American tourists must be saving their “brash plaid” for overseas, because I never, ever see anyone wearing plaid.
Track suits in abundance. But why the knock on them anyway?
Not to drag this thread off course but there is reason to dislike the foreign imports into the Premiership and it isn’t to do with any sort of xenophobic reaction. When foregin players are brought in it damages the grass roots of the game and less attention is paid to developing home grown talent which damages the national team, which is obviously a bad thing.
That said, the British don’t exactly love all other nations, there is still a strong dislike of the Germans but with good reason, they bombed our chip shop dag-nammit!!
Aside from the accent thing (anyone who believes Americans, yes, including the president) could miss the accent is nuts) we do have about 50 bazillion towns named London, Athens, Wales, whatever.
There’re only so many names to go around!
Track suits - in their incarnation as ‘shell-suits’ are irredemiably associated with proles in the UK, particularly Liverpudlians. As in
‘What do you call a scouser in a white shell-suit? The bride.’
We British are equal opportunity stereotypers. If there’s not a ‘loud abnoxious yank’ around there’s bound to be some member of ‘the lower orders’ we can pick on. 
That book would be Notes from a Small Island. It makes a fine companion piece to his later book about returning to America, I’m a Stranger Here Myself. After those, try Beppe Severgnini’s hilarious Ciao, America! for an Italian’s view of stateside life - he noticed too many things to begin to list here.
No he wasn’t. He was criticised for it, and he couldn’t get a special medal made for the campaign, but “Bomber” Harris stayed in the RAF until 1946, when he retired and moved to South Africa.
In Canada this is a big one. The joke is that Americans all think that once you cross the border you will need snowshoes and a big parka. There was a man-on-the-street show on TV here called something like “Ask an American” where they would ask questions that would be simple to a Canadian and then laugh at the ignorant answers they got. The idea is that if you tell an American that you don’t know who the 16th president was, they will think you’re an idiot, but if you ask them who the Prime Minister of Canada is they will say it’s Celine Dion or something.
There also used to be a beer commercial where the normal, Canadian boyfriend type goes to the US office and meets his American counterpart. The American has big white Anthony Robbins teeth and a big American Dad chin and he starts right away making fun of the Canadian for saying “aboot” and starts saying things like, “How’s it goin EH? Can we get you a donut? Where’s your touque? I thought all they had up there were Lumberjacks and whores!” etc, etc, etc, laughing his head off at his own jokes until the Canadian guy loses patience and suddenly goes hockey fight on his ass.
A very old comment from WW2 , about GIs
“Over sexed , over paid and over here”
“Under sexed, under paid and under Eisenhower” - the customary retort. (Credit where credit is due.)
You’re right, I was wrong. “Bomber” Harris wasn’t fired. And he apparently left on his own terms.
Here’s a snippet from his military biography at
**For a number of years, the raid on Dresden was condemned as an unnecessary act. However, a recent publication has presented arguments that Dresden was indeed a legitimate target for the Allies and that the judgment of Harris was correct. In 1992, a statue to Harris was unveiled near Trafalgar Square in London. Within 24 hours, red paint was poured over it - such was/is the controversy the beliefs of Harris caused.
**
But even if the report mentioned above truly vindicates Harris, the Brits’ humanity in so strenuously denouncing the bombings remains as ineffably admirable from my point of view.
Wife and I have read both Bryson books you mentioned (plus if I’m not mistaken, his opus on Italy) and still another on his walk along the Appalachian Trail.
We’ve made a note to get Severgnini’s book. Thank you very much.
I have read all three books and have enjoyed them. However, both Bryson and Beppe’s essays featured the occasional glaring error. Unfortunately, I can’t recall any of them off the top of my head. All I remember is at least one instance in which Beppe, illustrating a difference between English and American, got them glaringly backwards!
Would that be Brig. Reginald E. H. Dyer? No, wrong chap.
I’m sorry. That was too harsh.
I agree with the general point on the admirability of the English.
WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP! Attention Straight Dope customers, we have a reasonable and honest person in the “Cheap jokes about Americans” thread. Said person has admitted error in a statement he previously made. This type of person and statement does not appear often customers, so view it while you can.
Thing is, football is so full of hatred, you have to have some variety. Shit fat bastard, shit Geordie, anything. It’s nothing particular about nationality (except when the Italians start diving…)
A lot of that in the football thread was owlstretchingtime letting off steam before finally leaving the boards.
Well, originally we bought the Venus DiMilo but we returned it when we saw that the arms were broken off.
babaBoom.
America…
Land of the HUGE portions!
Hey! Everything I know about Canada, eh?, I learned from Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, eh? So take off, eh? 
It used to be so much easier, all I had to do was remind myself of the word **cretin **and voila!
I am not American.