C'mon, out with it...all you non-Americans, let us know what you REALLY think of us (Americans, that is).

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Don't hold anything back now.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, there is that smell that we Canadians have been too polite to mention for the past 135 years.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Say no more, say no more.

*courtesy flush*

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Well hell, we just lost Jersey.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Was it even really ours?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

New Jersey : America :: the chainsaw you borrowed from your neighbor and never gave it back cause it was broken and you were ashamed : tools in your shed

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

"Welcome to Broken Chainsaw Country" = best of all possible Jersey border billboards.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

you seem, on average and at face value (which makes this comment of practically no value), to have fewer issues with self-worth.

as tourists, you speak louder than anyone else on public transport.

i like the folks i've met from the west coast.

― Clare (not entirely unhappy), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

In his satirically-titled book Why I Hate Canadians, writer extraordinaire Will Ferguson says that the only reason Canada thinks we're so polite and tolerant is in comparison to USA.
He says it's like living next door to Def Leppard, and thinking you're a model citizen, which struck me as a little, since there are dozens of American bands he could have cited instead.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I've actually noticed that too Clare (the loud-on-public-trans thing). In fact one of the main criticisms of Americans that I've heard that is actually rather quite spot-on is that we're a loud people/culture. I wonder why that might be?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

That varies by region, doesn't it? (I don't know if non-Americans would notice if it did or not, among American tourists.) One of the first things I noticed when I moved to New Orleans from New England was how much quieter the busses were, barring the routes bringing kids home from high school.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

from my observations on a cable car i take home from work some days, which is often packed with tour-bussing americans, it has to do with two things: the already mentioned self-worth and the fact that compared to us (nzers) you move your tongues more when you speak. i love that about you guys - it's like your mouths are full of something and you are trying to talk; it's like mouth exercises for the previously mute are part of your lower school education. love it.

― Clare (not entirely unhappy), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

i like the folks i've met from the west coast.

As Americans it is our sacred duty to turn this into a chauvanistic W v. E coast shouting match, drowning out all the quieter foreigners trying to express their delicate opinions which don't matter anyway.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

We have so much less density that we're used to shouting (to people downstairs, across the lawn, etc.)

I've noticed that suburbanites do this more than urban people, but maybe that's because they don't ride trains often and it's really exciting for them. [/prejudice]

― Kerry (dymaxia), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Bunch of silly billies ;)

No, but SERIOUSLY! I think Americans get a raw deal because it seems that the loudest, brashest, most obnoxious ones make the most noise (errr, durrrr!). To actually meet Americans face to face is more often than not a quick lesson in keeping a tight rein on ones preconceptions and prejudices.

― Badger (Badger), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

we're a loud people/culture. I wonder why that might be?

Crackpot historical theory: Because for a couple hundred years there, we were constantly spreading out and finding our own space, and therefore didn't have to be mindful of our neighbors as much as if we were living on a small island with no place to go. (Unless those neighbors were Indians, in which case we just killed 'em.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I s'pose that's akin to Kerry's "density" idea.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

What about those emigres living on both coasts? Stuck in the middle, and unable to truthfully flip the finger....

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Your women are fantastic. Send more. But why do they like to jog around London in sweatshirts that champion their alma maters?

Your newspapers are rubbish.

Your national rail system should be improved.

Your "indie" is GREAT, not like the "boy band with guitars" UK version.

Your hip hop is much better than ours. thanks.

We like your crap tv.

You're all incredibly tan and healthy.

Your sports make no sense, and your sports fans too polite. very "Un American". Illogical.

As I always tell my girlfriend, It's AmeriCAN, not AmeriCAN'T.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

My density theory is totally half-assed, BTW. But I think there's some truth to it. When I speak loudly, it's because I can't be bothered to walk all the way over to the person.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

We midlings here in flyover will just sit back and watch you coasties fight it out.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

You do seem to have this habit of asking questions at the till when there's a big line-up behind you. Other than that, fine

― dave q, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

"oh - i like the people i know who live on the east coast too" - said in a very quiet nz (but not twangy) accent.

― Clare (not entirely unhappy), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:55 (twenty-two years ago)

You're all incredibly tan and healthy

OMG!

― Kerry (dymaxia), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Shh, don't let on.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

b-b-but twangy NZ accents = TOO MUCH THE SEXY!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

>You're all incredibly tan and healthy.

Um, actually we're a bunch of fat slobs.

― fletrejet, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I am not a slob! *humph!*

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

we're a loud people/culture. I wonder why that might be?

it's because we're all nuts. for chrissakes, the very symbol of our freedom and liberty has a plaque reading "give me the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me."

would you expect a nation that solicited the world's homeless to be anything BUT loud and obnoxious? so yeah, in general we're kinda noisy and perhaps a little artless but that's only because this country was founded on the premise of "fuck it, you can't tell me what to do. i'm gonna do whatever the hell i like."

― otto midnight, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I think a Boston accent is rather endearing

― C J (C J), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Your women are fantastic.

I agree wholeheartily, but, well, urm...I'd go so far as to say ALL WOMEN are fantastic.

Your newspapers are rubbish.

This couldn't possibly be any more true.

Your national rail system should be improved.

We have a national rail system? (wink wink)

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it's just that our country is too big for a 'rail system' to work well.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I think that you speak loudly too. I also think that American women in general expect more of their men than Aussie women expect of theirs (well, in the 'what have you done for me lately' kind of way). American men are tall and mostly quite good looking.

― Wouldn't you like to know (Amused), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

New Jersey : America :: the chainsaw you borrowed from your neighbor and never gave it back cause it was broken and you were ashamed : tools in your shed

New Jersey is the greatest state in the union. I'm so jealous of everyone who was lucky enough to have grown up there.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

b-b-but twangy NZ accents = TOO MUCH THE SEXY!

that'll make a lot of provincial kiwi chix very happy, and me too.

― Clare (not entirely unhappy), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Delis everywhere, not just suburban jewish boltholes=also "a good thing".

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

i really don't like you

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

how so, jess?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Did that come out wrong? It shouldn't have.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

americans, i mean, not you, pal

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

phew. Thanks, buddy ;)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

we're smelly, we talk loud, we're abrasive, our children run wild, we don't respect our artitsts and musicians, we have piss poor cuisine, we like to bomb the hell outta little brown people

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

nickalicious, there's now Amtrak service from Louisville to Chicago!*

*it takes over 12 hours** because of track speed limits between Indianapolis and Louisville.

**driving the same distance takes 5 hours.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i just bombed out some little brown people myself. i was on the bus today and 3 people were totally on speed and one guy was talkin like a monkey.

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

We (the UK) like to help you bomb the hell outta little brown people. And we're repressed, rude, and anti-social.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

and your cuisine is worse than ours!

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

But at least none of us are French.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Canada, maybe?

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah i didnt say i liked anyone BETTER than americans, mind

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Blame...oh, never mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I generally like the Spanish better than most of my fellow Americans, except for that weird old lady in Madrid who hissed at me. And the guy who stole my wallet.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Canada rocks. We won't bomb anyone. We don't even have any bombs. We just send out wave after wave of astoundingly annoying chanteuses.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

"artitst" = typo that is now my new favorite pseudonym for strippers

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

canada creeped me out the one time i was there. it was like bizarro america. also, the chinese restaurant i ate at was one of the worst dining experiences i've ever had.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

i just bombed out some little brown people myself. i was on the bus today and 3 people were totally on speed and one guy was talkin like a monkey.

Classic. Chaki totally slipped that in while I was yabbering on. I'm off to the "laugh out loud thread", and I'm taking his funny with me...

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I read some really racist grafitti in a bathroom in a bar in Kingston, Ontario once. But Vancouver and Whistler are really nice!

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:29 (twenty-two years ago)

American food isn't bad! Sweet potato casserole, cornbread with molasses, pasta salad, apple pie... OH, well, at least Southern food is good. I don't know what the yankees eat.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, dude, no one in the civilized portions of the country eat that shit...

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

chez paree, club supersex, rue ste. catherine....

man, montreal was a godsend when i was 18.

― otto, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard on the news that lots of Canadians protested their lack of involvement in the war, saying they needed to support the US...?

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

...TO THEIR DETRIMENT

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

haha goddamn you speedy bastards

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

jess in anti-South generalization SHOCKAH!

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

we have piss poor cuisine

Huh? Maybe it's hard wade through all the shite (chain restaurants), but our cuisine is more varied than anywhere else and much of it is quite tasty.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

In all seriousness, Canadians could probably teach the USA a thing or two about racism (and we did teach South Africa a thing or two). As loudly as we like to proclaim ourselves the best place to live, it's only the best place to live if you're a white male.
Things are especially bad for First Nations people, esp in Western Canada, though everytime something like routine police brutality comes to light, it's an indication that things are improving (i.e. where once that might not have rated as news).

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Our Mexican food is GREAT (as opposed to the Mexican food I had in France - yuck!, though I guess it might be said the Mexico has better Mexican food, but I've never been there...).

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Well hell, we just lost Jersey.

Does the U.K. even want Jersey back at this point?

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

club...supersex???

Sounds like a pay per view Greek tv channel.

Fuck it, let's just make generalizations about every country there is.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:36 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry guys, i have to delete the two posts between mine so i dont look like a classist/racist/uh...geographist

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:36 (twenty-two years ago)

No one else has that privelidge (I hate trying to spell that word and that word alone), jess.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

drat!

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Your women are fantastic. Send more. But why do they like to jog around London in sweatshirts that champion their alma maters?

That's probably to match the Englishwomen who walk around with sweatshirts blazing "Brooklyn, USA" or "Harlem, USA". I'd like to see any of them point either place out on a map.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

our cuisine is more varied than anywhere else and much of it is quite tasty.

Yes, when it's from an immigrant culture that hasn't yet been too assimilated into the fast food industry. (Compare, say, greasy-spoon Chinese to good Thai or Ethiopian. And if Ethiopian food does cross over into the larger food industry, what food is McDonalds likely to roll out -- McDoro Wat?)

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

(Just in another sarcastic mood, as per usual.....)

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

club...supersex???

it was a gigantic strip club, the neon sign was enormous. it was a HUGE place. lots of interesting memories of that place. my favorite being a friend of mine telling some of the talent "y'know, i'm a VERY wealthy man..."

ah, good times, good times...

― otto, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Nichole-too, too true.

Or English guys in those Michigan sweatshirts.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Economy-size strip clubs: classic or dud?

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

are the strippers economy size too? if so CLASSIC.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:42 (twenty-two years ago)

whoops, sorry for the misunderstanding jess.

Economy-size strip clubs: classic or dud?

Queensboro Plaza to thread!!!

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, when it's from an immigrant culture that hasn't yet been too assimilated into the fast food industry.

American cuisine !=fast food

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

fast food != food.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

fish sticks != fish

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

There are lots of great delis and cozy ethnic restaurants to choose from, not just your usual Ruby Tuesday's type fare.

― Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

corn dogs != dogs
(that may not be true)

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i want a corn dog now

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh you guys...

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

As mentioned earlier, I had veggie corndogs for dinner last night. And they were good.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

corn dogs != dogs
(that may not be true)

Well, FDA standards do allow up to some number of rat hairs per hot dog.

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

As mentioned earlier, I had veggie corndogs for dinner last night. And they were good.

Were they the Morningstar variety? My son loves those.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Mtl stripclubs: my favourite was L'Axe, just cuz it was like 2 blocks from my Apt.
Supersexe was too expensive for my sous-chef wallet.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

i have veggie burgers in my freezer...i suppose that will have to do

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm going to London for holiday in May and my friend was warning me that the English hate americans because of the war. And I said "Well, I did live there for a short time in '99 and I never had a problem and they hated Americans then too." Then I said "Plus, Franz (boyfriend) and I don't look American at all together and it's not like I walk into a bar and GO WHO DO I HAVE TO FUCK TO GET A DRINK AROUND HERE!"

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Yup. Good ol' Morningstar. Actually, I went to get groceries on the way home because I was hankerin' for some veggie chick nuggets, but they were out of the Morningstar brand of them and I was too scared and hungry to try a different brand.

it's not like I walk into a bar and GO WHO DO I HAVE TO FUCK TO GET A DRINK AROUND HERE!"
What's wrong with saying that??

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Did anyone else notice j.lu call Britain a sewer?

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Morningstar corn dogs and chik nuggets are both CLASSIC! (The chik patties are good, too.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Chester: huh?

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, there is that smell that we Canadians have been too polite to mention for the past 135 years.
-- Horace Mann (handsomishbo...) (webmail), April 9th, 2003 11:16 AM. (later) (Horace Mann) (link)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Say no more, say no more.
*courtesy flush*

-- nickalicious (nza2342...) (webmail), April 9th, 2003 11:16 AM. (later) (nickalicious) (link)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well hell, we just lost Jersey.
-- Tep (te...) (webmail), April 9th, 2003 11:17 AM. (later) (ktepi) (link)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well hell, we just lost Jersey.
Does the U.K. even want Jersey back at this point?

-- j.lu (flavi...) (webmail), April 9th, 2003 12:35 PM. (later) (j.lu) (link)

(see also the laugh out loud thread)

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

This thread reminds me of a book I had to read in college called something like "How the White Man (something)" I don't remember. But it was basically about how native american tribes would make fun of the white man and mimic them for being over friendly and loud talky and over courteous and just basically fake. So I told this guy that I worked with in college whom I though was part native american about the book and we took to acting like these native american's a lot whenever we saw each other. Like "JOHN SMITH, HOW ARE YOU? SIT YOUR ASS RIGHT down AND GET COMFORTABLE. HOW IS YOUR WIFE AND KIDS. CAN I GET YOU SOMETHING TO EAT. HOW IS YOU?"

It wasn't until a year later that I fould out he was sooooo not native american and he only played along because he thought I was weird.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

That book sounds like every episode of "Def Jam Comedy Hour."

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Years from now they will show Def Jam in every ivy league anthro class.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

That post sounds like every nightmare I have when I'm back in college being forced to get another BA.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

But why are we overly-friendly and fake? Is it that we are scared that any other fellow citizen might be a complete nutcase and off us right on the spot? Can we not make the effort to interact w/others beyond a superficial level? Are we so different from one another that we all adopt the same 'fake' persona in order to have some sort of common ground?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

But why are we overly-friendly and fake?

That's a Midwestern thing. New Yorkers are cold and unfriendly.*

*per the stereotypes.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't understand this "America has bad food" idea. Aren't many (i said many not all) of the world's greatest chefs/restaurants here in the States? And isn't England who you cite when you want to make fun of a country's food?

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha, New Yorkers are much more friendly than San Franciscans! Guaranteed.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

you have it the wrong way round/it doesn't matter.

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Quite the contrary: gygax! is not only friendly, but handsome too. Same goes for Shakey Mo Collier.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm handsome but not friendly. But it's San Francisco that did it to me!

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:27 (twenty-two years ago)

How are American women any different than English women, Nordic?

― Mandee, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I hear it's all in the American Thighs.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't "American Food" just food that's made in America? I can't think of anything that's native in the same way that say French food is "French" ('cept fr**d*m fr**s). Unless we're talking about Native American dishes. Otherwise, isn't most of what Americans consider "Italian", "Chinese" or "Indian" really just naturalized or fantasized versions of those nation's cuisines? (tho I guess "Indian" would really be British.)

Americans make damn good falafel.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:41 (twenty-two years ago)

HOT DOG!
Plus, the American versions of pizza and hamburgers are different enough from their 'old world' versions to be classified as American inventions.
PLUS, there's the whole Tex-Mex, California cuisine, Cajun, S'Western, and Southern styles.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

AND FISH TACOS!!

― Mandee, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Did we invent BBQ, too?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

d'oh hotdogs and hamburgers.

The others you mention are hybrid enough that I wouldn't consider them wholly American unless you also claimed curry was wholly British.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd say "syncretized" at most, for lack of a better word: a lot of what Americans call "Italian food" is Italian-American food; a lot of "Mexican" is Tex-Mex or New Mexican; Cajun and Creole food is a syncretization of French, African, and Native American cuisines with flashes of Spanish and German influence; much of Southern cooking is native-originated, or a distinctly American variation on something extracontinental; et cetera.

It's mostly just that there are so many regional cuisines here that the only particularly visible national cuisine is the chain-restaurant/convenience-food stuff.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:49 (twenty-two years ago)

How are American women any different than English women?

Aren't "American Women" just dishes that're made in America? I can't think of any that're native in the same way that say French dishes are "French" ('cept fr**d*m fr**s). Unless we're talking about Native American dishes. Otherwise, aren't most of what Americans consider "Italian", "Chinese" or "Indian" really just naturalized or fantasized versions of those nation's lovepoodles?

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The others you mention are hybrid enough that I wouldn't consider them wholly American unless you also claimed curry was wholly British.

But then pasta wouldn't be Italian, it'd be hybrid. All cuisines are hybrid in that sense: they adapt to newly-introduced ingredients and techniques, and so forth.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Are nuns allowed to eat hot dogs or are they too phallic?

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:51 (twenty-two years ago)

there's really no such thing as "Mexican" cuisine anyway b/c it's just a combination of Native American and Spanish cuisine.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:53 (twenty-two years ago)

The others you mention are hybrid enough that I wouldn't consider them wholly American unless you also claimed curry was wholly British.

If they make curry in British that is drastically dif than in India, then Brits could claim something, just not that.
America is a hybrid nation, thus it is impossible to have a cuisine which doesn't contain elements of another nation's cuisine. Esp. considering how young of a nation the US is. There are things which we associate with a particular country that were in fact introduced from other lands, but over time became ingrained in that nation's image. (pasta being the most obvious example)

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

But then residents of Little Italy wouldn't be Italian, they'd be hybrid. All peoples are hybrid in that sense: they adapt to newly-introduced places and customs, and so forth.

(My not very subtle point I guess is that the European-derived ideas of national origin we cling to are really out of synch with how life is actually lived in America.)

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

There's Italian food, Italian-American food (found wherever real wops hang out), and fake "Italian" food (from Olive Garden to Little Caesar's). I imagine that it's the same for other ethnicities in the US.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:56 (twenty-two years ago)

If they make curry in British that is drastically dif than in India, then Brits could claim something, just not that.

I don't know how curry is currently made in Britain v. India, but "curry" was a domestic British invention to sell the exoticism of the colonies to homebound Brits.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

residents of Little Italy wouldn't be Italian

Uh, right. That's why they call themselves Italian-Americans.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

can I back up to the LOUD thing for a second? Australians , NZers and English people that I served in my bartending days often SEEMED even LOUDER than Yanks who seemed louder than hometown Canucks.

theory 1: could it be that accents cause your inner ear to amp up the volume thru your fascination at the differences in how familiar words are pronounced by others?

theory 2: tourists are loud. especially when they're a-drinkin'.

theory 3: Canadians speak at an appropriate volume, unlike the rest of the world.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

theory 4: you don't notice Americans much unless they're loud

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, good point!

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

but i prefer #3

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Americans *are* loud. Except for me. And CANADIANS RULE WE R ALL GAY

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops, you're entirely missing my point. I was (I guess not very effectively) copying Tep's post above but replacing references to cuisine with references to people. I thought there was a subtly evolving chauvinism re: what is "American" in this thread and thought I'd try to get some discussion going.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Or, foreigners visiting US are so fearful of American violence depicted in movies/TV that they do nothing to draw attention to themselves, ie talk loud.
Americans visiting foreign lands have a bucolic vision of them and are not fearful of violent crime since 'nothing could be as violent where I come from'; hence they are unafraid to draw attention to themselves.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, isn't a typical Thanksgiving meal pretty American, in the way other national cuisines are? Cranberries, corn, and turkeys are all native to North America, and whatever trace of New England regionalism the meal might've once had has since disappeared.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:06 (twenty-two years ago)

a fatal mistake, oops. Next time I go to Madrid, I sure as hell am not gonna talk about baseball on the subway.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry Chester. Could you explicitly state your point so someone as dense as I could get it?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha, hstencil. I should have pointed out that w/r/t violence both foreigners view of America and America's view of foreign lands is not totally accurate.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanksgiving traditions, in all seriousness, provide an excellent (and often-used -- dig the Sunday supplement in your local paper next Nov.) focus to compare regional cuisines in the US. But, re: the typical Thanksgiving meal, yeah, I think that's true.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)

What 'bout fried chicken?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops:

"(My not very subtle point I guess is that the European-derived ideas of national origin we cling to are really out of synch with how life is actually lived in America.)"

"I thought there was a subtly evolving chauvinism re: what is "American" in this thread and thought I'd try to get some discussion going (to counter it)."

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Fried anything = American?

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

See, I don't know what you took as being chauvinistic here.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought about that after I posted, chester.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

(i.e., fried Iraqi babies, etc.)

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm having the same problem as oops -- I'm not sure either of us has even made any claims as to anything we've described being uniquely American, except maybe the timescale.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:15 (twenty-two years ago)

"chauvinistic" is too strong a word and I shouldn't have used it anyway since I don't think any one person was being like that. But concensus seemed to be heading towards this default mode where "American" = steak & potatoes, and that always irks me. But that was all so long ago in this pileup thread I can't even remember if it really happened or not.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

i haven't met many americans. is ned representative of americans? if so, i'd say americans are choice. being perfectly honest though, your country gives me the fear, i'm not sure how justified that fear is.

― di smith (lucylurex), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

...again my point being that "uniquely American" = non-existent (or mostly so) and therefore judgments as to quality of American food actually being "food made in America is good/bad."

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)

is ned representative of americans?

Me as UN ambassador = freaky! (Thanks, Di. :-))

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Ned is much brighter, kinder, and open-minded than a "representative" American. Unfortunately.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

again my point being that "uniquely American" = non-existent (or mostly so)

That's just really not the case, though, unless you set such high standards for uniqueness that you also can't talk about uniquely French or uniquely Italian food, given the vast overlap there. We provided a lot of examples of regional cuisines, many of them [Whatever Nationality]-American cuisines which are distinct from their non-American counterparts.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Tep: this is weird because I didn't feel like I was disagreeing w/ you or Oops at all (other than haggling over the status of "uniquely" as it applies to Tex-Mex, etc.) I thought you guys (and Jaymc) gave good examples. Before you came along people were saying "American food sucks" and the only person I recall giving examples was Sarah McL. (who also used the grebt phrase "OUR Mexican food"). I was simply trying to get people to parse what they meant by "American" which I thought you guys contributed to well.

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm flattered, Mookieproof, and thanks indeed, but I'd prefer to think that there are always going to be great people in every country and culture and then some not-so-great, really. That's just the way of life (and I'm also painfully aware of my own particular imperfections, but that's just me).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Brazilian tourists or maybe Italians and some other cultures are much more loud than Americans. Everytime I'm in a youth hostil it's always someone yelling in Spanish instead of English.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ned is representative of the 'good' Americans who ~~often~~ always get overshadowed by our ruder, crasser, louder compatriots.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't everyone supposed to hate German tourists above all others?

― chester (synkro), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I was simply trying to get people to parse what they meant by "American" which I thought you guys contributed to well.

Oh :) I think the rapid flurry of posts there probably led to some miscommunication, then.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Americans take up more physical space. They sit with their legs farther apart and walk with their legs father apart.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:33 (twenty-two years ago)

This is true, American men are prone to inconveniently enormous penises, which I think non-Americans should keep in mind. And tell others about. Promptly.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

And we all drive our own cars, for personal space reasons. (Hell, my friend and his dad work the same hours at the same workplace and still drive seperately). And we can't stand 'close-talkers'. What can I say, we need our 'personal space'. You all would too, if you could afford it, economically or geographically.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Nice Americans = the nicest, most happy, sensitive, sweet people around. I'm going out with one of them. Bad Americans = everything but everything that's either bad with the western world, or these people make it bad.

Cheap petrol is a very, very bad thing.

― Mark C (Mark C), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

petroleum is what gas is made of.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Bad Americans = drives SUV

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 21:51 (twenty-two years ago)

anybody on holidays is obnoxious to people who aren't

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Good Americans = SWV

― di smith (lucylurex), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:00 (twenty-two years ago)

actually, from what I understand, Quebecois tourists might be the worst of all--I'm sure they're compensating

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Here in Florida, Brazilian tourists are the nightmare of theme park workers.

― fletrejet, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

>>Here in Florida, Brazilian tourists are the nightmare of theme park workers. <<

Knowing tons of people who've been down there working, I know this as truth. You'll often see a group of a hundred of them ducking turnstiles or walking straight through the middle of queueing. The only group more hated by the amusement industry are the Hascidic Jews (who generally have park buyouts where they WREAK HELL EVERYWHERE).

― Alan Conceicao, Wednesday, 9 April 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

American food = chop suey and burritos.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 10 April 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

New Jersey is the greatest state in the union. I'm so jealous of everyone who was lucky enough to have grown up there.

i'm blushing! but i've been told that princeton =/= rest of NJ, so i don't count!

― Tad (llamasfur), Thursday, 10 April 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

as fer "bizarro America," that must be either Munich or Frankfurt-am-Main. the former reminding me of a bavarian-stylee LA; the latter, Manhattan on amphetamines.

― Tad (llamasfur), Thursday, 10 April 2003 03:42 (twenty-two years ago)

My beloved Maryland cuisine is a mix of English, German, Native American, and Caribbean (which is to say mostly African and Indian-as-in-India) elements, but the specific combination and the type of ingredients available fresh and local make it a specific identifiable cuisine. I don't think that this is all that different for the cuisine of any any with a history of trade, imperialism, or immigration.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 10 April 2003 08:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I do not recognize the town I live in when Tad describes it. Manhattan on barbituates is more like it. It's a farm town with skyscrapers.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 10 April 2003 08:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Brazilian tourists or maybe Italians and some other cultures are much more loud than Americans. Everytime I'm in a youth hostil it's always someone yelling in Spanish instead of English.

I noticed Brazialians being pretty loud on the Tube in London, also some eastern Europeans talk loud too.

No one ever noticies me on the Tube anyway!

― marianna, Thursday, 10 April 2003 08:30 (twenty-two years ago)

How are American women any different than English women, Nordic?

I'm biased, Mandee.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 10 April 2003 08:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks for Poison, Bon Jovi, and Megadeth.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 10 April 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Y'know I didn't think of Maryland as having identifiable cuisine, besides crab cakes and Old Bay.. but then, my part of the state is a little dull and far from the eastern shore where you get all the good fresh seafood.
Oh Maryland, my Maryland, you are not Delaware or New Jersey.

― daria g, Thursday, 10 April 2003 20:37 (twenty-two years ago)

unfortunately i'm french, so i suppose i'm not allowed to answer

― Bruno-, Friday, 11 April 2003 00:04 (twenty-two years ago)

"unfortunately i'm french, so i suppose i'm not allowed to answer"

all the more of a reason to anwser!!

― A Nairn (moretap), Friday, 11 April 2003 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Au contraire, vous etes OBLIGE a nous dire ce que vous en pensez ! :)
Seriously, I'd like to know, pour la meilleure ou la pire.

― daria g, Friday, 11 April 2003 01:03 (twenty-two years ago)

well, i think the answer was partly in what i said

― Bruno-, Friday, 11 April 2003 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm Canadian and I was born about 90 minutes from the border. I've got no problem with Americans. I've got friends and family in the U.S. and even while travelling abroad, the Americans I've met have been 99% cool. There have been a couple of glaring exceptions but there are obnoxious people from every country.

I do disagree with a number of the American government's domestic and foreign policies, your beer is crap and I don't understand how anyone could eat pork rinds. I also hate American spelling. There's a "u" in "colour". Get with it people!!!

So to sum up: Americans good, idiots in Washington bad. Spelling is mildly annoying, but overall there are waaaay worse countries to share a border with.

However, while I'm out drinking with my buddies, I'm obliged to complain about "the bloody Yanks". I'm Canadian and that's what we do. No offence intended.

I'm also looking forward to a little revenge in the upcoming World Cup of hockey. '96 was such a fluke!

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 11 April 2003 05:53 (twenty-two years ago)

we yanks smell like wee

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 11 April 2003 06:09 (twenty-two years ago)

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