KWSN

I think people are forgetting that Canadians are Americans too... and I don't mean that as a joke. We're all on the continent of North America, making us all Americans. Why the term "Americans" always seems to apply only to people from the United States is beyond me. South Americans are Americans too. I think people need to come up with a better term for us... like... United Statesians... or something...

__________________
Your arms are broken!

charlesesl

I for one have met americans and am myself not any american.
Of the americans i have met, some are smart some are dumb, some are kind some are mean.
I think it is wrong to make an opinion on a country or culture based on one or few of that perticular culture one have met.
Of course, that s just me. I dont like to generalize anything based on limited background knowledge. I hope non of u will generalize my people based on the comments i have made

__________________
It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.
Dr. Viktor E. Frankl

charlesesl

actually, we are not. I have immegrated into canada six years ago. I lived in american for a few monthes befor that.
Candians and americans do share alot in common. Like landguage and media influence etc. But we have many subtile diffeerences, include political, social views. For example most americans support war on iraq whereas canadians do not.
So i think include candians into americans is disrespectful to us.

__________________
It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.
Dr. Viktor E. Frankl

Doctor Funk

Must... not... apologize... for country.

That is kind of funny, once you stop trying to figure out what the hell it means. hmmm...

Please say that you have Vikings who wear afros and are mad hiphop breakdancing fools.

I... make no sense. All is right with the world.

KWSN

You're misunderstanding my point. America, as a whole, includes not only the United States, but Canada, Mexico, etc. It's called "North America" and "South America" for a reason. Last time I checked, our country was not named "America." I am not saying that Canadian people are the same as people who live in the United States, far from it. What I am saying is that calling us "Americans" is kind of silly, due to the fact that everyone on the rest of the continent is also an American.

__________________
Your arms are broken!

splck

I agree we share the americas, north, central, and south. What do you like people to call you then?
I found it weird the in the UK they call your country "america" while we in canada call your country "the states". When I think of "america" I think of the continent rather than the usa and when I think of "american", I think of usa citizens.

__________________
nice line eh?

suviko

When I was growing up, I suddenly understood that indians don't live in India! Then I go to dad and ask why not, and he explains it. "Ok. So what do they call people living in india?" "Indian indians" "a-haa.."

KWSN

Pertty good way to look at it. I call my country "the states" as well. I just think we need a better name then "Americans," as that SHOULD be used to represent all people from both North and South America. Too bad our country picked such a lame name though. I mean, you can't call us "United Statesians." There's just no ring to it.

__________________
Your arms are broken!

splck

I was going to say the same thing, but saying that would get me in shit with some of the people here

__________________
nice line eh?

jsn117

i'm american, and I have a feeling that if I wasnt born here I would hate america along with everyone else.

dont believe what you hear, dont give in to easy stereotypes. we're people, living in a country. some of us are good, moral, some of us are assholes. just like everyone other place on earth

Atanvarno

I have to admit that I personally prefer to say "Americans" over "United States of America ns". Maybe it's just because I'm lazy ... could of course call them "yanks" but that wouldn't be entirely correct either

As for Americans, if I am to assume that the ones I have met are representative for the nation, I would say that there are smart people and stupid people there as anywhere but that the general level of ignorance and arrogance (arrogance as in lack of humbleness) is somewhat higher there. Oh, and the people I have met have mainly been college students/teachers, people who are supposed to be the intellectual elite
Of course I may have been terribly unlucky in my choice of friends/acquaintances.

And as I said, I met some great people there as well, but if I were to draw an 'average line' ...

__________________
Memorization is a poor excuse for intelligence." - Cesar Martinez-Garza (1973 ->) -

warrrreagl

Correct. There are a LOT of people living in the Southern United States who would rather die before they allow anyone to call them "Yankees."

Earlier, bundy clued me in on the Aussie habit of calling Americans "seppos," which comes from rhyming slang for Yank-septic tank. I know that Americans have names (some VERY unflattering) for people of other nationalities. I also know that some people are highly offended by those names.

I can't think of anything you could call an American that would offend me, so let's have it. What kinds of names does your non-American culture use to refer to Americans (U.S. Americans, that is)?

Personally, I think seppo is damned cool. Thanks, bundy.

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

suviko

Atleast in Finland, someone might say "jenkki" as in yankee and mean all "United States of America ns" as Atan put it and mean nothing ill by it. People know about the Civil War and stuff, but don't understand that the word is offensive.

warrrreagl

Thanks, suviko. I like the sound of that (assuming I'm pronouncing it correctly). To the best of my knowledge, people from Finland are called "Fins" by us jenkkis.

To the rest of you, I'll tell you all the names we have for you if you'll tell me what you call us. Deal? And no fair getting thin-skinned...

*warreagl sits anxiously hoping that magpie will respond*

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

Atanvarno

Uh, the only Norwegian name for US Citizens I have heard is Amerikanere -> Americans *shrugs*

__________________
Memorization is a poor excuse for intelligence." - Cesar Martinez-Garza (1973 ->) -

suviko

Yeah, but norwegians are colled "cods" cos the popular saying is that by having a cod in your mouth and talking swedish you are actually speaking norwegian. :] The same goes for danish, just subtitute cod with a hot potato.

We should have a general "what jokes you tell about other nations?" thread.

Atanvarno

Hmmm, sounds strange. I mean, yeah, the Danes speak with a potato down their throat .. but .. ehh ... hey, if you say so

__________________
Memorization is a poor excuse for intelligence." - Cesar Martinez-Garza (1973 ->) -

warrrreagl

I think we now do. Cods? That's a scream. What would Victor Borge think?

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

neilz0r

I'm Canadian, and I've met quite a few Americans during tourist season, and unfortunately most of the ones I've met do fit the stereotypes. Many are very loud and obnoxious, and yes it's been said but theydo really talk ALOT. It also always surprises me how Americans can be so ignorant of Canada when they share a border with us. All that being said, this is not the rule, and not all Americans fit this pattern. It's just what I've seen

Capt.JamesHook

The original post of this thread is really laughable. I mean this is what blacks complain about in America, by which I mean being representatives for their entire race. You can't base "Americans" or anything else by meeting a few of it's members.

warrrreagl

I wanted to revive this thread in the hopes that I could still learn something. Plus, a lot of new members have signed on at TFP and haven't had a shot at this.

Here are the rules:
1) This thread is intended to gain the opinions of non-Americans. If you are an American and can't stand to hear generalizations about Americans, then look at the top-left of your screen and hit the BACK button, please.
2) This thread is intended to gather generalizations. I WANT to hear stereotypes that non-Americans have for Americans they've met. Don't censor yourself, please.
3) Mods, please allow unsavory nationalistic comments from non-Americans. The usual rules should apply to personal attacks of forum members, but I would like to offer immunity for cultural/nationalistic comments that may be difficult to hear.
4) Respondents, please refrain from making this into a political policy debate. I'm not interested in what you think about George Bush or Global Warming, because I see your opinions on those issues every day on CNN. I want to know your opinions on personal encounters with individual Americans.
5) Americans, RESTRAIN YOURSELVES from being defensive about what may be said. This thread is not intended for thin-skins. I want to learn something here.

Thanks.

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

stevie667

I've met a few americans, some of my relatives are american, and although they're pretty smart, they're not the...ahem...thinest of people. Although on the whole they're pretty nice to be around, the average american knowledge of the wider world is somewhat limited.

Going on from the whole fat thing, me and a friend tried to figure the ratio of hot women in america (admitedly when drunk).

60% ish of americans + are overweight/obese. only 50% of those who are at a normal weight (ignoring those underweight, since i don't know the numbers) are women.

We now have 20% of americans being normal weight women. Due to an ageing population probably only 40-50% of those are going to be what can considered a (for a generic young male) 'hot' age, i.e. 18-30, for overt hotness (and legality).

So far, we have about 10% of the american population, then considered that probably only 50% of those are going to be good looking. So, only 5% of the american population, at an estimate, are hot females.

It would explain why i keep seeing the same women come up in porn shoots all the time though...


For some numbers, at a rough population of 300,000,000, and a country size of 3,710,000 sq mi (rounded numbers), that gives 4 hot women per square mile. There are endangered newts with larger numbers than that.

__________________
Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

Ustwo

Gee Charlatan you called yourself an American once trying to be clever, how do you know he wasn't talking about Canadians

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

Sultana

Ohhh stevie! I'm gonna jump on you (because I can!)--so a woman has to be 30 or under for overt hotness?!?

You are so unscrewed!

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

stevie667

lol, thats why i said generic male

Being only a generic oddball, you and many many women over 30 still get stevie667's big red stamp of approval



Edit: so if i'm unscrewed now, does that mean i was going to be screwed before?

__________________
Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

xepherys

Well, here's a twist to this thread so far. I'm an American, born and raised. I've happily lived here for 29 years. However, I believe that many Americans are only such by title, and not by action. I'll do my best to explain without getting off topic. Historically (and our country has a rather short history), the things Americans tolerate and/or stand for today violate every intention of what our country was founded for. Sure, strides forward HAVE been made.

Bah, it's Sunday, I'm too tired to think. I'm an American and I've met many Americans, most of whom I find to be VERY un-American!

Pip

So far most Americans I've met have been either tourists or teachers at the University. I've been told teacher-student interaction is much less formal in Sweden than in the US (or most parts of the world actually), and my first American teacher didn't like that, he was very haughty and cold and wanted as little interaction with students as possible, so until I had other American lecturers I pretty much thought all American academians were like that. But at the English Institution mostly everyone are very friendly and maybe even more open to the students than Swedish teachers. They manage to combine informality and friendliness with a high professional level, and that's very admirable to me. For Swedes, you must be a bit cold to be seen as professional and serious.
The random tourists, they are no worse or better than the Germans or Japanese in my opinion - except I understand what they say! (I know a bit of German as well, but I have to make an effort to understand it.) I don't think they actually talk much more than anyone else, but there's something about a lot of American accents that sounds, well, a lot. It can't be ignored. And maybe it's a bit louder, a bit sharper than German or Japanese or Swedish. I've noticed their tendency to film stuff, I've seen American tourists film utterly unimportant Stockholm houses for minutes, and then move on to film the house next to it. What does the average human want with hours of shaky handycam footage of random 19th century facades? I don't get it.

spindles

Maybe you guys could get your president to stop ending his speeches with "God Bless America", unless he is blessing all of both continents

Now, to the topic. I've met quite a few both here in Oz and in the US. Most seem pretty 'normal' to me. The further you get from major population centres, the more inward looking people become, and this is true of here as well as the US - we just have a shit load more empty space here, so it *seems* we have less rednecks. On a per capita basis we are pretty close. Ditto for inward focussed people/geographically challenged people.

Someone earlier mentioned how low the percentage of passport holders is in the US. While I don't think our is as low as the 7% mentioned, it is probably not that high either. My parents are in their sixties and only got passports about 5 years ago and I'd say they are typical of older people.

I guess the biggest stereotypes are driven by news bulletins, Springer and Co. and other TV exports. What are the things likely to be seen on the news? Bush stuffing up a speech / coming across looking like a dill. That 20 second sound bite reflects badly on all USAians Other things on TV - don't you notice how TV shows generally portray the people? It is almost never "normal" people, so no surprise that everybody else gets the bad impression.

I have come across the older/loud american tourist, wearing the stars and stripes tracksuit. He/she is definitely cringe worthy. Don't worry - everybody else has their own loud obnoxious idiots - you are not alone

__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

shakran

Comes in handy when you're the guy running the camera. All I have to do to get someone to say more than perhaps they wanted to, or should, is sit there quietly. They'll ALWAYS fill the silence - even the politicians, and nine times out of ten I use what they fill it with.

Yes and BillyBaldwin is trying to explain to you that grouping people is a dumb idea. And he's right. There's no such thing as a stereotypical American. In fact there's no such thing as a sterotypical anything. It's a flawed concept, just as the concept that you're a nerd because you use an online message forum is flawed.

Arsenic7

As an American I find this thread quite interesting and am glad I can get read these sorts of opinions about my country.

I would just like to point out that, being as populous and as large geographically as we are, Americans differ greatly state to state. Texas alone is larger than most European countries. That said, we're also a modern country so we have lot in common too, thanks to a shared media and well developed national travel services.

As to why we are so bad at geography, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that people in Europe, Asia, and Africa can look within their own country and see the influence other nations have had on their soil throughout history. You have a lot of old and ancient landmarks that say something about other cultures...England is really the only major European player in American history and very few buildings still exist from Americas earliest days, particularly on the populous western coast, which has only been settled since the past 200 years or so.

Oh, and "American Indians" are generally referred to as Native Americans by the politically correct, here.

I myself have only visited europe once, and that was as a teenager on a tour of Spain and France. It was very interesting and exciting but I found my fellow classmates to be very rude, a little over excited about the lack of a minimum drinking age in Spain, and somewhat...empty headed.

One of them passed out on a tour of the Spanish royal pallace due to a nasty hangover...

As for my own troubles...I felt terribly out of touch with fashion and a little uncomfortable with the lack of public restrooms.

__________________
This is no sig.

Nancy

Not yet. Denmark isn't exactly overruned by American tourists every summer, you know

It seems that if I want to meet one, I'll have to go to America.

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

little_tippler

I have met a few americans and have some american friends.

You can't really generalise because that wouldn't be fair, but I find that most Americans I have met are usually quite self-assured people, confident and sometimes they also have this really strong "facade" going on if you know what I mean. Like they are untouchable and very sure of what they want, and will get it in a sense. Usually I also find americans rather loud when they talk, though some of my american friends aren't like this (but they have lived in Europe for several years). I think it's because of the way they place their voice - quite nasal and throaty all at once.

Generally they are open and pleasant people, though I have to agree that they often seem a bit oblivious to the world outside the states. And to the poster who said that the reason the american geography skills are so bad is the distance, can I just point out that we in Europe are the same distance away from you, just in the opposite direction....get it?

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

warrrreagl

Now THIS fascinates the hell out of me.

By the way, thank you humbly for all the responses and thank you as well for those who have bitten their tongues.

__________________
Living is easy with eyes closed.

shakran

IMO the reason Americans are so bad at geography is the way it's taught in schools. Around 7th or 8th grade you take a geography class. You're given some time (usually a day or two, maybe a week) to memorize 10-20 countries. You're tested on them, and then it's never brought up again. It's the kind of quiz you can start studying for about 5 minutes before it's given, get the answers right, and then forget about them by lunch. Since it's never looked at again, why would anyone remember it?

Crack

The real question is: Why would we need to?

Or so we are made to think. America (USA) has, for a very long time now, distanced it's self from the rest of the world. Why? Because we can. We have everything we need right here. Not true in most European countries. No wood, or no cheap wood to build a house in your country, go next door.

Think of the USA as being raised as an only child, and as such, we are different from the 'big families' you Europeans are used to.
We aren't bad people, but we have been brought up differently than you have.

Or such is my take on the issue.

__________________
Crack, you and I are long overdue for a vicious bout of mansex.

~Halx

kutulu

Interesting thread. I love the comment about the 'Irish' person from Alabama. I've always thought that was one of the stupidest things about our culture here. Sure, your great-great Grandparents may have come from Ireland but that doesn't make you a real Irish person.

Native Americans vs. Indians - Now I've only talked to a few of them in depth but none of the ones I've talked to called themselves Native Americans. They were Indians and proud of it. Obviously there is a sample size issue and the fact that they were angst-filled people in their 20's has an effect on it but it is interesting.

Cervantes

I've only met two americans in my life so far, both were big, friendly and very open people. Something that struck me was as said before in this thread, their almost cripling lack of geographical and non american historical as well as present day knowledge.
It's almost as if it is deliberatly censored in the american medias.

Otherwise the rude obnoxious and loud stereotype I've found with the two I've met not to be true. Both were nice friendly though seemed totally lacking any form of humbleness. Not that they were disrespecfull just that they more than willingly boasted about their sucesses (Something that is almost conciderd social suicide here in Sweden lol).

That aside.. They weren't at all very different from us. Found it easy to socialize and hang out with both of them due to the shared media thing... well, as long as we kept to discussing american TV and american Movies and other thing related to america..

__________________
- "Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.."
- "Religions take everything that your DNA naturally wants to do to survive and pro-create and makes it wrong."
- "There is only one absolute truth and that is that there is only one absolute truth."

ObieX

I dunno why i find that so fucking funny

__________________
We Must Dissent.

Ch'i

If you want stereo typical Americans (i.e fat, loud, somewhat annoying, unindividual), visit a city in central California called Fresno.

ophelia783

I'm marrying one.

__________________
~*~* He with a sharp tongue slits his own throat *~*~