# Anglo-American Unnecessary Tensions **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440 "2009-08-05T17:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/1 "2009-08-05T17:40:14Z")
I’ve lived in the US for 15 years now. I consider it my home in many, if not most, ways. I own a house here. My son lives here. I’m not qualified to work in the UK. I’m here for the duration as far as I can see. But much of me will always miss Britain, and many British things. What has been really pissing me off recently is what I see from both British people and American people. British people have to be snooty about everything American, and American people have to tell me everything over here beats everything in the UK. This, of course, excludes the small subset of Americans who feel the need to tell me how everything in Britain is better than everything in the US – really no better. I love things about both countries, and both countries have pretty major faults. What is the problem with recognizing the good and bad in both? There is nothing that makes you a worse American, whatever that means, by acknowledging that an English summers day, in the high 70’s, with a light breeze and no humidity, is more pleasant than a typical D.C. August day of 98 and 95% humidity…. And there is nothing un-British about saying that we don’t get anywhere near enough of the bloody things, because it is usually raining. Sometimes being Mid-Atlantic really gets my goat. I don’t like feeling torn between two competitive groups, each of which seem to me to be just making dicks of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/2 "2009-08-05T17:44:06Z")
I’ve heard that the English language lacks a word for “nuance.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/3 "2009-08-05T17:44:44Z")
I think most of it is just a friendly rivalry. We make fun of each other, but that’s because we care. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/4 "2009-08-05T17:49:36Z")
When it comes to the big stuff the Americans and British will always go to the wall for each other. A common history, language, culture and values bind us together far more than anything else pulls us apart. (That goes for the Aussies, the Kiwis and the Canucks too). ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/5 "2009-08-05T17:54:02Z")
The friendly rivalry stuff is fun, and I have no problem with it. I am just finding myself getting dragged down by the non-stop petty, bickering bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/6 "2009-08-05T18:10:10Z")
Well, you appear to live in the DC area. We are all irritable this time of year due to the weather. Are you sure it’s not politics that are bugging you? Because that is a full time hobby inside the beltway. I see this kind of thing as simple family squabbling. I do have a small problem with my friends who use a lot British slang in an effort to be cool, because, you know, the Brits have the be slang, but all in all a little sibling rivalry helps keep both countries on their toes. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/7 "2009-08-05T19:01:34Z")
I love your royalty. Your Queen is the world’s greatest head of state. I don’t like the fact that our president is both head of government and head of state. I like your pomp. I like your obsession with precision and timing. I like your accents, from Northeast England miners to London Cockney to the perfect diction of Her Majesty. I don’t like your food. I don’t like your sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/8 "2009-08-05T19:32:39Z")
Well if you don’t like it why not do something about it. For starters you can tell me what to do with this jar of Branson Pickle I have in my fridge - how are you supposed to eat this stuff? It’s not that it tastes bad - I just don’t know what to put it on/in/over. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/9 "2009-08-05T19:38:16Z")
Cheese sandwich. But you need real bread and real cheese, which you can’t find in the US. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/10 "2009-08-05T19:46:22Z")
I prefer our version of the definition of ‘pie’. I prefer your TV drama shows. I prefer our comedy. I generally prefer your box-office films. I prefer your famous people. I prefer our health-care system. I prefer your cities. I could go on and on. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/11 "2009-08-05T20:11:55Z")
I guess my frustration, **Lobsang** , is that all of those things are as much “mine” now, or equally not mine. I just ran into a classic example of what I mean on a friend’s Facebook page. A comment about “telling the Brits we saved them twice.” Even ignoring the questionable historical elements of such comments, I look at the commentator’s picture, and see he is in his 30s. Certainly doesn’t look like he was storming Omaha beach, or picking his way up Monte Cassino. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/12 "2009-08-05T20:28:24Z")
I agree. “We saved your ass” carries with it the following implication… “You silly little country went and got yourself into some trouble, because you’re silly and stupid. We the big tough country got you out of that trouble because we’re noble and brave and the best country in the world and now you owe us”. It’s the wrong kind of national pride. One should take pride in being a friend to other countries and being liked by them, not in being better than them. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/13 "2009-08-05T22:30:33Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I agree. “We saved your ass” carries with it the following implication… > > “You silly little country went and got yourself into some trouble, because you’re silly and stupid. We the big tough country got you out of that trouble because we’re noble and brave and the best country in the world and now you owe us”. > > It’s the wrong kind of national pride. One should take pride in being a friend to other countries and being liked by them, not in being better than them. But the people who make such claims are likely not the ones who would actually fight by a friends side. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/14 "2009-08-05T22:42:02Z")
I like to start off by telling my British friends that their American is atrocious. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/15 "2009-08-05T22:42:05Z")
Up until about 20 to 25 years ago, the UK had the advantage over the US in terms of the overall quality of its beer. However, due to the explosion of micro and craft brews, I would say it’s now at least even between the two countries. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/16 "2009-08-05T22:52:30Z")
Why do you hate America? Why do you hate England? What other countries have you lived in, and now hate? 😛 Can I interest you in hating Canada? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/17 "2009-08-05T23:59:08Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Cheese sandwich. But you need real bread and real cheese, which you can’t find in the US. 😛 I don’t know about British bread, but here in the San Francisco Bay Area I can get imported English farmhouse cheddar pretty easily. Is that real enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/18 "2009-08-06T01:43:10Z")
Can’t we overlook our differences and focus on what we have in common? Such as how we’re both victims of Rupert Murdoch. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/19 "2009-08-06T01:48:15Z")
[QUOTE= Lobsang] I agree. “We saved your ass” carries with it the following implication… “You silly little country went and got yourself into some trouble, because you’re silly and stupid. We the big tough country got you out of that trouble because we’re noble and brave and the best country in the world and now you owe us”. It’s the wrong kind of national pride. One should take pride in being a friend to other countries and being liked by them, not in being better than them. [/QUOTE] I’m sorry, I can’t read German. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440/20 "2009-08-06T02:09:34Z")
Do what I did, I was born in Virginia, but moved to DC. Then you can look down on everyone, because of the lack of voting rights, you are essentially in internal exile, plus it’s fun to watch the suburbanites parallel park in Georgetown. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anglo-american-unnecessary-tensions/505440.md?page=2)