Pixie
British people do that too. It's incredibly embarrassing for those of us who do try to make an effort to see Brits swanning off to Spain and France, and just shouting louder at the French and Spanish people when they don't understand english right away. The worst bit is, most europeans can speak at least two languages, usually with fluent english as their second - but almost no Brits speak anything more than english and they won't when they go abroad, either. I'm just embarrassed for my entire country. :(

Actually, France is the one country where I don't feel embarrassed at having such a limited grasp of other languages. Go to Germany or anywhere in Scandinavia and people are not only able to speak English but they absolutely relish having the opportunity to practice. Go to Spain or Italy and people may not be quite so fluent in English but they'll usually make an effort. Embarrassing? Absolutely!

But not France … I've found that France is the one country where people are even more chauvinistic about their language than the English. Some will even take great delight in pretending they don't speak English when they do. I've even been in business meetings where, faced with a room full of representatives from many, many European countries, the French guys have refused to speak anything but French even though English was the only language the various delegates had in common. As a result, half the room had no idea what they were asking for (and so they didn't get it!)

So, yeah - I do usually feel embarrassed about the inability of Brits to speak foreign languages abroad. But not in France!

ozoneocean
It's the extremes that represent any group.

Ugh… The people who represent America cause these stereotypes in the first place. Not the best people we can have.

There are lots of overgeneralizations here so let me add my own. ;)

My general view is that city folk are annoying; country folk are polite, and I think it may be that way in most countries and cultures. Rural people are presumed to be toothless, ignorant jerks by city people who hold them in contempt, but the farmers
in the hinterlands are often soft-spoken people. Country folk commit few crimes, do not yell and scream at each other in public places, and do not drive like assholes.

The reason that the French and American tourists can't get along is not because there's anything wrong with Americans or the French; the reason why is because Parisians are much ruder (big-city) people than the country French, and Americans who travel to France are also people from the big city (most likely New York, in most cases), and it's a clash of two obnoxious cultures of big-city people. If the New Yorkers traveled to wine country France or the French Alps, instead of Paris, they'd probably like the people there. If Parisians traveled to northern Michigan or New Mexico or rural Kentucky, they'd probably like the people there, too.

I'm not saying all city folks are obnoxious, but I think the environment creates more aggressive, irritable, fast-talking, horrible driving, loud people.

TitanOne
There are lots of overgeneralizations here so let me add my own. ;)

My general view is that city folk are annoying; country folk are polite, and I think it may be that way in most countries and cultures.
I'm not saying all city folks are obnoxious, but I think the environment creates more aggressive, irritable, fast-talking, horrible driving, loud people.

I believe it's because city people are so removed from the natural world… they are out of touch with reality and thus tend to be more confused and angry.

I don't know why other Americans are loud, but I can hazard a guess why I would be loud. I just am, sadly. Everyone stops me in mid sentence on occasion to tell me I'm talking to loud. But I am polite at least (I'd like to thank my parents for that).
Being from a rural part of the nation, I can say that not all rural people are nice. Some are racists, some are biggots, and some are just jerks. A lot of them can be jerks in fact, of any race. But there are a lot of nice people as well. There are good, kind Christian folk who will gladly help you if your car breaks down, and there are intolerant Christians who shame the whole concept of religion.
The thing is, every group and cultures have their problem members, and those people have a far easier time of spreading misery than the kindly folk have of spreading goodwill. Urban, Rural, Black, White, etc. there's a lot of rude people mixed in with the good.
Plus 90% of Earth's population lacks common sense to begin with it seems…

I worked as secruity manager at a backpackers for a year when I was in canada,
Ive put oup with drunken beligerent and annoying people from all nations, so i have a very astute and well informed view on whos irritatingand from what country, although i acknologe that this is not a large part of the population and alcohol is a large contributerto idiocy
but here my list

No 1, People from Qubec, seroiusly your not French, your canadian, live with it. and no one gives a fcuk about you wanting to seperate, just shut up finish you drink and clear off.

No 2, Austalians and the Irish (of wich im one) ok your from proud drinking nations, but your accent gets stronger in propertion to the miles youo are away form your home border, and theirs better ways of falling over drunk than getting hitand every thing said to them is considered a challange not a request. and one that must be resolved right there and then.

N0 3, The religous(not a noational group for sure, but this dangerous line of thinking can be concdred one, as this destrooys the borders)
seriously, i dont give two tosses about your god, and inteligent design is a retarded as you are. take the conversation out of the pub, cause your always going to find calm and rational thinking people once theve had three jugs of beer.

no 4 Italians, shut up and learn to talk without swinging your hands around you head.

Americans were always welcomed at the hostel pub, they are usually quiet, and beginninr drinkers as BC has a 19 year old age limit. and went from vertical to horozontal quietly and with little effort. the only time they got roudy was when the ultimate fighting was on, but thwy werre no way near as roudy as Ausralian during the afl or cricket, or the poms with the football.

Ok, I'd just like to say what my impressions of various religions/races/nationalities/political groups are. These are probably mostly wrong, because I've only met most of these people over the internets (Except the Christians, country ppl, and Black ppl):

NATIONALITIES

Americans- Depends. Too many different types of Americans to choose from.

Mexicans- I've only met one, but he was cool.

British- Think they're better than everyone else. Generally can't actually speak English properly, despite the fact that they come from England. However, they feel the need to point out the flaws of everyone else's ability to speak English.

French- Complete dicks, who think they're better than everyone else, but when the time comes, back down and act like complete pussies.

Japanese- Crazy motherfuckers. Into all kinds of porn. Not that that's a bad thing. ‘)

Australians- Hate Steve Irwin. Otherwise, fairly nondescript, other than the hilarious accent.

Chinese- “I sure do love this Communist government. Please don’t shoot me!”

RACES

White ppl from the country- Racist, bigoted bastards. I should know, I live in the wilderness myself.

White ppl from the city- Bigoted bastards. Like to make fun of ppl from the country.

Black PPL- Think that everything anyone says or does is racist. I start talking about cotton? “Hey, my slave ancestors had to pick cotton, you racist bastard!”

Hispanic ppl- Never met one I didn't like.

Asian ppl- Generally cool. A bit crazy, but cool.

RELIGIONS

Christians- Think that they're better than everyone else, and that everyone but them is stupid and/or crazy. They also like to ask “Do you WANT to go to Hell?”

Christian SubGroup Protestant- Like to pretend that Catholics aren't Christian, despite the fact that Catholics have been around longer than they have.

Christian SubGroup Catholics- Generally like Protestants, except slightly less crazy. Not much though.

Buddhists- Probably the only non-retarded religion out there. Nice to everyone, and worship a fat guy.

Muslims- Same as Christians, except they fly airplanes into your buildings.

Scientologists- Craziest bunch of crazies to ever crazy a crazy. I mean really, following a religion founded by a science-fiction author? WTF is wrong with you ppl?

Pagans- “Hey guys, let's dance around the fire naked!”

Mormons- Second craziest bunch of crazies to ever crazy a crazy. Come on, the guy translated magical gold tablets that he found under a tree? And then he read them out of a hat? A HAT?! Like they said in South Park, “Dumb dumb-dumb-dumb dumb-dumb.”

Atheists- Assholes, but assholes that have every right to be assholes. I mean, they get berated by religious assholes all the time.

Agnostics- Watered-down atheists.

Pastafarians- lawlz

POLITICAL GROUPS

Feminists- Take every god-damned thing you say as some kind of way to opress women. I say “Hey, I think that abortion is bad, because I feel sorry for the babies”, and they say, “You pig, it's a woman's RIGHT to decide weather her child lives or dies. You're just saying that to take rights away from women, because you believe them to be inferior to men!”

Intelligent Design ppl- Trying to indoctrinate our children with Christianity without actually saying that they are. See Christians.

Democrats- Bastards who like to take people's rights away by saying that they're protecting people's rights.

Republicans- See Democrats.

Environmentalists- Too worried about global warming to notice any REAL environmental problems.

Communists- Like to pretend that they would somehow be more free if they're lives were controlled by the government.

If anyone can think of another group that I forgot and should do, or wants me to go more in-depth with any of them, please say so.

Oh, and just so that everyone doesn't think I'm saying this because I'm not a member of any of the groups I hated on (Which would mean I'd have to be a Buddhist with no race or political inclination), I'm-

Race: White

Religion: Atheist/Pastafarian

Political party: Probably Republican, just because they're anti-abortion. Though maybe I'd lean towards moderate, because I have no problem with gay marriage.

Nationality: American.

So yeah, most offensive post ever. Do I win a prize?

I learn a lot of American culture by visiting this forum. I remembered when I first subscribed to internet, I had difficulty understanding forum threads posted by Americans.

Americans are loud. always always always. its what we do.

Lord Shplane
Buddhists- Probably the only non-retarded religion out there. Nice to everyone, and worship a fat guy.

a fat, HAPPY guy whose most important commandment is to enjoy life and laugh a lot!

cartoonprofessor

Lord Shplane
Buddhists- Probably the only non-retarded religion out there. Nice to everyone, and worship a fat guy.

a fat, HAPPY guy whose most important commandment is to enjoy life and laugh a lot!

:)

cartoonprofessor
I believe it's because city people are so removed from the natural world… they are out of touch with reality and thus tend to be more confused and angry.

Or maybe the natural world is out of touch with society.

And have sensitive ears.

What's this “city people” stuff? Huh?
I live in the city, but spend most of my time in my lovely suburb… It has the beach, tall pine trees, cafes, lovely breezes, green parks etc.

If that's being out of touch with reality I'm happy to stay that way :P

Let's face it, every group has their assholes. Some groups have more assholes than others. Some groups are mostly assholes, some groups only have a few. And anybody with a set of beliefs pre-judges to some degree… and “enlightened liberals” are some of the biggest offenders, despite what they'd like you to believe (any group who commends the execution of innocent babies and opposes the killing of convicted murderers has to be a little loopy). This transcends every political, racial and religious barrier.

Personally, I try to keep an open mind… unless you believe in psychics and mediums. You I just feel sorry for being duped by charlatans. I'm not saying I don't believe in anything paranormal or unexplained, I just don't believe that anybody who really could tap those areas (if they even exist, which i doubt until proven otherwise) would exploit those abilities out of fear of persecution. (Still waiting for someone to claim The Amazing Randy's $1million prize).

Americans are not much different in this than others. People outside our borders tend to forget that there are all kinds of people here from all over the world. (A lot of people from here forget this too…) People who call themselves Americans have origins from all over the globe. We are white, black, oriental, latino, arabic, Polynesian … I don't think there is a single group that isn't represented. We are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindi, Atheist and many others. My line of work has taken me all over this country and I have seen all kinds from all walks of life and they all call themselves Americans. Some of them are loud, some of them are not. (45 of the 48 contiguous states)

Mainly I have to agree with Lord Shplane about assholes being from everywhere. But then, there are great people from everywhere too. I also bet he's a Libertarian more than a Republican. ;)

Randal
opposes the killing of convicted murderers

Convicted doesn't mean they did it.

Atom Apple

Randal
opposes the killing of convicted murderers

Convicted doesn't mean they did it.

More likely for them to have done it than the unborn babies. And anyway, if we didn't kill them, they'd just rot in prison. Personally, I'd rather die fast than slowly get raped to death in prison.

Maybe make it an option?

Besides, who are we to decide at what point in time a baby is technically alive?

EDIT: I don't suggest abortions, but I also don't suggest telling people what to do.

Atom Apple
Maybe make it an option?

Besides, who are we to decide at what point in time a baby is technically alive?

So you're saying that it's ok to decide if someone gets to live, so long as they haven't started doing it yet?

Also, option sounds good, but no one's probably smart enough to take it.

Oh, I don't know, isn't that kind of like saying that a woman must use every possible chance to get pregnant for the rest of her life? Well, if she doesn't, that's being selfish to the poor baby.

I'll just go ahead and say that why I draw the line where I do:

Before conception- At any point, it's possible that a woman might get pregnant. There's a chance that she might have a baby.

After conception- At this point, without intervention (Abortion), chances are VERY, VERY HIGH that the woman will have a baby.

So I'm protecting probable babies instead of possible ones. At the point when that person WILL exist, I draw the line, instead of when they DO or MIGHT.


Pre-conception= Might exist.

Post-conception= Will exist.

Birth= Does exist.

My solution? If you don't want to get pregnant, use a goddamn condom. If you're too stupid to do so, then you're also too stupid to decide who does or doesn't live.

EDIT: Also, let's not talk about it anymore. I REALLY, REALLY don't want to do this discussion. REALLY, REALLY VERY MUCH SO.

All right, I get what you're saying, makes sense. Once again, I really don't think abortions are the best option. I really wish people wouldn't do it, but I don't want to start bossing people around.

…So, yeah. Americans.

Europeans have super-hearing when it comes to American accents. America never got the memo, since we were too ashamed to lose the race for super-hearing technology.

Lord Shplane

Atom Apple
So you're saying that it's ok to decide if someone gets to live, so long as they haven't started doing it yet?

I guess thats what I believe. Maybe it's just because the anti-abortionists that protest in front of the planned parenthood (right by my house) are just about as annoying they get. Being pro-life and pro-death penalty seems downright hypocritical to me. Then again, I happen to be a hypocrite in other ways, so I shouldn't talk much.

To me, life begins when thought processes begin. I can't help but feel that taking a life is much worse than preventing one. I would not favor abortion over conception, but I'm not a woman, and I believe that that does matter.

Now to bring this thread back to where it started, I urge you not to reply to this post unless you feel that it's necessary.


I don't personally believe that it's fair to generalize the population of a single nation, but I can see where the disdain comes from. Being American myself, I'd like to hope that I don't come across as an arrogant and self-centered individual, but that's not for me to judge.

mapaghimagsik
Europeans have super-hearing when it comes to American accents. America never got the memo, since we were too ashamed to lose the race for super-hearing technology.

DAMNIT!!! NOW THEY ALL KNOW!!! ><

gigatwo

Lord Shplane

Atom Apple
So you're saying that it's ok to decide if someone gets to live, so long as they haven't started doing it yet?

I guess thats what I believe. Maybe it's just because the anti-abortionists that protest in front of the planned parenthood (right by my house) are just about as annoying they get. Being pro-life and pro-death penalty seems downright hypocritical to me. Then again, I happen to be a hypocrite in other ways, so I shouldn't talk much.

To me, life begins when thought processes begin. I can't help but feel that taking a life is much worse than preventing one. I would not favor abortion over conception, but I'm not a woman, and I believe that that does matter.

Awww fuck, I didn't really want to get into this… But dammit, I just have to reply to this.

First off, your gender makes no difference. What is right and what is wrong cross the boundary of sex. Morality knows no gender.

Murder and abortion are simply different ways to reach the same ends. They both result in a person who would be alive not being alive. They both cause the same thing, and since the thing they cause is universally despised, so to should both actions.

As for pro death penalty, the difference between capital punishment and murder is simple: Capital punishment exists to PROTECT human life. That might sound crazy, but it's true. By having such an extreme punishment in place, it dissuades people from killing one another, because they know that they will die themselves. Self-preservation kicks in, and says “Oh fuck no, don't do that.”

An even larger difference is this: those who are murdered are generally (more or less) innocent. Those subjected to capital punishment are generally murderers, people who have abandoned their right to live by taking someone else's right to live. Yes, there are those who are innocent. Sometimes the legal system fucks up. But the ones who are innocent are far and away the minority. And with DNA evidence and such, it's becoming FAR easier to distinguish the guilty from the innocent. And if we were to stop capital punishment for the sake of those few, VERY few, innocents, then we would allow far more innocents to die at the hands of REAL murderers, who no longer have that strong incentive to stay away from killing.

Capital punishment is only carried out when someone has been tried by a jury of his peers, and by due process of law has been determined guilty. In the case of abortion, there is no judge, there is no jury. Those responsibilities are placed solely on the mother. And those are responsibilities that not everyone can handle. And even if there was a trial, what crime could an unborn child possibly commit? What could they have done to null their right to live?

This is my reasoning. I deem it to be correct. Take it as you will.

Heh. How about them Americans, huh?

(I didn't really mean to get this ball rolling on killing babies vs killing Murderers… There is a debate forum here at the duck and this is better discussed there. In fact, I'm willing to bet there is a thread or ten on this very subject. There's nothing stopping you from discussing this, just let's please keep threads on topic by continuing that debate in the proper place. Thanks.)

Randal
Heh. How about them Americans, huh?

Infidels, all of them. We should blow up their buildings.

I feel the need to weigh in, as an American and a linguist.
It is a quite simple rule of linguistics that is still unknown in many developing nations, like Canada and many parts of Europe, that you can be easily understood by increasing your volume and obnoxiousness. Anyone failing to comprehend you, or that thinks you uncultered, is merely stubborn or uneducated, in case case they are not worth you time to begin with.

Lord Shplane
By having such an extreme punishment in place, it dissuades people from killing one another, because they know that they will die themselves. Self-preservation kicks in, and says “Oh fuck no, don't do that.”

But, like you said, they'd rather die then rot in jail.

So it's scarier.

dude. can't you just pm him about it or talk about it in the other forum? why do you have to continue to veer this thread off topic?