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50 Things Americans Have Said That People In This Online Community Thought Were Weird
Different places in the world have different cultures and general outlooks on life. But we try to learn more about others and try to understand them so we can get along better. It just so happens that in some places, there is more interest about different people and in some places, there’s less of it.
Often the ones that are ridiculed for not knowing what’s happening in other places in the world are Americans. Bored Panda has a couple of articles in which we gathered lists of people poking fun at Americans. In this article you can see people joining a TikTok trend of sharing the dumbest things Americans have ever said to them and in this one you will find an assortment of screenshots of Americans being completely clueless.
But the people from the United States keep on surprising us and the stories of non-Americans meeting peculiar Americans are never-ending. Reddit user u/esq__ asked “Non-Americans of Reddit, what's the weirdest thing an American has said to you?” Nearly 12k people joined the discussion and they were sharing not only weird encounters but quite absurd questions you wouldn’t expect an adult to ask.
More info: Reddit
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#1
"Why do you brits (I'm not British) call an elevator a lift when it goes both up and down?"
I responded that Americans didn't call an elevator a descendevator when it moves down.
jimcwood 4 years ago
Note: You can lift something down. The term lift is to move, not exclusively upwards!
julien 3 years ago
lift : Middle English lift "the air, the atmosphere; the sky, the firmament," from Old English lyft "air" in german LUFT !
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Donkey boi 4 years ago
You can 'lift' things down, but you can't 'elevate' things down. Just saying... The brits are right.
Potato 4 years ago
Well... you made "Americans" plural, so that doesn't really help us out.
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Drew Jackson 4 years ago
So what should it be called when it goes down? "Plummeting metal box"?
RELATED:
#2
At customs in LAX:
Customs Agent: “Where are you from?”
Me: “Denmark”
CA:“Sir, please don’t lie about your nationality”
Me: “Excuse me?”
CA: “Denmark isn’t a real country, now please tell me your country of origin.”
Me: “Sir, you are literally holding my passport, which is from Denmark, in your hand. How can you sit there and tell me that my country doesn’t exist?!”
CA: “Sir, Denmark is a region of Sweden, and not a recognised independent nation”
The swedes would be fond of this encounter.
Panda Kicki 4 years ago
As a swede I am highly amused. Of course we dont really want those smorrebröd eating lazy bastards, but anyway... 😜 We pay for your postal service, you know (terrible deal made by crazy politicians...)
Pernille Dyre 4 years ago
We hate that postal service... 🤣. And you can keep your surströmming for your self! 🤣🤣 OMG... a customs agent that doesn't know or wan't to listen about nordic countries.... And we have owned sweden... not the other way around 🤣🤣
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Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
On behalf of all decent Americans, I sincerely apologize for that poor, ignorant soul. In America, we love all things Denmark! From Hamlet to delicious Danish pastries and our beloved Great Dane family members. We chose Kevin Magnussen as the principal driver for Haas, our wildly successful reentry into Formula One motor racing. We make darn sure our students know the philosophy of Hans Christian Andersen and Kierkegaard. We made Viggo Mortensen and Lars Von Trier Hollywood royalty. Lars Ulrich and King Diamond have been ruining the hearing of our youth going on 30 years. I could go on, but you get my point. Don't let one ignorant custom agent ruin your opinion of us as a whole. (Or however many people you met who thought Denmark was not a real country, could be quite a few if you dealt with products of the American education system.) USA/DENMARK UNITED!
Pernille Dyre 4 years ago
Thank you. And we know. The funny thing is our battle Denmark/Sweden... And our royalty: Denmark, norway And sweden are related... We are like siblings.... love and compitions....
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Jasmine Nam 4 years ago
This has happened to me more times than I can count. I mean Americans should really be worried, these are the people that help stop terrorists and they don't know basic geography.
SoozeeQ 4 years ago
I agree. At the very least, they should be made to undertake https://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/how-many-countries-can-you-name as part of their basic training. (And once they've mastered that, they can move on to the quiz *without* the map!). ;oP
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Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
I’m with you on this. There is rampant ignorance about the rest of the world—-and even about our own country. At a job I had years ago—-before I was able to finish college then get a Masters degree, so really just had a high school diploma—-my college graduate boss one day asked me what language “they” speak in Europe. Then what language “they” speak in England. The reason she was asking? She had just met someone from Russia (so neither British, nor Continental European). Years later, when I worked for TSA (lasted 5 years before I just had to get out of that hellscape), I could not believe how many times I had to intervene and teach basic geography to my coworkers, because they thought Hawaii wasn’t part of the US—-you can only imagine their confusion about Puerto Rico—-and were giving someone a hard time. FFS. I metriculated through the American education system just like my coworkers, so why was I one of a tiny number of employees who knew all the US states and territories?
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Some people's brains delete school lessons as soon as they are over, I sometimes think.
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Eva Muller 4 years ago
Hahahah well.. As a half dane and half American, I'm both amused and sad. Last time I went to America, my danish passport was about to expire (05/10/19). I showed the Security officer the passport and she just told me, that it has expired (this was in July of 2019). I was like "gurl. I CANNOT be the first european you meet? It doesn't expire untill OCTOBER!" She insisted that it had expired in May, so I ended up saying "fine! Here's my American passport. Now let me through!" She looked so pissed, but let me through.
CeeJay 4 years ago
I heard that joke on stand up comedy. Didnt realise it actually happened! 😏
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Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
The highest level of ignorance : when you do not know, but you think you know.
James Mckenzie 4 years ago
The ignorance is unbelievable for someone who represents their country at port of entry.
#3
I once had an american tell me I need to try the “real” Gouda cheese they have in the US because everything else was fake Gouda… I’m Dutch and actually lived near Gouda
Lucas 4 years ago
Sorry you were downvoted for stating facts. https://www.delish.com/food-news/a49472/youve-been-saying-gouda-wrong-this-whole-time
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Karl Baxter 4 years ago
Why are you showing what looks like a Camembert to illustrate this when it’s nothing like a Gouda?
Stevie Moreira 4 years ago
I am a real citizen from Gouda and i will tell you. There is never been a Gouda cheese made in Gouda. From the beginning it is made in the villages around Gouda. it was always only traded in gouda. I thought thus is a fun story anout real Gouda Cheese
Mjw Gjgema 4 years ago
Greater Gouda. Of course the cows are not grazing in the old city!
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Arieke 4 years ago
I was actually born in Gouda, I can confirm legit that if it's not made in Gouda it's not Gouda cheese (same goes for produce from Parma or Champagne)
Rissie 4 years ago
Not true, Gouda Holland and Edam Holland are the designated protected names. https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2010/10/08/dutch-cheeses-edam-holland-and-gouda-holland-granted-protected-status
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Ray Martin 4 years ago
Apparently there are no pictures of actual Gouda on the internet, either.
#4
Talking about my SIL
“Do you look alike?” “no, she’s black” “You can’t say that!!!” “What should I call her then?” “African American” “But…. She’s British/Guyanese….”
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
"African American" is insultingly reductionist, if you ask me. It homogenizes the myriad African cultures. If someone called a white American "European American," he'd be likely to deny the homogenization and tell you his ancestry. We need to do better. (Yes, I'm aware that most black Americans don't know their roots, absent a DNA test, because there was certainly more than one slave route. We still need to do better. People should know their ancestral roots. I can't imagine not knowing mine, how lost I'd feel.)
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Don't know my ancestors. Mostly have no desire to do so and don't feel lost at all. Despite what many would like to think, most of humanity are mutts when you go back far enough in time. With some rare exceptions, we're mostly descendants of kings and commoners, rapists and rape victims, exploited and exploiters, slaves and masters, etc., etc., etc.
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H.L.Lewis 4 years ago
We don't say German American, or Irish American. It's way past the time when we should all just be Americans.
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Start with not asking people what their skin color or "ethnicity" is in forms etc. We (Germany) do not do that and I was shocked to learn the US does. What for? Why do you even care?
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Mama Panda 4 years ago
This one drives me nuts. If you are from Africa and are a citizen of America then you can say that you are African American. It doesn't matter the color of your skin because people of all skin colors/tones live in continent of Africa. Jessie Jackson was the moron who started this phrase and his justification is stupid and incorrect. People are of the human race and if you need to describe someone, white and black are acceptable.
Troux 4 years ago
^All of this. I have friends who immigrated to America from Egypt and Morocco, and having light brown skin and speaking Arabic, they would never get called African Americans, but they absolutely are! Similarly for all of the black immigrants from the Carribean or anywhere besides Africa who are black. African-American is really a silly term the way it's used.
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Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Is it really bad to say someone is black? If you try to find someone for example, it's the easiest way to describe them. "We are searching for an adult male, white, 1,8m tall, red hair, wears green trousers...." or "we are searching for a female, black, 1,5m small, black hair, wears a red dress...." Descriptional things should be NORMAL, not taboo. Their skin black, so what? It is what it is, deal with it, don't ignore it! I feel like that's even more discriminating.
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Ig reminds me of people with disabilities. (No, I don't think black people are disabled). If you walk with your small child and see a disabled person, using a wheelchair or without an arm or whatever, do not tell the child not to stair or not to ask questions. That's stigmatising. The child will think that it is something bad. Instead try to explain or even go to the person and ask them to explain, so your child might learn something. Treat everyone like it is no big deal how they look or walk or talk. Nothing special, just NORMAL. Then your child will grow up with the mindset that everyone is equal.
Load More Replies... elfin 4 years ago
I want to call people whatever they want to be called, but the only way to know that is to ask them.
Viviane 4 years ago (edited)
A White American interviewer asked the late Elie Wiesel (a White Jewish survivor of the Holocaust) what he thought about the changing terminology. He said he asked his students what they preferred. They said, "African-American" and that's what he used. He honestly didn't make a big deal out of it.
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Eunice Chantily 4 years ago
We will call ourselves varies based on several factors. Thanks. We-got-this. Most of us are tired of other folks giving us names.
H Edwards 4 years ago
So what's your preference, if I may ask? I'm in the UK and I use Black and that seems to be acceptable.
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Keyy 4 years ago
just call us black yall .. its NOT racist i know it kinda sounds like it is but most black people don't "identify" as African American because well most of us aren't from Africa .. most black americans have more native in them than anything else cuzz you know there were more slaves than just black people back then ..
Nikki Owens 4 years ago
This is about the opposite, though... calling black folks who have nothing to do with America "African-American", which is obviously dumb.
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Dan Steely 4 years ago
A friend of mine was escorting a woman, an internationally-traveling partner, around his office and introducing her. At one point, he referred to her as African and another colleague scolded him saying he should’ve said African-American. She snapped back, full, English-as-a-second-language accent and all, “Excuse me, but I am not from America. I am African, Nigerian to be exact.” The guy still didn’t get it, insisting the term is African-American.
#5
I’m British, was travelling in the states. Got talking to a guy at a bar while we’re waiting for service, and he recommended I try a pint of Guinness while in the US. He informed me they don’t sell Guinness in the UK.
I politely explained that they do indeed have Guinness in just about every pub in the UK. He disagreed, adding that he’s never been himself but his son in law went to London on business and told him so. I explained I’d lived in the UK including London my whole life. He looked at me lost in thought for a few moments, and said: “They don’t have Guinness there,” and walked away.
Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
it seems an unfortunate trend in America now is to live in an alternate reality where facts are dismissed if you don't agree with them.
Jenn Ryan 4 years ago
I can't speak for other countries, but it is absolutely ridiculous in the US. If they hear something they don't like, they just refuse to believe it. It's insane! And it is the reason that I have quit all social media. BP is they only site I look at anymore.
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Nikki Owens 4 years ago
Guinness is an Irish beer. Why on earth would it not be in the UK?? Good grief.
Alien 4 years ago
That’s one of my biggest pet peeves. I HATE when people tell me what I know. In elementary school, this kid asked me what my name was and I was like “oh, it’s Elsah” and that was the year frozen came out, so he was like “your name is NOT Elsah.” And I was like “...okay, and your name isn’t Ben 🤨” this was before I came out as trans tho, my name now is Syd.
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
God, I so hear you. See my screen name here? I've got backstories that no one on either side of the aisle wants to hear. Some of them are finally becoming "fashionable", but I still have many experiences certain fluffy bunnies are too fragile to hear.
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Whitney Gal 4 years ago
Not only does every pub in the UK have Guinness, most of them also have Guinness *extra cold* on tap. I was completely spoiled when I lived in England briefly and have never found a beer I enjoy as much as that ice cold Guinness.
Full English 4 years ago
I heard an American angrily call someone a 'Commie ****' I asked him to describe Communism and point out where it existed on the planet. he could answer neither question and left.
Diana Strassburg 4 years ago
What's the problem in admitting you're wrong, people?? THERE JUST ISN'T GUINNESS IN THE UK😆🍺
#6
I swear on my mothers life that this happened:
I was on a student exchange between my German school and a school in San Francisco in the late 90s.
When the Americans came to visit us, we had a welcome party for them at a friends place. That friend had a dog, and at some point he gave the dog a command in German. The dog obeyed, and one of the American kids asks how we managed to teach German to the dog.
He wasn’t joking either, he seemed convinced that all pets are somehow born with knowledge of the English language, but all other languages need to be taught to them.
H.L.Lewis 4 years ago
Lol, American here. My first dog was abandoned by some people who were from Puerto Rico. He chose me after my neighbor saw him tied up, the house empty. And him on a 2ft chain. Very smart doggo. He ended up bi-lingual. My only problem with him was that he was trained in Spanish. Lol. I just taught him the same commands in English. He caught on quick! Good boy.
Nadine Bamberger 4 years ago
Student exchange from a small town in Indiana to Germany, also in the late 90s. They were surprised we had cars, color TV and knew who Nirvana were. They were also very surprised they couldn't travel the whole of Europe on a weekend.
Miss Cris 4 years ago
Two years ago. An international meeting in Paris, most of us were from Europe, two women from South America. First person to speak was a man from USA, who had to inform us that in his country they have "a thing called powerpoint" and proceeded to expain us how it works.
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Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
The dog only hears the sound, not the language. If you trained one to sit using the command "Rock", that's what he'll respond to.
Eucritta 4 years ago
I've trained our young dog to recognize hand signals, in case she goes deaf, like a lot of old dogs eventually do. She doesn't care what it is, it just needs to be consistent.
Load More Replies... Ozacoter 4 years ago
That reminds me to my two local dog trainers. They both refused to work with my dog in her fear of other dogs because we taught her in english. They didnt need to talk to the dog, they needed to talk to me in flemish and hear me say english commands to the dog. One even yelled at me because "this is flanders and you need to teach your dog flemish and speak it at home". F*****g xenophobes
Marcellus the Third 4 years ago
Funny in the series "Person of Interest" they have a Malinois that only listens to Flemish commands (but in NYC), it's a plot point in at least one episode.
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Bob Belcher 4 years ago (edited)
Had a German exchange student stay with us in the mid 90s. We live in Houston, TX. He asked where are horses were and if we knew about air conditioning. His perspective of all of Texas was that its constantly hot with people sweating and horses were still the preferred mode of transportation.
Guido Pisano 4 years ago
press 2 ears for 10 seconds. When the eyes blink means you're in the menu. Looks for the language settings and set the language you like. Once done turn the tail rightward to save (leftward discard changes)
#7
When an American asked me what it's like to have an accent. They thought that they had no accent and their voice was 'default' basically
Robert T 4 years ago
I was once in Dallas and the girl serving me in the cafeteria on hearing me speak, "Gee, you got a funny accent". My immediate thought to myself was, look who's talking!
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Had this happen in Germany, said by a Swiss person. Who have a VERY thick accent when speaking German.
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Leigh C. 4 years ago
I used to think Canadians don't really have an accent, or just speak a very deliberate, clear pronounced English. That is until I started speaking to people outside my region, including other parts of Canada. I was surprised an American was able to tell the exact province I'm from just by how I talk. When I met people in Manchester, they have an unique Mancunian accent that is so thick I can't always understand them. It's like they have their own language but it's still English. They can't always understand what I'm saying either and think it's funny and interesting. They love my accent and I love theirs.
Life is ? 4 years ago
People in Manchester don't have accents. They just babble.
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Duncan 4 years ago
I get that. I feel the Australian accent has no accent to me. It is usually when you hear a fake one on tv that I realise there is something I just dont hear.
NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
Yes! Except those are quite over the top compared to an average Aussie. There is definitely an accent in there, just not gDAy MATE 'OUr YA dOINg TodAY?
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KombatBunni 4 years ago
Each state here in Australia has a particular way of talking too If you know what to listen for, you can tell if someone is a Queenslander or a Victorian for example :) And we love to make fun of each other's "accent"..
Random person 4 years ago
It's really funny for me as we often laughed at the American accent like at any accent, trying to say it right xD. I was only good at Cavan and eastern Europe kind of because I was originally from Poland xD
Leslie Burleson 4 years ago
Americans love foreign accents . If somebody asks you that they're not trying to be rude .
Jen A-Ben 4 years ago
This is like white people thinking that being white is just the default setting and all other races need to have the qualifier in front of them that explains their race. (i.e. saying "the Black guy" instead of just "the guy" when telling a story in which race is inconsequential to the listener's understanding.)
BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 4 years ago (edited)
I know we definitely have an accent, but it's still weird to think that we sound odd to other people like they sound odd to us
#8
“I don’t need affordable healthcare. I need freedom.”
This is an actual quote.
Anyway, the full cost of my kid’s birth including all scans, midwife, obstetrics appointment, labour, innoculations, heel stick and follow-up antenatal was $180.
Wayne Dorman 4 years ago
There's a reason why there's so many cases of bankruptcy and suicides due to crippling debt caused by medical bills. Healthcare should not be a luxury reserved for the rich.
aj B 4 years ago
But if the poor can afford healthcare then the Evil Red Menace WINS!!!! /s
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JennyLaRue 4 years ago
I don't understand what freedoms some Americans think they have over all the other western countries.
Ozacoter 4 years ago
Apparently the freedom of becoming bankrupt if you need surgery
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Sarah Tate 4 years ago
As an American I honestly will never understand the crippling idiocy that makes a large population of people here think that we don't need universal health care. These are the same people who will start a Go-Fund me page (and ask for thoughts and prayers) when their mother can't afford the life-saving cancer treatment she needs.
Viviane 4 years ago
You're part of a majority in your opinion - a bit over 60%.
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Frances M 4 years ago
Full price for all my kids to be born in hospital with epidural, two-weekly (once every two weeks) full scans and treatments for pregnancy related illnesses? €0 Plus any time off that I needed from work in relation to any doctors appointments was at full pay and not deducted from my sick leave or annual leave. I’m never emigrating from Ireland.
Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
I had a c-section and 5 nights in hospital. 0 moneyz paid.
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Robert T 4 years ago
I'm looking at that and thinking that $180 is expensive. We literally pay nothing.
Bob Belcher 4 years ago
My daughter is 9. She was perfectly healthy but because she didn't eat for the first 4 hours after birth they put her in the NICU. She stayed for 4 days and then they released her. $60,000 bill of which I had to pay 10% of. I swear not only is our system expensive as f**k, they look for reasons to pad the bill and if you protest they make you look like a horrible person and call CPS on you.
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Nicki 4 years ago
Those people are idiots, I (an american) have great insurance because my husband is retired military, but I wish EVERYONE had the same care we have. I don't care if I have to pay a little more in taxes, I hate to hear stories of people who have to use crowd funding sites to raise money because of medical bills, it breaks my heart...
Honu 4 years ago
And we still pay about 2x per capita for our healthcare than other developed nations with national health coverage. It's insane that people see that as freedom. It's graft.
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Hugh Cookson 4 years ago
Funnily, those of us out here in the civilised World have universal healthcare - the cost of my wife's recent cancer scare - nothing. The cost of my recent health check up - nothing. The cost of my ex wife's treatment for Breast Cancer (Double Mastectomy, Chemo, Radiotherapy, therapy for a year and follow up treatment for 3 years ) - nothing. You people in the USA need to wake up and start kicking your politicians in the nuts for NOT allowing you to access free healthcare for everyone, if you don't you are more stupid than I ever thought possible ....
Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago (edited)
Won't happen because... 'murica! Weez not soshe-list! /s (And you can downvote all you want!)
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Aunt Messy 4 years ago
The Republican health care program: We don't need a health care program. I feel fine today.
Id row 4 years ago
This is how ignorant most of our country is. We have socialized police, fire and school systems in place, also *social* services and *social* security, but you mention socialized health care and these idiots tell you to move to Russia if you don't like freedom. The health care industry and insurance companies love these idiots for getting them rich.
Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago
The same ones who wore shirts that said "I'd rather be Russian than a Democrat" are the ones telling YOU to move to Russia! LOL
Load More Replies... #9
I live in the southern hemisphere. Talking to an American online in December, and I mentioned it was summer for me. She kept asking which month I was in (kept insisting it must be June) and couldn't seem to wrap her head around the idea that it was simultaneously December and summer in the southern hemisphere.
Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
They can’t because they’ve already fallen off the edge of the world! 🙃
Load More Replies... Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
I still have trouble getting my head round Aussies having a barbie at Xmas. It's either raining, freezing, or snowing here, or a mixture of all three and just seems too far removed from reality. Yes, somewhere in my brain knows it to be true, but I still don't want to believe it. Jealousy probably.
L Venn 4 years ago
South African here. Summer xmas is great. As kids, we always got pool toys as gifts and we would spend half the day in the pool.
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Judes 4 years ago
This is actually quite a common point of confusion amongst a surprising number of Northern Hemisphere people---and sometimes quite smart people. A Taiwanese university professor once asked me the names of the winter months in Australia; he knew we had inverted seasons but was curious to know if we also inverted the month names. But unlike the woman in the OP the professor was quite happy to accept my answer.
SoozeeQ 4 years ago
He was asking because he wanted to learn. Whereas, in OP's comments, the American woman was convinced that she already knew.
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Phil Green 4 years ago
I get this sometimes as well. I have also had, "Is that the same sun we have back home?" Seriously. Trying to explain we're on the same planet can get difficult, when you yourself just take it for granted.
Jude Bennett 4 years ago
Yep Americans that come to NZ in June/July and can not understand why it is so cold. They only brought summer clothes with them.
SoozeeQ 4 years ago
Ooh yes, especially in the South Island. I've been to Queenstown in Autumn, but would not want to go there in the middle of Winter. (I'm an Aussie).
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MrOwlAteMyMetalWorm. 4 years ago
Did she then proceed to ask you about how might have just discovered time dilation and you must be an Alien?Damn.
#10
“Wait, y’all have IKEA?”
Im Swedish
Panda Kicki 4 years ago (edited)
Well, we in Sweden generally dont own our personal IKEA place , but there are plenty of them to visit. But in the north you can have a couple if hours ride to get to one.
Candia Lee 4 years ago
We have IKEA in TX, also a couple hours away. My girlfriend took me, it was fun. I have the big blue bag. I saw an article about how much wood they use.
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Nicola Dimigen 4 years ago
Most of erope has Ikea. At least i think, I am not that well informed.
ms Cabins 4 years ago
Lol, in every country (not sure, but maybe even Russia)
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David Chorley 4 years ago
The Ceo of Ikea in Sweden was elected Prime Minister: his first job was to assemble a cabinet
Joost Bruikman 4 years ago
Ikea rules Sweden. When kids are 4 they have a test to assemble a chair, if they fail they get exiled.
Llama_flower93 4 years ago
Also why saving America is "saving the world" in so many movies.
Load More Replies... Candia Lee 4 years ago
LOL. Just ignore the uninformed, or watch our many video clips of how uninformed we are for more giggles. Are all your citizens well informed?
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#11
An Austrian friend and I were told about about this magical thing they have in America called Fireworks and how we should go see it at least once in our lives.
Sharon Heim 4 years ago
The Chinese invented fireworks, like, 2000 years ago! Surely by now one can see them outside the US? LOL
Mosarat Ahmed 4 years ago
We Indians literally have a festival to light fireworks. A whole festival!
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Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
This American has traveled to more than a dozen other countries. While it’s true that many Americans barely leave their living rooms, we’re not actually all the same.
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𝖊𝖆 4 years ago
Wait till you tell him you get New Years Eve before they do every year. So you get to watch those magical fireworks first. It will blow their minds!
Candia Lee 4 years ago
LOL. We like watching the around-the-world New Year's coverage so we don't have to stay up until midnight.
Load More Replies... Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
Because all other countries are feudal wastelands without any technology nor culture. The eiffel tower is actually a tree and Pierrefonds castle is a natural cave.
An Co 4 years ago
Did this by chance, happen on Guy Fawkes Day? Or per chance on Chinese New Year?
TheReader19 4 years ago
Seriously? I always believed fireworks were invented in China, but what do I know
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
Even more stupid, considering the fact that fireworks were invented in China. Hell, I’m American and have known that fact since childhood. FFS, are American kids now just sleeping through their classes, in the same K-12 public school system that educated me? Was I one of the only ones who stayed awake?
Monique Blanden 4 years ago
haha I'm an australian looking at this thinking... oh are fireworks different around the world?
#12
Canadian here. I was 7 and in Florida telling my new also 7 year old friend about our money system. I told her we don't have dollar or two dollar bills they are coins and called a loonie and a toonie. She goes and asks her parents and they told her I was lying.
Muff_Fluff 4 years ago
They might actually not know… I wouldn’t believe that if a fellow American told me.
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Miss Frankfurter 4 years ago (edited)
It's called a Loonie because the front is engraved with a Loon. The $2 has a bear on the front. Since it's a govt regulation that the names rhyme, it's called a toonie. And yes, I'm lying about the regulation part. We just simply like our money to rhyme.🤪🇨🇦 Crazy Canucks!
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
I washoping we'd have named the toonie the doubloon, for obvious reasons.
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Sue Mullen Andersen 4 years ago
Maybe it was the slang Loonie and Toonie that made them not believe?
Pam Wilson-Hallinan 4 years ago
I'm STILL amazed of how ignorant a lot of my fellow American are. But after the past four years I shouldn't be. Millions were, and still are, brain washed by '45' so I really shouldn't be.
Jeff Howie 4 years ago
Why is it weird we call our coins by nicknames? Is buck an official name for the US dollar? Or greenback?
TimesNewLogan 4 years ago
To be fair, it does sound made-up. I actually had to look it up the first time, just to be sure.
WildHoneyPie 4 years ago
I hate it when adults treat kids like that. When I was little some friends from down the street and I were creating a club. I wanted to call us "Ladies in waiting". I must have been reading princess stories lol. My friends went and told their mom who was chatting with a couple of friends she had over. She said that the term meant a woman whom was pregnant. I still remember how angry I was that she went for the big laugh at my expense!
Natalie KS 4 years ago
I've never heard of Lady In Waiting referred to as pregnancy?! I've always known it as this (copy/paste from the Google) lady in waiting n. A lady of a court appointed to serve or attend a queen, princess, or royal duchess.
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Pascale Pierloot 4 years ago
I know of someone from Florida wanting to buy an item online from the U.K. She informed on the price. He told her it was £15 and she said: The weight doesn't interest me. I just want to know what you're asking for it!!! 🤑
#13
"Ya'll are part of the USA, you just have a different flag 'sall." Umm... no. I assure you Canada us not part of the US.
ben woskje 4 years ago
form an aussie point of view - Canada is awesome, the biggest downside of Canada is your proximity to the U.S.
Jeff Schager 4 years ago
Actually their proximity to the equator is their biggest issue
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Charlotte Bednard 4 years ago
and we set fire to the white house that one time the USA tried to make us part of it. (war of 1812)
Arthur Waite 4 years ago
yes, and that's why it's white - the had to repaint it after the fire went out.
Load More Replies... Mary Rose Kent 4 years ago
We bought it from the Russians, and then later found gold there
Load More Replies... Pam Wilson-Hallinan 4 years ago
Stupid ignorant people confuse North America with the USA. I'd love to say who those people are but I won't.
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Part of North America, yes. Part of the USA, no—-why TF would you think that? (I’m American, btw.)
Leigh C. 4 years ago
I've actually seen comments like this as of recent. "We're all in North America, so Canadians are Americans." I didn't hear them say anything about Mexicans being Americans considering Mexico is part of North America, too.
Natalie KS 4 years ago
Mexicans are lucky then! The only ones who say 'Canadians are Americans are Americans'.
Load More Replies... Nicola Dimigen 4 years ago
Yes, and we also have different laws, polititions, political parties, rights, provinces instead of states, and are known for being nice, while the US is known for people being ignorant. Mind you, the last things i said are just stereotypes, but still.
elfin 4 years ago
If you know they're stereotypes then why spread them about. The U. S. is a huge country, with many different cultures. Over 300 million people make up those cultures and we are not clones of one another.
Load More Replies... #14
I was asked if France is part of the United Kingdom. When I tried explaining him what the United Kingdom is, he told me England is no longer part of the UK because of Brexit.
Wayne Dorman 4 years ago
To be fair, that seems to be about the level of understanding most people who voted to leave the EU had about Brexit too.
Whitney Gal 4 years ago
I think that, when examining humanity as a whole, you will find that most of the population doesn’t care enough to understand things that happen outside of a 5-mile radius around them.
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Nicholas Kraemer 4 years ago
Clearly a person who just time traveled from the court of a Plantagenet king.
David Humphreys 4 years ago
And Northen Ireland also if I recall correctly. Given the NI agreement and the issue of borders, this will be a longer term issue. You have to think beyond the first step
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Norah Reilly 4 years ago
There's just no excuse for that abysmally low level of awareness, no excuse at all.
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
How can you confuse "European Union" with "United Kingdom" ? Europe is a f*****g continent and the United Kingdom is ONE kingdom. Are the kings of Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden, the grand-duke of Luxembourg, the queen of Denmark, and the princes of Monaco and Liechtenstein a joke to them ?
Panda 4 years ago
How much do Europeans know about America though? Or Africa? Or Asia? I know that I don't know much.
julien 3 years ago
you'd be surprised at the number of europeans living in Africa !
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Red rockin lobster 4 years ago
I met a couple of American tourists in Sicily and they asked me for the train to Palmero. When I asked if they thought of Palermo the guy said: "No, Palmero. I'm going to see the place of my origins, I know where I come from"
#15
"Speak english this is america!" It was online, but yeah. The sheer stupidity struck me hard.
Panda Kicki 4 years ago
The idea that the internet is America somehow seems to spread, have seen that several times.
julie son 4 years ago
The best reply to that was when a Native American person said "I was speaking Navaho! If you want to speak English, go to England!"
Cynthia Shipley 3 weeks ago
The English don't speak English; they speak British!
Load More Replies... Bina Cobbler 4 years ago
Someone told me the same thing when I was talking German to my three year old son in a supermarket in Utah. I politely informed them we were tourists and only here for three weeks before flying home again. He then told me that that was no excuse. We should have taught him English before traveling.
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Thats the biggest joke ever! As is most US Americans would learn a language when they visit the country! Yeah, as if! Some do not even learn it beforehand if they go to actually LIVE somewhere else!
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Celeste Grant 4 years ago
It drives me mad that there is a widespread view that the internet is somehow American.
Al Christensen 4 years ago
Translation: "Speak English because I'm American and probably don't even use my own language very well, much less speak a second or third language. Besides, I feel insecure when people don't speak English because they might be criticizing me."
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago (edited)
Is the internet part of the American territory? I'm sure many hope it was.
#16
Met a cool group in Belgrade, they were very surprised they could have beer at 21. That was so sincere, I kinda felt sorry for them in a good way. Decided to be a good host and show them the REAL good time. Took them parties, river clubs, cave clubs, found them drugs (they asked) ...all in all we had a pretty epic week, the kind of young people of 21 can make for themselves in capital city. Somehow the conversation went to God, I mention I don't really believe in that, and they were so f*****g pissed. Literally, instant change. Whole group started explaining me Jesus stuff, angrily, they were disappointed and angry they spent a week with me. I was so f*****g surprised, I mean we drinked, drugged, and did a lot of s**t Bible I presume doesn't approve. Couldn't held a conversation that evening, couldn't change subject, they kept pushing. Aggressively. Went to the bathroom, went home.
Lis Daglish 4 years ago
That’s pessimistically assuming the Dump has a future....
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Raven DeathShade 4 years ago
And the most stupid. I'm Catholic, have been my whole life, I read the Apologetics and listen when the Pope says to treat people like people. But nope, according to some friends if someone's gay this is a reason to panic. I've never told them I'm bisexual for this very reason. Also, according to some stuff I read, gay people are actually given an amazing gift in the form of their sexuality, cause it gives them an opportunity to practice their faith more. I'mma stop here before I sound any more like a religious fanatic.....
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ben woskje 4 years ago
Religion conveniently condones all the stuff you like and disapproves of all the stuff you don't like.... almost as if its made up.
Nikki Owens 4 years ago
Christianity literally condones none of the stuff people like.
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YoyoSthlm 4 years ago
In most European countries you can legally drink when you're 18. Also, we have REAL beer, not the crappy watered down stuff they serve in the US.
Suzi Gauthier 4 years ago
That's why it's served ice cold, so you can't taste it.
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Amy Pattie 4 years ago
I’m a Christian from Australia, my best friend is atheist, and I am convinced that American Christians are something else entirely…
noralin 4 years ago (edited)
I'm a Christian from Northern Europe and I agree with you. My husband is an atheist. .
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François Carré 4 years ago
The country of freedom of thought, where it is absolutely outrageous and insufferable to be an atheist and to say so.
Potato 4 years ago
But if you ask them, Christians are currently being persecuted
Load More Replies... #17
"How can Canadians offer free healthcare? Why would any doctors want to work for free? This is slavery!"
Chich 4 years ago
I was in the states a few years back and when people found out I had free healthcare it became a topic of conversation. The attitude that surprised me most was that many of the people who were opposed to it were against it because they did not want to pay to help other people. Others got sick? it was their problem.
jleitner 4 years ago
Apparently they don't understand that if you pay taxes, you're already paying to help "other people" - that's called being a community. Chances are, you will not have a fire in your house - does that mean you shouldn't pay local taxes to support the fire department? And btw, that also includes health care for the uninsured (a horribly backwards and expensive way of doing it, since it tends to be >99% for treatment, and <1% for prevention). Ignorance is not bliss, it's just ignorance.
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Arthur Waite 4 years ago
In Canada, we pay taxes; in the US, they pay taxes. The difference is what the tax money is spent on.... The US of A has the biggest military budget in the world, Canada has a small, efficient Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. And so we can afford taxpayer-funded Health Care for all. And the Yankees can fight wars, yippee.
JennyLaRue 4 years ago
I've seen quite a few different comments from Americans in relation to free health care and they seem to believe that if it's free to the user that must mean it's low quality with under-qualified staff.
Dodo 4 years ago
It's because they truly believe that what they pay for their health care is actually what it costs. I guess if I believed every birth cost $30k, I'd wonder where the quality cuts were gonna be made too.
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Eric Lafleur 4 years ago
Says the ones who would rather let less fortunate people get sicker or deeply in debt instead of having a system paid by everyone, that benefits the poor and the rich. I've been paying taxes my whole life, been hospitalized only once, been in the ER several times and never had to make sacrifices or get a second job so I could pay for meds or treatments. And guess what, I don'd feel poorer for having a few dollars taken from my paycheck for our health system. And yes, I. AM. CANADIAN!
Estelle Winwoode 4 years ago
I can't imagine what it would be like to know that there were many ordinary people around who were ill, even very ill, and who couldn't get help when they needed it. I know there will always be sad situtions where the system fails individuals, but I know that people CAN GET HELP. The country is not full of sick people too poor to see a doctor. I've always taken it for granted that we'll all be looked after if we need it, and never begrudged the cost. I'm Australian.
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Ladyandthetramp 4 years ago
I hate when white people compare stuff to slavery. It’s so ignorant and as stupid as comparing mild pain to childbirth.
Caroline Nagel 4 years ago
What in the quote makes you think it was a white person who said it? Besides, slavery still exists, and even white people are victim of it.
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#18
Had a black american assume that I was "african-american also" because I'm black. I had to explain to him that the ethnically specified title "african-american" is only used to describe black people from america, not black people from other countries, and that black people from other countries are not specifically labeled by heritage, race or ethnicity. Afterward I revealed to him that I am actually bahamian.
Despite all that explaining, he still proceeded to ask "Oh! so you're an african-bahamian then?" I felt the vein on the side of my head twinge a little lol.
Edit: The term is not "african-bahamian" because I am not inherently attached to african citizenship or heritage. This term would be used for someone who is actually from africa, but is also a bahamian/ vice versa, OR someone who is closely attached to that heritage (say, a bahamian whose parent/s were african.) Over here we would just say that we are Bahamians of african decent, but only if the topic came up.
Karri Berkowitz 4 years ago
My brother in law marked African American on a job app and the interviewer (a black man)tried shaming him for it sayin it was disrespectful to pretend he was black on paperwork. BIL said "I'm from Kenya. How about you?"
Load More Replies... Amy Pattie 4 years ago
Yeah I wouldn’t call someone African unless they were actually from Africa
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Nigerian pal of mine in the US: "I am African-American. THese peole (native-born) are Americans."
Demongrrrrl 4 years ago
15 or 16 years ago, calling someone "Black" was politically incorrect. One could only say African American. I had a friend who was from Jamaica; she hated being called African American and said, "Why can't I just say that I'm BLACK?"
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
If those espousing political correctness truly want to be perceived as wanting to be polite or whatever, they can quit moving the goalposts. They can also quit making skin color the prime metric of identification, since making ANY assessment of someone based solely on that is racist-- positive or negative. Downvote if reality hurts!
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alwaysMispelled 4 years ago
Technically it's weird that we use "African American" for all Black people in the US, because we do have many Black people who ARE actually from Africa. If they are descended from slaves who were brought here against their will hundreds of years ago then their family has been in the US for a lot longer than most white Americans.
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
Reggie Yates (TV journalist and hero) was interviewing a white supremacist Russian and his minions. He referred to him as an African-American, which Reggie said he was not. The supremacist then said 'well, the only other word I know is the n word, so what do I call you?'. 'British' Reggie replied. 'African-British?' 'No, just British'. The supremacist could not understand that he should refer to Reggie without including his colour. And yet we see this attitude elsewhere. In the Britain you are British. Your colour only comes up if it is specifically relevant, which is surprisingly rare.
Dodo 4 years ago
Yeah I've seen Idris Elba referred to as Black British (possibly John Boyega too) but, being a Brit myself, I don't think it's a regular thing. They're just British.
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Marina Bailey 4 years ago
Telling people I'm South African but also white. They're either flabbergasted or think Mzansi still has apartheid and asks if I support/ed it. No! I even once had someone think Nelson Mandela was not only still alive, but still president.
4 years ago
I disagree. African American is such a segregated term. You're just as American as I am,. No need to separate them.
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
"B-b-but we're separating them in a GOOD way!!1!!" NO. Separating groups based only on skin color is the way backward, not forward.
Load More Replies... #19
"How long did you take you learn to use metric instead of normal measurements?"
He genuinely didn't understand that metric was a system we actually used every day, we weren't constantly having to mentally convert meausrements to feet or pounds to understand how big they really were.
J. F. 4 years ago
Quite funny given that the US is the only country that doesn't use metric on a daily basis (it's used in scientific fields at least)
Fred Van Der Zee 4 years ago
One of three countries, don't forget Liberia and Myanmar!
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Jaxier Lucies 4 years ago (edited)
"How long did you take you learn to use metric instead of normal measurements?" "When you say "normal measurements" do you mean measuring length with washing machines and dryers?"
Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
Feet and pounds confuse the f**k out of me, but nothing hurts my brain more than fahrenheit.
NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
I don't understand the imperial system because I grew up with metric. It just makes more sense to me (like multiple people are saying the opposite in other comments). There's 10 millimetres in 1 centimetre, 100 cm in a metre, 1000 metres in a kilometre. It's very simple for those measurements, just add a zero as you go. Then again, 1000 grams in a kilogram, 1000 millilitres in a litre. It's just lots of tens. But then you have imperial: 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet (36 inches) is a yard, 1760 yards in a mile(??). As for weight 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds is a stone. I get the imperial system goes by 2s and 4s, but I think 5s and 10s is much easier and quicker to calculate. Also, seemingly 'random' numbers (obviously not, but at first glance...) vs ones that end in 0 every time... I will never understand the imperial system..
Carl Watson 4 years ago
You would understand it easily if you had grown up with it, as millions did.
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Grant Rombough 2 weeks ago
Canada is also pretty mixed … though not on an official basis.
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Laura Davis 4 years ago
Well...as a Canadian who didn't receive any education involving the metric system I am still constantly trying to convert measurements. For the record, I am old and have no intention of figuring it out now!
Nicholas Kraemer 4 years ago
I've watched enough British shows to know that they go back and forth between using metric and imperial about a million times a day... Grand Designs is one that comes to mind.
Victor Botha 4 years ago
Top Gear or any motoring show for that matter. They talk about a cars engine size in litres or cc's but then refer to .iles per gallon instead of litres per kilometer ???
Load More Replies... Katia Wolfe 4 years ago
As an American, I'm deeply ashamed that we have not adopted the use of the metric system and celsius. That's what we should've done during quarantine!!!
#20
'I didn't know it was this cold in Cuba' we are in Spain. Spain, Europe. Stupid f****r came to university here on a scholarship for six months and didn't even know which country was coming into nor thought it was strange how long the flight was, he also didn't think about googling the place to see where it was, the weather... dunno, INFORMATION about the place he was going to live for six months. Only packed flip flops, tshirts and shorts. We're in the North of Spain, we have UK weather. He had to spend quite a bit for winter clothes in October because he had nothing to wear. He was also bummed because he couldn't find tacos here (you can)
Rosa Leff 4 years ago
Not true. I'm American and I studied abroad in Havana. There are restrictions, but anyone who really wants to go can find a legal way to make it happen.
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TimesNewLogan 4 years ago
A freaking university student. I knew this crap in middle school, yet somehow I'm not intelligent enough because I'm not rich enough to get a degree... what a farce.
Potato 4 years ago
On a SCHOLARSHIP. Back in my day, we had to compete for those! Was this a sports scholarship? But even those students are usually required to maintain GPAs.
Load More Replies... TheReader19 4 years ago
Spain has UK weather, poor Spain my deepest sympathies love England 😂😂
Ozacoter 4 years ago
The north of spain has a very similar weather to uk, yes. The centrum is much worse because it is both extremely cold in winter and warm in summer.
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An Co 4 years ago
To be honest, Spain is at the same position as Delaware, which is much warmer than Spain. Even if he realized where he was going, he might have been fooled. Correction, anyone that thought he was going to Cuba would DEFINITELY have been fooled.
H Edwards 4 years ago
London is further north than Calgary but has much milder winters.
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#21
As a Brit, I had to bite my tongue when asked 'Do you celebrate Independence Day?'
Wayne Dorman 4 years ago
You mean celebrating the day America officially severed from the England? We don't, but upon reading some of the entries on this list makes me think we should start doing so.
monstakiwi 4 years ago
As a Kiwi, I was asked 'Do you have 4th of July in New Zealand?" To which I said 'Yes, it comes after the 3rd of July'. Then was asked if we celebrated it too, so I answered we had no reason to celebrate AMERICAN Independence day....they seemed genuinely confused
Potato 4 years ago
You don't want to celebrate us on our behalf? (Shocked pikachu face)
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Airis Malfoy 4 years ago
Yes, we do. Every year, on July 3 {thats the day Will Smith's Independence Day was released} we have a party in our cult dedicated to the Chitauris. {Aliens from MCU}.
Suzi Gauthier 4 years ago
There's a joke where you ask if they have 4th of July in Canada? Most say "no." Then you ask if they just skip from the 3rd to 5th.
Caroleann Mc Callion 4 years ago
Traveled around Africa with an overland trip. Mostly Brits, couple of Aussies, one South African and an American girl. 1st July she gathers everyone together, wanting to plan a huge party for the 4th. Not making the 'obvious' connection, "Is it your birthday?". "No! Independence Day!" she declared looking at us as though we were all a bit dim. When we realised she wanted to splurge communal truck funds AND a chunk of our food supply to celebrate her country's national holiday she got a very British response, "Bugger off you daft sod." as we walked away laughing. She was outraged, she really didn't get that we really didn't care. As someone else has pointed out: Britain is famous for creating Independence Days not having them.
Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
Yeah, they think Australians should celebrate Thanksgiving too. SIgh.
NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
Yes -_- I hate it when people online ask me why I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving, as an Aussie. Not everyone is from the US/celebrates that holiday. Best to assume they don't.
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
I’m American and my husband is British. But, even though we’ve been married 20 years and lived here in the US the entire time, he does NOT celebrate the 4th of July. He knows I celebrate it, and though he will do the barbecue thing, he adamantly refuses to watch any fireworks display, or watch American History programs on TV. I just leave him be about it. He’s as entitled to be as proud of his own country as I am of mine (even though 2016-2020 were so damaging to us all, and absolute hell for me to get through).
#22
“I love the African-American culture here!”
— said in Cape Town, South Africa
Luna 4 years ago
I’m assuming the beach in the picture is in Cape Town, but I would like to say that I it is a very lovely beach indeed
Ivy la Sangrienta 4 years ago
I got a very nasty sunburn on this very beach. Couldn't wear a bra for a week.
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Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
Just African, please. Also, it is a huge continent, and South Africa and Morocco (for example) don't have the same culture.
Marina Bailey 4 years ago
Yeah, don't come "American" us! We're African and proud of it. Mzansi Naphakade! (South Africa Forever!)
Daniel Gilroy 4 years ago
I think most Americans are afraid of saying the word "black" in case it makes them sound racist. So everyone of colour becomes "African-American."
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
Except the nomenclature's been quietly switched again-- now it's good to say "black" and bad to say "African-American". I swear, there's a subculture that gets its ya-yas watching the rest of society scramble to keep up with what's offensive and what isn't now vs 5 years ago.
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Carpe Diem 4 years ago
Avtually Mississippi and Alabama African American slaves are from South Africa.)))
CharliAnn Olney 4 years ago
I am beginning to be the EMBARRASSED American! I have been face palming so much my eyes hurt!
#23
I live in NZ and worked in retail, so there's been a few. Funniest was "You have to serve me!" after they made a racial remark (wasn't too bad, but still f****n rude), threw a tantrum in the store because they didn't look at the prices before they used one of our products, then started trashing the place. When my manager told them no I certainly did not have to serve them (by law) and she was calling the cops for destruction of property the lady made an O face then took off without paying. Cops got her like an hour later. I just wish I was still at work when they brought her in to pay for all the stuff she broke/stole/used.
Chich 4 years ago
I would pay to watch them use "the customer is always right" in someplace like France.
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
We have a sentence in France : "the client is king"... which is fine, until you remember what we did to him.
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Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
just cuz you're off the clock doesn't mean you can stay for the show!
Otter 4 years ago
Sorry about that asshole OP, but just so you know... stores have the right to refuse service to anyone who pisses them off, and breaking s**t and running out without paying is just as illegal in the US as it is in NZ. And the cops will probably take anyone who does that down to the station, not back to the store to pay for stuff.
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
That kind of behavior wouldn’t be tolerated here in the US either, and she would be arrested and made to pay restitution, to the store for damaged goods, and possibly the employee also. If the employee isn’t compensated through the criminal suit, they can file a civil suit against her for damages because of the abuse that turned violent.
DetongLhamo 4 years ago
I worked at our national gallery in Australia. The rudest customer I ever had was an American who treated me like his private shopper. Buying gifts for friends he made no effort, just kept nagging at me “So is this good art? Do lots of people like this?” And so on. Throwing posters at me, making me carry his stuff while normal people were queued up at the registers. So unbelievably rude, loud and arrogant.
Hannah M 4 years ago
New Zealand, in Australasia/Oceania/the continent that gets called Australia but is more than Australia the country
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#24
I’d say it’s a toss up between:
“Is England in London?”
“Do you still like, drive horses to get around in Europe?”
And a guy trying to smack talk on Xbox who after I told him nobody cares said “Who cares what you think?! You’re foreign!” I said “So are you?” And he laughed and said “No r****d, I’m American”
Vic 4 years ago
Reply with: I used a horse to drive around. But he was having difficulty holding the steering and pressing the pedal with his hooves on my Aston Martin, so I had to fire him..
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notdream 4 years ago
This guy on the Xbox is actually a little bit racist, and he probably has an IQ of no more than 30
Random person 4 years ago
a little bit? Racist isn't only for skin colour, for example here in Ireland there are people racist towards people from the east of Europe, like me. I get it's not a reality in some places, but compare that to saying "who cares what you think?! You're black!" Though I get what you say, and agree with everything except the *little*
Load More Replies... Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
Technically, yes : a teenie tiny part of England is in London... and this part is called London.
Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
I confess I have an acquaintance who talked about traveling to Taipei THEN Taiwan. She refused to understand that Taipei was IN Taiwan.
Hamish Morris 4 years ago
Is it just me that kind of hates Americans since they think they are so special and are the best
James Phoenix 4 years ago
You're not the only one, there is a lot of people online and around the world who dislike Americans. However, I personally treat them all as individuals, some are good and some are just very egotistical about almost everything.
Load More Replies... Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
Had an American kid say to a Spanish exchange student, “oh, you’re from Spain. They speak Mexican there , right?” This was in the top high school in Chicago
Curry on... 4 years ago
A few years back I told friends, born and raised in the US, that I was going to Denver. One actually asked me if they still drove cattle down the streets, The worse, I'm ashamed to say, is that I didn't know the answer, (pre-internet)
#25
I met an American tourist who was adamant that my country [Iceland] was a home ruled territory under the US government.
He said this during our nations independence day.
He assumed we shared a similar status with Puerto Rico.
He was convinced of the error of his ways after confronting two other natives and a Google search.
Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
Oooooh, an American that changed their mind after some research. A rare find indeed!
Kerri Peek 4 years ago
Some of us are educated, but the disparity between us grows exponentially each passing day.
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John Otruba 4 years ago
Amazing you got my fellow countryman to admit he was wrong!!!(Or did you have to hold him over one of your steam vents to "clear his head" lol
Liv Wright 4 years ago
I can’t decide whether to be embarrassed of other Americans or just be happy that I get to be a “genius” here even though I probably don’t even have average intelligence most places
Martha Higgins 4 years ago
American's aren't all uninformed idiots. Too many are, but not all.
Brian Early 4 years ago (edited)
I was married to an Icelander for 20 years and, while living in Iceland, was lectured by a fellow American about proper pronunciation of “Reykjavik”. I had, according to him, not put enough emphasis on the silent ‘j’. My Icelandic wife interceded and was told she,too, was incorrect and that we should try to learn the local language if we planned on staying there.
Jody Craig 4 years ago
It's so sad, it took 2 more people and THEN a google search. So he didn't believe three people basically.
cybermerlin2000 4 years ago
Didn't Trump want to buy Iceland or something like that and Iceland laughed at him before saying "No!"
Lisa Chambers 4 years ago
LOL what? We used to have a military base there, but it was never a territory of the US.
Nick Rivest 4 years ago
Likely just mistook them for one of the territories. Surprised he even knew about them. MANY americans do not.
#26
"Are your parents Democrats or Republicans?"
eh, have different political parties here luv
N G 4 years ago
The colours are swapped as well - blue is the right, red is left, yellow is somewhere central
Ozacoter 4 years ago
Also the names. In Spain republicans are left winged
Load More Replies... Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
And they don't match up either. There is no major party in the UK as right wing as Republicans and sometimes Democrats are more like moderate Conservatives.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
Anyone who asks me that gets the same answer. "My parents are dead". Then at least I don't have to listen to whatever flavour of politics they want to rant about.
Wednesday 4 years ago
I know of two in the UK and I am certain there are more - but I hear about Labor and Tory all the time.
NsG 4 years ago
Labour and Tory are the two main front runners - often considered to be the closest parallels to the Democrats and Republicans respectively, followed by the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the SNP (Scottish National Party) - these are the two main ones in the devolution of Wales and Scotland. And we have the Green Party and whichever racist, bigoted and hateful party Nigel Farage or Nick Griffin are attempting to run these days (formerly known as, separately, the BNP, Brexit Party and UKIP)
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Ronnie Beaton 4 years ago
I neither knew, nor cared, what my parents political views were. It was none of my business.
#27
The typical stuff. Do you have cars /trees/dogs/in Germany. Another favourite : Is Hitler still alive?
denzoren 4 years ago
"Oh yeah, he lives in Poland on a farm tending for his cattle and painting the landscape"
Blakkur Sverrir 4 years ago
When he got dementia he put a dead animal on his head and bathed in carrot juice daily. Last thing I heard was, he tried some sort of political carreer somewhere in northern america
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xn0 4 years ago
"Is Heidelberg still the captital of Germany"? To the Hitler question I once replied, "Yes he is alive,and german citizens are required to donate organs or blood to suistain his body. He is now about 130 years old." ... And they believed me. I had to convince them the entire evening that I was only joking.
Nicola Dimigen 4 years ago
The question about Hitler reminds me of a petition I once saw to make a statue of the person who killed Hitler, and the worst thing is, lots of people had signed. How many people are that stupid?
Laura Mende (Human) 4 years ago
Soooo... Is there a statue of Hitler somewhere in the world? Bc he was the one who killed Hitler???
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Maria Schneider 4 years ago
Natürlich haben wir Bäume in Deutschland! Irgendwohin müssen die Hunde ja pinkeln und die Autos dagegenfahren
Divyansh Rai 4 years ago
A kid on Xbox once told me "Im sure you Indians dont have internet". I was playing Warzone.
Luther von Wolfen 4 years ago
A young German couple was in town a few years back. They hung out at a popular coffee shop down town. They were nice and became sort of popular among the regulars, partly because they were "exotic". I overheard someone say to them, "You know, we don't blame you for the Holocaust." They were silent for a minute then the guy said "Okay. That was a long time ago."
#28
Asking how much I copay for insurance. I don't even know what copay means.
Emma Byrne 4 years ago
Or not American. Most places health care is paid for by social insurance/taxes and is available to all.
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Black Pug Puppy 4 years ago
A copayment or copay is a fixed amount for a covered service, paid by a patient to the provider of service before receiving the service. It may be defined in an insurance policy and paid by an insured person each time a medical service is accessed. Source Wikipedia
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F. H. 4 years ago
That exists in other countries, though. If you have private healt insurance instead of statutory in Germany, you might have a contract with copay. However, it's usually not a fixed amount per service, but an annual amount that has to be reached before the insurance covers anything. I had such a contract as a student: I would have had to pay 300 Euro myself before the insurance would start covering the costs. I never made it to that amount, of course.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
That's not dumb or ignorant, just uninformed. Can't expect people to know exactly how healthcare works in other countries.
#29
A middle aged American was surprised to find out Venice was so old (and an actual city for centuries), and not built in the 20th century for tourist purposes
Sarah James 4 years ago
Probably thought it was built by the same people that created the Vegas attraction !
Giovanna 4 years ago (edited)
As an Italian who lives in the region, I'm just astonished. But actually I remember once, strolling around Venice, I saw an American couple admiring clothes lined to air dry, outside of a window, telling each other: "They've put them there on purpose", as if it was staged. Came this close to stopping and telling them: "This is not Vegas guys"
Red rockin lobster 4 years ago
I was studying in Venice and had a lot of strange questions by tourists in those years. One of them was "excuse me, where can we find a taxi, my wife can't walk any more". I said that they can call one but as a taxi boat it will cost them way more then taking a vaporetto (bus boat) and they take the same route on the canals, it wasn't the best idea. Just trying to be helpful. No. The guy insisted on calling a real taxi immediately.
Load More Replies... J. F. 4 years ago (edited)
Probably 90% of the settlements in europe are older than the nation of the USA (My home village was founded in 1189 AD)
Auntriarch 4 years ago
My husband (who can be a bit caustic) once told a particularly lippy person "my house is older than your country". In fairness, the person deserved it
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Phil Green 4 years ago
I live in the Falkland Islands. American tourist: "So, what do you guys do in the winter?" He was most surprised we actually live here the year round and tourists are an exciting tourist attraction for us, especially when we are waiting for the next wondrous, d***headed statement out of their mouths!
Kat Zwingle 4 years ago
Most common questions by tourists: "When does Venice Open?" and "When does Venice close?"
Sue Hazlewood 4 years ago
Bit like the tourist in New Zealand asking what time the geyser was turned on. We managed to wait until he was out of hearing range to burst into laughter.
Ninn Kynok 2 4 years ago
Well, one NZ geyser is made to erupt on schedule for tourists by dropping in a bad of foaming chemicals.
Load More Replies... Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
Also, Neushwanstein was inspired by Cinderella's castle and built by reichfurher Angela Merkel.
#30
Englishman, living in the US for 15 years now. I’ve been asked a lot of bizarre things but one of the best was someone who asked what language we speak in England, and how long it took me to learn English when I moved here.
JennyLaRue 4 years ago
I just don't understand how they don't recognise the connection between "England" and "English"
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
Their entire culture and school system are all about how their country is the greatest, the only one that matters, the one that created everything that is good, etc..
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Suzi Gauthier 4 years ago
That's really bad. Must have been homeschooled. Most people are at least familiar with British rock stars.
Llama_flower93 4 years ago
The results of homeschooling are so diverse it can't be treated like a lesser or a greater education.
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Raymond Ewen 4 years ago
I like a sign that is supposed to have been in a window of a store in Italy. It read “English spoken, American understood”. We do not speak the same language. It’s close enough though.
Melissa Gallo 4 years ago
A British former colleague of mine had to schedule a special phone call with another (remote) American colleague because the latter wanted to test the former's level in English...
#31
Poking fun at me with France stereotypes. I'm not from France, my parents are not from France, and I've never been to France. My first language is French, that's enough for Americans to treat me like I'm from France.
Karin Jansen 4 years ago
Ha! I once travelled with a friend from Belgium to NY. She was flemish and therefore spoke Dutch. She spoke some French, sure, as Belgium is a bi-lingual country and she was taught in school, but she wasn't really good at it to be honest. The receptionist at the hotel we stayed insisted on speaking French to her the entire time and after she explained she'd rather speak English as it was better than her French, he genuinely accused her of lying as "Belgium is a part of France, so French is your first language."
Emmerechts Filip 3 years ago (edited)
Belgium is tri-lingual. German is also an official language here.
Load More Replies... Chris Zaydel 4 years ago
Canadians speak French today because the British allowed it. Canada was established by the French (who also abused the native Americans already there and took their land) and defeated by the British. The British wanted to have everybody speak English, but without using military might, they couldn't do it. The Quebec Act, past by the British, allowed people to live, and speak, as they wanted.
julien 3 years ago
THE TRUTH : "The French sought to attract the Indigenous people close to their settlements with the view to having them adopt French agricultural sedentary life. The English, in New England for example, drove Indigenous people off their traditional lands into the hinterland in order to establish agricultural holdings and permanent settlement." https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-french-relations
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Bonnie Davis 4 years ago
My Dad's in the military and we moved to England when I was young. I went to grade school there and I ended up with an English accent!!! Awesomeness!!!
Marsha Brown 4 years ago
"The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language." -- George Bernard Shaw
#32
"Ah, you're from Denmark. Where in Canada is that again?"
Viviane 4 years ago
Not yet part of Canada, but some day, we hope... Canada is still working on that invasion of Hans Island, but the plucky little Danes keep pelting us with snowballs from the safety of Greenland.
Scarlett Fox 4 years ago
They keep leaving us schnapps though, so that's alright
Load More Replies... Charlotte Bednard 4 years ago (edited)
to be fair, denmark could easily fit inside canada. lol
Helmut Kok 4 years ago (edited)
Denmark actually boarders to Canada (Greenland). And Hans ø is Danish!
Vasana Phong 4 years ago
I once had a coworker that needed help on the phone as she had a Spanish speaking patient on the other line, she asked me if I spoke Spanish, i said “ no I’m from Laos, she asked “ what kind of Spanish is that?”
Jean-Michel Brevelle 4 years ago
I was explaining I was married to someone from Chile, and the other person asked: "Chilly? Is that like the cold part of Mexico?" Ugh... And I'm also American, but it's times like these that I want to fake and accent and pretend to be from anywhere else.
Florence Hastings 4 years ago
On a vacation to the US (I’m from denmark), I tryed explaining to someone where denmark is and finally just said it’s north of germany. 😂
#33
you can't be from country that doesn't speak English, you are white!!
Wayne Dorman 4 years ago
Does America not have schools or something? How can anyone be this dense?
Al Christensen 4 years ago
Ah, that explains something. The "speak English, this is America" thing really means, "Be white."
#34
"I can't believe you would live in a country where you're living under the dictatorship of the queen."
I am Canadian.
JennyLaRue 4 years ago
Dictatorship? The only power she has is luring tourists in to pay to tour her castles 🤣
Neale Foulds 4 years ago
She has the power (amongst others) to appoint ministers - up to and including the prime minister. The power lies with the Monarchy, or which she (as the Monarch) is the current head. it is enshrined in the UK law, and the queen's assent is a final requirement for all laws. Whilst the current queen can dissent, she almost never does and follows the advice of the ministers she has appointed. After an election, the voted winner is invited to an audience with the Queen, at which they are asked if they have the majority support of Parliament to form a Government, only then will the Queen invite them to do so. https://g.co/kgs/3gw6PJ
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Sue Mullen Andersen 4 years ago
They probably don't understand that while Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of Canada and the Head of State in Canada, the country is a constitutional monarch and parliamentary democracy.
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
It is always surprising and shocking how some people who do not live under a monarch assume they are dictators. They do not live there, but they know better than the ones who actually experienced it.
RoseTheMad 4 years ago
Living in the UK - we aint under a dictatorship cos of the queen, we're under a dictatorship cos of our s**t tory government and the clown in charge of that.
Rebecca Shaw 4 years ago (edited)
Never mind that a modern Constitutional Monarchy, such as that in place in the UK and in HM's Commonwealth Realms is one of the most stable forms of government there is. Proud New Zealand subject of HM here too.
k1ddkanuck 4 years ago
I would rather live in this constitutional monarchy than the batshit crazy "democracy" to the south.
#35
"You speak real good English for a foreigner" - I'm British and she knew that.
Edit, because a lot of people seem to think that no American could ever say this and mean it: it was a lovely, sweet, older woman who thought she was paying me a genuine compliment. We sat and chatted in her garden for about an hour as she plied me with her homemade lemonade and asked me about my life and what brought me to Washington State. I thanked her, because she was saying something lovely (albeit weird), and we continued chatting.
Robert T 4 years ago
My colleague was marked down on a feedback form after giving a presentation in the US. It said "Broken English, non-American". He's British, and as far as I am aware the only language he speaks is English. He was however slightly nervous. Considering how varied American accents are, I was surprised at the lack of tollerance.
monstakiwi 4 years ago
Had to take an "English as a second language" test when I went to an American college. The tester said they'd never had someone score so high...I come from New Zealand, we speak English...
Carol Emory 4 years ago
Not all of us are this way. My husband had a classmate that was visiting from England with her husband. He was telling us a story and kept correcting himself saying "Bonnet...I mean Hood. Boot...I mean Trunk." I finally said "Not all American's are uncultured swine. I grew up watching Monty Python with my brothers.... I know what you're saying." And smiled. He just about fell out of his chair laughing!
Andrew Grant 4 years ago
I’m a White English guy with a Liverpool accent noticeable , on one of my first trips to Boston for work, I took the wrong exit from the Airport (pre Sat nav) , I stopped for directions at a greasy spoon restaurant, I had breakfast with a group of very friendly black old guys ( I was the only white guy in the place) . After we had talked for 20m and they knew I was from England. I was asked what my first language was!
Tina B 4 years ago
I once told a Liberian he spoke beautiful English. I later looked up Liberia and was mortified.
Question everything 4 years ago
Well, I've just learned something new too.
Load More Replies... Al Christensen 4 years ago
Occasionally, when encountering a "Speak English, This Is America" blowhard, I replay, "Yeah, we should speak proper Queen's English, not the bastardized version we speak here."
Randy Klefbeck 4 years ago
Not to mention America has no recognized official national language.
Load More Replies... Pam Wilson-Hallinan 4 years ago
Sorry to say this but older white Americans think the WORLD revolves around everything here in the US because they were brainwashed with lies growing up. There is turmoil here in the US because we are trying to unearth the truth and a lot of 'them' refuse to accept it. They want the truth buried and forgotten and not learn and change things.
2WheelTravlr 4 years ago
Specifically what is the age cutoff for "Older White Americans"? 70? 80? 60? 50? How about the "white" part, what percentage of other race in their DNA determines they are no longer the kind of white person who was subjected to the brainwashing? Ignorance is present at any age, in any location, and doesn't necessarily disappear with education. Making generalizations like "older white Americans think the WORLD revolves around...the US..." makes no sense. Some Americans, regardless of age or white-ness, have lived insular lives and believe the US is better in every way from any other country. Most Americans do not believe this.
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#36
Had a taxi driver in New York ask how we got there (from Ireland). When we said by plane, he was like „you have airports?!“.
Also thought we were still getting round on horses.
Chich 4 years ago
Well they did capture their airports from the redcoats in 1776 so maybe he thought yours were still occupied by the British.
Suzi Gauthier 4 years ago
Should have told him on a leprechaun's back. He'd probably believe that more easily.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
This is surprisingly common. Had Americans be dumbfounded we had shops in Germany...
Cory Tollman 4 years ago
I don't know if this is a thing anymore but at least as late as the 1980s there were people on the East and West coasts of the USA who were concerned that people in the middle of the country didn't have enough food. Even though that is where a lot of it is grown.
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
Horses who can swim across the ocean? Now, THAT I’d like to see! (/s)
John Topper 4 years ago
Just tell him you do get around on horses. You got across the Atlantic on sea horses.
Tamara Kroonen 4 years ago
No, underneath the plane is a hole that opens when hovering above our gardens to beam us up, Scotty!
#37
I’m Australian and in 2015 I was doing a cruise around New Zealand with my family. Might add that I have an Autistic daughter who was 14 at the time and despite being Autistic is incredibly sociable, but has a tendency to strike up unusual conversations with strangers. We needed to get to one of the restaurants a few floors above us and decided to use the lift instead of the stairs. The lift arrived on our floor and we entered with an elderly couple already inside. My wife and I greeted them and they duly greeted us back and we soon ascertained they were American. Seconds later, my Autistic daughter stated the obvious that we were all travelling in a “lift”. A random throw-away comment, but that’s just who she is. The female literally barked at my daughter and told her the correct word was in fact an “elevator”. At this point I interjected and politely mentioned that where we are from it’s called a “lift”, but this couple were adamant that it was an “elevator”. Their attitude was we were wrong and they were right. Fortunately we never did get to see them the remainder of the cruise. We share a common language being English and there are going to be differences how we say things depending where we’ve been brought up - it’s about being open minded and accepting. Unfortunately it appeared that the world revolved around this couple.
jleitner 4 years ago
Truthfully, their attitude is ignorant and offensive to me as an American. Regional differences in language are everywhere, including within the USA. In NY, the little sugary pellets you put on ice cream are called "sprinkles", but not far away at all in most of the New England states they're called "jimmies".. A hoagie and a wedge and a sub are all basically the same kind of sandwich, but it can differ within 50 miles depending if you're from northern New Jersey or southern New Jersey, etc. Anyone insisting that "the correct word in English is..." is not a very good observer of English, and people in general.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
My husband and I just talked about this...that the problem with America is that so many people live in their own little bubble. Anything that disturbs or invades their bubble of reality is a threat. If you don't think, act or say things like they want, then anger ensues and they get hostile. Unfortunately it seems that the number of American's that live in their own bubble is greater than originally thought.
Max L. 4 years ago
Don’t worry it’s everywhere, the medical term is cognitive disturb (roughly translated from italian, it could be cognitive disease or cognitive dissonance), and it’s part of dementia symptoms, as well, not for any of them fault, in the autistic spectrum. You can find it in novaxes, negationists of any sort (moon landing, nomasks, covidiots or flathearthers make no difference).
Load More Replies... NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
Actually, in Aus we call it an elevator or a lift depending on the person/where you grew up or live in Aus. My whole family (across multiple states) calls it an elevator, but I have friends from Queensland and South Australia that call it a lift. Just one of those things that varies depending on what you were taught :) So both are correct. (Still doesn't warrant this woman's attitude though :/)
SoozeeQ 4 years ago
Unfortunately, it's people like this couple that give US Americans a bad name. (And people complain about BP being an "American-bashing" website. It's no wonder with incidents such as this). They could have ignored her, or commented. "oh, do you call them *lifts*? We call them *elevators*, where we're from", instead of insisting that she was wrong and they were right.
Maggie Dinzler Shaw 4 years ago
A pregnant American woman was filling out some kind of form in England and made a mistake. The clerk asked if she needed a rubber to fix the problem. Her reply? "I think it is a bit too late for that now."
DragonflyGreen 4 years ago
I hate how the idiot Americans make the rest of us Americans look bad.
Sue Arnold 4 years ago (edited)
We were enjoying a meal in Budapest and the group of Americans next to us asked us where we were from. Australia I answered. "Oh you hate the blacks don't you? " Shocked, I answered "No we don't." "Yes you do, " she continued, You hate the blacks, they keep beating you all the time. " It turns out she was referring to the New Zealand rugby team. And no, we don't hate our Kiwi neighbours. Diplomacy not high on the agenda with this group.
#38
“Wow you speak American very well for a foreigner”
Thanks lady, I’m Canadian and “American” is the only language I know
Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
You could really blow her mind by telling her that Canada, Mexico, etc. are all in America since America is actually two continents constituting an entire hemisphere
Víctor Alfonso García Olmo 4 years ago
When someone say to me "I´m american" I always ask: "Oh, yes? Which one: from Chile in the South to Canada in the North?. Normally, they look at me pretty confused as I was a madman
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Arthur Waite 4 years ago
I usually reply "Merci beaucoup." Because I can choose which language to use in my country, and I hate to waste the five years I spent in High School learning French. And in my home town, Toronto, there are over a hundred languages spoken and written every day, very Cosmopolitan.
Candia Lee 4 years ago
I occasionally mix native English, high school French, and local Spanish.
Load More Replies... Ladyandthetramp 4 years ago
I hate when they say it’s called Americanish it’s English. Does it even sound right?
Susan Elizabeth 4 years ago
Also Canadian and guess what? I don’t speak French. Yes our country has two official languages but that doesn’t seem mean we can all speak both. Merci
notdream 4 years ago
I had a guy say this to me except I'm a Brit who was visiting cousins in Oregon, and when I tell him that American wasn't a language and that people in the US actually spoke a slightly changed version of English the kid punches me in the arm full force. Because he found out American isn't its own language. I sill laugh at this. (I'm still quite young so not too long ago I was that age where every kid wanted to get into fights because it was 'cool')
Maggie Dinzler Shaw 4 years ago
And yet I bought an English-American dictionary after someone in London asked me if I wanted him to knock me up in the morning. And then there was the incident when my husband to be called me homely. \
Load More Replies... Maru 2 months ago
America in ONE comtinent, not 2 or 3, is one, but it is devided in 3 although most ppl in the US don't recognize South America, there are even fewer who would recognize that Central America also exists and itnis right in the middle of the continent and between NA and SA hence the name.
#39
"why didn't they walk around the berlin wall?"
Lesley Robinson 4 years ago
The Berlin wall was 90 miles long. The US-Mexican border is 1,933 miles long.
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BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
Because it was an ACTUAL wall, not the fever dream of a narcissistic orange toddler. Also, the Berlin Wall didn't lose large sections in a strong wind. LOL
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Well, you could... On the East German side. But then, that would have been pointless. Circled West Berlin once without getting in? Check!
Karen Lawyer 4 years ago
This really made me realize how little I know about the Berlin Wall. And yep, I'm an American 😑
Origami Chik3n 4 years ago
This reminds me of an article i have read several years ago. Apparently, a group of high school students from USA were visiting Europe and were taken on a tour of one of former concentration camps. When they were told about horrible conditions, shown the "showers" etc., they dismissed that as prisoners' own fault "for not asking their lawyers to get better conditions". I always took this story with certain doubt as no one could be this ignorant, right? Well, reading through this thread i'm beginning to think that it has been, if nothing else, watered down.
#40
I once spoke to an American that was surprised that black Australian individuals had an Australian accent. It's so weird but you can also see it coming somehow in how they often think about race: the same thing that one was surprised that black Dutch individuals of course had Dutch names.
jleitner 4 years ago
I remember seeing a stand-up comedian who happened to be Asian starting his act by saying "nope, there's nothing wrong with your TV - this is the way I talk. I'm from Nashville", in a good ol' southern drawl...
Hans (TheRealMoleman) 4 years ago
That would be Henry Cho. Hilarious dude.
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LAWLAWLAW 4 years ago
The black guy in Porridge (old UK tv show) had a Scottish accent which just used to mesmerize me as a kid
Scagsy 4 years ago
Yes! A friend of a friend was Indian and he had a broad Scottish accent. It seemed quite incongruent and he enjoyed flipping between Hindi and 'och-aye-the-noo' for our benefit. Funny guy.
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Leodavinci 4 years ago
It's a wonder these people's heads don't explode when they meet black people named White or white people named Black.
Amy Pattie 4 years ago
My brain is hurting trying to figure out how someone would be surprised by this…
Rissie 4 years ago
Names are cultural and most people from Surinam or African decent do not name their kiddo Jan, Peter or Hans here in the Netherlands. More modern names that are somewhat Dutch are used, but not as often as English sounding (not per se popular in the US or England) and made up names. Race is a fake construct, but culture most certainly is not. And if you come to Amsterdam and visit specific communities, you will notice that Dutch is spoken in several accents. Morrocans and Turkish communities are very recognisable, just like Surinamese Creoles, Indians and Hindu's. Sometimes these are 2nd and even 3rd generation Dutch. Fun part is how people let that accent go (mostly) when they are in a more generic group of people, and will pick it up as soon as they are with peers of the same cultural community. So yeah. I get the confusion. Because African American/American Black culture influences many people around the world and all kinds of gestures and behaviors are spread through media.
Mariette Ferreira 4 years ago
In South Africa, the black South Africans have a slightly different accent from the white South Africans. I can understand how this may have happened.
#41
A friend was dating an American, and a bunch of us went out for a pub meal (UK). Now, there's a stereotype that Americans can be a little loud. And, unfortunately, this was the case with this girl. Literally everyone in the pub was giving her side-eye, but noone says anything because that would be rude. My friend very subtly tries to make her aware of the noise level, and she talk-yells, "oh no, honey. I'm not loud. All y'all are just too quiet! Such a quaint little country, y'all need to use your outdoor voices!" We were quite clearly inside...
Memere 4 years ago
There could be two other reasons for her being so loud: 1) she has hearing loss & doesn't realize how loud she's talking, or 2) most American bars/nightclubs play music so loud that it's impossible to have a conversation without shouting. But neither of those are obviously not her problem since she said what she did about it.
Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 4 years ago
Don't make excuses for her arrogance.
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Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
To be fair, I have to ask; did she get louder as she got more drunk? Because some people do, and that may be the case with her. Probably not, but you never know.
Erik Granqvist 4 years ago
My dad (north of Sweden) are a bit too loud at times. He has bad hearing, and may not notice he is talking loud when he takes out the hearing apparatus (it can give some wicked strange echoes in some situations, and then he turn the gadgets off).
Kerri Peek 4 years ago
I feel that, I am naturally loud not trying to annoy just Autistic and do not hear on the same level (maybe slightly hearing impaired as well) but I would have had my feelings hurt and just left.
DragonflyGreen 4 years ago
Oh, us Americans hate the loud Americans too. Trust me. The stereotype applies to mostly no one.
Susan Egan 4 years ago
My daughter is loud. She is just naturally loud. We, the rest of our family, are not. She always talks like she's on stage trying to reach the back of the auditorium. We've had her hearing checked, reminder to lower the volume. She's 26 now, still loud when she's excited about something. We don't know why.
#42
"Europe is communist"
elfin 4 years ago
The irony is how few of them have any idea what the words "communist" or "socialist" actually mean. They just know they're agin' them.
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An Co 4 years ago
That's a political move, not ignorance. In America the far right calls Socialism to be the same as Communism, in an attempt to demonize it.
Gawaget The Object Thingy 4 years ago
American here they pretty much teach us from a very young age that they are pretty much the same thing and both are evil. Luckily some of us have teachers and/or family that call bullshit on the system. They teach a lot of lies to make America look better than it is. Before other people start yelling at me just look at the info we are taught about WWII our history books smudge or downright lie about our role
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Full English 4 years ago
I think Americans mistake Communism for Dictatorship as in those countries it allegedly exists, but as you can see from the many comments here empathy is not a requirement
#43
"Do you have color television in Germany?"
cassiushumanmother 4 years ago
Obviously not! He never saw any WWII films? They are all in black and white so no, Germans don't have color TV. This question was really dumb, with an obvious answer.
I'm lay sheep in China 4 years ago
With Nick furry in the back before his eye got busted by Kitty 😂
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Wayne Dorman 4 years ago
Jesus christ almighty! Not sure if this is ignorance or absolute stupidity.
Caroline Pe 4 years ago
Woooow, I thought this kind of questions were only reserved for Polish people, I have heard tons of those... Not sure if cry of laugh, probably both. However I never corrected people, I was just continuing conversation like I never have seen colour TV or any TV. Quite amusing 😊
#44
One American guy I met instantly told me where he lives, why he left America, why he married his foreign wife, when he shot his first gun and how his father made him do it (7 years old IIRC), and why he thought that was a good thing and built character, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. I genuinely couldn't get a word in edgeways to get away. My wife had to come pull me away saying we needed to leave. This was in a supermarket in southeast Asia. He just came over and said "Are you American". I said no. He launched into his life story and wouldn't stop. Wife said I'm way too polite but how do you deal with that, just walk away while he's still talking?
meta dillard 4 years ago
USA is like everyplace else. We have educated people and uneducated people, smart people and not-so-smart people.
Liv Wright 4 years ago
It’s also unlike everyplace else, in that either most people here are not-so-smart, or the not-so-smart people are so stupid they’re making all the smart ones move somewhere else so they don’t have to say they’re American anymore.
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Random person 4 years ago
Idk, that sounds as if the guy was kind of emotionally unstable or something and needed someone to confess his feelings unto ;-;
Catlady6000 4 years ago
As an American, yes, I have actually walked away, been followed and talked at thru the rest of my shopping, check out, unloading into the car, backing out of the space, and when I looked in my rear view as I was driving away, he was still talking. This guy was extremely well known in that very small town
Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
Yes, just walk away. If he's too rude to work out if you're interested in interacting with him then there's no obligation to be polite back.
An Co 4 years ago
If all you said was "No", then interrupt with any other language. It is likely he will not speak anything besides English, which may very well be why he felt the need to talk.
Candia Lee 4 years ago
Yes! I'm betting he needed to hear English spoken instead of the native tongue, which would be so unrecognizable to his ear.
Load More Replies... Katz 4 years ago
I was dating an American for a while and this actually seems to be a thing. In a small shop, while waiting in line for fitting room, he shared with sales person everything about his family, where he worked and how long we have been dating. Me making angry faces from distance about not to share any info about me to strangers, but he did not get it. I can have smalltalk about neutral topics but really do not understand sharing that level of personal info with strangers. I hesitate sometimes even to tell my name to someone i just met, but that's me :D
Turgut Kalfaoglu 1 year ago
In America there are lots of lonely people -- I found out! As soon as someone shows any interest, they unleash everything they have built up.. sad kinda.
#45
That I must be a socialist because I'm from the UK where we have the NHS.
J. F. 4 years ago
And again, people in the US rarely seem to not know / understand the difference between a social market system and socialism.
Suzi Gauthier 4 years ago
Because corporate America influenced enough politicians that it became a "bad" word. I have yet to see anyone call someone a Socialist who could define what a Socialist is.
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Morgan Morgan 4 years ago
Yes. And we have free national education, police and fire force, paved streets, working electric light,s and public hospitals. Next?
Nicola Pike 4 years ago
I get the comments about how socialism is bad. I tell them I live in a democratic socialist country and it is literally one of the best place to live in the world. So I don't mind being socialist.
Sarah Grape 4 years ago
thats like assuming all americans are democrats just cuz bidens president right now
BetweenTheCracks 4 years ago
I don't see how anyone with eyes or ears could assume that right now. Non-Democrats didn't dry up and blow away in November, and have been taking great pains to remain visible and loud in their petulance.
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Joann Casey 4 years ago
The NHS is a socialist construct, healthcare for all, for free, at the point of need is socialism in its purest form.
Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago (edited)
Socialism... With bilionnaires... And a queen... And Thatcher...
#46
They asked me if I spoke African....
Muff_Fluff 4 years ago
“Name a country that starts with A” “Africa” Why is this so common, people thinking Africa is a country?
Aleš Kaučič 4 years ago
My answer will be yes,i speak svahili and then watch his brains explode inside his skull
Celtic Pirate Queen 4 years ago
I am always astounded that people (my fellow Americans, mostly) don't understand that Africa is a CONTINENT made up of 54 separate countries. Study a map or better yet, read a f*****g book!
#47
I lived for a while in an old house in Somerset. It was once owned by Rev Thomas Budd who travelled to America on The Mayflower. Had quite a few Americans turn up on the doorstep (there's a blue plaque) expecting me to drop everything and provide a house tour and have expert knowledge of Thomas Budd.
Emma Byrne 4 years ago
Or invite them in and make up some really salacious Sh!t.
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Luther von Wolfen 4 years ago
This guy is living in a house that is older than the US. Think about that. There are pubs where the top of the bar is older than the US. That's how young the US is.
Ninn Kynok 2 4 years ago
There are various claims to being the oldest pub in England. One is The Old Ferry Boat in Cambridgeshire ... which is said to date back to 560.
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Ryan Deschanel 4 years ago
"That's not a museum. -But... -That's not a museum! It is just my house!!!"
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
Tell them we were glad to see the back of those hardliners that wouldn't stop campaigning to get everyone living according to their set beliefs. It's really jarring how one sided the USA origin story is.
Ninn Kynok 2 4 years ago
There are various claims to being the oldest pub in England. One is The Old Ferry Boat in Cambridgeshire ... which is said to date back to 560.
#48
My wife was staying at a hostel in Athens a few years ago. She shared a room with an American in her 20s. They got talking about where they’ve stayed in the past, and my wife told her that she used to live in Sweden for a few years. The American didn’t know where or what Sweden was. My wife said “It’s a country, next to Norway”. “Oh Norway!”, the American burst out, “Ole is from there! Do you know Ole?!”
Panda Kicki 4 years ago
Well, we can just inform LAX staff that Norway is now a region in Sweden, ask Ole for more info, all the 10 million swedes know him 😝 ( actually if she meant movie star Olr, Ole Bramserud, he is known by a lot of us as he is in an old, very popular, series of films, Sällskapsresan)
Robert Robi Z 4 years ago
No way, Norway cannot be a region in Sweden, I am sure you wanted to say Denmark. Or Canada.
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Eithne Griffiths 4 years ago
I am from Wales,I was asked if I knew so and so.They live by the station I was told,I replied that Wales has more than 1 station.Oh right! they said I mean the train station.
Lisa Salerno 4 years ago
that's like the "oh you're gay? I have a gay friend, his name is Joe.. do you know him?"
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
Oh yeah! My favorite name in sports history and was DEADLY goal scorer on I believe PS2 in FIFA 2000!
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 4 years ago
In fairness, my friend from Tennessee who travelled a lot was always being asked, oh you're from America do you know so-and-so
Aleš Kaučič 4 years ago
Yes,of course i know him! I personally know any of like 6 millions Norses
#49
Canadian here, worked for AT&T. Where I worked in Windsor, I could SEE America. The number of questions about snow and igloos whenever anyone found out was too high. I swear I spent 15 mins trying to convince a woman FROM Detriot that the criss crossing lights in the sky came from Ceasars Windsor and that there is no snow here right now, it's July
Anita Memery-Byers 4 years ago
I have to admit I'm really tired of the United States being called America. That is like calling France Europe.
Sue Mullen Andersen 4 years ago
Exactly. There are 35 countries in the Americas.
Load More Replies... Demongrrrrl 4 years ago
My mom was taking some stuff, including skis, to my sister from Detroit to Buffslo, NY. The fastest way is through Canada. When the Canadian customs officer asked why she had the skis, my mom feigned stupidity and said, "It's always snowy in Canada!"
Natalie KS 4 years ago
Why not just tell the truth? Customs wouldn't have pulled her in or confiscated the skis. What's the point in looking like an idiot to customs officers?
Load More Replies... Sue Mullen Andersen 4 years ago
Someone from Detroit asked that? The city you can see and is so close that they share Freedom Day Fireworks with? Where the same news channels are for both countries and they give weather forecasts for both? Where you grow up watching channel 56 from Windsor? This sounds pretty strange to me. My guess is that there is no way she was from Detroit.
Chich 4 years ago
Have had similar conversations with someone who lived just south of Vancouver in Washington state.
Load More Replies... Natalie KS 4 years ago
I worked for AT&T in Windsor, as well. We had to tell the customers calling in that we were "just outside of Detroit" because they didn't want to talk with foreigners.
Annette Easton 4 years ago
I've had similar experiences. Florida, 40 years ago - yes our car has a plug coming from under the hood, no it's for a block heater, the car is not electric. More recently - No, we don't shop in the US because we don't have stores in Canada. No, we don't live in igloos. Yes, we have cars, no we don't travel by dogsled. And from in the last few years, at a "fine dining" restaurant where the server insisted on taking my card away with the bill to process - Yes my credit card works just fine, it has a chip & PIN and your terminal takes chip & PIN so you can't just swipe it, that's why it was declined. No I'm not just telling you my PIN, that defeats the purpose of a PIN. Take me to your terminal and I'll enter it myself.
AllKindsAGirly 4 years ago
That's not just Canada. I'm originally from Alaska and when I moved to the to the continental US EVERONE I met asked me if I'd ever been in an igloo.
k1ddkanuck 4 years ago
We also keep polar bears as pets, and put our elderly out on iceflows when our socialized medical system is at capacity!
Lesley Robinson 4 years ago
As an older Canadian, I;ve noticed that our medical system pretty much is at capacity, and I prefer that you not give the government any ideas!
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Kevin Hickey 4 years ago
I bet it really blew their mind when you told them that Windsor is south of Detroit.
#50
“Spaghetti with eggs kinda weird”. “That’s a Carbonara”!!!
Tobias Rieper 4 years ago
this Brit loves it as well especially with garlic bread
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marianne eliza 4 years ago
I confess to adulterating my Carbonara with 7 minced gloves of garlic. 7.
Memere 4 years ago
My mom put hard boiled eggs in spaghetti - she learned it from an Italian family who lived in the apartment building she managed for her father-in-law. It's so good! And I love real Italian food, grew up with it & dated an Italian guy who took me to his mother's house for Sunday dinner -WOW, homemade pasta, ravioli, tortellini, everything - and now I'm soooo hungry!
Panda Kicki 4 years ago
I had that tonight, so yummy! Not sure what is supposed to be weird about it..
Bonnie Davis 4 years ago
Spaghetti Carbonara!!! 😋😋 .💙💙 I lived in Italy for 3yrs and it's super super yummy!!! Now I'm very very picky about my marinara sauce. I make my Mom's recipe that has been passed down for a few generations. 😋😋
Maurettis 4 years ago
the cream is made with the egg yolk mixed with pecorino, also you don't use bacon, but "pig cheek", which tastes very different from bacon. But since that's prohibitive being a costly ingredient, some carbonaras are made with "pancetta"
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What do you think ?
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
If you think the US has the monopoly on native stupidity, I suggest you travel more. Stupidity and willful ignorance are worldwide.
ThePracticalSarcastic 4 years ago
Stupidity and stereotypes are everywhere. I lived abroad for 10 years and met people who asked me the many of the same questions listed here about America... "You can't be Native American...you're white"
A.Armos 4 years ago
This is hilarious. Explain that to a 'Native American'.
Load More Replies... Logic and Reason 4 years ago
You know, posting articles that are socially conscious and then posting something xenophobic like this makes all your credibility go straight down the tubes. Rightfully standing up against most forms of bigotry but harboring and trying to spread your own biases is insanely hypocritical.
ivan bolitekurac 4 years ago
I can't belive you got so many upvotes for calling bp xenophobic and hypocritical while bp is supposed to stand for the opposite.Thank you for your comment,have an upvote
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John Baker 4 years ago
It just wouldn't be BP without the daily dose of USA bashing. Downvote for the post.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Actually it's been a while since there's been one, not really daily is it
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• Lemønchu • 4 years ago (edited)
Jeez, I know everyone thinks we're stupid, but that's not all of us! And it's now just America either, stupidity is worldwide. I'm so frustrated with these dumb stereotypes. And why is it always "Non-Americans list reasons why America sucks" I wouldn't mind turning the tables and listing why other places suck. Or even better! Not doing this at all!
Carolyn Gerbrands 4 years ago
I agree with those here stating that it is "US bashing". I have met many americans and they were all nice and fun loving. I do think that the US is such a big country that you don't need to go abroad for a holiday (and if you can afford it). So you tend to be ignorant of the world around you. Heard many silly things but understand.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
I agree that you can find dumb/ignorant people everywhere, but I've definitely heard more such stories about Americans than others.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
If ever there's a case against homeschooling (or Texas textbooks).... this post is it.
Octavia Hansen 4 years ago
Works both ways . . . I'm from Texas and one of my Brit friends asked: "You live so close to Mexico, do you speak Spanish?" In London, she lived closer to Africa than I did from Dallas to Mexico. The other was when I mentioned I was from Texas and someone would ask, "Do you know --some person--?" Oh, yea, right, I'll know this one person out of 29 million!
Becklass 4 years ago
My son (we are English) went travelling round Germany. While on a train he went to help out a confused American tourist. He speaks a little bit of German so talked to the train guard on behalf of him. After this he got chatting with the friendly American and his family for an hour or two. At the end of the conversation the guy said he was massively impressed how good my sons English was, my son had already told him he was on holiday from England. The American still didn’t seem to grasp that English people’s native language is English.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
I'm German and when I was a kid we had a new boy in class who was from Austria. A friend of mine asked me in amazement how this boy had learned German so fast, thinking that Austrians spoke "Austrian", not German... We were like 13 at the time.
Load More Replies... Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
If you think the US has the monopoly on native stupidity, I suggest you travel more. Stupidity and willful ignorance are worldwide.
ThePracticalSarcastic 4 years ago
Stupidity and stereotypes are everywhere. I lived abroad for 10 years and met people who asked me the many of the same questions listed here about America... "You can't be Native American...you're white"
A.Armos 4 years ago
This is hilarious. Explain that to a 'Native American'.
Load More Replies... Logic and Reason 4 years ago
You know, posting articles that are socially conscious and then posting something xenophobic like this makes all your credibility go straight down the tubes. Rightfully standing up against most forms of bigotry but harboring and trying to spread your own biases is insanely hypocritical.
ivan bolitekurac 4 years ago
I can't belive you got so many upvotes for calling bp xenophobic and hypocritical while bp is supposed to stand for the opposite.Thank you for your comment,have an upvote
Load More Replies... John Baker 4 years ago
It just wouldn't be BP without the daily dose of USA bashing. Downvote for the post.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Actually it's been a while since there's been one, not really daily is it
Load More Replies... • Lemønchu • 4 years ago (edited)
Jeez, I know everyone thinks we're stupid, but that's not all of us! And it's now just America either, stupidity is worldwide. I'm so frustrated with these dumb stereotypes. And why is it always "Non-Americans list reasons why America sucks" I wouldn't mind turning the tables and listing why other places suck. Or even better! Not doing this at all!
Carolyn Gerbrands 4 years ago
I agree with those here stating that it is "US bashing". I have met many americans and they were all nice and fun loving. I do think that the US is such a big country that you don't need to go abroad for a holiday (and if you can afford it). So you tend to be ignorant of the world around you. Heard many silly things but understand.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
I agree that you can find dumb/ignorant people everywhere, but I've definitely heard more such stories about Americans than others.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
If ever there's a case against homeschooling (or Texas textbooks).... this post is it.
Octavia Hansen 4 years ago
Works both ways . . . I'm from Texas and one of my Brit friends asked: "You live so close to Mexico, do you speak Spanish?" In London, she lived closer to Africa than I did from Dallas to Mexico. The other was when I mentioned I was from Texas and someone would ask, "Do you know --some person--?" Oh, yea, right, I'll know this one person out of 29 million!
Becklass 4 years ago
My son (we are English) went travelling round Germany. While on a train he went to help out a confused American tourist. He speaks a little bit of German so talked to the train guard on behalf of him. After this he got chatting with the friendly American and his family for an hour or two. At the end of the conversation the guy said he was massively impressed how good my sons English was, my son had already told him he was on holiday from England. The American still didn’t seem to grasp that English people’s native language is English.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
I'm German and when I was a kid we had a new boy in class who was from Austria. A friend of mine asked me in amazement how this boy had learned German so fast, thinking that Austrians spoke "Austrian", not German... We were like 13 at the time.
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