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What do you Brits have against Americans?

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Listen aldo the apache, nobody hates americans so just calm the **** down and just apply to KCL. Maybe if you actually came over here and saw what we were like in the flesh you would realise how friendly we actually are to not only yanks, but everyone.
Of course no one hates us. They bow down to Americans
What do Brits have against Americans? Bloodrazor.
Reply 143
It's just a part of our nature. We like to humble overly-confident nations. France, Germany, Italy, etc, all get it as bad. I suppose the linguistic similarities between us and America make it slightly more noticeable.
Original post by DRE_902
It's just a part of our nature. We like to humble overly-confident nations. France, Germany, Italy, etc, all get it as bad. I suppose the linguistic similarities between us and America make it slightly more noticeable.


equally the linguistic differences in the 'same' language make it all the more , combine the lack of appreciation of irony and sarcasm of a significant proportion of US Americans combined with the fervent jingoism ...

As others have said what Brits, Aussies, Saffers and even the Canuckistanis would laugh off as banter seems to be taken to to heart and at great offence by US Americans

e.g. banter about 'Real Marines' ( referring the the British Royal Marines)vs 'Uncle Sam's Misguided Children' ( referring to the USMC ... ) which has everyone rolling aobut the mess floor apart from uptight 'Merkins
Reply 145
Original post by Kdm4life
All of these things were done by the government, not the people. Im being criticised because of things that my government did, even though I wasnt alive for most of it, and i dislike most of it probably more than you do. I personally had absolutely nothing to do with any of his, and i (and quite frankly anybody I know)didnt even elect the officials who authorized these events.


To be fair the american citizens elected those people into power. You guys have gun legislations which allow people to shot and killed. Americans have very strong gun lobbying which in a sense shows the average persons mentality. The United States has the largest number of guns in private hands of any country in the world with 60 million people owning a combined arsenal of over 200 million firearms. The second amendment states that "a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed". If we can't judge America on their proud liberal rights I'm not sure what we can judge them on. Another way we can judge the American people is based on the opposition to the Park51 project. America has huge inequality for example a study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that: "over 886,000 deaths could have been prevented from 1991 to 2000 if African Americans had received the same care as whites." I could go into racial profiling, for example Naturalization, Customs, and Border Patrol agents have made Muslims' and Muslim looking peoples entry or re-entry into the United States more difficult and pressure-laden than that of their peers. Now here is a quote from the police "The Job of policing is far more imperative then to continuously worry about minorities or interest groups crying foul or complaining about being victims of unfair targeting." Now I must say this does sound awfully familiar to the U.K SUS Laws. A few examples of racial profiling by police include:

An African American man standing on a corner waiting for a bus is stopped and questioned regarding why he is standing there and where he is going.

A Hispanic driver is stopped in a “white” neighbourhood because he “doesn’t belong there” or “looks out of place.”

A group of black teenagers are pulled over because of the kind of car they are driving.

Any person of color stopped for minor traffic violations and then questioned about where there are going, or if they have illegal drugs or weapons in their possession.

•Racial profiling is also used as a basis of discrimination for employment, services, housing, etc., or to give preferential treatment to an individual or group of people because of their race or ethnicity

That's just the way American's are in practice. Another example is on September 14, 2001, an Indian American motorist and three family members were pulled over and ticketed by a Maryland state trooper because their car had broken tail lights. The trooper interrogated the family, questioned them about their nationality, and asked for proof of citizenship. When the motorist said that their passports were at home, the officer allegedly stated, "You are lying. You are Arabs involved in terrorism." He ordered them out of the car, had them put their hands on the hood, and searched the car. When he discovered a knife in a toolbox, the officer handcuffed the driver and later reported that the driver "wore and carried a butcher knife, a dangerous deadly weapon, concealed upon and about his person." The driver was detained for several hours but eventually released.

I admit that was copied and pasted but I'm not going to bother typing that all up. As you can the general american population are not the sort of people that many of us are comfortable with.

As we can see the American population already feel that those from other ethnicities and cultures are a threat. In December 2001, an American citizen of Middle Eastern descent named Assem Bayaa cleared all the security checks at Los Angeles airport and attempted to board a flight to New York. Upon boarding, he was told that he made the passengers uncomfortable by being on board the plane and was asked to leave. Once off the plane, he wasn't searched or questioned any further and the only consolation he was given was a boarding pass for the next flight.

In this example a large group of Americans are subject to our scrutiny. if we extrapolate the results we can see the general American population are discriminatory as the airlines felt this was acceptable thus showing a level of content with such discrimination. So are you saying the same discrimination towards american is not justified. I feel in either case they were no justified, but as we can see if american's are prejudice and discriminatory it isn't a huge surprise that they face similar discrimination from the outside world. I could argue from a personal level but I dislike the use of anecdotal evidence. Anyway's I have nothing against you, you won't actually have any problems at KCL, the U.K don't suffer from the same levels of discrimination as the U.S does. People in London are pretty multicultural so you will fit in pretty quickly. Most guys make jokes but just bear it with a pinch of salt; you can always make some counter jokes. It's not you're going to be assaulted because of being American, though American's may not seem to hold the same reserves as us.

Don't take my stuff to heart, I'm just kind of explaining stuff. I personally hold strong resentment, though mine's political and not at all racial. Most american jokes are just banter. e.g Why do american's still use Fahrenheit, because they're wrong. Honestly just learn to stop complaining so much (American's complain a lot and take everything literally). And omg don't sue me for emotional distress, they'll extradite and water-board me for questioning the American authority ^^

Oh yeh - we also don't like how the U.S claim not to torture people. Yet still torture people. It's really just the hypocrisy which is annoying. Also I hate all that American patriotism load of rubbish and every year having to hear your 9/11 stuff. All you're damn propaganda pumping. Even Putin commented on the U.S' democracy propaganda.

American's for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5GHHbIUxZY&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHL4AZtS58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhRZjnF5uJk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=9Kg4DTssWTQ

Read the comments on the second one and you will get the sort of impression I get of Americans - basically not good.

Lighten up man
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Kdm4life
Im American, and I've always been fascinated by other cultures, particularly the British culture. Naturally, I started doing research, and came across numerous(at least a dozen that i actually watched, but there were plenty more) Youtube videos of British people bashing Americans. At first, I thought these were isolated incidents, then I discovered this site, and also discovered that arguably the majority of the people on this site also seem to have some sort of deep seated hatred of Americans. I didnt let it perturb me however, and decided to Study Abroad in London at KCL. I got there in a joyous mood, but that mood was soon changed when I realised that me and my friends were automatically being categorized as fat, dumb, and unaware of world events, purely because we were American(We are the opposite of all three). We were also criticized for not understanding British slang and for "not speaking proper English".

Can someone please explain to me where this is coming from. I dont like to make generalizations, but all of the experiences that I have had with British people have involved them making fun of the US in some way, shape, or form. Is it jealousy? I personally dont see what there is to be jealous about, but I cant really think of any other reason. I know that you all are not like this, but why do British people take the worst possible stereotypes of Americans and push them on all of us?

If you're going to neg me, give me an explanation at least.


The American government spends most of its time being a dick to pretty much every other country in the world in order to get its own way, so most of the world hates your country. In the world politics playground, America is that kid who kicks you in the head and steals your lunch money.

Can't speak for others but I have nothing against Americans on the basis of being Americans, but a lot of people will express negative opinions of the citizens of a country if their government is a great big bag of dicks on the international stage.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 147
Original post by Concept186
The American government spends most of its time being a dick to pretty much every other country in the world in order to get its own way, so most of the world hates your country. In the world politics playground, America is that kid who kicks you in the head and steals your lunch money.

Can't speak for others but I have nothing against Americans on the basis of being Americans, but a lot of people will express negative opinions of the citizens of a country if their government is a great big bag of dicks on the international stage.


Basically he get's to the point of it all.
Reply 148
Don't hate Americans in the slightest. I plan on travelling there after University, My ex boyfriend/a few friends of mine are American, so I have no problem.

I tend to dislike people if they're judgemental, bitchy or not a nice person, nothing to do with nationality itself.
Only thing I hate about Americans is how they give us Brits so much abuse.
Tea + Crumpets? Stfu seriously.
Original post by Staceycake
Only thing I hate about Americans is how they give us Brits so much abuse.
Tea + Crumpets? Stfu seriously.


Ehhh, it's a stereotype, ignorance. We do the same. Except we don't portray Americans on tv using stereotypes really, do we?
lol there's another stereotype of an American...NOT BEING ABLE TO TAKE A JOKE!
Reply 152
Original post by Alleykat606
lol there's another stereotype of an American...NOT BEING ABLE TO TAKE A JOKE!


I can take a joke, I just cant take abuse, and this was the latter.
Original post by Kdm4life
I can take a joke, I just cant take abuse, and this was the latter.


What makes you think that?
Original post by Kdm4life
I can take a joke, I just cant take abuse, and this was the latter.


No it wasn't, you just don't understand English humour yet.

In England it is funny to wryly insult yourself, your friends and your country. Americans take themselves far too seriously for this to be the case. They were probably being friendly.

And yes, often it is very difficult to work out whether someone is actually insulting you or whether they're being affectionate. Often they'll be both. For example, I have a friend who frequently tells me I have no social skills/ that I always say the wrong thing.

Is she joking? Yes. Is it true? Also yes. Is it sometimes a little close to the mark? Definitely. That's a form of humour here.
Nothing against Americans as individual people but as a country you ripped us off in the second world war.
Original post by Oli-Ol
No it wasn't, you just don't understand English humour yet.

In England it is funny to wryly insult yourself, your friends and your country. Americans take themselves far too seriously for this to be the case. They were probably being friendly.

And yes, often it is very difficult to work out whether someone is actually insulting you or whether they're being affectionate. Often they'll be both. For example, I have a friend who frequently tells me I have no social skills/ that I always say the wrong thing.

Is she joking? Yes. Is it true? Also yes. Is it sometimes a little close to the mark? Definitely. That's a form of humour here.


I guess the thugs must have been really affectionate toward the Malaysian student who got mugged a year or two back.

British people are quick to make excuses, that's why we mock them daily.
I don't have anything against Americans.
I don't have anything against Americans, but then my dad is one, and thus so are all the paternal side of my family.

Technically I'm "half American" as I have dual citizenship.

*waves her US passport in the air*

This little beauty will come in handy should I decide to go to college in the US.
Reply 159
Original post by Kdm4life
All of these things were done by the government, not the people. Im being criticised because of things that my government did, even though I wasnt alive for most of it, and i dislike most of it probably more than you do. I personally had absolutely nothing to do with any of his, and i (and quite frankly anybody I know)didnt even elect the officials who authorized these events.


ouch - no reply to my beautifully articulated written piece of work which elegantly answered the question for you

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