Yanks eh ?

[pasty]

Watching a programme on BBC4 about the death of the package holiday to Florida. One of the travel companies was training their American reps, and asked various questions about England and the UK.

Q. Who is this (shown a picture of Maggie Thatcher)
A. Princess Diana's mum

Q. What city to The Beatles hail from
A. London

And my personal favourite.....

Q. What 4 countries make up the United Kingdom
A. Scotland, Ireland, Europe, Italy

 

[Rangdo]

Watching a programme on BBC4 about the death of the package holiday to Florida. One of the travel companies was training their American reps, and asked various questions about England and the UK.

Q. Who is this (shown a picture of Maggie Thatcher)
A. Princess Diana's mum

Q. What city to The Beatles hail from
A. London

And my personal favourite.....

Q. What 4 countries make up the United Kingdom
A. Scotland, Ireland, Europe, Italy

To be fair though they know just as little about their own country. The Americans I've met when I've been over there have done a great job of living up to everything the rest of the world thinks about them.

 

[Djmiles]

Q. What 4 countries make up the United Kingdom
A. Scotland, Ireland, Europe, Italy

:thud:

 

[Gully]

The thing that makes me laugh, cruel I know, about the Americans is how they mention the name of a place in Europe followed by the country it is in. Is this just to reinforce the fact that Paris is in France, or to avoid confusion with Paris Norway or Paris Greece....mind you there is a Paris Hilton, so they might just have a point, aaarrgghhhh....

 

[Gwylan]

It's easy to knock the septics but I wonder what would happen if you asked a cross-section of Brits:

Who is this (showing a picture of Jimmy Carter, US prez when Thatch was elected)?

What state did the Beach Boys come from?

What 13 states made up the original states of the union?

I wouldn't mind betting that you'd get some equally dumb answers.

 

[NMH]

It's easy to knock the septics but I wonder what would happen if you asked a cross-section of Brits:

Who is this (showing a picture of Jimmy Carter, US prez when Thatch was elected)?

What state did the Beach Boys come from?

What 13 states made up the original states of the union?

I wouldn't mind betting that you'd get some equally dumb answers.

Having taken the citizenship test in the US, I can confirm that the Americans do not know the original 13. To be a little fair on them, their country is about the size of Europe - so asking Brits where Athens, Brussels, Belgium or Luxembourg is might produce some interesting responses.
I have though, been asked what language we speak in England, and if I sometimes just WALK to France!

 

[Icy Gull]

Er Jade Goody?

Jade asks Spencer if he punts boats on the River Thames.
Spencer: "No, I work in Cambridge."
Jade: "I know I'm from Bermondsey and I know that's London, but where is Cambridge?"
Spencer: "It's in East Anglia."
Jade: "Where's East Angular [sic] though? I thought that was abroad."


"The Union Jack is for all of us, but the St George is just for London, isn't it?"

"I knew Lynne was from Aberdeen but I didn't realise Aberdeen was in Scotland."

"What's asparagus? Do you grow it?"

"I am intelligent, but I let myself down because I can't speak properly or spell."

To Jonny when the others were complaining about him while he was lying in bed: "You'll interiate." (As opposed to "deteriorate".)

To PJ after he revealed he knew someone who kept pet peacocks: "You see those things... don't think I'm being daft... but them things that look like eyes, are they their real eyes?"
Jade picks up a photo of PJ on holiday by the sea.
Jade: "Is that where you live?"
PJ: "Yeah, Birmingham seaside."
Jade: "Have they not got seasides in Birmingham?"


"Jonny, I'm not being tictactical in here"

Tim suggested Jade move to the US, to which she replied: "They do speak English there don't they

 

[Lammy]

This thread should simply be titled "The General Public Eh?"

 

[JJ McClure]

The thing that makes me laugh, cruel I know, about the Americans is how they mention the name of a place in Europe followed by the country it is in.

Is that not just down to the fact that there are lots of places in the states named after European cities such as Paris, Illinois or Birmigham, Alabama. Makes sense to differentiate surely.

 

[readingstockport]

Dear god, me defending yanks twice in one week. Once on here and once on our mailing list.

The yanks are no more stupid than many brits. I was on Reading station on Saturday and heard a VERY well spoken young man (about 15 or so) ask his equally well spoken mother

Where's Hereford, I thought it was near Norwich?

Thick is thick and stupid is stupid. The yanks don't have a monoploy on it. They do however tend to elect immensly stupid people to be their presidents.