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You mean you asked the English what their attitudes are? They said GUNS? and a wild wild west culture?
If so, those English people have been watching waaay too much American tv and movies. Most of us have never even seen a gun. Never saw a cowboy either (if they still exist.) Interesting comment by some English people though, interesting to know that stereotype is out there.
Of course they exist. So long as cattle ranches exist in America, cowboys will exist. You're in New England - it's a whole other culture/country out here. I went to the Colorado State Fair - there was a cattle herding competition (not to mention the Rodeo) where, true dyed-in-the-wool cowboys (and a couple cowgirls) were herding cattle on horseback. And they took it very seriously. They weren't just dressed the part, and they weren't there to entertain. This is what these people do for a living (cattle herding, not necessarily the competitions). I horseback ride and while I don't ride Western, I could still tell they were highly skilled horsemen.
It does though really, if you COULD care less then you care, if you COULDN'T care less then obviously you don't, its not just that its different, its a bit like using the word yes for no :-), why doesn't it make sense to call crisps crisps? After all they are 'crisp' :-), I think perhaps they are called 'chips' because they are 'chips' off the potatoes?
The arguments for "could care less" are:
1. It's supposed to be sarcastic, thus meaning the opposite of what you say. (And people say Americans don't get sarcasm... )
2. It's an idiom and idioms don't have to make sense - in fact, they rarely do.
"Etymologists suggest that “I could care less” emerged as a sarcastic variant employing Yiddish humor. They point to the different intonations used in saying “I couldn’t care less” versus “I could care less.” The latter mirrors the intonation of the sarcastic Yiddish-English phrase “I should be so lucky!” where the verb is stressed.
The argument of logic falls apart when you consider the fact that both these phrases are idioms. In English, along with other languages, idioms are not required to follow logic, and to point out the lack of logic in one idiom and not all idioms is…illogical. Take the expression “head over heels,” which makes far less sense than the expression “heels over head” when you think about the physics of a somersault. It turns out “heels over head” entered English around 1400, over 250 years before “head over heels,” however, the “logical” version of this idiom has not been in popular usage since the late Victorian era."
You cannot take peoples' forum opinions as an accurate world view.
Americans are a bold people. You are not hated all over the world. Especially not in England.
They are your ancestors!
You mean you asked the English what their attitudes are? They said GUNS? and a wild wild west culture?
If so, those English people have been watching waaay too much American tv and movies. Most of us have never even seen a gun. Never saw a cowboy either (if they still exist.) Interesting comment by some English people though, interesting to know that stereotype is out there.
I live in the US, and several people have told me they own a gun.
I know. I read about it on City Data all the time. Some people own guns. It's not the usual where I live but it seems to be standard in some other parts of the country. That's why people just cannot generalize about such a huge and varied country. Each state is different and each state has its own laws, including gun laws.
Originally Posted by fagrance Why do Americans think people always care they're Americans?
most people could care less about the fact you're American. People have their heads busy with other stuff and seeing an American is as irrelevant as seeing people from any other country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by syracusa
Not true.
I realize the thread is focused on the English, however fagrance made a comment that reached wider, and I would have to say that it is correct as far as the two places I have lived are concerned.
I've lived in Portugal for thirteen years, and I have never observed a situation or been the center of one where the person being American mattered at all. People do not care, nor do they spend time talking about Americans. The extent of most people's interest is to ask Americans if they live near or have been to some tourist site that the questioner is interested in. And that's it.
I have had a few American tourists whom I have spoken with ask me as a resident here how I am treated and if Americans are liked, but this is a reflection of their concern as Americans.
I lived in the Greek part of Cyprus for three years. If anything they had even less interest than the Portuguese, if that's possible.
Without a doubt if some American were to bring up a topic bearing on international politics, that many of the people listening would take it as the "American position" and respond to it based on their own prejudices about the issue/topic. And in that respect and in that circumstance would "care" that the person is American.
I spent several months in England way, way back (Leeds and London but got around all the time). Before Iraq, even before Monica. Slick Willie was our president and was liked well enough by the rest of the world.
Most people were indifferent to me being an American. This was not my first time in Europe so I was well acquainted with a different sense of humor and more than a healthy dose of sarcasm. However, even back then it was not uncommon to run into somebody with a huge chip on their shoulder regarding all things US. I felt like they held me personally responsible for Vietnam, imperialism, capitalism, the bad cultural influence of Hollywood, the crime rate, the Jim Crow of the 50s, God knows what else. And that I could only redeem myself in their eyes if I admitted that the US was the armpit of the world, the Big Satan, the imperialist pig, and that it was evil and inferior in all ways to England / Europe / whatever crazy world they lived in inside their heads. These people were definitely not in the majority but a common enough nuisance. I can only imagine what it's like now after Iraq.
Another thing that I was getting really tired of was that everyone assumed I had a gun and carried it with me everywhere when I was back home. Back then, getting a concealed carry license in Michigan was all but impossible (and the murder rate was quite a bit higher than it is now), but when I told people that I didn't have a gun, I'd get an impression they didn't believe me. "But surely you have guns at home ?" - "No, not really, I don't hunt". - "So you agree then that guns are a terrible idea ?" - "No, not really, I just don't have any". Went on and on and on. Now, these kinds of conversations were very common and rather annoying.
Loved all the history, beautiful old buildings, sane and efficient system of public transportation, beer, pubs, fish & chips, museums and libraries, the fact that I could get almost anywhere I wanted on a bicycle, milk in my tea (still drink it that way every now and then), beautiful sea shore. Didn't quite like: quite a bit of general rudeness / unfriendliness in public, atrocious customer service where they acted as if they did you a huge favor filling your order and taking your money; many mean drunks looking for trouble, especially on a Friday night; skinheads, or whatever the right term for them is; back then at least, a general lack of decent inexpensive restaurants - the ethnic ones were often OK but the English food seemed rather bland, greasy and hard to digest... perhaps I just wasn't as used to different foods then as I am now, or maybe things improved - I was told by someone that food in London is great now.
I often wanted to come back but so far didn't make it yet. I feel there's far more in common between our countries than both sides are willing to admit
You know what they say: Two Countries divided by a common language.
Common my left foot. For some reason or the other, I'm all of a sudden watching more UK shows than US shows. Cuffs, Police Interceptors, Can't Pay We'll Take It Away, etc. Let me tell you, it's taken a couple weeks for the ears to adjust. But it's been an education seeing how things are done on the other side of the pond!
Common my left foot. For some reason or the other, I'm all of a sudden watching more UK shows than US shows. Cuffs, Police Interceptors, Can't Pay We'll Take It Away, etc. Let me tell you, it's taken a couple weeks for the ears to adjust. But it's been an education seeing how things are done on the other side of the pond!
WOW I learn't ao much extra about Americans this term! I thought I knew it all! Boy are they loud
If you're in a bus or a train cab and it is quiet always expect the Americans to be talking at a cringy level!! I don't think they have the manners that the British have got, especially the younger generations.
They never stop talking about how great home is, which makes me wonder why they even bothered coming to the United Kingdom!
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