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Muckraker Posts: 322 Joined: 18 Jan 2008     | |
Paperboy  Posts: 23 Joined: 13 Feb 2008   |
Scotland invented everything, L2P... |
Anonymous Source Posts: 2 Joined: 28 Feb 2008 | did i miss an mentions of the Africans? |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 70 Joined: 3 Oct 2007  | On behalf of my idiotic, mouth breathing, hillbilly, sterilization poster children, and all around stupid fellow Americans I apologize. If it is any consolation people often mistake me for a homosexual online because I can speak properly and don't resort to screaming or unnecessary noise. Personally I think it's pretty cool to be playing a game here in Austin, TX with someone on the other side of the world even if they don't speak the same language as me. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1367 Joined: 12 Sep 2007    |
Actually, our education system IS that bad. A combination of liberalism and laziness have left most younger Americans with little or no knowlege of geography or history. Our education system has devolved into something more concerned with a student's self-esteem than with his level of knowledge. It's not unusual for a teacher with years in the classroom to reveal that he is in fact functionally illiterate - can you think of another developed nation where that would even be possible? There are television shows that showcase this ignorance in all its glory, but basically we as a people are, while not stupid, certainly ignorant. Graduating seniors often do not know how many moons the earth has, or who fought in either world war (and on which side), or even such basic things as the freezing point of water. I cringed during the hoopla over the last Harry Potter movie. Sky News interviewed a six year old British child and got something like: "I'm very excited about the movie. I'm taking my little brother - he's only four, and up to now the movies have been too advanced for him. He has read all the books and is really looking forward to this movie." Then Fox News interviews an American child. "I like Harry", whilst hiding behind his mother's leg. That being said, I would like to point out a few things. First, we are referred to as Americans because we are the only nation in the Americas to use America in its name. As originally conceived, we were to be a conglomeration of semi-autonomous states similar to the EU, but nationalism took over and here we are. We are a very large nation geographically, and sometimes I (heavy Southern accent from the hills of the Tennessee River basin) have trouble communicating with my fellow Americans from the northeast or northwest. If I can't place my countrymen's accents, I'm unlikely to correctly differentiate between British and Welsh or even New Zealander and Australian. Second, Britain is America's bitch because of WW2. While the French spurned us immediately after it became safe to do so, Churchill among others recognized how close Britain came to being overrun by Germany. Had that happened, America, Canada, and Australia would have had no staging ground to invade Europe other than through Africa, a most impractical solution. Thus Churchill's advice to never be separated from the Amerricans in foreign policy. Although Churchill was never forgiven for being right about the Germans and for riding roughshod over his fellows, his advice was taken to heart. (And yes, Britain has taken on missions that were extremely difficult, such as in the first Gulf War. Flying obsolete Jaguars straight down the teeth of dense AAA to take out runways amounted to almost suicide missions, something the pilots surely knew when they accepted them. Frankly I don't how you even get testicles that size into the cockpit, but thank you. Presumably, though, the UK shares America's love of freedom, so it's not just serving as our bitch, but more working toward a common goal.) That same world war is also when we developed a dislike for the French. Patton said he'd rather have another German division in front of him than a French division behind him (incidently, Pie, Patton was a large, muscular, stereotypical man's man and had an extremely high voice) and Americans saw the French as ungrateful and unreliable. Conversely, those of us who remember the details have very warm feelings towards the British, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, and Poles who fought with us, as well as towards the Danish and Dutch who clearly appreciated the Americans' sacrifice in liberating their countries from the Nazi rule. Denmark still celebrates July 4th as a holiday, and individual Dutch still voluntarily tend the graves of slain American soldiers. Frankly, they remember more clearly than do we. Third, with those things said America is a nation of both wealth and unsupervised youth. I'd venture to say that we have a much higher proportion of teen and college-age youth online, which slants us towards "asshole" more than would a nation where such access is less available and more supervised. Frankly, I'd prefer our youth to be making assholes of themselves online as opposed to throwing rocks and burning automobiles in the streets. (Not saying your nation has that problem, just that it's one possibility for bad behavior.) Fourth, we are afflicted with both accademia and media that tell us repeatedly how horrid the USA is. We also get it from foreign countries, many of whom's citizens are every bit as ignorant of us as we are of them. Oftimes this criticism is from countries whose collective ass Americans died to liberate, complaining about us liberating another country. Consequently those of us who love America can be pretty touchy about her. And yes, combined with ignorance this can be pretty comical as well. We had a debate in Congress over establishing English as a national language where a Congressman actually stood up and said "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, then by G-d it ought to be good enough for us." And last, America has always been a boisterous, irreverate nation. We have no classes or castes, and no royalty. Every man thinks himself a king, it's been said. We are rough with our mates, and because of that we often do things which seem rude or obnoxious to others, but which pass without comment here. Calling your friend a fag isn't some mortal insult, it's just goodnatured horseplay. Ragging on (insulting) others is just what we do; it isn't necessarily meant seriously. The Iranian thing probably is serious though, as that's the only nation actively and openly supporting those who are trying to kill us. I'll have to say I've only really known one Iranian, though, and he was a really nice guy. So in summary, please be patient with us. We're a young country, and the young are always subject to their vanity and ignorance as they grow. And you never know when you might need a well-armed, strong back. LOL |
Anonymous Source  Posts: 3 Joined: 28 Feb 2008 | Damn, am I glad to play on a computer, no offense guys but most people on X-box live seems... retarded. But the few times I played at a friend's place I was first labelled as Canadian, which I am, because I've got the bad habit to say eh and the end of my sentences. But being from Quebec (God bless the Queen even if most quebecers hate her) my first toungue is french so when we play, it's usually with french speakers, so when some one starts it, I can be pretty insulting in their own toungue, which seems to suprise them sometimes. |
Paperboy Posts: 11 Joined: 12 Apr 2007 | No, I don't get "accused" of being foreign. The reason is that I never (well, extremely rarely) play with people I don't know. And the people I know know I'm AM a foreigner, so they don't "accuse" me of being one. Funny enough :) But yea, the whole thing is pretty funny. How could being a foreigner be something to "accuse" someone of being? Like the original poster said 95.5% of all people are foreigners to Americans. Seems kind of a waste of time and effort going about your life of accusing practically everyone of being foreign. Besides foreign chicks are HOT! No matter where you come from :) |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 102 Joined: 26 Feb 2008  |
Way to be a hypocrite. First you talk about how terrible the educational system is and how it's just looking to tell children how special they are blah blah blah, and then you go tell off others for being ignorant like you're some kind of genius*. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1367 Joined: 12 Sep 2007 |
First, that quote is mine, not Talisker's, so don't blame him. As to the ignorance of other nations about Americans, please re-read the other posts. Although America is very significant to Americans, it's not very significant to other nations. Consequently people in other nations often have ideas about Americans just as foolish as are our own about them. (Serbia = Siberia? It's only in the news every other frickin night.) And thank G-d; I'd really hate it if we were the only ones. If most Americans are unaware that Wales in part of the UK but not part of Great Britain, then hopefully most Welsh will be unaware that, say, Puerto Rico is part of the USA but not attached. I'm not telling off anyone, just pointing out that although we have our problems and blind spots, so do a lot of people around the world. As to me being some sort of genius, unfortunately I have recorded proof that I am not. I was tested in 8th grade - we think your son might be gifted. Or retarded. Frankly, we can't tell. I think that's when I first lost faith in the education system. Most people can tell the difference between smart and stupid pretty easily. (Even worse, all of us at work took that Tickle online IQ test, and I'm down to 140. So not only am I not a genius, I am actually getting dumber. High school really WAS the smartest I'll ever be.) As to the part about education, look at any standardized ranking of developed nations and you'll find the USA near the bottom of the list in most subjects. We start out at or near the top when we enter school, but gradually sink further and further. That part's pretty well documented fact. If you feel like you're surrounded by idiots, it's probably because you spend more time looking at things other than American Idol and The Hills. Most smart people are largely self-educated or at least educated according to their own plans rather than the state's standardized plans; you find something interesting, and you seek out more information about it. Even video games can count; if you've played Call of Duty and similar games, you know the Americans and British and Russians were on one side, and the Germans were on the other; you know the Allies took France back from Germany. And that's more than a lot of people know. As to Iceland, I once ran into an old buddy who had been stationed for the last year in Iceland. When he told me that, the girl with me scoffed "You're lying, Iceland's just a glacier. Nobody can live there." There's a saying around these parts: Ain't enough lipstick in the world to purty up stupid. |
Copy Clerk Posts: 102 Joined: 26 Feb 2008 |
Well, okay, glad to see you weren't telling people off there. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1367 Joined: 12 Sep 2007 | I think at the time it said 150 or 160 - I remember I missed it by two points. They wouldn't give me the results, so I sweet-talked a girl working it in the office to sneak me a copy. When they say you're either gifted or retarded and then they won't tell you the results... Let's just say you don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling. Besides the written tests I spent a solid week doing things like tossing bean bags at a Toss-Across, looking at Rorshach inkblots, looking at pictures of people and telling the tester what they were doing... I got the feeling that looking at stewed pigs' intestines would be about as meaningful. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2113 Joined: 14 Sep 2007    | I recently got my Live headset and recently came into contact with my first online douchebag. The man was obviously drunk, or high, and was convinced that America was the best country in the world, and that California was the best state. He was positively amazed to hear that I was Australian, and jokingly asked me if I was Steve Irwin's cousin. Apparently, he thought this was hilarious. |
Beat Writer Posts: 163 Joined: 13 Dec 2007  | The most i've had is many Americans making really awful 'Cuppa Tea' remarks (yes i'm British), thinking it's a way of insulting us, but really it's just insulting themselves because they believe an over-used stereotype is more truth than the actual truth is. Not directed at myself though, i've heard a lot of Jewish Nazi jokes, really inappropriate stuff if there are any Jewish people in the room, which there could well be. But World War 2 jokes with all that team laughing their heads off. Then of course there are the Americans yet again, with the "you'd be speaking German now if it wasn't for us" bollocks that is often touted. Not only do they take a blind look at World War 2 - the war they 'won', they feel the need to try and make us feel inferior because we're such a small island that needed a little bit of help from the insanely sized superpowers that are Russia and the USA. Ah well. |
Paperboy Posts: 14 Joined: 3 Oct 2007 | I have actually *been* foreign online before. Good friend of mine moves to Norway to work with a gaming company. We find out D&DO has a free trial, give that a go. Then discover "oh, there's a UK version, and a US." So, a bit of searching, I sign up for the UK one. More literate playerbase, but worse support. Still fun. But after a couple good adventures, and conversation with a group winds up drifting from the game, I'd make a reference that pretty well outted me as a yank. And it'd get quiet for a minute. And then they'd get over it. Good times, good times. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1367 Joined: 12 Sep 2007 |
Hey now, you WOULD be speaking German now if not for us! But if it makes you feel any better, some of us do realize that Great Britain was much more powerful militarily than the USA when WW2 broke out. Actually, even France was, at least on paper. The USA had a pretty well equipped navy, but not much in the way of land forces until it became clear in the late thirties that Hitler would have war. What we did have in our favor was a vital and reasonably large population of reasonably recent immigrants with a reasonably high literacy level and a reasonably large tech and manufacturing base, conveniently located in a place largely beyond air attack. But hey, we've got your back as long as you have ours. That goes for you too Australia, you great big dry sweetie! One of my favorite quotes was during Operation Market Garden. The armored push was far behind schedule, and when they showed up one of the American paratroopers asked the officer commanding the leading British armored regiment what took so long. His reply was something to the effect of: "Mate, you've been fighting five weeks. We've been fighting five years!" So yeah, we did show up rather late to the party. Sorry 'bout that. Yes, I do think the USA is the greatest country in the world. I fully expect that an Englishman/Dutchman/Australian/New Zealander/et al will feel the same about his/her own country. We're all free countries; if we didn't love ours we'd leave, right? Nothing wrong with national pride as long as you don't start putting other free nations down. And personally, I LIKE tea. (Thanks, India!) |
Paperboy  Posts: 36 Joined: 6 Mar 2008 | Since I'm not much of a console player, prefering PC games like NWN, WoW, I don't get that many mistaken identities. However even using text as the medium to talk with fellow players can cause confusion, especially if the other player isn't all that fluent in written english, including native english speakers! |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3016 Joined: 21 Jan 2008    |
I'm sorry, but are you suggesting that people suggest that people let idiots from the US continue spouting their idiocy, or at least excuse it (akin to one excusing a mass murderer due to social or medical reasons), just because the US is 'young' country? Please tell me you are being sarcastic. I would never ask people to excuse Australians who are retards online, just because we're a 'young' country (a lot younger than the US actually- Australian federation occurred in 1901). Edit: Actually, I wouldn't ask anyone to excuse the idiots at all. And to the OP, I don't play online (like hell I'm going to actually pay extra to play online), but the general idiocy on the net makes me mad. **runs and hides** |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4486 Joined: 23 Dec 2007   | I still do not understand this slur: It's not very profain in literal terms and I think it simply makes for a stupid thing to say. |
BANNED  Posts: 371 Joined: 13 Mar 2008  | I usually just get the usual: You're Canadian? So what's it like living in an igloo? Do you have a car, or do you just use your snowmobile 24/7? An interesting one is when you Brits try and convince yourselves that I'm American: "You live in North America, so you're American, right?" So basically you're saying that just because the US was a little unoriginal with their name, and named themselves America, (already established as the name of both continents, the Americas) that all the other people living in Canada, Mexico, South America, and numerous other countries are American? |
Muckraker  Posts: 344 Joined: 12 Apr 2008 | Dear every one who seems to have an issue with americans:I under stand your dsicomfort. As a naturaly born american i suffer from discrimination both online and in the real world (out side of my city). I would like to poitn out the the United States is made up of serveal groups of people and that we hate each other (i severly dislike the majority of the united states, no im not some pro anarchy bastard). There are so many groups of people and they all seem to belive that they are the great group in the world, i dotn care who you are we all suffer from this subcontious discriminatory state of mind (yes hate groups of peopel to). The east coast thinks that west coast is low class. Nothernes belive that southeners are inbred, whiel the southeners belive that every oen else is a complete pussy. Liberals think conservatives are evangicalist/coprate bastards, while conservative belive all liberals are hippys/communist/gays. P.S. im dyslexic so dotn bitch and moan about it, psycologist aroudn the world seem to think its a fine exucse for bad spelling, and be cuse they have the PHD's one the subject only there opionions matter. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1728 Joined: 13 Sep 2007 |
I know what you mean. Happens to me every now and then too. Edit: Holy Shit! 666! I'm Evil! (Isn't it ironic how I chose to use the epithet "Holy shit" there?) |
BANNED  Posts: 9 Joined: 12 Apr 2008 | For some reason when I speak English Americans and sometimes Brits think I am black at which point I become the center of many racist comments, also when I peak in Bosnian most Americans think I'm Chinese. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 197 Joined: 9 Dec 2007 | i work the (almost always american) race ahte of sorts to my advantage by thinking about the last time i watched still game (the scottish people will get it) and i then copie tams vioce for the entire game. another fun thing to do is to pretened to be a wigger and listen to the reactions. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 113 Joined: 4 Feb 2008 | was playing cod4 once and some girl was riping on this guy for being mexican also im english so yeah |
Beat Writer  Posts: 181 Joined: 13 Dec 2007 |
I'm Australian, and believe you me, I want to leave when I can when I can. Back to the topic at hand, maybe it's my mic quality but no one can tell what nationality I am most of the time. I've had a few cases where people refused to believe I wasn't American, French or Welsh (my grandparents are Welsh but it doesn't show in my lineage, let alone my accent.) And there's also the one memorable time I was called a "Sand N*****" on H3. Yeah, I left shortly after I was for some reason unable to mute him. |
BANNED Posts: 371 Joined: 13 Mar 2008 | |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1367 Joined: 12 Sep 2007 |
Just out of curiosity, why do you so badly want to leave? I was under the impression that Australia was a pretty nice place to live, other than the plethora of poisonous stingey-bitey things once you leave the pavement. It is amazing how brave people get when they're online and you c |
Ha ha ha...not as long as I'm afraid to admit I'm an American in any form of international community since it tends to automatically get me labeled as an ignorant jackass.
I find it odd that people say canadians have accents as well. Lived in the northeast U.S. all my life..if they have an accent, I have one VERY similiar to them. Guess I'll get called canadian on voice chats too.