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American Geography

Old Jan 19th 2004, 12:59 am
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Just thought I would put this out for discussion and see if anyone else had experienced this sort of thing,

I was recently chatting to a guy in a bar in New Jersey (may explain it) and he said ' where ya from, Britland'?

Also I have been speaking to an Attorney (also in a bar) and she didn’t know where Scotland was???!!! No clue what so ever, not even that it was in the UK or Europe. I thought Attorney's would have some intelligence.

I dont claim to know where every country is in the world but I would expect people to have some basic geography of countries that are quite heavily involved with your own.
:lecture:
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 1:11 am
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I've had to explain more that once that Ireland is actually a separate island and isn't attached. I haven't encountered too many Americans who have ever heard of Wales, let alone know where it is.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 1:19 am
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by mattbutt
Just ...... but I would expect people to have some basic geography of countries that are quite heavily involved with your own.
You are right, and your experience, I would say, is fairly typical.

Having said that Britain and the British don't make it easy - "England", "Britain/ Great Britain", and "the UK/ United Kingdom" are all used fairly interchangeably (rightly or wrongly, and I certainly flip between them on occasion). When two related islands (Great Britain and Ireland - Northern and Southern) already have three names (above) there is little room for Scotland, Ireland, and Wales as well!

I think that British understanding of US geography is also relatively poor. There is surely as much a lack of understanding about how large the US is as there is among Americans not realizing how small the UK is.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 1:38 am
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I appreciate what is being said concerning the possible confusion about the countries of the Uk etc. However the inusular nature of the US could be no better seen when, upon catching a part of a TV advert the other night, I learned that one of the most beautiful parts of England was Wales! Nuff said.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 4:52 am
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by mattbutt
Just thought I would put this out for discussion and see if anyone else had experienced this sort of thing,

I was recently chatting to a guy in a bar in New Jersey (may explain it) and he said ' where ya from, Britland'?

Also I have been speaking to an Attorney (also in a bar) and she didn’t know where Scotland was???!!! No clue what so ever, not even that it was in the UK or Europe. I thought Attorney's would have some intelligence.

I dont claim to know where every country is in the world but I would expect people to have some basic geography of countries that are quite heavily involved with your own.
:lecture:

LOL where do I start. Since I've been here I have seen a magazine article that talked about a scientific breakthrough at "England’s Edinburgh University"...On TV I watched a documentary on Tony Blair’s involvement in the Iraqi war that ended with the commentary "tough times ahead for England’s young PM"
On junkyard wars I watched a competition between a Glasgow team and a London team described as "The Scots V the Brits"

Americans don’t distinguish between Britain and England, because this is what they are taught in school and in the media. I explained the makeup of the UK to a guy in my work and he said this "is Wales a real country?...hmmm I guess it is cos of that prince they have" I've yet to meet someone here that knows that Scotland is a UK country...most don't even know where it is on a map. A woman did ask if it was in Ireland though, which is fairly close.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 6:11 am
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by mattbutt
Just thought I would put this out for discussion and see if anyone else had experienced this sort of thing,
I've had so many Philadelphians ask me what part of london I'm from (I live in Birmingham) that I've taken to asking them what part of Washington DC they live in.

As far as UKers grasp of US geography...that I must also admit tends to be woeful. I don't have a great idea of exactly where all the states are, but usually enough to guess compass direction etc, and I try and make sure I can place major cities and things. I do at least know that you can't commute between LA and NYC...
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 6:21 am
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by lau3rie
I've had so many Philadelphians ask me what part of london I'm from (I live in Birmingham) that I've taken to asking them what part of Washington DC they live in.

As far as UKers grasp of US geography...that I must also admit tends to be woeful. I don't have a great idea of exactly where all the states are, but usually enough to guess compass direction etc, and I try and make sure I can place major cities and things. I do at least know that you can't commute between LA and NYC...
When Americans ask me what part of Australia I come from I ask them what part of canada do they come from
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 10:48 am
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Ah makes me laugh when they refer to themselves as African Americans, they don't even know where Africa is, let alone have ever been there. As the guy said, are there Euro-Americans too ?
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 3:01 pm
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Even though there is a fair amount of international geography ignorance from our American cousins, its not just them. I remember being down in Acapulco, Mexico a few years back, and whilst making a call back to my parents, the proceded to grill me on how far away from Chicago I was, because they'd just seen on the news that they had terrible snow storms. I had to tell them that I was probably around 3000 miles away in a different country in 90 degree weather on the beach.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 4:06 pm
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by Pulaski
Having said that Britain and the British don't make it easy - "England", "Britain/ Great Britain", and "the UK/ United Kingdom" are all used fairly interchangeably (rightly or wrongly, and I certainly flip between them on occasion). When two related islands (Great Britain and Ireland - Northern and Southern) already have three names (above) there is little room for Scotland, Ireland, and Wales as well!
Throw in The British Isles to confuse them even more

Originally posted by MattButt
Also I have been speaking to an Attorney (also in a bar) and she didn’t know where Scotland was???!!!
A few years ago when I was working as a bartender I served a round of drinks to a young waitress who knew that I was from England. As I gave her the drinks I said "Merci Beaucoup". She turned round and asked what I had just said. I said that was French for "Thank you very much". Oh, she says, I always wondered what language they spoke in England. :scared:

She wasn't joking, either, she was serious
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 6:32 pm
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Default Re: American Geography

Originally posted by ScousePete
Throw in The British Isles to confuse them even more


A few years ago when I was working as a bartender I served a round of drinks to a young waitress who knew that I was from England. As I gave her the drinks I said "Merci Beaucoup". She turned round and asked what I had just said. I said that was French for "Thank you very much". Oh, she says, I always wondered what language they spoke in England. :scared:

She wasn't joking, either, she was serious
That's eerie...my wife told me a story of a girl in her european history class. During a discussion on Britain she stuck her hand up and said "why do they all speak French in the UK?" I kid you not.

Britain has it's fair share of dumbasses too though...my American wife was asked a couple of times if she was from Australia.
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 6:42 pm
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Originally posted by doctor scrumpy
Ah makes me laugh when they refer to themselves as African Americans, they don't even know where Africa is, let alone have ever been there. As the guy said, are there Euro-Americans too ?
That only really bothers me when I refer to friends from home as black...and get dirty looks. They're not American...so there is absolutely no reason for me to describe them as African-AMERICAN
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 6:50 pm
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Originally posted by lau3rie
That only really bothers me when I refer to friends from home as black...and get dirty looks. They're not American...so there is absolutely no reason for me to describe them as African-AMERICAN
I recently had the toughest time convincing a reviewer that it was OK for me to refer to the children in a research study as Black (the other kids were described as White; he didn't seem to have a problem with that). He was insistent that I describe them as African American - even though they were in the Bahamas!
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Old Jan 19th 2004, 8:13 pm
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I read a while ago that they asked a bunch of high school graduates from all over the country to mark where america was on an unlabled map. 60% odd chose russia. when they were asked why they said it was because it was the biggest country on the map. sad really when you think about it.
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Old Jan 20th 2004, 3:23 pm
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Originally posted by Duncan Roberts
<<snip>> 60% odd chose russia. when they were asked why they said it was because it was the biggest country on the map. sad really when you think about it.
That's what propoganda does when you fall for it "hook, line and sinker"!




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