to wonder if British people who go on holiday in the States deliberately seek out the stupidest...

[AtheneNoctua]

people they can find so they can come back and tell everyone how stupid all Americans are.

A big beautiful toothed, cheery, corn-fed, fun-loving, up-for-anything Midwestern wave to Athene! (in response to your hello on the other thread on this topic!)

It is due to the fact that the english holiday in eurpoe a very large proportion (encluding myslf ) can't speak french, Italian, German, Dutch, Spainish, Portuguise etc and so therefore these nations don't bother asking us any questions, let alone stupis question even though they can all usually speak fluent english.

So the english have to resort to taking the micky out of the americans who speak the same

I quite like Americans. I would say about 95% of the ones I have met (both overseas and in the States) have been quite pleasant people.

It is always the 5% of morons/twats that stand out though isn't it.

Everytime I have been to the States I have been treated very nicely.

lol @ StillOverHere

And ya know (spoken in true Chicago "why I oughta" kind of accent) it's not limited to the British individuals. It is on the BBC too. I wathed a documentary on the Queen's visit to the states and they interviewed some "American" on the street. And I remember thinking "Gawd, where do they find these people?!"

This is a true story, honestly. Please do not flame me. I have visited USA loads. I love the country, and the people.

Sitting on a ride in Animal Kingdom at WDW. It was the safari ride.

Family (American) sitting behind us. Mum says to her dd, "gee, those giraffes look real". Daughter replies "mum, they are real".

I did pmsl. Could have happened over here.

Are you sure they weren't Canadian?

Nope, they were def American. But it broke the ice, as her dd was phsl as well. We spent most of the ride chatting to them, and missed most of the animals!!!

Did you actually see their passports?

You only have to watch Jeremy Kyle to get a 'snapshot' of Britain.

I made the mistake of watching it today and it had a man on there who asked someone if they were "Thick or stupid?"

I thought both meant the same?

I have an American PhD student. He and his PhD student wife are possibly the brightest young people I have ever met.

The US is no different from any other place in the world in terms of intellect. The thing I would say though is that Americans tend not to have travelled widely in the world as I think only ABOUT 8% of Americans have a passport? On average most US citizens have therefore less experience of any other country than say people from the UK.

Incidentally, my PhD student agrees with me and is contantly shocked by the lack of awarenesss of the wider world that his fellow Americans display. He says his Grandad who died a few years ago never went outside the state of Kansas in his whole life.

the Americans I've met don't usually know what's going on outside of their own state. i don't think it's really their fault, it's just the way they are brought up. they aren't as worldly wise as a nation as perhaps other countries around the world.

in saying that, there are exceptions to the rule and I suppose there are some smart Americans out there, just haven't come across them yet (esp the ones that can tell the difference between the 'UK' and 'England' - they seem to think they are the same thing!).

yanbu.

Disagree Beta. Less experience than people in the UK? (I assume that mean of other cultures?) NYC and Los Angeles?

Um, I take it that your student is from Kansas? Don't confuse America with Kansas .

Most of the passport holders are indeed on the East and West coast. Even then the amount is not high as a percentage but I agree the most cosmopolitan parts of the US are NYC and LA.

I really like may parts of the US and the people. I have travelled and worked all over the US and it does vary a lot by region. My student is from Kansas but lived in Boston / UK and elsewhere in the world for much of hs life. He really notices it when he goes back.

The only place we've holidayed in America is NYC/the Hamptons and EVERYONE I met was scarily intelligent, well educated and well traveled. (As well as mostly rich and beautiful)

Just as I was getting insecure, the younger brother of one of our American friends said to our DC "I knew your parents had accents, but I wouldn't have expected kids to have accents too."

never been to America beyond a two hour stop in LA airport so can't comment on intelligence levels there etc but the Americans that do get a passport and are allowed out seem to all have the most amazing TEETH.

Maybe they have to pass a smile test to get their passport? They have much better looking teeth than europeans generally do

If America has such a 'locally rather than globally' outlook, then why are they so involved in world politics and policies?
This is not a dig at all, am merely wondering if there can be such a difference in attitudes of the general public and the politicians?

My favourite P J O'Rourke quotation, from 'Holidays in Hell' (ZZZen, your last point made me think of it):

'I was having dinner...in London [after the American bombing of Libya]...when eventually he [an Englishman] got, as the Europeans always do, to the part about "Your country's never been invaded." And so I said, "let me tell you who those bad guys are. They're us. WE BE BAD. We're the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. We're three-quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car wreck and descended from a stock market crash on our mother's side. You take your Germany, France, and Spain, roll them all together and it wouldn't give us room to park our cars. We're the big boys, Jack, the original, giant, economy-sized, new and improved butt kickers of all time. When we snort coke in Houston, people lose their hats in Cap d'Antibes. And we've got an American Express card credit limit higher than your piss-ant metric numbers go. You say our country's never been invaded? You're right, little buddy. Because I'd like to see the needle-dicked foreigners who'd have the guts to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape and a mugging is our way of saying 'Cheerio.' Hell can't hold our sock-hops. We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, fuck longer and buy more things than you know the names of. I'd rather be a junkie in a New York City jail than king, queen, and jack of all Europeans. We eat little countries like this for breakfat and shit them out before lunch."
Of course, this guy should have punched me. But this was Europe. He just smiled his shabby, superior European smile. (God, don't these people have dentists?)'

My friend's husband is American and she now lives there. Her husband only gets 2 weeks holiday in total and would never consider taking it all off in one go.
They find it very difficult to travel to the UK let alone travel anywhere else. I think thats the main reason why so many Americans haven't travelled outside of the US.

procrastin - I enjoyed the quote.

I hate it when I'm in the US and I hear a british accent.

I am having a wonderful time forgetting all about the claustrophobic little island called GB and all it's awful close-minded inhabitants (present company excluded of course)when it becomes apparent there is an un-couth brit in the room... you know because they are talking about nothing really loudly waiting for someone to make a fuss of their british accent.

I have only been to NY, Miami, LA and San Fransisco and have never met a stupid American. They have all been intelligent, productive, ambitious and positive people who have made my time over there even more fabulous than I could have imagined.

The % of Americans with passports is about to increase rapdily since the rules have changed you now need one to go to Canada and Mexico.