# Map of the world according to Americans! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554 "2011-10-13T16:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/41 "2011-10-14T05:03:16Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Wait… where’s Lord of the Rings land? I think it’s near that kangaroo place. And Harry Potter land! Or is that included in the pussy territory? Harry Potter Land is in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/42 "2011-10-14T07:47:20Z")
I just find it annoying because it’s an extremely old concept and thus not funny. And it’s not being told by someone with the ability to make old stuff funny. It’s like reading the modern Sunday Comics\*. The only thing that would be interesting about these would be if they were actually accurate. When they aren’t, they just seem stupid. \*But at least those are fun for nostalgia purposes. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/43 "2011-10-14T11:30:54Z")
Jeez you two are as humourless as the atheists on Landover Baptist. [Here’s one from the 1980s](http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/toryatlasoftheworld2.jpg) based on English prejudices. Note that the UK is massive, Scotland is essentially an island connected to England by only a strip of road, Canada is labeled “UK”, the Republic of Ireland is missing, and other parts of the world get called with racist epithets (“Bongo Bongo Land” being a phrase actually used by a Tory MP), etc. etc. It’s an oldie but a goodie and is transferrable. Get off the cross. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/44 "2011-10-14T11:51:32Z")
[Here’s one I made earlier](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Gyrate/Englande.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/45 "2011-10-14T12:02:05Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > … Scotland is essentially an island connected to England by only a strip of road … Isn’t the point of that strip of land the omission of England north of Grantham? That is, the Tory view of the world ignores the Labour-voting industrial north of England. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/46 "2011-10-14T14:28:15Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Many Americans do, in fact, have first hand experience with getting bounced out of jobs because industry is moving _to_ Mexico, and for lots of people, this phenomenon would be what comes to mind when they think of Mexico. > [@](#): > > Some Americans think that the French are pussies. > [@](#): > > I think the summary of the African continent for most Americans would not be “zoo animals” but rather “AIDS and civil wars.” Guys, the problem is that the map isn’t _mean enough_!\*\* AT\*\* is irritated that the jokes are lighthearted and silly, rather than scathing and offensive! Implying that Americans hold prejudices about the rest of the world is WRONG; but saying that Mexicans steal our jobs, the French are pussies, and everyone in Africa has AIDS is clever! > [@](#): > > As I said before, if you think it’s funny, then feel free to laugh at it. :rolleyes: Thanks for your permission. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/47 "2011-10-14T18:16:15Z")
I’m reminded of this classic New Yorker cover. [The world as seen from New York’s 9th Avenue](http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/48 "2011-10-14T19:53:19Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > \ Canada is labeled “UK”\ If you look closely, you can see that there is a narrow strip of land labelled “Canada” along the northern border with the US. The northern part is all UK, though. 🙂 Now, regarding the humour-impaired in this thread; if only there was some way that they could have been warned what the content in this thread was. Like, a descriptive title or something. ETA: I also see, on closer inspection, that Nicaragua has a border with Russia. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/49 "2011-10-15T12:59:07Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Not even the dumbest Americans are unaware of Toronto, which has professional basketball and baseball teams that play against American teams. I don’t think the map was all that funny either. But I don’t think that a statement that starts “not even the dumbest…” means what you think it means. A woman working at a Dunkin Donuts in Connecticut asked me where New Hampshire was. If she didn’t know where something 100 miles away from her was, I have no problem believing that there are some people who don’t even know where Canada is, let alone Toronto. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/50 "2011-10-15T14:08:03Z")
while I’m sympathetic to **Argent Towers’s** argument in that I’ve seen that damn map so many times it would no longer be funny anyway (not to mention I’m also tired of people whining that I “don’t have a sense of humor” because of it,) it’s not like we don’t do that internally too. I want to punch anyone who even utters the words “flyover country.” > [@CairoCarol](#): > > I will give you one counter-example that I am deeply familiar with. Indonesia is no better or worse than the US in terms of its people and their foibles. But I assure you, among the Indonesian citizenry the unequivocal notion that Indonesia is “the best” in most measurable ways is emphatically not the case. and a counter to your counter would be Japan. They may be quiet about it, but there is a very real sense of superiority/supremacy and more than a hint of xenophobia (if not downright racism) throughout the culture. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/51 "2011-10-15T14:57:10Z")
“Filthy Shoplifting Arabville” and “Greasy Gaucho Spic Land”. Now, _THAT_ is funny! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/52 "2011-10-15T17:13:39Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > ETA: I also see, on closer inspection, that Nicaragua has a border with Russia. 😃 And Portugal is hanging off pretty much everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/53 "2011-10-15T20:10:18Z")
One thought I had reading the map,“There are Muslim terrorists in Sri Lanka?” Otherwise I laughed at the exaggerated stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/54 "2011-10-16T00:25:19Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I’m reminded of this classic New Yorker cover. > > [The world as seen from New York’s 9th Avenue](http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.JPG) Damn, I was going to post that. Makes me laugh every time because it’s so true. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/55 "2011-10-16T12:32:34Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > and a counter to your counter would be Japan. They may be quiet about it, but there is a very real sense of superiority/supremacy and more than a hint of xenophobia (if not downright racism) throughout the culture. Apologies if I left the impression that my point was “America is the _only_ country in which citizens generally think it it ‘the best.’” That wasn’t what I meant at all, and I’m sure you can find examples outside America of extreme nationalism/arrogance. My point was that, contrary to what **Argent Towers** said, the attitude that “we’re the best” is NOT shared by “basically every country on the planet.” On the contrary, while that kind of arrogance exists in a number of places, a more humble world view exists as well. **Argent Towers** was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/56 "2011-10-16T12:48:37Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Apologies if I left the impression that my point was “America is the _only_ country in which citizens generally think it it ‘the best.’” That wasn’t what I meant at all, and I’m sure you can find examples outside America of extreme nationalism/arrogance. > > My point was that, contrary to what **Argent Towers** said, the attitude that “we’re the best” is NOT shared by “basically every country on the planet.” On the contrary, while that kind of arrogance exists in a number of places, a more humble world view exists as well. **Argent Towers** was wrong. well, you know, it’s “excluded middles” all over in this place. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/57 "2011-10-16T18:37:32Z")
Is it just me, or does “excluded middles” sound like some kind of food dish to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554/58 "2011-10-16T19:19:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Is it just me, or does “excluded middles” sound like some kind of food dish to anyone else? it’s not very filling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/map-of-the-world-according-to-americans/599554.md?page=2)