Which misconseption annoys you more?

[bdcjacko]

I don't feel like adding a poll, just starting a discussion.

Anyhow, which misconception annoys you more, the fact that some people think Europe is all one big country or the that some people think or don't realize laws vary state to state in America?

Both get on my nerves when I am having a discussion where those are relevant. And they are somewhat connected and usually are in conversations about why are Americans/Europeans like this or that.

*please stop quoting this, talk amongst yourselves, I have lost interest

 

[Gxas]

What gets on my nerves more is when Americans don't know that the laws vary from state to state.

Its your own fucking country. Learn about it a little. You're the reason that the rest of the world hates us.

 

[Griffolion]

The mis-conception that all tablet PC's are called iPads. Just because Apple popularised them with clever marketing doesn't mean that entire category of devices gets called by it. It's a tablet, I have a Motorola Xoom, it's a tablet. They were first introduced by MS in 2002, and many more conceptual devices for the form factor were done decades beforehand. So no, it's not a f****ng iPad, it's a tablet.

PS - The iPad 2 is a nice device, i have nothing against them, but i get riled by this misconception so much.

 

[MercurySteam]

Anyhow, which misconception annoys you more, the fact that some people think Europe is all one big country or the that some people think or don't realize laws very state to state in America?

I think you mean vary (massive grammar Nazi over here). I can see how that would be annoying, and people know that most watchers of Fox News think up the most bizarre things. Apparently some viewers of Fox News think 9/11 was an elaborate stunt jointly planned by Obama and Osama. And Americans wonder why some countries don't take them seriously.

 

[Togs]

Ive never encountered either, but the fact that some people think Europe is just one country kinda boggles the mind.

 

[bdcjacko]

What gets on my nerves more is when Americans don't know that the laws vary from state to state.

Its your own fucking country. Learn about it a little. You're the reason that the rest of the world hates us.

That just makes it so much worse. I mean I can understand someone from Europe not grasping that, but someone from America, that is just asinine. Really, did you not pay attention in 3rd grade civics?

 

[bdcjacko]

Anyhow, which misconception annoys you more, the fact that some people think Europe is all one big country or the that some people think or don't realize laws very state to state in America?

I think you mean vary (massive grammar Nazi over here). I can see how that would be annoying, and people know that most watchers of Fox News think up the most bizarre things. Apparently some viewers of Fox News think 9/11 was an elaborate stunt jointly planned by Obama and Osama. And Americans wonder why some countries don't take them seriously.

I have not clue why you had to grammar nazi a perfectly fine post.

 

[Nimcha]

I find it more annoying when British people call the European mainland just 'Europe', as if they aren't part of it. Sure they may be an island but that really doesn't make them any less European.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I'm no Geography scolar but it's pretty fucking ignorant not to able to differentiate between a continent and a country, so I'd say that's the worse of the two.

 

[standokan]

I did not know about the different laws even though I know about gay marriage being accepted yes and no from state to state, I really need to start using my brain more.

 

[Jordi]

Well, Europe consists of a lot of very different countries. The USA are all part of one country. I think most countries' laws don't vary a great deal depending on where in the country you are exactly, so it seems pretty obvious to me that not knowing that the USA is/are an exception is the less stupid option.

Then again, I'm probably biased because I'm from Europe.

 

[swenson]

That is pretty bad. That may actually be worse than the annoying people who think the complete opposite, that the federal government can't do anything and all the laws must be made by states instead.

 

[Wicky_42]

Aside from someone joking that they were 'going to Europe' (it was more amusing in context at the time), I've never heard of either misconception, though (of course) the 'Europe is one place' one fits nicely into the 'Stupid American' stereotype. It'd be natural to assume that the States has one set of laws all around, what with it being a single country and all that, but I would assume that enough general knowledge and exposure to relevant films and news would at least hit that that wasn't the case. However, assuming that Europe was one country? I don't get that. I'd imagine that those would be the same people that think 'Asia' is a single country as well :/

 

[LostAlone]

Technically speaking anything inside the European union, and the euro-zone in particular, can be considered one country... There's no borders there and a shared currency too, so it really depends on what metric you use. Sure the countries each have their own laws and such, but then again so do the American states.

They are both different versions of a federalist system. The US was built from the top down, so its one 'country', while the EU was build from the bottom up, so it seems like many different countries.

But theres lots of similarities.

In both cases, the states technically rule themselves, but they still have to obey an external constitution. In both cases the place you go to when human rights are being discussed is the federal super court. Each member state has its own flag and ideas about whats good and bad and what not, and indeed the members make the majority of the law. The states all have their own culture and traditions because of their different backgrounds. Also, the central government hands out a lot of money to farmers and we both have a collective problem with immigration.

There's a lot of similarities is what I'm saying, and particularly if you live in America, I can see why you might think the EU is just one big country, because it follows mostly the same pattern. The only real difference is Europe has more languages. Hell, if you go and visit Europe, you can just tool around from country to country without really noticing. Can get a train from England to France to Belgium to Italy to Germany.

So that one doesn't irritate me.

Again, I think people on this side of the Atlantic think that the law is all the same in the states because it looks like one country, and to our eyes its each 'country' that has its own laws. Its not unless you understand it a bit better that the US is genuinely federal with the states having the majority of the power for law making. Also, the majority of what we see of America on TV is either set in New York or California, which doesn't really help, because it doesn't cast the net very wide in terms of the actual differences in the laws.

*shrug*

 

[Rooster893]

"ALL GERMANS ARE NAZIS HERP DERP"

Brings my piss to a boil. Stupid Call of Duty...

 

[conithegreat]

That canadians say about "aboot" I have been all over Canada and I have never heard a Canadian say "aboot"

 

[bluewolf]

The fact that some people think that canadians all live in the woods or in alaska.

 

[baconsarnie]

Both seem pretty stupid but on the subject of misconceptions:
Pretty much anything to do with 'organic' food and the whole GM crops debate.Even more so when it comes up in the paper or on the news.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I find it more annoying when British people call the European mainland just 'Europe', as if they aren't part of it. Sure they may be an island but that really doesn't make them any less European.

Probably a mixture of British self infatuation coupled with the fact that most European countries hate us, we're kind of the America of Europe in that sense.

 

[bdcjacko]

Aside from someone joking that they were 'going to Europe' (it was more amusing in context at the time), I've never heard of either misconception, though (of course) the 'Europe is one place' one fits nicely into the 'Stupid American' stereotype. It'd be natural to assume that the States has one set of laws all around, what with it being a single country and all that, but I would assume that enough general knowledge and exposure to relevant films and news would at least hit that that wasn't the case. However, assuming that Europe was one country? I don't get that. I'd imagine that those would be the same people that think 'Asia' is a single country as well :/

Technically if you go to Italy, you've gone to Europe, just like if you have gone to New York City, you have technically been to America. The Continental United States is bigger than Europe, so is it unreasonable to for an American to say they went to Europe when they only visit one country while if a European can say they have been to America if they only visit one state?