Really?
 

I thought for quite some time about posting this or not. In the end , I decided to do it..albeit having to most probably to face ridicule etc.

I have been reading different threads for a some time now.
Usually most people on this site are posting intelligently, balanced and funny, informative and helpful posts.

What has transpired for me lately is the utter generalization and ridicule of American people, their country, language and culture. (Yes I know, several people on here believe they have neither).

I find this sad, annoying and simply wrong.

Sure, there are people in the US who are "boorish oafs, rednecks" etc.
No question about it.
I encountered them..in the US, in the ME...you name it.
I also encountered such people in the UK, in Germany etc.....

Don't you think you make yourself look pretty stupid by displaying such lack of knowledge,insight and intelligence by posting such ,IMHO, dumb and uneccessary generalizations?
I think you do.

I am , at this time, pretty fed up with the "opinions" certain people here display.

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I usually only make fun of Norwegians (and sometimes the British), but I do think that Americans are such easy targets for ridicule. And to be honest I think most of what is posted on here is done in jest. The truly derogatory posts are few and far between..

Good on you for picking up on the issue though. I think it sometimes is very easy to post something without thinking twice about what you are really saying and how others would interpret what you've written.

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Norsk, I am not talking about "tongue in cheek". I am talking about all open ridicule and name calling.

I think , or better said have learned ,what we make fun of in others is a mirror image of ourselves, inside.
I can't really see many Americans making fun of Brits...so really, who does have the last laugh? ;)

And why are Americans "such an easy target for ridicule"?
Because of some TV shows? Hmm, I've seen plenty of Brit shows that make Brits look like idiots.

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Has there been name calling? Sorry I must have missed that.

I agree with you on the mirror image concept, and think Forrest Gump said it best; "Stupid is as stupid does". :thumbsup:

I'm not saying Brits are any better, but the Americans have been at it for years making fun of large parts of their own population through mass media. Reality TV definitely isn't making this situation better, but at least that is a worldwide stupidity phenomenon.

Americans have believed (and most probably still do) that their country is the best on earth and therefore everywhere else should be like it. To be honest we, the rest of the world, are the idiots since we are happy to take on most of their culture (and thereby replace our own). :blink:

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You are right in what you are saying...never the less...I KNOW f many Brits who think being English?British is the best thing on earth...and really, does not every nationality have that tendency?
Yes, we make fun of ourselves, but how do you think it feels if one is constantly pin pointed? And the main point is, generalization.
Like, all Brits have bad teeth, all Brits are ugly etc?
All Germans are dour and serious?
Talking about tv shows....I have seen tv shoes, British ones, and they were not reality tv...like Emmerdale and this other one, East Enders...if THAT does not give ample opportunity to make fun of Brits..well, then I am at a loss!

Another curious thing...no British person has posted on this so far...despite a lot of people having read the post...must be a lot of NON Brits reading this..:P

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What? EastEnders isn't real? Of course it is..You should be careful or Phil
Mitchell will come for you..:frown:

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I had read it and was going through my old posts to see if I'm guilty as I'm always saying bloody americans and rolling my eyes! I apologize if it was me>> shuffles off tail between her legs...

I've snogged a couple of americans so thats built a few bridges! ;)

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Hahaha....all brawn and UGLY! Bring it on Phil Boy! ;)

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Noooooooooo......you degraded your body ...letting a "bloody Yank" come near it and errrmm,,,more???The Horror!!!! How could you????? :eek::eek::eek::eek: :rofl:

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Alexa- lol if he has a pulse he's game in my book lol- and if your snogging them they aren't talking... I haven't shagged an american though - the snogging didn't inspire me lol

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That's a shame. Perhaps you need you get your teeth fixed? Then you might have more luck. :zzz::zzz::zzz:

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Ah....special requirements....they can be met, but you need to know how to "inspire"....:p

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She might not have understood...after all , Yanks don't speak English...:rofl:

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I think the freaky American stalker who keeps coming back to post on BE despite being banned numerous times does Americans no favours.


In most cases I'd suggest that we are just having fun with national stereotypes. It's a very British thing to do, after all we do from region to region in the UK, as this board amply demonstrates.

There are times when Americans make an easy target for ridicule, if you watch the Jerry Springer types shows. The fact that so few have a passport seems odd to so many other nationalities too. The jingoism and assumption from some more vocal types that most people would prefer to be an American is offensive to many. America is a country of many parts and New Yorkers and Californians, for example, are very different to many in the Mid West and bible belt, who are more insular.

Overall, I have found most Americans to be friendly and welcoming. My SiL is one and I adore her. We spend a lot of time ribbing each other, but it's just a heap of fun.

Ask a Brit their views on any foreign nationality and we can all trot out the stereotypes. It doesn't mean we don't like the individuals that we meet, and it is rarely meant seriously. Americans are an easy 'target' as they are pretty visible to the rest of the world. And dare I say, often louder? ;)


EDIT> One other point. I wonder if because we theoretically speak the same language, Brits expect Americans to be similar and we're surprised/disappointed when they are not??

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So, it's all "good fun and tongue in cheek"? Ok, thanks for letting me know, I will remember that from now on.
I just hope this does not end up being a one way street...

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Well most of it. Idiots are idiots, no matter where they are from. ;)

Ask a Brit his view of the French or Italians some time...

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Or Germans, for that matter.
I know the opinions...have heard them all.

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Or Qatari's ;)

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But you need to separate the stereotype from the personal. Most of us make jokey comments about other nationalities, but know individuals that we like. It really is very rarely personal.

:)

And don't tell me that Americans and Germans never make comments about other nationalities.

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Well.....it has been personal..experienced it myself. BUT, that is rare, no question.

And you are right, Germans as Americans DO make jokes about there nationalities..Germans about Austrians, and then there are the "Beaners" and Canadians in America.
I think this just cropped up for me because here it is mostly Americans..I am not a member on German or American chat boards...but f they are there, then similar things probably happen.

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So where is the problem to make jokes of each other???

In germany we even make jokes about the pope AND?? i mean its a joke and make people laugh which is good.

In Dubai i have some local friends which call me bloody german and there is everytime something in returnm so whaT??

Try to relax.:thumbsup:

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As the one who recently called the yanks boorish oafs, I'm guessing you were having a dig at me?

We are all entitled to our opinions, and if you don't like them, feel free to offer an alternative view.

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yuck @ germans...

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:eek:.......:thumbsup:

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Naa, I don't do digs. I just remember reading certain things..posted by who makes no difference to me.
I did not post that thread to be personal about people, it was the general stand on things that made me post it.
Just thought I'd make that clear....as we Germans a pretty up front...:D

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vomit @ Brits :D

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Ja immer geradeaus ;-)

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But to be fair, the germans are not realy famous for their fine sense of humour ;-)

We was sitting on the bbq spot somewhere in the Swihan area, i had three germans students with me, when we was driving home the complained about the jokes (bloody germans blabla)

I guess its typical german to be fast offended about such a jokes.

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yes, I suppose...just like Indians just love it when others laugh when they hear names like "Sonia Dipshit".....or was that Dickshit...can't quite recall....

I belive it is fine when we make jokes about our own countries and cultures...when others do it, it usually is fine to a certain extent,IMHO. At some point though it gets a little tedious, don't you think?

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Is that what you do? Bit boring, don't you think?:rofl:

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Depends on the situation ;-)

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Gotta love a bit of 'Allo 'Allo and one particular episode of Fawlty Towers.

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:lol: Good thread Alexa

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I have spent half an hour thinking how to answer this post, I have lots of american friends, very good friends and I realiSed that they all have one thing in Common, they understand sarcasm.

Let me clarify that when I say America, I mean the United States of America, as a majority of people often do. Most people overlook the fact that America is actually a continent with a large number of interesting and varied countries that are not in the least bit as horrible as the USA. My complaints are exclusively targeted at the USA.

Well, I complain about the Americans on a regular basis, and as far as I am concerned, with plenty of reason. I often say that I hate Americans, which is a bit of a heavy-handed statement and not entirely meant. In reality, there are plenty of nice and plenty of horrible people in every country. The difference is that American society and culture frustrates and annoys me immensely.

The main things that get my goat-

- Obsessive pride. This really irritates me. I’m British, and a major component of the British sense of humour is insulting yourself. It doesn’t really matter if you mean it or not (and often I do, we have lots of problems of our own (the ****ing clowns running our country)) but it’s the actual act of mocking oneself. I just can’t see Americans being able to find the modesty. There are bloody flags everywhere. Let me just explain that in stark comparison, I can’t think of anywhere I know of within 10 miles where I can see the flag of my country being flown.

It’s not because we don’t like our country or are not proud of it. We don’t need to demonstrate that pride continually. I almost applaud the sense of national pride that Americans have, but I don’t. It’s over the top and besides, I don’t think they have much to be proud of.

- Sport. I could rant on this subject for ages but will keep it brief, World Series??(Played only in the US) The Ryder cup-Players and Fans showing no respect to the European players. Soccer, ITS FOOTBALL! Foam Fingers, why?Though I do like the invention of the beer hat.

- History. I realise that Americans try to make the most of what history they have, which is very minute. There are pubs in my home town that are older than the USA. Most of the buildings in the town centre are probably older than the USA. The Grammar school that I went to was founded in 1552, that’s nearly 500 years ago.

And that’s nothing. Nothing at all. The Great Pyramid, 4000 years old. Ancient Roman and Greek structures ranging from around 2000 years old (the Colosseum) to things like the Parthenon which is around 2500 years old and even neolithic structures in places like Scotland that can be around 6000 years old.

The USA is a very VERY new country, and it needs to realise that fact. There is no history in the USA. So stop banging on about the founding fathers and whatever else you think is history. Anything in the USA absolutely pales in comparison to places elsewhere that absolutely ooze history. Jericho is over ten thousand years old, Istanbul is over five thousand years old, Athens, 5000, Jerusalem, 4000 and so on.

- Culture and Society. American Culture is spreading across the globe like a virulent plague and Americanisation and Commercialisation are gradually destroying many places. American culture is cheap and nasty, American products are cheap and nasty, I like to use the xbox 360 as a relevant example. It feels cheap and shoddy, it looks cheap and shoddy, it breaks easily, its ugly, and it is designed and made with the express intent of making money for rich white men. It’s shit. The same can be said for American cars which is my specialist subject (I had to sell them for over 10 years), electronic products, the whole lot.

American society is also very violent, America has had a very very gentle and calm history. List the number of times the USA has been invaded. List the number of empires that have conquered it, subjugated the local population and slaughtered dissidents. From every perspective, the USA has had a very sheltered and relaxed history. You can rightly complain about 9 11, but it is nothing compared to, say, Africa which is ravaged by wars and massacres.

Why, then, are there so many murders? Why do people need bloody guns? Carrying a gun around annoys me more than anything else. A gun is designed for the express purpose of killing. Some people carry them for “self defence”, perhaps of the opinion that it will deter another attacker. Ultimately though, you don’t address violent crime by allowing everyone to carry around a potential murder weapon. Lets remember that the murderer can buy guns too. And lets not forget 7 children tragically gunned down in a school yesterday. (Though we have had our own instances of this happening it is much less frequent)

- The illusion of benefiting the world. I will admit that there are a number of things invented by Americans that have benefited the world, but that list is very insignificant. Perhaps the only truly significant invention is artificial flight. The Wright brothers are the fathers of air travel, and air travel truly changed the world we live in. You can argue about various electronic technologies and the Internet, but these things are not exclusive to the USA.

If you compare this to, say, the inventions of agriculture, music, metalworking, language and writing, maps, philosophy, gunpowder, sailing, government, steam power, steel, wheels and axles, sanitation, medicine, currency, printing, clocks, telephones and computers. All of these are important and critical inventions that drastically effect our lives and the world we live in. None of them have anything significant to do with the USA.

Just to clarify again. I don’t hate America(ns) as such, but I do get very irritated by the country as a whole.

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The shermans pay my salary. For that alone we love them. Plus they stepped up to the plate and smashed the Jerry's in WW2 and saved us all from the axis of evil.

Oh and shiner boc beer, the world would be shit without shiner..

I have loads of yank friends and their opinion that the world revolves around USA aside, they are great guys...all fat pie munchers though..

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The claim to that they ‘saved our ass’ in two wars, but in truth,

WW1: they gave us almost no help, and only joined when the Germans sank many of their ships and tried to persuade the Mexicans to invade Texas

WW2: they refused to join, left us to deal with Hitler, and gave us no help. They SOLD us help, but that wrecked our economy after the war, which is why we’re no longer a superpower. Then they joined the war because Japan attacked THEM and Germany declared war on THEM.

But they have given us fast food, which for me living in the ME has been a god send.

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You are of course correct, PH triggered the USA into the war, however their sacrifices from D-Day onwards was huge.

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Sacrifices from the Americans????

**** them!!! The think they are world sherifs and whatever they do to do it only to keep their economy (oil the blood of economy) running!

They give a shit about everybody else then americans!!

And iits not because of WW2 that i dont like them, that was a war from our grandparents and not my generation. I evaluate only what they are doing in the younger historie and this is a **** up!!! Not for them for sure but for the rest of the world!

my couple of Rials!

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The sacrifices I agree with, though far too many people believe the films they watch depicting only Americans winning the war, that kind of grates me too.

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Oh I agree, if you watch band of brothers or shaving ryans private's you can't help but think they won the war single handedly.

My grandad (the one who survived) fought with the yanks in france, he spoke highly of them to my father.

And this isn't any form of anti German post, like the dude above says, this was 2 generations ago..