Have to totally agree on that one. Not sure where the Americans came up with this "English people have bad teeth", comment. Every state I go to, is full of people with really bad teeth. I lived in NYC "The rich capital, greatest city in USA", loads of people with bad teeth.
Reg. Frank R.

That's a very interesting example Elfman. Thank you for sharing it. (I'm being sincere by the way.)

The sort of people who would make a comment like "Y'all'd be speakin German if it weren't for us" (or similar) are the same sort of folks who today would demand "I shouldn't be asked English or Spanish, this is American dammit!"

I had an argument with a guy about this a week or two ago. He was very upset that ATMs provide more than one language - if you're here you should speak English, period, was his philosophy. So, by that rationale, I argued - if you were to go overseas, you should never expect to find instructions in English (say in France, Germany, Japan, take your pick) ... is that right? Or ... an American bank would therefore have to forfeit the ability to do business with the thousands who were visiting (or not) this country who did not, or did not yet speak English. Couldn't get a straight answer out of him. He didn't seem to be able to connect his logic with mine, and that blew my mind. He also, ironically, didn't think there was anything wrong with the fact that his Mom (who was an American expat to Japan) never learned the language - fine, that's her choice - but it flies in the face of his logic - she should be unable to function there!!! I finally said - if you're so pissed off about it - stop complaining to me and write the bank.

Pssst - you were an immigrant too once I'll bet!

Maybe this belongs under the "Stupid people I've met" thread in the Lounge.

Not trying to be flippant or anything, but that's a roundabout way of saying the US lost. You can't win a war 'on points' or 'body count'.

Apparently one of the Hitler family moved to Israel and changed his name but changed it to that of another famous anti-Semite - or something like that, my husband was reading it to me and I wasn't listening properly.

I agree that the OP's cow-workers probably meant it as a joke.
And yet here we have ten plus pages on it, and how many of these posts are Brits laughing and telling the OP to get over it, as it was obviously meant to be funny?

Christ, I think one of the things that bugs me is that it's sooooo old and tired. It's been 60 odd years, is that really all we can come up with? If I had to hear the same damn thing everytime some American coworker decided he felt comfortable enough around me to spring that little gem it wouldn't take long for my thoughts to turn violent. My wife feels the same way when some twat first thing upon learning her name, breaks into the chorus from "The First Noel". And every dumbass that does it think he/she was the first.

OK, we'll go back to this.

Jokes aside, I don't think that you'll find that many people, particularly the urban hipsters on the coasts, who believe this sort of thing. But for those who do, here's a thought --

Until the 1930's, Americans were generally isolationist in their political views. It began with Washington's advisory to avoid "foreign entanglements", and continued through the end of the 19th century, when Americans were too busy conquering native peoples and the Mexicans to worry about much beyond North America.

WWI saw a momentary sea change in public sentiment in its support for WWI, so the rise of fascism so soon thereafter was a letdown. The attitude during the Great War had been that we'll go over there, help them sort things out, and peace will descend upon the world, but within less than twenty years, the whole thing had unraveled pretty badly. Americans in the late thirties were generally in no mood to jump into a war that they thought that the last one would prevent from ever happening again.

To motivate Americans to go fight WWII, it was necessary to convince them that they must be saviors of the world to the downtrodden who can't survive without them. It was the belief that America could make a difference in the world and help its friends that convinced the average slob to buy war bonds, ration meat and send his kids into the grinder, even though they otherwise had no business there.

And there you have it. If Americans don't think that they make the critical difference in a foreign conflict, they don't want to make the sacrifice. They participate in the belief that it's part of the democratic mission, not just because it's supposedly important. It's therefore important to convince them that the cause is noble AND that they are uniquely positioned to fix it in order to get them to participate.

Ironically, it was the absence of a belief that your asses deserved saving that kept the US out of WWII as long as it did. FDR did not have enough popular will among the electorate to declare war on Germany as early as 1941, until Hitler stupidly fixed the problem for him.

If Americans had maintained the mentality that some of you desire, they would have stayed home in the belief that you should have sorted out the Hitler problem for yourselves, without their help or their blood, for it wasn't otherwise their business. You might be careful what you wish for, next time...

I didn't think that there was anything roundabout about it -- I'm not sure how much clearer that I could have been.

I was pointing out, however, that the defeat was not because of military ineptitude, but due to political mismanagement. The nuances seem lost on some of our fellow posters here, and it was a point that was worth making, in my opinion.

60 years? That's nothing - many Southerners aren't over the US Civil War yet. Damn Yankees!

Regarding your wife's name ... that reminds me of a when a new employee joined my last company. His name was Andrew Lloyd. It took all of my self control not to make a Phantom of the Opera or similar reference - had to keep telling myself (spare the poor guy, guarantee he's heard it 1000 times!)

If I ever read about that guy shooting up his office, I bet I know the reason why! Really, I bet you have no idea how much he appreciates your self control.

was it not being attacked on American soil by Japan that motivated the US to join the war?

Just a nuance

And the US bases in the Philipines< Clark and Iba fields on the same day

To fight the Japanese, yes. Last I checked, Hitler's last residence was in Europe.

Now we're over here nicking your jobs so we mustn't grumble