Which misconseption annoys you more?

[bdcjacko]

I'd say the one about Europe only being one country annoys me more.
What annoys me more than that, however, is the misconception that Britain and England are the same and people don't realise that there are othr countries in Britain.

England and Britain are the same thing. Scotland is like a state more than a country.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Could also be an American thing too but up here where I live, it very common. I live in a pretty ignorant area of Briton so that might explain it. Honestly was surprised to know that China and Japan weren't the same thing when I mention Asian. Sadly that fell flat with the whole "Tokyo is in China" speech it turned into.

Urrr... oops!

The UK got dragged into two massive conflicts by "mainland" Europe in recent history.
Since then we've had more going on with the US in terms of economy and politics, 53rd state and all that.
In the last 10years our military and logistic support of the US hasn't won us any friends in Europe either.

For the UK to become and completely feel like part of Europe, i guess we'd have to cut a few diplomatic/economic/military/political ties to the US so the rest of the continent could clearly see which side we were really on.

Mmmm, rather depressing. I think, culturally, the English are still yet to fully bury the hatchet with the French and German, while they're quite buddy-buddy with each other now... (as far as I'm aware).

 

[Arsen]

That evolution states that "human beings evolved from monkeys". This is where the problem to the debate ALWAYS occurs.

And second, I have no problem with people assuming that "Africa is a country". Yes, it is a continent, but given the severe lack of government structure, the negativity implied with the land, and every educated guess in itself...it isn't necessarily ignorant to overlook the fact that it's in actuality a continent. However, this would imply that there's a plethora of wealth to be gained in reading about African society and culture, outside of the British presence Egypt's history, and many other numerous factors in there. It's hard to find relevance in such an annoyance when in fact the continent itself is so rattled with conflict, ignorance, and warfare that one can hardly find the time to give a damn whether it's a "Continent or a Country".

Ignorant? Slightly.
Completely indefensible? Not at all.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

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.

Most of Europe is within the purview of a single governing body thanks to the EU. That said, I imagine that would get annoying, though I honestly don't know where you're finding these people - I don't think I've ever run into a single person who actually thought that Europe was a single country since something like fourth grade.

The one about state law can get a little annoying though, either with people who've lived in a single state their entire life or people from outside the country. To be fair, to a naive observer it's probably hard to tell why states vary substantially in some legal areas but not in others.

 

[Hawkmoon269]

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*

I think you'll find there are a great deal of significant cultural differences between European countries, and the generalisation you make here would probably offend any number of the countries that you listed. Implying that Italy and Germany are so similar that you could "tool around" "without really noticing" is a particularly incorrect comment. The EU is just an extension of the Concert system that was attempted and failed in the 19th century, albeit a successful one. But regardless, the individual countries, even the small ones like Andorra, would still consider themselves very much independent nations. Ask a frenchman how he sees himself and he'll say French, every time. The same is true of Germany, England, Scotland, Italy, Wales, Spain, Portugal and all the other countries you chose to just gloss over.

 

[Cursed Frogurt]

That diet soda is better for you than regular soda. It is the least healthy thing you can possibly consume (serving size anyway, so you can't count the giant shit on the traveling shows on food network).

That "Republican" and "Conservative" are the same thing. Basically, all assumptions about conservatives.

That circumcision prevents infections.

That "natural" = "organic". "Natural" is a VERY loose term while their are pretty strict criteria for something to be considered "organic".

 

[zehydra]

I really don't care what people in the States think, it's just not worth it. The ignorant yahoos can have their own little world as long as they stay on the other side of the big lake.

I lol'd. Perhaps it should be clarified that a great deal of Americans don't actually think Europe's a country.

 

[xedi]

It doesn't bother me much that some view Europe as a single country and I can understand it to some extent. I mean you can travel from one point to the other and if you blink at the right moments you might not even notice that you just crossed several borders. While the EU has not enough impact on local governments to call the EU a country, it does have crucial legislatory power.

Misconceptions I hate the most are about evolution. Sadly I can understand why creationism is so popular in the US, if all you hear is counterarguments which to 99% percent are based on a wrong understanding of evolution then it makes sense not to accept it. To be fair, many non creationists also have their troubles understanding evolution, however, those are the ones who do not care about it and thus are not harming others as much.

Edit: Oh crap, Arsen was faster -.-

 

[Saluki_princess]

I don't think I've ever heard that about Europe (only Africa seems to get this more often than not from my experience).
With the laws-from-state-to-state thing, though, I can see where non-Americans might not think about that. Americans, though? That's sad...

 

[Kathinka]

I'm not innocent of this though, as a kid I used to think Russia and Germany was the same Country.

Well, depending on when you were a kid, you might be forgiven for being half-right. After all, post-WWII, half of Germany (East Germany) and Russia were both part of the USSR.

duuuuuude, are you serious? east germany was never part of the ussr. never. ever. didn't even border it. it was a state of the warsaw pact, but that's like saying that france was part of the u.s., since they both are in the nato.

that made me cringe..

on toppic: even more annoying and less funny misconception i encountered in my time in the states: many people there believed that texas would be larger then europe xD

 

[Octorok]

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.

That's only a recent thing though. Speaking from a Geographical standpoint we are obviously in Europe, and are just a rather large cluster of islands, however that is probably more to do with the fact that we politically separate ourselves from them.

We consider the European continent and we think of France, Spain, Italy, Germany etc. Countries with which we have engaged in constant war for the better part of the past few thousand years. We always were that bit not quite on the continent. Separated by the Royal Navy more than anything, and we just always fancied ourselves (especially during the height of the Empire, when we got really arrogant) as being different or apart from our brethren over the water.

And it's not just us. Countries like France and Spain would think of England or Great Britain as "different" too. Not a part of their continent, just a crappy wet rock that even the Romans couldn't be bothered to conquer all of.

Despite the efforts of modern day Europolitics, we've all spent a lot of time distancing ourselves from the people we loathe the most (in terms of our nations) and we always liked the idea that we were indeed an island nation, alone amongst a sea of barbarianism and inferiority.

As such I think that this has crept into our language. Even now it's a little reminder of the "us vs. them" mentality, ignoring the fact that the us and the them changed a lot and very quickly. See the British-German relationship in the 19th century, and then after two wars, or the British-French relationship in the 19th century, and then after two alliances.

On topic, I really couldn't start to list them. My list of pedantic woes is so vast that to type it here would be to condemn myself to die at my PC, fists locked in rage at the little issues which cause my brain to say, "No, damn it, no!"

 

[zehydra]

For me, I'd have to say the misconception that Ignorance/Education has anything to do with intellectual ability.

An uneducated/ignorant person isn't necessarily stupid, it would be a mistake to assume so.

 

[jurwell]

I hate the misconception that skateboarders are all 'punk kids' just out to rile up society, rather than partake in a social and creative hobby. I hate that people think that just because I have a skateboard I'm going to come over and beat them with it, or push over grandma or something. In reality, me and my friends are all intelligent and polite.

I won't be responsible for the action I take on the next person who sings 'Sk8rboi' or shouts 'Oi you! TONY 'AWK!'

 

[Zac Smith]

That people who work behind checkouts are their just to piss you off, and when a problem comes up, can't be bothered to sort it out.

NO! I'm am a human here trying to provide you a service, not a freaking robot. If something goes wrong with the till, I am not a technician, I will do my best to sort the problem, but sometimes stuff breaks. If something goes wrong with a product 9/10 its YOU, the customer not reading the label properly, and no I don't know about EVERY SINGLE PROMOTION as I don't do those, ask management. Finally if something does go wrong, and I can't fix it, you must wait for someone to come and help, I CAN NOT under any circumstances leave a signed on till in part-transaction un-attended, I will get fired if money goes missing.

And about every other problem checkout staff get while working in shops, supermarkets etc...

 

[RedKurtain]

Fortunately for me, I'm Russian and most of my comrades know that Europe is a continent with many countries, as well as the fact that there are state and federal laws.

Unfortunately, being Russian comes with other problems. People (Americans) always bunch all of the former Soviet Union states/territories as Russia, and even sometimes like to include other random countries like Poland and whatnot. Ukraine is not Russia. Moldova is not Russia. Russia is Russia, and it's too big to fit in one continent.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Thinking Europe is just one country is stupidity.

Thinking that the entire country of America works the same even though we have separate states is more ignorance. But, unless you're an American yourself, a more understandable ignorance.

So I'd have to say that first one would annoy me more.

"ALL GERMANS ARE NAZIS HERP DERP"

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

Two things... that generalization annoys me too, but how in the HELL did Call of Duty contribute to that?

 

[undeserving]

Mmmm, rather depressing. I think, culturally, the English are still yet to fully bury the hatchet with the French and German, while they're quite buddy-buddy with each other now... (as far as I'm aware).

this is such a huge subject and we're going crazy off topic but; We know there are no "winners" in war. The UK got properly battered in WW2 and didn't really have enough cash to rebuild properly, fell into a slump and spent 50 years rotting. Meanwhile, the other countries involved, especially the occupied ones, picked themselves up and got on with rebuilding everything.

More than half a century later the mainland infrastructure, social policies, education and healthcare facilities are benefiting from having not been built in the 1800s or based on Victorian technology. Then, to add insult to injury, the rest of Europe points and laughs at the UK when it snows and the rail network grinds to a halt. If that isn't grounds for a bit of societal resentment, i'm not sure what is.

 

[Stryc9]

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.

This goes for the stupids that call every mp3 player they see an "iPod" as well.

As for the OP's question, I would find both quite annoying if I'd ever really encountered anyone who thought that Europe was one big country but I really haven't. I have however run into a few people who don't realize that every state gets to make some of their own laws and I generally want to beat these people for their stupidity. Or at least kick them out of my country.

 

[wammnebu]

that all american conservatives are rush limbaugh imbecilles, some of us are actually fairly sane individuals,

 

[Wicky_42]

Yes, you can, but it's inherently less accurate to refer to the CONTINENT than to the country.

It's really not. The diversity and population within the US is roughly equivalent to the whole of Europe. You can no more claim to know the whole US by visiting a single city than you can claim to know France because you've been to Rome.

It really is - do you seriously think that you get a better idea of the whole of France, say, by visiting Paris - let alone a completely different country - than you do of the US by visiting, say, Chicago? And that the US alone has more variation than the 50 countries in Europe? Honestly I'm offended that you could think that - amazing display of arrogance.