on American terms and based on American values.

2. (slang, rare, proscribed) The tendency of American culture to spread to other countries.
   • 2013 October 18, Peace Among Thorns, “Friday abstinence rules in Canada (and a recipe)”, in Blogger‎^[8], archived from the original on 2022-08-16:

     One of the things about living in America's hat (aka Canada) is that we suffer from Eagleland Osmosis. In Catholic matters it's even worse. Almost everything comes from the US. The hymnals, the CCD materials, the missals, etc. And none of them mention that anything might be different in Canada.

   • 2017 September 19, mnemonicpossession, “[OC] Employee Resources - Attached document - "Mess hall siege and emergency repairs aboard Vanguard-Class warship"”, in Reddit‎^[9], HFY, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     Only in places suffering from Eagleland Osmosis. This sort of construction is normal in most places that speak traditional English.

   • 2022 March 25, anarlote, “PLEASE remove the multiplayer "4 players per world" summon restrictions and make it more like DS3. Fight clubs are basically non existant^[sic] anymore because of that..”, in Reddit‎^[10], Eldenring, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:

     Gaol is actually the traditional British way of spelling the American jail. It's still used in Britain and here in Australia, although we kinda use both spellings due to Eagleland Osmosis.