American-British Q&A

[kurupt87]

I'm an English-born American-living poster and I have a question for every American girl ever.

Why do you always have to ask me to "Do something British"? What do you expect me to do, oppress the poor? Or when they ask me to say [insert word here]. Tis annoying.

Vis-a-vis Mickey Flannigan; ask 'em, in a cockney accent, "can I come in your house?"

OT: Is "highschool" as shite as your movies/media say it is?

 

[YuheJi]

i have a question for America,
Why do you do your dates backwards? as in MM/DD/YY opposed to the way the rest of the world with the DD/MM/YY, smallest unit FIRST so today is 21/05/11 in most of the world but Americans have it as 05/21/11.
i just had a minor rant on another thread about this and felt i should probably get some enlightenment.

I think its cause we tend to say it in that order. Like we say May 21st, 2011 as opposed to 21st of May, 2011.

 

[ThisIsSnake]

i have a question for America,
Why do you do your dates backwards? as in MM/DD/YY opposed to the way the rest of the world with the DD/MM/YY, smallest unit FIRST so today is 21/05/11 in most of the world but Americans have it as 05/21/11.
i just had a minor rant on another thread about this and felt i should probably get some enlightenment.

Took me about five years to quit reversing them. Who knows? Why is "colour" spelled "color?" And "cheque" spelled "check?" Why is a "bonnet" called a "hood?" Who knows?

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

 

[FolkLikePanda]

East Londoner watch a Guy Ritchie film or a film with Michael Caine in it and you'll know what one is.

 

[ParadiseOnceLost]

Also, a question for you americans, do you acknowledge that we are your ancestors?

Nope my ancestors are the Russian, Polish, Czechoslovakians, and the Hungarian. I don't have any ounce of British blood in my veins.

My question: what in the hell is Marmite and why do people in the UK go batshit for it?

 

[JDKJ]

i have a question for America,
Why do you do your dates backwards? as in MM/DD/YY opposed to the way the rest of the world with the DD/MM/YY, smallest unit FIRST so today is 21/05/11 in most of the world but Americans have it as 05/21/11.
i just had a minor rant on another thread about this and felt i should probably get some enlightenment.

Took me about five years to quit reversing them. Who knows? Why is "colour" spelled "color?" And "cheque" spelled "check?" Why is a "bonnet" called a "hood?" Who knows?

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

Are you sure he didn't do it in order to reduce the odds that the Americans would misspell them? Less letters, the better the odds on gettin' it right. Sometimes, ya gotta idiot proof things as best as possible.

 

[Lionsfan]

Don't sleep on Chicago. Huge Latino population. And they've got an MLS team. But Nashville? Yes, I see your point.

At least it's growing. Maybe slowly, but it's on Cable (ESPN) and ratings are rising somewhat, it never hurts to have another successful sports league

 

[MisterM2402]

I'm British but I have a question for other Brits (yeah, that sounds kinda stupid): why do we use a mix of imperial and metric measurements? In mainland Europe, (I assume) they use mostly metric and in North America, (I assume) they use mostly imperial - our system is just all over the place. ml/km/m for distance, kg/g/st/lbs for weight (the latter two more for the weight of a person), ft/in/m for height, mL/L for volume....

 

[JDKJ]

Also, a question for you americans, do you acknowledge that we are your ancestors?

Nope my ancestors are the Russian, Polish, Czechoslovakians, and the Hungarian. I don't have any ounce of British blood in my veins.

My question: what in the hell is Marmite and why do people in the UK go batshit for it?

It's like a jam made outta dog shit. And it tastes like you'd expect a jam made outta dog shit to taste.

The Aussie have a similar product called Vegemite. As referenced by Men at Work in "Land Down Under":

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich

 

[BoredDragon]

I'm an English-born American-living poster and I have a question for every American girl ever.

Why do you always have to ask me to "Do something British"? What do you expect me to do, oppress the poor? Or when they ask me to say [insert word here]. Tis annoying.

rofl where do you live where girls ask you "do something British"? That sounds so moronic ^_^

 

[BoredDragon]

Dear: America

Wai U So FaT????

because our food taste good

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

Here is a question as a British Scottish person how would an average American (if such a thing exists which I doubt) differentiate me from an English person?

I understand the whole English accent = snarky comic relief/villain thing but that is used so commonly in conjunction with "British" it leaves me curious.

Especially since I think Scotland has quite a strong and recognisable national identity for our size.

 

[MisterM2402]

Noah Webster, the guy who wrote Webster's dictionary made quite a few changes to the language when he wrote it. Namely getting rid of spellings that he found illogical (i.e. removing unpronounced vowels like the 'u' in colour).

So the silent "k" in "knight" is logical? How about the silent "m" in "mnemonic"? The "w" in "sword"? Either you're lying to make North Americans seem better or this Webster fellow REALLY wasn't thorough AT ALL in his mission.

Here is a question as a British Scottish person how would an average American (if such a thing exists which I doubt) differentiate me from an English person?

I understand the whole English accent = snarky comic relief/villain thing but that is used so commonly in conjunction with "British" it leaves me curious.

Especially since I think Scotland has quite a strong and recognisable national identity for our size.

This is a pretty good question.
I'm Scottish too, so I feel a high-five is in order, good sir.

 

[JDKJ]

Don't sleep on Chicago. Huge Latino population. And they've got an MLS team. But Nashville? Yes, I see your point.

At least it's growing. Maybe slowly, but it's on Cable (ESPN) and ratings are rising somewhat, it never hurts to have another successful sports league

Actually, this is the second time the Americans are trying to establish football here. Back in the late 1970s, after Pele retired from Brazil's national team, they brought him here to play for the New York Cosmos (part of a league that eventually folded due to lack of public support).

 

[BoredDragon]

Why do some American (90% of those I've met) either assume I'm either extreamly posh or some kind of anti-social, chavish dick? Is it how us Brits are depicted on Tv or is it just something Americans tend to assume unless they get to know someone from England?

I'm not sure about the anti-social part, but if posh means what I think it means then its probably some kind of stereotype we have in the US.

 

[BoredDragon]

What? no canadians? TT_TT

Because we are all knowing

no its just because I consider you our hat

 

[BoredDragon]

i have a question for America,
Why do you do your dates backwards? as in MM/DD/YY opposed to the way the rest of the world with the DD/MM/YY, smallest unit FIRST so today is 21/05/11 in most of the world but Americans have it as 05/21/11.
i just had a minor rant on another thread about this and felt i should probably get some enlightenment.

you're talking to the people who still aren't using the metric system, I think we need to work on that before we change our date format

 

[omega 616]

How are you guys for Pool in America?

Good. It's skittles you'll never find. Unless you're looking for bite-sized candies. And what you won't find, if you are, is "Smarties." They have "M&Ms."

What is "Pool"? I can gather it's some type of candy.

"Pool" is what the Brits call "billiards."

Swing and a miss ...

My grandad, who won more trophies than he had space for in each, explained the difference ... the problem being I forgot.

The only thing I know for sure is, pool involves yellow and red balls with one black. You pot one colour and it's yours, first to pot all there colour then the black wins.

Billiards has something to do with jamming the balls in a pocket and bouncing the cue ball of both balls to get a huge, mega score.

I want to know why you invented a few words, such as faucet? Tap is so much quicker.

Why does it seem so many people end up in weird cults?

Why did wal-mart, who are famous for selling guns, ban a sissor sisters album for an offensive lyric but I bet they sell rap?

 

[SuccessAndBiscuts]

I'm British but I have a question for other Brits (yeah, that sounds kinda stupid): why do we use a mix of imperial and metric measurements? In mainland Europe, (I assume) they use mostly metric and in North America, (I assume) they use mostly imperial - our system is just all over the place. ml/km/m for distance, kg/g/st/lbs for weight (the latter two more for the weight of a person), ft/in/m for height, mL/L for volume....

Because older people didn't adapt to the change and in some areas imperial just feels more natural, hell I'm 21 but when I learned woodwork in school my teacher taught the class in feet and inches. So now whenever I'm doing manly work like building things that involve giving verbal estimates to the people I'm working with I do it in inches.

Think of it like this metric is the "official" scientific version and imperial is the equivalent of slang words you pick up from people around you.

At least that's how I understand it.

 

[Stephanos132]

To americans: Why are you letting your government throw in the towel for manned space missions, instead now relying on the russians for transport?