Subtle differences between the US and the UK that baffle me/you/us.

SD on 16/12/2012 at 02:45

Quote Posted by Subjective Effect

Chinese food in the UK is criminal in general.

Okay, now this is fighting talk.

Quote Posted by faetal

The trouble is that too many British people don't have good taste

Taste being a subjective thing, I don't believe you are able to support that assertion.

faetal on 16/12/2012 at 03:42

Of course I am, since it goes without saying that I am referring to taste which falls below what I consider median quality. Just because something is subjective, doesn't mean you can't state it. That's like saying democracy is nonsense because votes are subjective. My opinion combines with everyone else's opinion to become a consensus. You're free to disagree of course, but that's all.

Re French food, I'm guessing you've not really sampled it since all you can come up with is escargot and frog's legs, neither of which I am fond of incidentally. Get yourself to a decent French restaurant and try a 6 course meal from the menu. There is something about French cuisine - it's like art but with flavours.

I like UK chinese btw, but it has to be good chinese.

Chimpy Chompy on 16/12/2012 at 08:45

Quote Posted by SD

I dispute that, it's also acceptable if you just got a blowjob off a teenage girl.

this is the most cringe-worthy thing I've seen posted here in long time

june gloom on 16/12/2012 at 10:59

Yeah man what was even the point of that comment?

SubJeff on 16/12/2012 at 11:13

Quote Posted by SD

Okay, now this is fighting talk.

See now you live in the North West and are probably spoiled since there are lots of Chinese enclaves there.

If the only thing on the menu is beef, chicken, pork in black bean, sweet and sour, "sezchuan" sauce you're going to have a bad time.

And I agree with faetal, French food is like art. Have you had good French onion soup even? Is the simplest thing but holy crap they know what they are doing.

faetal on 16/12/2012 at 13:21

French food is very "more than the sum of its parts" to a much larger extent than any other food I can imagine. It's a food which regularly gives me several things I'm not keen on combined in such a way that it somehow tastes great.

Schwaa2 on 16/12/2012 at 18:04

Quote Posted by Subjective Effect

25th of December 2012 is logical. December, the 25th of, in the year 2012 is, to me, not.

It is a problem for data storage too - date fields in a spreadsheet made in the USA do not mesh well with ones made here.

I've come around to the idea that driving on the right hand side is ok (I guess) since a Spaniard pointed out to me that you then use your right hand, which is dominant in 90% of people, to change gear. I suppose in the US this makes even less sense since automatics are more popular (automatic Porsches, an automatic GTR, what are you doing?. NB; this is a matter of opinion but it still means that the average UK driver is going to kick your ass in a race).

But the date?

:rolleyes:

Is there anything else you've noticed about the USA or UK that is totally different for no (discernible) reason?

the 25th of

^why would you say it that way to begin with. That's the most baffling thing I've heard.

It's December 25th, 2012. I'm not Shakespeare why would I talk like him?

Don't be so sure you'd beat an American in a race. Everyone here thinks that driving to the grocery store is a race. Of course most of those idiots can barely handle a car properly, but they are also on the phone, smoking a cigarette and putting on makeup/brushing hair.

Also, autos may be more popular these days (I hate em), but the road system was built long before automatic transmissions. So should we change the entire country's road system because a newer transmission is now put in 50% of the cars? Remember, the US is about 20x the size of the UK (more or less, I don't know)

Pyrian on 16/12/2012 at 18:29

Quote Posted by Schwaa2

Don't be so sure you'd beat an American in a race.

Yeah. Seriously, today's automatic transmissions are not your grand-daddy's automatic transmissions. There are automatic computer-controlled "manual" transmissions that are just flat-out better than almost anything a human can do (except predicting road conditions). The basic stick-shift was always a poor racing implement - the time required is crippling (racers have long used sequentials, which are manual but aren't what you're probably using).

EDIT: Modern racing appears to be getting downright reactionary: (http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/05/03/banned-continuously-variable-transmission-cvt/)

Neb on 16/12/2012 at 18:36

Quote Posted by Schwaa2

the 25th of

^why would you say it that way to begin with.

:weird: ....because it's the 25th day of a month?

The American way is less clunky though. I've been picking up my favourite Americanisms, and they have the added advantage of irritating everyone around me in a kind of 'next village over' way.

Chimpy Chompy on 16/12/2012 at 19:24

One Americanism I picked up is saying math instead of maths. It might be less correct, I dunno, but "th" followed by "s" is an awkward arrangement of sounds.