Oh no, I didn’t mean you could tell the difference between every accent, surely that would be impossible. Clearly my accent stood out as Canadian though, because even the people I was staying with were ribbing me about the way I say “aboot” instead of “about”. There are certain small things that make up a Canadian accent.
Perhaps I should have made it clearer.
Sorry, I am sorta new at this. 
No need to be sorry about such a detail. But I too think you’re mistaken. Maybe people can tell a canadian and an american apat in english-speaking countries, like Australia, but I somehow doubt it will be the case in other countries.
I have spent most of my life in the UK and Australia and a dislike of Americans is quite common in both countries. I have often encountered people both at school and later in my working life who express contempt for the US and for its people. Funnily enough they still are quite happy to watch US TV shows and films and drink Coca-Cola.
One more thing I have observed is that they will often be nice to Americans they meet but mock and lampoon them behind their backs. That may be why you have never noticed it when travelling.
Most of these people believe one or more of the following: Americans are war-mongers, in love with themselves, care about nothing but money, are gun-toting gangsters, can’t speak the Queen’s English, have horrible fashion sense, are loud, obnoxious, ignorant and stupid. ‘Bloody Americans’, ‘Flamin’ Yanks’, ‘Damned Septics’, etc, etc, etc…
I’ve been to the US and worked with Americans and know that these views are just silly stereotypes. I also know they are just as likely to apply to many Australians and Brits, usually the ones who are bigoted enough to think like this.
Not everyone in Australia and the UK hold these views, but a large chunk of the population does. Its probably a part of being the centre of world attention. You are very visible and therefore an easy target for bigotry.
Oh, of course it would be much harder to tell in a country that wasn’t english-speaking. I wasn’t trying to make the case for that at all. After all, I’ve only had experience travelling to Australia, and once to Jamaica. I know it’s a generalization, but most people in the places outside of Canada I have gone can recognize a Canadian accent. However since there are such few words Americans and Canadians pronounce distinctly, it usually only becomes clear after speaking with somebody for a few minutes.
There are also Canadians and Americans that are relatively accentless of course.
I believe there are areas along coastal Virginia that use a similar pronunciation.
Nope. We all speak in dialects. Even monkeys have accents.
Welcome to the Straight Dope!
Yeh, overweight people rate right up there with the ill-mannered and the drunks for being sucky people. :rolleyes:
mswas, if you “hate France,” but you’ve never been there, then you are a bigot. You don’t know enough of France to hate it. Maybe you hate some of the decisions that the government of France has made. That’s not the same.
The same is true for those who claim to “hate America” when they have never been here or if they have known only American tourists. Being here is different. We are not our government. I join them in detesting our government’s direction.
I have been treated with great warmth abroad, most recently in France. What we noticed it Paris was a great deal of pride and if we joined in the celebration of the magnificence and were happy with them, the city was full of smiles for us. People went out of their way to be helpful. So much merriment was a surprise!
Haha well, I give up.
I guess there isn’t a “Canadian” accent, and an “American” accent.
Amazing the myths that can embed themselves so fully into the mind 
Don’t know about going nuts. But mistaking someone’s country is a minor faux pas in Europe. Like mistaking Norwegians for Swedes or Dutch for Germans Irish for English etc. And I suppose Canadians for (US) Americans. It happens all the time. But you’re supposed to apologize when it happens.
Jotun, I’m from a “y’all” region, and I know that even most americans laugh at me when they here me say it for the first time. That’s why when I’m abroad and I speak English, I’m surprised when people say, “You’re American? You don’t have an American accent.” I ask them what the accent is, but they can’t tell me. I mean the difference between Massachussets, Michigan, Colorado, and South Carolina accents seems, to me at least, pretty significant.
Case in point, the famous Souther: “Yone-two?” for “Do you want to?”
mswas, amen about the nationalism/patriotism. I had no choice where I was born, so I can take no pride in the things other people from my spatial location did. I can only take pride, hopefully not too much, in the good things that I do, no matter where I do them.
Anne Neville, I know it’s not true. I live in Paris. I spent all last year going from Italy to Bosnia to Poland, Sweden, UK, etc. etc. I know it’s not true. I find people around the world, so far, incredibly friendly and hospitable. I mean, we Southerners pride ourselves all the time on “Southern Hospitality,” but I’ve had people go well out of their way to help me out when I’m abroad, and I couldn’t honestly tell you that someone in Charleston, SC would do the same thing.
Telvido, I was recently writing an article for a very conservative newspaper in South Carolina (trying to present an opposite argument for the “everyone hates us so we’ll hate them back” battle cry I hear so often) and trying to explain the different views in patriotism was one of my biggest stumbling points. Some people in the states just can’t grasp that excessive patriotism could be a bad thing.
I’d like to ask this question, in the same vein, which I hope isn’t a hijack of my own post, is there any other developed country where questioning the actions of the government can be considered by a significant amount of the population as anti-(that country)? Just as is so often said in the states of people questioning the wars, the foreign policy, etc.
That’s all for now.
I also wanted to mention, as far as apologizing to a Canandian for being American, that I think part of it is that if someone has what is considered the “American” accent is going to be assumed right off to be American, not Canadian. I’ve traveled a lot with Canadians and I’ve heard the apologies often, but it seems to me more in the “you must get that a lot” sense.
I could be wrong.
I’ve spent a fair chunk of the last couple years in Europe, and yes, I think anti-Americanism exists. It is rarely of the type where people will give you a dirty look or push you in the mud when they hear your accent (as others have said, most people the world over are more or less polite, even with people they dislike), but it definitely is there. Earlier this year I worked as a night porter at a hotel in the UK. When people came into the lobby at 3am wanting food and drinks, it was my job to serve them. Often the people were pretty chatty, and would ask where I was from when they heard my accent. When I said I was an American, by far the most common response was along the lines of, “Oh! Well, you’re obviously a bright, intelligent, normal person, but don’t you think there are a lot of stupid Americans? I’m not saying you’re dumb, but your country is so…”, followed by a litany of dumb things they’d heard or seen Americans do. Often this would evolve into a rant about our politics, and George Bush in particular. On one memorable occassion, a guy started screaming in the lobby about how he wanted to kill George Bush.
Admittedly, those people were mostly under the influence of alcohol to one degree or another. (And lest you think that I happened to provoke them into the conversation, remember that I was on the job and had to be polite and non-commital in all my answers.) But even from my friends, I would hear occassional comments along the same lines, though put more politely: “You know, you’re the first American I’ve really liked. I can’t stand most of you, but you’re alright.” Several times I’ve actually had people tell me that I’m not “really” an American – because, I guess, a “real” American is dumb, loud, militant, or whatever.
So that’s the most common kind of anti-Americanism I’ve experienced. (And it kind of puts you in an odd place – ostensibly you’re being praised, but at the expense of all of your family and friends back home.) Criticism of American policies is also extremely common. And while that’s not necessarily anti-Americanism (I’m no friend of the current administration myself), the ways people express it often makes it feel like it is. In general it seems like the rules of polite discourse get discarded when the subjects of American politics and society come up – it’s as though people feel so comfortable and familiar with the country that they don’t think they have to be polite when discussing it. I’m no fan of Fidel Castro, but if I met a Cuban and the subject came up I would never start off by talking about how much I despise him and how stupid the Cuban people are for letting him stay in power. It’s just…rude! But lots of people don’t seem to have that restraint when it comes to the US. Like I said, I think that’s partly a result of how familiar everyone thinks they are with the US – even if they’ve learned everything they know about the country through TV and movies.
I don’t mean to overstate the case: there’s no reason for anyone to be afraid of traveling through Europe because of anti-Americanism, and most people you interact with are going to be polite to you.
A few things:
You say you haven’t seen anti-Americanism, but doesn’t the fact that they originally didn’t want to spend time with you smack of anti-Americanism? It might have worked out alright in the end, but if they are representative of their compatriots, that’s not a very good place for them to be starting from.
No offence to all the nice Canadians on this board (and around the world), but YES, in my experience, Canadians are the most blatant anti-Americans. This is mostly based on my experience with Canadian travelers outside North America, which is probably not representative of Canadians as a whole. Usually it comes across as a big chip on the shoulder, and/or an attempt to prove to everyone else that they are NOT Americans. One girl I met in a hostel told me she would “shoot herself” if she were an American; a Canadian guy in the same room punched his fist in the air and declared to everyone that he “never has and never will” support American policy. A very nice Canadian girl regretfully told me that yes, she believes that the average American is dumber than the average Canadian. Often these types of comments are followed quickly by a list of Hollywood stars who are actually Canadian!!, and statistics about the number of times Canada has been ranked number one by the UN. It gets really, really old.
In spite of the anti-Americanism (or, more accurately, BECAUSE of it), I too wish we had a more open border. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to work freely in each other’s countries. (And no, in most cases I don’t think you can tell American and Canadian accents apart, at least until someone says “sorry” or “about.”)
When I studied abroad, a guy from the American embassy came by to talk to us and told us to do this! I was amazed that a government official would actually recommend that we effectively deny that we were American citizens. I’m proud to say, though, that I did NOT follow his advice, and have never put any flag on my backpack (or lied to someone and said I was a Canadian).
Side note: ever notice that whenever people try to imitate an American accent, it always ends up sounding like a New York accent? They immediately go for the nasal thing. Hmm.
In fairness (and maybe I’m too young or biased to know otherwise), that seems to me to be a uniquely Republican thing with this war and administration. People who criticized Clinton’s policies were called many things, but they weren’t called anti-American.
Anyways, I’d imagine there’s some of that kind of thing in Israel. And I have the impression (unsubstantiated?) that that might happen in France as well – I seem to recall reading articles about French people who wanted to dismantle the welfare system and end the CAP program were accused of being against the French state, though I can’t give a cite for that.
I’ve considered this a lot. One of the things that has shocked me is how much our own government is that they overreact so much in posting travel warnings, in giving the impression that Americans will never be greeted with a smile, etc.
It’s just the price you pay for being from such a wicked awesome country. (sarcasm)
About what I said about my friends, yes, perhaps that’s an example of anti-Americanism, but that’s what I’m trying to figure out here. But, then again, if it were anti-Americanism, they wouldn’t have spoken to me, unless it was to curse me for all that my country does, no?
I’ve never seen anything like that in France. The only group I could see doing that is Le Pen and his beloved Front National. Clairobscur would be a better person to ask, though, than I.
Yes, anti Americanism exists and it is pandemic in the UK. I cannot tell you how many people (usually educated and moderately intelligent) buy into the meme that all Americans are stupid.
As even sven said:
So let’s try it: “You know, when I found out you were black, I didn’t really want to spend time with you, but, honestly, you’ve completely changed the way I look at blacks, and how I generalize people of any race.”
It’s not quite so hard-hitting as it might be because of the second part of the sentence (where the speaker learns that, hey – not all black people are bad!), but the first part shows that they undeniably started out as a racist – or, to use the original example, an anti-American. The person in question happily was able to grow out of it, but suppose this person hadn’t had the opportunity to go abroad and meet a nice American like yourself that could change her mind. She’d be back in Sweden/Panama/South Korea still holding the same prejudiced views. And if her original feelings were shared among most people from her country, then we’ve got a problem.
You’ve got to be kidding. Criticising the actions of our government is our national sport.
I’ll reinforce the: “Against the country not the individuals” atitude of anti-americanism. Especially since any american with enough intelligence and curiosity to travel beyond the borders of the US must be a pretty decent guy. At least he got his head out to see something outside americana. Now should he blabber about Bush the hero he most certainly will be talking alone very soon.
I didn’t read anyone mention that a lot of anti-americanism is reflected by other atitudes… like avoiding traveling to the US. Many because of the hassles of security. I myself even having family in the US, don’t feel as much interest about tourism in the US as before Bush and 9/11. I’d rather go somewhere else.
And criticizing some of the policies of your government won’t make some of your countrymen accuse you of being anti-Israeli? Because that’s certainly been known to happen outside Israel.
I would argue that anyone living more than an hour from New York City has no idea what makes a good pizza.
The basic European attitude towards Americans is that we are ignorant, uncouth simpletons and they can’t figure out how the hell we are so successfull and dominant in just about everything. But for the most part, when I travel abroad, I have not experienced any “Yankee go home!!!” attitude.
Don’t forget we have a similar attitude towards Europeans. We tend to view them as flakey, lazy and almost effeminate (doesn’t help when you take a couple of Brits to Coyote Ugly style bar and they keep ordering Sambuka shots). That doesn’t mean we hate Europeans (except for the French).
There’s a sense of an opportunity missed with the USA too. I mean, you start a country from scratch, you’ve got ties with countries all over the world given that the nation-state itself was started by immigrants, and you’ve got shedloads of natural resources. The opportunity was there to build some approximation of utopia, a healthy, strong yet compassionate country that would lead the world by example, not brute force or economic bullying.
As mentioned, there’s a definite culture gap between the US and the rest of the world, particularly (as has been mentioned) with regard to patriotism. I recall a lone American engineer working in the UK for a few months; nice chap, friendly enough, but his Windows background of majestic eagle against the Stars And Stripes would be seen as dubious on so many levels anywhere else in the world.
For the record, the USA did rather nicely out of World War 2, and America can trace it’s current position of global domination directly to the assault on Pearl Harbour. For the rest of Europe, WW2 started a couple of years earlier, and the US initially refused to shift from it’s isolationist foreign policy and get involved. If Europeans aren’t grateful for GIs “rescuing our asses in WW2”, then this is why. That and all the carpet bombing of occupied Europe - lots of places were completely flattened.
It’s a shame about US foreign policy, because the vast majority of Americans are decent, polite, friendly and helpful. If only they would stop electing exactly the wrong sort of person for President…