To my UK friends: don't lump all us americans together.

[ace_of_something]

I forgot to mention that in visiting other european countries and china. I was not met with nearly the same amount of assumptions as I was with the UK. Maybe it's because american TV is translated into their native tongue so some of the social values are lost. I really don't know.

If you went to Germany that is correct, they do translate the Tv-shows, almost every other country in europe though, not so much. It seems to me that you are "lumping all us europeans together"

Just saying.

Allow me to list them in no particular order. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Norway (I've been to Norway many times: have family in and around Bergen) and China (which is definitly not in Europe)
I don't know I certainly remember watching 'Friends' and 'the Simpsons' in several different languages.
I'm aware of the irony.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Its a neighbourly thing too, the English rib on Scots/welsh and Irish, the Yanks (ho ho, generalisation!) rib the Canadians and in France its a legal requirement to take the piss out of the Belgiums.

Oh aye, there's not a day when I don't take the piss out of the English. Mostly while talking to my English friends.

Then they call me a potato farmer, and we all laugh. I think once you know the person well enough, it's alright.

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

Also, mucho LOLz out of the fact you started your comment with "Oh aye".

 

[Liberaliter]

Yeah America does tend to be made fun of over here. Why? I wouldn't know, maybe it's because we have a lot in common and enjoy light-heartedly making fun about the other. It could also be because of how the media portrays America as a country and the wars which a lot of Britons feel America dragged us into. But ultimately all countries have their own stereotypes and views on other countries, joking or not.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Pretty sure "proper english" is Ye Olde English.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Uh, I don't...
Don't go presuming we do that, hmm?

 

[Ninjamedic]

Well, Im Irish, born in Manchester, lived in ireland for 10 years and I have an American accent. Care to explain that?

 

[Camembert]

No? How about the fact that I insinuated that the UK and England are the same thing?
See how that feels?

I wouldn't mind (although I would correct you), although I am English. Scottish/Welsh/Irish people seem to be more sensitive about being lumped with the English.

2nd point: While I mention accents.
I am sick and tired of being told that UK English (specifically British English) is 'correct'. Here's the thing. English colonies in America were founded several hundred years ago. How close to the English that was spoken than do you think we Americans speak now? Not very. True enough.
Well what about you Brits? How close of English do you speak to that which was spoken 300+ years ago?

Yeah same story. Oh sure your accent may be closer but you have just as many spelling, colloquialisms, and sentence structure changes as we do.
They are two different dialects of the same language one is not more 'correct' than the other. If you guys start speaking like you did in the 1700's or 1600's you may start claiming 'correct' or 'proper' status. Until that day, yours is just as mangled as ours.

Only someone quite stupid would seriously believe that one version is better or 'more pure' than the other. We may make jokes about it but for most of us that is all they are: jokes. However, I do prefer British spelling, but that is just a preference.

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

I love the French and I love France. The only reason people 'hate' you guys so much is that you have the most beautiful language, the loveliest country, and some of the best fucking food in the world. Well, that's my theory anyway. They're just jealous.

 

[ace_of_something]

Well, Im Irish, born in Manchester, lived in ireland for 10 years and I have an American accent. Care to explain that?

You watch too many American movies?

 

[Ninjamedic]

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

As long as you dont mention the world cup in Ireland you'll be fine.
Also If he was American you could comment on their shit pacific defense strategy. Only as a comeback.

 

[Comte de Frou Frou]

Well what about you Brits? How close of English do you speak to that which was spoken 300+ years ago?

It's actually not that different, yes there are some grammatical changes but this was due to the mass standardisation of the English Language around 1700-1800; when schooling was becoming more available and grammar began to remain constant throughout the country. (fun fact: the term grammar derives from the name of the books that standardised it) But pre contemporary English is still is readable and understandable. A better example would be of Saxon English (that is completely alien in comparison) then again the Saxons were completely different people culturally.

Also there is no way to compare how anyone speaks retrospectively as what exists of older english is written, just because something was wrote like "I compare thee" or what have you doesn't represent how they spoke.I write in fairly standard english but I certainly don't speak standard.

 

[ace_of_something]

Its a neighbourly thing too, the English rib on Scots/welsh and Irish, the Yanks (ho ho, generalisation!) rib the Canadians and in France its a legal requirement to take the piss out of the Belgiums.

Oh aye, there's not a day when I don't take the piss out of the English. Mostly while talking to my English friends.

Then they call me a potato farmer, and we all laugh. I think once you know the person well enough, it's alright.

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

Also, mucho LOLz out of the fact you started your comment with "Oh aye".

My wife is from Lyon (I think that's how it's spelled) I'll be honest though I couldn't find it on a map without her help. Her mother is English though (but of long ago french decent). I feel i could playfully tease her more on this subject but just can't come up with anything outside of 'the 100 years war' and don't really know how to work with that.

I love the French and I love France. The only reason people 'hate' you guys so much is that you have the most beautiful language, the loveliest country, and some of the best fucking food in the world. Well, that's my theory anyway. They're just jealous.

And their Women. At least the one I got.

 

[Ninjamedic]

Well, Im Irish, born in Manchester, lived in ireland for 10 years and I have an American accent. Care to explain that?

You watch too many American movies?

I'd have said video games and TV (damn you scrubs) but that's probably right.

OT: the only americans I see as stereotypes are Fox news anchors (O'reilly's a retard)

 

[DigitalSushi]

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

As long as you dont mention the world cup in Ireland you'll be fine.
Also If he was American you could comment on their shit pacific defense strategy. Only as a comeback.

Nope, he was Irish, speaking of which I've been asking all my Irish friends if they "need a hand?".
Nah its sacrilege to mention pearly harbour, double standards.

 

[Ninjamedic]

Yeah I get called Gay Frenchie on the hour every hour, my personal favourite was a drunk stranger telling me my Air defense stratijary during WW2 was shit, naturally I apologised for my shit stratijary.

As long as you dont mention the world cup in Ireland you'll be fine.
Also If he was American you could comment on their shit pacific defense strategy. Only as a comeback.

Nope, he was Irish, speaking of which I've been asking all my Irish friends if they "need a hand?".
Nah its sacrilege to mention pearly harbour, double standards.

Just call De Valera a two-faced bastard and traitor and they'll shut up.

 

[Camembert]

Gross stereotyping of any national culture is a foot in the face of common (or uncommon) sense. It happens to every country too. Speaking as a New Zealand and Australian citizen I'm either someone with an unusual interest in sheep or a thong (flip-flop for the Americans) wearing, kangaroo-riding, crocodile-wrestling outback badass to whom Paul Hogan is God and God is someone to curse for the flies.

The thing is stereotypes can be hellishly amusing when used in comedy, because within that framework they can be viewed as a deliberate fiction rather than a true representation. Outside of it they're kind of silly.

I actually used to think when I was younger that all Aussies wore khaki knee-length shorts and brim-hats with corks dangling from them. I was quite disappointed when I slowly began to realise that all those folks living on Ramsay Street were Aussies, and they didn't wear such things.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

Being married to a Brit, I think both English folks and Americans both have the wrong ideas about each other, mainly because they've either...

A: ...never actually met someone from the other country and base all their conceptions off of movies and TV, which use these stereotypes

or

B: ...They've been scorned by an a-hole from the other country, leading to a blanket rage against an entire people based on it and it alone.

I've been to England several times now, sometimes for up to 4 months, and I've gotten nothing but good responses from the British.

Despite the 'American cowboy' stereotype, most of them actually seemed to enjoy my accent very much. And yes, I'm from the South. But I'm reasonably intelligent and more accepting of people different than me, completely in the face of said stereotype.

Workers in shops, or even just people who asked to bum a fag *snicker* (sorry, sorry), practically everyone loved my accent and just kept begging me to talk for them while they stared on in wide-eyed awe. Pretty much the same response my now-wife gets here in North Carolina.

I'm pretty sure that, had I not been there to see my beloved, I could have pulled some serious British fanny.

I loved the Brits, too. So nice and very polite. They seem to move and talk a bit faster than us, but it's easy to get the hang of with minimal effort. I practiced by watching Faulty Towers, Are You Being Served, Skins and of course, Dr. Who.

I think that anyone who uses a blanket stereotype needs to actually try and meet someone they're pigeon-holing before doing so. It might change your mind.

 

[Woodsey]

"I've visited our friends (mates) across the pond." We know what friends are, we use the two words inter-changeably.

"FYI: I was snogging frequently with their oldest daughter who was a few years older than me. Win!" Nice one.

"I was actually, pretty offended by them than presuming I was a hayseed bumpkin who was ignorant, conservative, bible-thumper". This is what happens when people like Glenn Beck are so popular - American views tend to be more to the right anyway from a British point of view, even if they'd be considered left-wing in America.

"If you don't get how this was upsetting about the fact I'm using an example from Londoners to lump all people in England together?
No? How about the fact that I insinuated that the UK and England are the same thing?
See how that feels?" None of those particularly bothered me: most Brits probably couldn't tell you the difference between the UK and England.

Anyway, you make some fair points - unfortunately that's just how people are.

 

[ace_of_something]

Yeah America does tend to be made fun of over here. Why? I wouldn't know, maybe it's because we have a lot in common and enjoy light-heartedly making fun about the other. It could also be because of how the media portrays America as a country and the wars which a lot of Britons feel America dragged us into. But ultimately all countries have their own stereotypes and views on other countries, joking or not.

Well, it's one thing to make a generalization over the internet or in media. It's another thing entirely person to person. When someone says "no that's not at all like me" than to say "no, you're wrong that's how americans are" which happened to me several times. (I only told the one story) Particularly regarding our 'poor school systems.' Than people wondered why I got offended for what is basically saying I'm an idiot to my face.

 

[Jenova65]

First of all I don't do that
Secondly, aren't you kind of doing that to us with this thread?