More dumb Americans

[Weezle]

When i was in South Carolina a few years ago staying at the University of Colombia a girl there commented that my English was very good. I commented that i was from England, so it was to be expected. She commented back that she thought French was the national language of England and apparently English was an American invention. She hadn't registered the connection between ENGland and ENGlish - although much to the dismay of all the other yanks around who assured me they weren't all that stupid!

 

[Lord Cornwallis]

It's hard not to tar them all with the same brush, you only have to look at the bloke leading them.
I've lived in North Carolina for 10 years and it's almost a daily occurrence that someone says something stupid.
It's always a lot more fun when you have a fellow Brit to share it with. A couple of gems that have come my way.

In a bar in Athens Georgia unbeknown to us it's country and western night. 2 blokes are on stage murdering some song and I turn to the bloke next to me at the bar while pointing at the two on stage and said, with all the cowboys in here you'd think someone would have a gun. He looks at me startled and says"Ooh you can't bring a gun in here"

I'm fitting a kitchen in a show house and the designer is totally self absorbed with the floor tile that has come out of some monastery in France telling everyone it's over 100 years old. She turns to me and says "You'll like the tile, coming from Europe [?] There's paw print in one of them and I asked her if it was a French poodle, she gives me a blank look and says "Ooh I don't know what kind of dog it was"

And only last week I'm installing a kitchen in a house and a little red neck fella comes up to me and says "You're the first carpenter I've met from England. I told him to go to England "There's f***ing loads of them there" He walked away scratching his head.

Some times I do dispare,

 

[Gully]

On a visit to Montreal a few years ago,a couple of Americans overheard me talking with an elderly Canadian lady about the olympic stadium. They wandered over and greeted me, which was very nice, then one of them asked me which part of Australia I was from. I politely explained that I was from the South East of England, to which the response was, "is that near Sydney?"

We laugh about the Americans and their shoddy geography, but I wonder how many Brits could draw a map of their country and put on more than a couple of States or cities, probably not that many.

 

[Simster]

From what I see on NSC, the Brits have got a bit of a cheek calling anyone else dumb.

Not really, no. Half of those questions, a monkey could answer with just a tiny bit of awareness of the world around them.

This is the NSC equivalent of "Honey we're killing the kids" where we watch it in order to make ourselves feel better about our own level of awareness and intelligence. Call it SMUG TV if you will.

 

[Djmiles]

We laugh about the Americans and their shoddy geography, but I wonder how many Brits could draw a map of their country and put on more than a couple of States or cities, probably not that many.

To be fair if told what State someone was from, most Brits would have a ROUGH idea where it is.

Whereas mention a county in England, and they won't have a clue.

 

[Chesney Christ]

We laugh about the Americans and their shoddy geography, but I wonder how many Brits could draw a map of their country and put on more than a couple of States or cities, probably not that many.

Thats hardly the point. Looking through the thread, there's some things that only Americans would be stupid enough to say. Look at your example; could you imagine an American telling an English person they were from the "deep south of America" and the English person replying "oh, is that near Bristol?"

I also don't know ANY English people who think that Utopia is a country, or that USA's national language is Mexican (like the Yank who thought we spoke French!)....

 

[eastlondonseagull]

...a girl there commented that my English was very good. I commented that i was from England, so it was to be expected. She commented back that she thought French was the national language of England and apparently English was an American invention.

Marvellous

:thud:

 

[Superphil]

To be fair if told what State someone was from, most Brits would have a ROUGH idea where it is.

Whereas mention a county in England, and they won't have a clue.

I Know where Hazzard County is http://www.cootersplace.com/

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I have on my name badge, "Nick Smith, Safety Manager, United Kingdom".
When sailing out of Houston last year, a large American lady approached me, checked my nationality & said to me very slowly, "Do you speak English?"

"Yes Madam, I am English" I replied.

"Really, did you move to the United Kingdom then?"



I know you shouldn't tar all people with the same brush, but f*** me I've met some dumb ass septic's!

I have on my name badge "Nick Smith, Marketing Project manager"!!! are we related?

I work for an American Company, and wwhilst over there recently one of my ASmerican colleagues (female) said "I just love your English accent..it's so quaint", I replied, "Which language are we speaking?" "English" she replied, "well ,in that case I think your accent is quaint"

 

[pasty]

In Barcelona, in a subways type place, we'd just bought our lunch when we overheard a very loud and outraged Southern American voice boom "Whadda yer mean yer don't take dollars"

 

[Gwylan]

Those of you who fancy sneering at Americans should
should have a look at how bright we Brits are.

Personally, I reckon we should keep quiet.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I have on my name badge "Nick Smith, Marketing Project manager"!!! are we related?

I work for an American Company, and wwhilst over there recently one of my ASmerican colleagues (female) said "I just love your English accent..it's so quaint", I replied, "Which language are we speaking?" "English" she replied, "well ,in that case I think your accent is quaint"

I wouldn't be too rude to her Nick Smith Marketing Project Manager. In my experience of the States, an American girl referring to your English accent as 'quaint' or 'cute' is generally a prelude to her removing her panties.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Personally, I reckon we should keep quiet.

Very clever of the Independent to have an article about dumbing-down, then publish the first paragraph twice.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Those of you who fancy sneering at Americans should
should have a look at how bright we Brits are.

Personally, I reckon we should keep quiet.

It's a sport, though, isn't it? Yank ribbing!

 

[Gwylan]

Very clever of the Independent to have an article about dumbing-down, then publish the first paragraph twice.

I think that's just sloppy programming.

We know that programmers are dumb, whatever side of the pond they're from.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Those of you who fancy sneering at Americans should
should have a look at how bright we Brits are.

Personally, I reckon we should keep quiet.

I reckon some of those were jokes though...

Having said that, I wasn't taught about most of the events they mention at school. Pretty much everything I know about history(which isn't a tremendous amount, it has to be said) has been learnt through various other sources-books, t.v programmes(the simon schama one's were fantastic), being dragged around old places when a kid etc. Of those listed the only one I can remember studying in detail is the battle of hastings. The two world wars were covered obviously, but not dates and figures.

 

[Nemesis]

On a visit to Montreal a few years ago,a couple of Americans overheard me talking with an elderly Canadian lady about the olympic stadium. They wandered over and greeted me, which was very nice, then one of them asked me which part of Australia I was from. I politely explained that I was from the South East of England, to which the response was, "is that near Sydney?"

We laugh about the Americans and their shoddy geography, but I wonder how many Brits could draw a map of their country and put on more than a couple of States or cities, probably not that many.

When I first moved to Canada my accent was always mistaken for Australian-when you live away from the UK for a while it is easy to see how that happens (especially when it is a Southern/South Eastern accent).

Totally agree about many Brits not having a clue about American/Canadian geography. The number of times I've been asked "Where in Canada do you live"? "Ontario" I'd say. "Really, I've got relatives in Ontario-Joe and Josie Bloggs. Do you know them"? I then had to explain just how big the place is and liken it to me asking if they know a relative of mine living in Northern Europe

I wouldn't be too smug.....How many Brits would be able to locate Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Ohio, etc on a map? There are a lot of dumbass Brits around....it's not the exclusive domain of Americans which spoils the joke a bit.

Having said that, driving through Buffalo I got lost so I stopped and asked a local for directions to Eastgate Mall. He said he didn't know where it was. I drove about half a mile on the same road and there it was! That's scary!

 

[Juan Albion]

To be fair if told what State someone was from, most Brits would have a ROUGH idea where it is.

Whereas mention a county in England, and they won't have a clue.

And just how many US counties could you locate?

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I wouldn't be too rude to her Nick Smith Marketing Project Manager. In my experience of the States, an American girl referring to your English accent as 'quaint' or 'cute' is generally a prelude to her removing her panties.

Well, she didn't. although I was "one mile inside America" later that evening KFC!

 

[Scoffers]

Two points, firstly the Video looks dubbed, not sure it's real



Secondly, they are not dumb, but their culture is commonly all about themselves, in the same way that lots of "dumb" brits dont bother with attempting French or Spanish when on holiday.

I have worked for an American company for close on 10 years, and there are a number of my Yanky colleagues who don't have passports "why the heck do I need a passport, if I wanna go skiing, I go to Vermont, if I want the sunshine, I go to Florida (etc etc etc) , I got everything I need here"