Subtle differences between the US and the UK that baffle me/you/us. - by SubJeff
Vivian on 15/12/2012 at 10:20
Why say british when you mean English? I mean its not fucking welsh, is it.
DDL on 15/12/2012 at 10:46
Empire-bashing? "The sun never sets on the English empire" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Also, impressed at dethtoll's link. July 2006 in the DX subforum, ffs. HOW DOES HE REMEMBER THESE THINGS
Vivian on 15/12/2012 at 10:49
Not to sound arrogant or anything but it deffo was the English empire. We are the most accomplished international murderers of the British isles. Woo.
Thirith on 15/12/2012 at 11:09
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
Is it because I used the word "frankly"?
It's because dethy seems to take everything from a Guy Ritchie Mockney gangster flick to
Coupling to
Downton Abbey as originating from the same monocled, Brandy-snifting well of Britishness.
june gloom on 15/12/2012 at 11:43
Quote Posted by DDL
Also, impressed at dethtoll's link. July 2006 in the DX subforum, ffs. HOW DOES HE REMEMBER THESE THINGS
My secret? If it didn't make me laugh, I don't remember it. :)
demagogue on 15/12/2012 at 12:18
Deth was scarred by his time on the metal forums by the self-appointed elitism of hipsters of all stripes. It's not news.
It's fine to burst people's self-inflated bubble sometimes, even healthy for them, but you don't have to make it an axe to grind or get so paranoid about it you see it everywhere, lurking in every side comment, shadow, & pattern in the wood grain. But whatever. Everybody has something that pushes their buttons in a bad way -- we figure it out sooner or later -- and that's his.
That said, it is true to an American, all British pretty much come across as elitist just innocently standing and looking around -- heaven forbid they even open their mouths -- English especially but also you others; you know who you are. Not to me, of course. I'm probably as likely to fall in their camp if I'm not being careful. Deth even admitted (IIRC) he thought I was British the whole time lol. But I recognize what they're (uh, we're) seeing. I also recognize what the rest of the world sees in the arrogance of boorish Americans -- I wince at it too -- although that's not so much the self-inflated type as the IDKWTF type.
Neither of us have anything on the French though. Now there's something I think we can all agree on and that keeps the Anglo-American bond tight. Well in fairness I have too many good French friends to say that about all of them; it's just when they're in Paris acting like Parisians. They take a pride in it AFAICan tell the same way New Yorkers take pride in being tough and having a shell around themselves.
faetal on 15/12/2012 at 13:07
I have zero antipathy towards the French - possibly aided by the fact that I have to travel there a lot as my fiancée lives there. The people there seem to be welcoming, friendly and vivacious. Sure they can seem a little aloof, but that is simply because they don't have mannerisms don't translate the same way, which is heavily influenced by both language and the evolution of social interactions - not because they believe themselves to be better - they are just more understated and subtle in their social gestures. It is a bit conceited to think that our method of interaction is correct and any deviation from it should be seen as a fault.
I don't get this whole hating on nationalities thing anyway. People are too varied for that to come across as anything bar xenophobia. It's not acceptable to have a playful dig at someone's sexual orientation or skin colour - why is it OK to question the "correctness" of someone based on nationality, even if it is meant to be playful? There are plenty of stereotypes of Americans that, if I took them as read, might mean that I'd be predisposed to disliking Americans, but I can honestly say that I've never met an American I haven't liked. People can be great or they can be dicks and it doesn't seem to be influenced by nationality.
SubJeff on 15/12/2012 at 13:20
yo i heard there was hate on nationalities itt but i cant find it can you help me
faetal on 15/12/2012 at 13:25
Quote Posted by demagogue
That said, it is true to an American, all British pretty much come across as elitist just innocently standing and looking around -- heaven forbid they even open their mouths -- English especially but also you others; you know who you are. Not to me, of course. I'm probably as likely to fall in their camp if I'm not being careful. Deth even admitted (IIRC) he thought I was British the whole time lol. But I recognize what they're (uh, we're) seeing. I also recognize what the rest of the world sees in the arrogance of boorish Americans -- I wince at it too -- although that's not so much the self-inflated type as the IDKWTF type.
Neither of us have anything on the French though. Now there's something I think we can all agree on and that keeps the Anglo-American bond tight. Well in fairness I have too many good French friends to say that about all of them; it's just when they're in Paris acting like Parisians. They take a pride in it AFAICan tell the same way New Yorkers take pride in being tough and having a shell around themselves.
Not exactly hate, just not keen on this idea that at least we are united in contempt for the French, like that's a good thing. The anti-French thing bugs me most from British people - mostly because that's who I hear it from. I recently got engaged in Paris and I didn't get any notion of elitism at all. The people I encountered were lovely. I'm actually struggling to think of anywhere I've been where I've not encountered friendly attitudes and the only one I can think of it Sofia, Bulgaria, but I assumed that was because I was in a group of 4 British guys and they are routinely swamped by groups of louts who go over to take advantage of cheap drinks and the cheap sex trade and I'm guessing we fit the description.
demagogue on 15/12/2012 at 14:15
I was just playing around. I have a lot of French friends by now and they're a joy to be around. I mean they have the whole joie de vivre part of life down -- the food, the music, the wine, talking philosophy or politics over coffee without irony -- and how could anyone not like that? They still have an attitude that they can ham up, at least in Paris, at least what I noticed, at least that's the stereotype to play with.
When I was in Paris I reached across a guy to open a subway door and he literally slapped my hand lol. And we went to a restaurant and they wouldn't take one of our group's credit card to pay (thinking him American) until they saw a Canadian flag on his bag and suddenly it was ok to take it. And some going out of their way to be hilariously unhelpful in us getting around.
But I met some students in Paris too, that had grown up outside the city, that showed me around the city just because they were cool, and they said Parisian attitude was over the top for them sometimes too. But I would never have literal antipathy for people. People have different individual personalities and some play up "national" personalities more than others (seems to happen more for people that never leave their corner of the world I think) ... But they're all different flavors of interesting. I wouldn't want them to back down just because some people don't get it. That's why I used the New York analogy. If somebody spent a lot of time in New York and wasn't just a *little* tough minded, you'd almost want to shake your head that they're letting the city down... So I feel like if a Parisian were a little too generous to deign to be helpful, there might be a similar thing there.
And anyway it's fun to poke fun at culture sometimes... because in our cosmopolitan online age people playing up cultural stereotypes is more & more archaic and funny. I do it for Americans (and Canadians, same-difference culture wise), and Brits, Mexicans, French, Germans, Israelis, Koreans & Japanese (and now maybe Burmese) are close to in the family for me, in that I either lived there, grew up with them, or I have so many friends from them, that I don't feel as bad doing it for them too. I honestly love everybody from everywhere (that's not certifiably asshole). I feel about as cosmopolitan as a person can get.
