Does the UK have more in common/connections with the US or the rest of Europe? (move, bars)

[Homesickness]

Its really not though. I have already said when you go to America you notice certain things that are British influenced, even small things down to the mile.

There is more of a CULTURAL link than anything else. We have only become more like the European countries because of the EU, of course you will ignore my post because you don't like that you are wrong.


As the man above said we have nothing in common with the Netherlands as a people.

[nigelp88]

Originally Posted by hobbesdj

- We speak the same language, that's a huge one. Can the average British person watch an Italian TV show without subtitles, and even when he does, does he "get it"? Which European countries natively speak English?



- Our political traditions are rooted in English common law, not civil law. Which European countries use common law?



- We are a protestant majority country. Not only that, but many of us are Episcopal, also known as "Anglican" in Britain, the former state religion of England. How many European countries have a protestant majority?



- We were actually part of England before it became a globe-spanning superpower, even before Scotland joined up with England and became Great Britain. Our people literally came from England and pushed westward. No England, no United States. Which European countries were founded by the English?


- Once again, English & Scottish is the most common American ancestry according to DNA results. In which continental European country is British the most common ancestry?




- These are the 50 most common American surnames...look familiar? Which continental European country has mostly British surnames?

SMITH
JOHNSON
WILLIAMS
BROWN
JONES
MILLER
DAVIS
GARCIA
RODRIGUEZ
WILSON
MARTINEZ
ANDERSON
TAYLOR
THOMAS
HERNANDEZ
MOORE
MARTIN
JACKSON
THOMPSON
WHITE
LOPEZ
LEE
GONZALEZ
HARRIS
CLARK
LEWIS
ROBINSON
WALKER
PEREZ
HALL
YOUNG
ALLEN
SANCHEZ
WRIGHT
KING
SCOTT
GREEN
BAKER
ADAMS
NELSON
HILL
RAMIREZ
CAMPBELL
MITCHELL
ROBERTS
CARTER
PHILLIPS
EVANS
TURNER
TORRES


- Baseball, our national pastime comes from a game called rounders. It's basically the same game played at a more intense level. Rounders is a traditional British game. Sure, Brits prefer soccer now, but rounders is as British as it gets.

- Football comes from rugby. Know why we call it "football"? It's called that because the way people used to score was mostly by kicking field goals. Just like in rugby. Throwing the ball only became popularized during the mid 20th century. It used to be almost entirely running and kicking the ball for field goal.

- Fahrenheit was used primarily in English speaking countries until the mid 20th century. We are still using the original English measurement.

- The imperial system of measurement is a system of measurement that was only used by the English. Fun fact: The US government tried to force the people to switch to metric during the late 1800's and it was highly unpopular; the government gave in and let us continue with the imperial system.Nonetheless, I can tell a guy from England or Australia that I am 6' 4" and they know what that means. What other countries use English imperial measurement?

Now let's compare to the Netherlands, arguably the most similar continental European country to England.

- Different unintelligible language, need to translate to communicate
- Different religious traditions that were illegal in England for centuries
- Civil law derived from Napoleon, not common law derived from the British
- Never part of England or the UK, instead used to be part of the HRE, the "First Reich" of Germany
- Very little to no British ancestry or surnames

So that leaves us with...you both play soccer and use the metric system. Not a whole lot to go on. So you need a translator or to learn a foreign language to communicate with them, but they are more similar? That is utterly ridiculous.

P.S. I am not an anglophile, but these things need to be said because some of the comments here are simply absurd.

Nice dude. You basically crushed the thread with this post.

[snj90]

Originally Posted by SE9

Those explain actions are very weak. By that basis (language, surnames, common law, head of state, religion etc), Barbados would be more like the UK than our closest neighbours.

There is, of course, one other factor you neglect to consider, that is most decidedly not in your "etc." category. That is, ethnicity. Even to the extent that British ethnic heritage is not as predominant among the majority white American demographic as one may otherwise expect, it is replaced by related Europeans of different ethnic heritage who are Anglicized. To ignore this in favor of all the other factors you list would just be disingenuous. Barbados is 2.7% white and over 90% black according to Wikipedia.

[nigelp88]

Originally Posted by snj90

There is, of course, one other factor you neglect to consider, that is most decidedly not in your "etc." category. That is, ethnicity. Even to the extent that British ethnic heritage is not as predominant among the majority white American demographic as one may otherwise expect, it is replaced by related Europeans of different ethnic heritage who are Anglicized. To ignore this in favor of all the other factors you list would just be disingenuous. Barbados is 2.7% white and over 90% black according to Wikipedia.

One is a country founded by actual British people and the other one is founded by Africans emulating the British. It seems obvious to me but I think some here are purposely being obtuse. So let's be honest...the difference between British culture and German culture is minimal compared to Bantu culture. In America the Germans were assimilated into our culture but in Barbados it's just Africans with a few superficial British things that were forced on them against their will. It isn't even comparable to African Americans who were only 10% of a very white-Anglo country for centuries and mostly assimilated into it.

[LexWest]

I think it's shame Americans and Brits won't give credit to other countries responsible for creating the U.S. You can't treat the U.S. As an exclusively British colony when much of it was also Spanish and French at the time. I'm not going to be ignorant and assume a Brit can move to the U.S., or an American can move to the UK and all is well. I suppose Mexico and much of Latin America resemble Spain with that logic... .

I'm going to argue the Irish have more in common with the UK than the U.S.—religion and politics aside of course. (*Ducks flying tomatoes and empty bottles*)

—They speak English (even if their original language is Gaelic)
—They enjoy a good beer in their respective Pubs (and no, an American bar isn't quite the same culture: One may bring family to the pub and buy their sixteen year old a pint; not the case in the US where bars are perceived for adults)
—They'll banter about their respective football clubs (and their type of football is the same)
—Many an Irishman moves to the UK for a work; Many an Englishman also has Irish in their bloodline
—Extensive history: open countryside with castle ruins and cottages and ancient churches with very dense, older cities
—Similar attitudes to immigration (not as encouraged; Americans don't mind so long as immigrants use correct measures and assimilate)
—Left side driving, in Kilometers per hour primarily with Standard/Manual/"Stick Shift" transmissions; most Americans could not drive one in a life/death situation
—Even British filmakers will employ someone who's Irish to play Brish roles (or even a Kiwi, Aussie and Canadian for that matter), before an American (with few notable exceptions), as they can typically portray them better

I could go on, but I don't wish to start a(nother) war... .

[Homesickness]

Ireland is identical to the UK hence we always hear "uk and ireland", I don't think anyone mentioned it because most of the time Ireland is kind of taken as a unit of the UK and so they didn't even think of mentioning it.

[Gungnir]

Originally Posted by nigelp88

Nice dude. You basically crushed the thread with this post.

No actually it doesn't. It demonstrates that the US is closer culturally to the UK than Europe. It does nothing to prove or disprove whether the UK is closer culturally to the US or Europe. The question is not commutative.

[BECLAZONE]

If by connections, you mean being kicked around by them, I'd say Europe, but I may not be looking at the bigger picture.

[nigelp88]

Originally Posted by Gungnir

No actually it doesn't. It demonstrates that the US is closer culturally to the UK than Europe. It does nothing to prove or disprove whether the UK is closer culturally to the US or Europe. The question is not commutative.

Yeah it does. Otherwise you would have made a list to refute it by now!

[P London]

Originally Posted by SE9

Those explain actions are very weak. By that basis (language, surnames, common law, head of state, religion etc), Barbados would be more like the UK than our closest neighbours.

Why not run it by people based in the UK with a knowledge of it plus the U.S. And Europe. It's obvious to anyone familiar with these entities that the UK has more in common/connection with Europe than the U.S.

If you don't believe that the Netherlands has more in common with the UK, that betrays one's lack of forethought. Both post colonial, similar climates, similar sporting culture, similar urbanity, similar transportation view, similar irreligiosity, both would be considered 'socialist' by Americans with respect to health and welfare, metric system and so on.

If the USA is as similar as people say then Barbados is merely England transported to the Caribbean.

When was the last time you saw a steal pan band?