UK and America are two countries separated by a common language, UK and US Q&A cont'd

[mathanxiety]

Started another one in case anyone wants to do it again...

That said, is there much sheep farming in the US? No sheep, no lamb I guess.

Our local grocery stores sell lamb, so someone must be buying it. I've never had it, though. My Welsh friend informs that "I've not lived," because I've not had lamb, but I'm weird about meat, I don't know if I could try it. I have a co-worker who eats it a lot, but she also eat bison and ostrich and stuff like that.

I like lamb; I sometimes have it if it's on a restaurant menu.

Lamb isn't very common, no. But not as odd as ostrich. :)

My great great grandfather and mother came from Finland and being of Finnish descent is a huge part of our identity.

I'm vegi so I've not eaten lamb in a long time. Never really liked it - too fatty.

I remember reading somewhere that sheep and beef farmers competed for land to start with and sheep farming is more work intensive for less meat so beef won out...I don't know how true that is though.

I do know that the reason sheep are fairly popular for farming over here is because they can live on land that doesn't suit bigger animals like cows.

(USA)

Lamb is a pretty uncommon thing here, but I have had it for occasional holiday dinner.

I know people who are so dead set against eating lamb though. Don't know why. Sheep are just as ugly/cute as cows, imo.

American ambassador complains about being served lamb and potatoes all the time. www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-29030946

Bison - yummy! The most beefy flavour ever. I had it in Switzerland.

They sell Bison at my local Kroger, right alongside the grass-fed organic beef, but I never can bring myself to try it. I go for the beef.

They sell Bison at my local Kroger, right alongside the grass-fed organic beef, but I never can bring myself to try it. I go for the beef.

It's good. Not worth the price, but still good. Take that with a grain of salt though, I mainly eat chicken.

I've tried all the game animals: Deer, bison, elk, quail, and crocodile. Ok, crocodile isn't a game animal, but it is served at any of those hunting lodge type restaurants for some reason.

American ambassador complains about being served lamb and potatoes all the time

Well yah-boo sucks to him then!

Well, now, I think most people would complain about being served the same meal 180 times in a year. That's about three times a week.

Bison is gorgeous. A smoother taste than beef imo.

Yes, I really don't get the x-American or y-American. If your parents or perhaps at a push grandparent maybe but not when it was your great grandparents. That just makes you a 1/8 or a 1/16 (grt grt) x or y. Even if it is on both sides then it only counts as 1/4 or 1/8 as the rest were born America.

I say that as someone who is an 1/8 Z and proud of that part of my heritage. I'm not Z-English though

ColdCottage We go through weird phases of trying to find the most politically correct way to address our non-white brethren. It used to be African/Asian-American, but now they're simply "People of Color".

Ooh, just found this thread

CheerfulYank, I have the DVD of North & South. I agree about Richard Armitage ... oooooh yeessssss. Must watch it later.

The author was born in Manchester, a city in the North of England, and the story centred on the industrial revolution there that she grew up in, if you didn't know already.

The industrial revolution wasn't just confined to Manchester, it covered a very large area. Some of the cotton factories like the one in the film were based in Lancashire and Yorkshire, 2 connecting counties to Manchester, but which are a good distance away.

The accent used in N&S is a broad Northern accent that covers the Nothernmost parts of the very large area as above, so anybody from these parts can relate to the accent. So yes, the accent exists, yet all of the above places have their own accents too.

Hope that makes sense

I was thinking more of Irish-American, Italian-American, or they just simply refer to themselves as say, German, or Scottish when it was a relative from 100 years ago that came over from that country!?!

I think the x-American thing is because the areas of America are so different because they were settled at such different times by different groups of people.

I don't call myself "Finnish-American", I wouldn't unless, as ColdCottage says, I was born there or at very least my parents.

But the area I grew up in is part of a swath of the country called the Finn Hook, that was settled by mostly Finns. It's a useful way of explaining our culture more than anything. I find that I have more in common with people in another state close by (well, relatively, it's hundreds of miles) than I do with people down south in my own state, because of the Hook.

As a small example, the concept of sisu was taught to us at an early age, whether we called it that or not. (My family did; it is still my mantra today :) )

Thank you Green! I have more questions but I have to get DS ready for school. Be back soon!

If you're Irish in Ireland, your lineage there may well go back a thousand years or more. If you are American in the US, unless you are a Native American, your lineage in the US is just a few hundred years old or less. We are a nation of immigrants and I think for many people, there is a desire to connect with cultures that are older than the US.

In addition, religion can be an important component in maintaining a sense of connection with ancestral homelands; for example, many people of Scottish ancestry in the US are Presbyterians and so have maintained the religious identity their ancestors came to the colonies/US with.

For me personally, I am very interested in history, especially social history. I majored in history at university. It follows that I would be interested in the history of my family.

I think that the interest that many Americans have in their origins is a good thing. We are often accused, and rightly so in many cases, of being insular and inward focused. Recognizing and honoring our origins outside the US help many of us appreciate that we are part of a wider world.

BUT if you talk to Australian's they tend to be very proudly Australian despite being in a much younger country than the US, and often only coming from a family of 2 generations or so.

I think the vast majority of Americans are very proud to be American, some would say too proud.

I read that only about 20 percent of Americans have passports.

I guess this is partly due to the wide range of terrain in the USA so you can ski, visit the beach, climb mountains or kayak etc as well as being able to access Canada and Mexico without one (I believe).

Surely though those people are missing the cultural differences etc that foreign counties offer.

I know in Europe we are lucky that in short time on a relative budget we can access many different countries but it still surprises me.

Any other reasons why you can think of?

I think it's up to about 35 percent now.

One of the main reasons that many Americans don't travel across oceans is that they can't afford to.