It would be interesting to get an inside opinion into the world-wide view that Americans are totally ignorant of the rest of the world and are totally self-absorbed.

I've been to the US a few times and must admit that the coverage of International News compared to National News is the lowest of any country I've ever been to and general people seem to be only concerned with local and national issues, couldn't give a stuff about the rest of the world.

Is the general American really that ignorant?

On another site I post on the had the thread of the dumbest things Americans have ever said to you, and I'll share some of the classics:

By an Englishman:

As much as we love our yankee brethren..some of there citizens have to be the most insular clueless numptys in the world...im sure weve all encountered americanisms during our encounters with them! My uncle has lived in chicago for 35 years so i have been to that city a lot..here are some of mine

1) Do you know the queen?...i s.h.i.t you not..a lot of poms will know this one ..yeah i was round hers for tea just the other day

2) Do you have television and radio in england?..no..we all live in caves and have only just invented fire you stupid #@%!$!!!!

3) Are you Australian?...Fark off..poms especially from london get this a lot

4) Why do you drive on the wrong side of the road?..have you ever thought you drive on the wrong side you muppet!!!

5) I met someone from england once..her name was jill taylor ..do you know her!!...oh yes of course i do because theres only 23 people who live in the uk

6) That reminds me an aussie mate of mine told me a yank said to him 'you speak english really well' ...uumm maybe because its my native language you carnt

Some Aussies:

do you ride to school on a Kangaroo?

A cousin of mine who was in the States a while back was asked if we spoke English in Australia....

Is Chicken of the Sea, chicken or tuna?


A friend of mine travelled in the US and some bloke asks him where he's from - "Australia"

He replies - "That's one of the southern states isn't it?"


I sh1t you not but one stupid yank asked my mate when he was over there "how long did it take you to drive here?"


I was talking to a woman in Miami who was quite firmly convinced that I was German because of my accent. I was born in Sydney.


once i got congratulated by a californian cause WA is the biggest state in australia........

apparently size of land is something to be proud of


I sat next to a guy from Galveston who wanted to know if we had sealed roads.


I got asked by an American taxi driver if I wrestled crocodiles like Steve Erwi, idiot.

Also, a girl asked me how we land planes with so many kangaroos jumping around....dumb.

I was chatting to this bird from New York when I was in a beerhall in Munich. I mentioned I was from Australia. She had heard of it Syd Harbour, kangaroos etc.... Then she asked me if I drove to Germany

I was in Bondi with a few english backpackers I met when traveling amongst our group we were drinking with at the pub was a Yank and a German from the same hostel, The arrogant Yank went on to greet the German boy with a Hale Hitler salute and wondered why he got upset......

All the posts about the yanks' problems with geography reminded me of a conversation I heard when I was living in Amsterdam. One of them says to her buddy, "Are we in Amsterdam, Holland, or Holland, Amsterdam. I kakked myself laughing imagining how they actually found the place.

Blah blah heard it before, piss off.

whenever i met an english kid at college i'd ask them if they'd ever been to gatecrasher hehehe...they were usually a little surprised

hahaha. i have heard some gems from Americans myself

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Liverpool Champions of Europe 2005!


TA's NFL survival League winner 2006!

One time an american asked me if we had air conditioning in puerto rico...and i pretending not to know what AC was..

and he was having problems describing it... "erm....umm...its kinda like fake air"

"fake air?!"

"well not fake air, but....erm...fake air"

"fake?....air?"

lol

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quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Pink One time an american asked me if we had air conditioning in puerto rico...and i pretending not to know what AC was.. and he was having problems describing it... "erm....umm...its kinda like fake air" "fake air?!" "well not fake air, but....erm...fake air" "fake?....air?" lol

no comprende airo...

I wouldn't say ignorant, not at all. More like the most naive and nationalized population in the world(meaning most americans dont know anything outside of the us)

well to be perfectly honest...why should i care if a kangaroo got hit by a car in sydney? or if a crumpet fell thru the window of westminster abbey? or if godzilla is terrorizing tokyo..

well...ok maybe if godzilla was attacking i'd want to know...

ha, I am an american, try me out for ignorance?

quote:

Originally posted by Boomer187 ha, I am an american, try me out for ignorance?

I'm with you on that one.

i think that a lot of people that aren't american like to think that they are so aware of what is happening in america and therefore that makes them less ignorant to what is happening in the world. but you can't tell me you know everything about american society and you can't tell me everything about other foreign societies either...just like i can't say i know everything about your societies...