American-British Q&A
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I have a somewhat strange/wierd question: Is there any greenery in and around the major cities of the US? I don't mean like with New York where you have Central Park but as in greenery in and around the city.
I once thought of how horrible it would be to live in a city filled without greenery. I'm kind of lucky that I live just outside of London with excellent transport links with some fabulous countryside.
I once thought of how horrible it would be to live in a city filled without greenery. I'm kind of lucky that I live just outside of London with excellent transport links with some fabulous countryside.
It means making fun of in an insulting way. Kinda.ShogunGino said:
I didn't realise that was an exclusively British saying.
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So while we're on the subject how come petrol stations in the U.K. always have sacks of charcoal for sale and ours don't? (Yes this is asked because of that Eddie Izzard joke that I didn't get until he explained it. He explained the joke he just never expained why?)[/quote]
Thats coz us brits are ever hope full of some sun and when there is sun we take advantage of it as much as possible... so bbq's all round?
So while we're on the subject how come petrol stations in the U.K. always have sacks of charcoal for sale and ours don't? (Yes this is asked because of that Eddie Izzard joke that I didn't get until he explained it. He explained the joke he just never expained why?)[/quote]
Thats coz us brits are ever hope full of some sun and when there is sun we take advantage of it as much as possible... so bbq's all round?
Depends on the city, and your perspective. I used to live in the Mojave desert, where there was no greenery at all, unless you count tumble weed and Joshua trees, which are actually portals to hell. Many people don't even have grass yards, instead going with attractive gravel.DSK- said:
When I moved to Utah I was blown away how green it was. The trick is that Utah is a very barren place. A few years later I visited my uncle in Dallas, and once again it was almost stupid how much greenery there was compared to what I was used to.
It all depends on where you go, the natural climate of the area, and how determined the people there are to keep it green. San Fernando has a kind of dirty artificial greenery going on, which makes sense because it is actually a desert with very good irrigation.
Also, its not that bad to live somewhere without greenery. Mojave is all dirt and brown and all that, but that place has the most amazing sunsets you have ever seen, almost every night.
It's just part of the culture. It comes from being a rather young country, combined with the fact that we earned our independence in a decently bloody war. There really just hasn't been enough time for the cultural memory to forget the stance on patriotism needed to get through the Revolution. It's starting to fade, but it will likely still be a few decades before it's gone completely.ScoopMeister said:
We actually are not that patriotic, at least not most of us. What you are seeing is the small minority being extremely loud. We do care about our country, but it is more in a "I really hope the guy we elected doesn't drive this bus off a cliff" sort of way.ScoopMeister said:
Also, you may be misinterpreting our pride in our military as patriotism. We have an very powerful military, both in terms of technology and manpower, and the average American takes pride in that. Even if the leaders often screw up their use of the military.
It depends on where, actually. There's some pretty epic feuding between the states of Michigan and Ohio, which actually started over a land dispute when they joined the Union. I'm sure there's others, but I haven't been exposed to them sufficiently to recall offhand.YouBecame said:
In addition, there's a number of stereotypes for people from any major region of the country. For example, San Franciscans are gay, Alabamans have 3 teeth and fuck their sisters, and anyone from New York is a colossal douche. I'm not really sure it counts as a "rivalry" per se, but there's so many different cultures in the US that stereotypes have arisen to cover just about all of them, and everyone knows them.
I asked this a few pages back but no-one answered.
According to one of mates who went on a gap year to the USA claimed that there was a big taboo on the word '****' over there. Is this true?
According to one of mates who went on a gap year to the USA claimed that there was a big taboo on the word '****' over there. Is this true?
Kinda sorta. **** is generally considered the "worst", or "most impolite", of the various swear words one can use. It's not really much of a taboo, but you will get much more of a reaction from **** than you would just about anything else (excepting the racial shit).Jon Shannow said:
Sadly, it wasn't always that wayDelusibeta said:
It's a sad day when an 18 year old AMERICAN (me) has seen more World of Sport/ All Star Wrestling than a 30 year old Briton (a friend on twitter).
Seriously, wrestlers nowadays still study from those old tapes, because of the superior technical wrestling and hold for hold work.
Just for you:
Here's Steven Wright (Britain) vs. Tiger Mask I (Japan)
part 1 (go to youtube to see the 2nd half.)
Just a quick thing, but this is a particular pet hate of mine, it annoys me when people think guns are illegal.TestECull said:
Guns are legal here.
We're just not allowed semi-automatic rifles over .22 caliber, or handguns that are not black-powder (like flintlocks, vintage revolvers etc.)
And our gun control is tighter. You must own a Shotgun Certificate (which are pretty easy to get) to buy shotguns, and for anything else and shotguns with a capacity over 2 or 2+1 you must have a Firearms Certificate, which is a little trickier to get hold of, but certainly not impossible.
I know you probably don't care, but for some reason I feel compelled to inform people of this
And I just pumped some premium octane gas at US$4.25 a gallon. Convert that to pounds and your gas ain't that much more expensive than ours.Wadders said:Just a quick thing, but this is a particular pet hate of mine, it annoys me when people think guns are illegal.TestECull said:
Guns are legal here.
We're just not allowed semi-automatic rifles over .22 caliber, or handguns that are not black-powder (like flintlocks, vintage revolvers etc.)
And our gun control is tighter. You must own a Shotgun Certificate (which are pretty easy to get) to buy shotguns, and for anything else and shotguns with a capacity over 2 or 2+1 you must have a Firearms Certificate, which is a little trickier to get hold of, but certainly not impossible.
I know you probably don't care, but for some reason I feel compelled to inform people of this
dear americans, which do think is more scary, an (american) football game or a rugby game?
(if unsure what rugby is look up all-blacks on youtube)
(if unsure what rugby is look up all-blacks on youtube)
Petrol (yes I will insist on calling it petrolJDKJ said:And I just pumped some premium octane gas at US$4.25 a gallon. Convert that to pounds and your gas ain't that much more expensive than ours.Wadders said:Just a quick thing, but this is a particular pet hate of mine, it annoys me when people think guns are illegal.TestECull said:
Guns are legal here.
We're just not allowed semi-automatic rifles over .22 caliber, or handguns that are not black-powder (like flintlocks, vintage revolvers etc.)
And our gun control is tighter. You must own a Shotgun Certificate (which are pretty easy to get) to buy shotguns, and for anything else and shotguns with a capacity over 2 or 2+1 you must have a Firearms Certificate, which is a little trickier to get hold of, but certainly not impossible.
I know you probably don't care, but for some reason I feel compelled to inform people of this
) around my area is £1.35-ish per litre. Not sure how that works out, but its still not cheap. But then I have a pretty small car, so it's swings and roundabouts really.On Topic:
I've been vaguely toying with the idea of moving to the US for a bit and finding work. Not sure why, but seems like it would be an interesting experience.
Would there be any place in particular you guys would recommended looking at, and what general advice would you give to a clueless Englishman who is unknowing of your outlandish Yank customs
Are you aware that in many places in the States, unemployment's running close to 20%? Unless you're a Registered Nurse (about the only position for which there's guaranteed employment right now), I'd advise you think about that move long and hard.Wadders said:Petrol (yes I will insist on calling it petrolJDKJ said:And I just pumped some premium octane gas at US$4.25 a gallon. Convert that to pounds and your gas ain't that much more expensive than ours.Wadders said:Just a quick thing, but this is a particular pet hate of mine, it annoys me when people think guns are illegal.TestECull said:
Guns are legal here.
We're just not allowed semi-automatic rifles over .22 caliber, or handguns that are not black-powder (like flintlocks, vintage revolvers etc.)
And our gun control is tighter. You must own a Shotgun Certificate (which are pretty easy to get) to buy shotguns, and for anything else and shotguns with a capacity over 2 or 2+1 you must have a Firearms Certificate, which is a little trickier to get hold of, but certainly not impossible.
I know you probably don't care, but for some reason I feel compelled to inform people of this
On Topic:
I've been vaguely toying with the idea of moving to the US for a bit and finding work. Not sure why, but seems like it would be an interesting experience.
Would there be any place in particular you guys would recommended looking at, and what general advice would you give to a clueless Englishman who is unknowing of your outlandish Yank customs
EDIT: Besides, because of America's undocumented alien problem, they've made it very difficult for employers to hire anyone without legitimate work papers. If you come here on a visitor's visa, you're not allowed to work and you'll have difficulty finding an employer willing to hire you with no work papers -- unless you're willing to pick tomatoes for US$1.25 an hour.