# The Brits are OK and America should lighten up **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 26, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581 "2003-05-26T15:28:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/101 "2003-05-29T11:17:32Z")
jjimm, ever heard of “a tall man in a low land” by Harry Pierson? It’s a book about the belgians, written by an Englishman (a very funny one, too). It’s spot on, describes the belgians better than I could’ve done. If you’d like to come up with a stereotype, I betcha you can find it in that book. We’re not that different from the Irish, history wise, except that the English were our allies and the French our enemies… hey, we, the Belgians, provided the English with _and_ chips, _and_ hops for your famous bitter. So there 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/102 "2003-05-29T11:22:09Z")
If anybody wants me, I’ll be on a patch of wasteground setting fire to a fridge. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/103 "2003-05-29T11:43:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kal \* > \*\*If anybody wants me, I’ll be on a patch of wasteground setting fire to a fridge. \*\* Taking a break from beating the wife, so;). I’ll be standing on a cliff gazing over the Atlantic reciting poetry with a pint of Guiness in my hand and a flame haired beauty by my side. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/104 "2003-05-29T11:51:35Z")
- Let’s not call them anything, let’s just ignore them. - Nothing could be more derogatory than “Belgians”. - Miserable fat Belgian bastards. - Phlegms. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/105 "2003-05-29T12:01:33Z")
oy, if yer going to bash me, to it correctly: don’t equate the Flemish with Belgians. The Walloons mightn’t like it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/106 "2003-05-29T12:07:29Z")
Que? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/107 "2003-05-29T12:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > Taking a break from beating the wife, so;). Well, it is her birthday. That and I’m knackered out from robbing all those Norfolk farmhouses. > [@](#): > > I’ll be standing on a cliff gazing over the Atlantic reciting poetry with a pint of Guiness in my hand and a flame haired beauty by my side. Now that’s not fair, going for the romantic stereotypes. If we’re allowed to do that, then I’ll be sat by a campfire in a wooded glade playing a mournful tune on a violin, with the last rays of the evening sun glinting off my golden earring. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/108 "2003-05-29T12:11:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfje \* > \*\*oy, if yer going to bash me, to it correctly: > > don’t equate the Flemish with Belgians. The Walloons mightn’t like it > > 🙂 \*\* Wasn’t me, it was Monty Python. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/109 "2003-05-29T12:12:02Z")
Just call them Frogs 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/110 "2003-05-29T12:20:24Z")
the main Belgian stereotype on the continent is that we’re stupid (sound familiar, Irish Dopers?) the French and Dutch especially like taking the piss out of us (but don’t try and slag them back, as they’ll be offended…) Kambuckta: There are 3 main deomgraphic groups in Belgium: The Flemish, living in Flanders, the Northern part of the country (official language: Dutch - 6 million) the Walloons, living in Wallonia or the Southern part of the country (speaking French - 4 million) and a cuppla hundred thousand German speaking Belgians, in what we call the Oostkantons. That particular part was negotiated after WWI, and used to be part of Prussia. The country itself is quite young, still, founded in 1830. Actually the country itself is a contradiction in terms. And that’s what makes it so hard to find something in common we can then profilate as a stereotype… But keep em coming, I’m havin’ fun! ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/111 "2003-05-29T12:25:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfje \* > But keep em coming, I’m havin’ fun! Sprout breath. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/112 "2003-05-29T12:26:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*Wasn’t me, it was Monty Python. \*\* And you beat me to it. “And the winner is…_MISERABLE FAT BELGIAN BASTARDS!_” ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/113 "2003-05-29T12:30:46Z")
ugh, I hate sprouts! Never eat them Ever heard of Witlof? Now that’s a typical Belgian vegetable, chicorei is made from it, too. From the same plant i mean, not the same part 🙂 wasn’t it Monty Python, too, that said: “Quick, quick, the Belgians are coming!” Still wonder why they had to be quick. It’s not as if we are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/114 "2003-05-29T12:34:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manwithaplan \* > \*\* > > I’ll be standing on a cliff gazing over the Atlantic reciting poetry with a pint of Guiness in my hand and a flame haired beauty by my side. \*\* and being a real irishman, ofcourse you’ll be concentrating on the fuinnes and the not falling off the cliff when you’re plastered, and completely ignore the flame haired beauty by your side. At best you’ll send her to get you another pint. good pig, i say, _good_ pig! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/115 "2003-05-29T12:44:39Z")
Belgian stereotypes? Just look at Poirot! Moustaches and bald heads are the order of the day. And mayonnaise. And moules frites. And beer. Good god, the beer. Actually, come to think of it, hair or lack thereof aside it sounds pretty bloody good to me. pan ---
**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:** [May 29, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/116 "2003-05-29T12:48:42Z")
Can’t forget Douglas Adams (and I trust this is small enough to slip in under the quotation restrictions): > [@](#): > > “The Most Gratuitous Use of the Word “Belgium” in a Serious Screenplay. It’s very prestigious.” > “The most gratuitous use of which word?” asked Arthur, with a determined attempt to keep his brain in neutral. > “Belgium,” said the girl, “I hardly like to say it.” > “Belgium?” exclaimed Arthur. > A drunken seven-toed sloth staggered past, gawked at the word and threw itself backward at a blurry-eyed pterodactyl, roaring with displeasure. > “Are we talking,” said Arthur, “about the very flat country, with all the EEC and the fog?” > “What?” said the girl. > “Belgium,” said Arthur. > “Raaaaaarrrchchchchch!” screeched the pterodactyl. > “Grrruuuuuurrrghhhh,” agreed the seven-toed sloth. > “They must be thinking of Ostend Hoverport,” muttered Arthur. He turned back to the girl. > “Have you ever been to Belgium in fact?” he asked brightly and she nearly hit him. > “I think,” she said, restraining herself, “that you should restrict that sort of remark to something artistic.” > “You sound as if I just said something unspeakable rude.” > “You did.” > > In today’s modern Galaxy there is of course very little still held to be unspeakable. Many words and expressions which only a matter of decades ago were considered so distastefully explicit that, were they merely to be breathed in public, the perpetrator would be shunned, barred from polite society, and in extreme cases shot through the lungs, are now thought to be very healthy and proper, and their use in everyday speech and writing is seen as evidence of a well-adjusted, relaxed and totally un\*\*\*\*ed-up personality. > > So, for instance, when in a recent national speech the Financial Minister of the Royal World Estate of Quarlvista actually dared to say that due to one thing and another and the fact that no one had made any food for a while and the king seemed to have died and most of the population had been on holiday now for over three years, the economy was now in what he called “one whole joojooflop situation,” everyone was so pleased that he felt able to come out and say it that they quite failed to note that their entire five-thousand-year-old civilization had just collapsed overnight. > > But even though words like “joojooflop,” “swut,” and “turlingdrome” are now perfectly acceptable in common usage there is one word that is still beyond the pale. The concept it embodies is so revolting that the publication or broadcast of the word is utterly forbidden in all parts of the Galaxy except for use in Serious Screenplays. There is also, or _was_, one planet where they didn’t know what it meant, the stupid turlingdromes. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/117 "2003-05-29T12:49:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*Belgian stereotypes? Just look at Poirot! > > Moustaches and bald heads are the order of the day. And mayonnaise. And moules frites. > > And beer. Good god, the beer. > > Actually, come to think of it, hair or lack thereof aside it sounds pretty bloody good to me. > > pan \*\* problem with poirot is he dunn’t exist. 🙂 but yes, the beer is divine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/118 "2003-05-29T13:03:53Z")
Doesn’t exist, yet exemplifies the stereotype. That’s all I’m saying. **jr8** , in my copy it’s the most gratuitous use of the word “fuck” in a screenplay. Where has this Belgium thing come from? pan ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/119 "2003-05-29T13:06:30Z")
In H2G2, “Belgium” and “Ghent” are both swear words. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581/120 "2003-05-29T13:10:15Z")
i knew there was a good reason I left the country 1 more year and I’ll be an honorary irish colleen! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brits-are-ok-and-america-should-lighten-up/177581.md?page=7)