# Uniquely Distinct Americanisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676 "2004-01-22T22:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/241 "2004-01-28T15:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > smiling bandit: What was it about UselessGit’s post that you took to be your cue to give a generalised hatchet job on an entire continent? He asked why. I told him my answer. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/242 "2004-01-28T15:34:13Z")
While there clearly are a few European posters who are genuinely anti-American, there are also a few of us who indulge in a) taking the piss (which is indeed ‘mocking’, but affectionately so), and b) making enquiries or observations of certain aspects of the US that are either genuinely or debatably negative. Both of these practices seem to be greeted by some US posters as “whining” or “slamming”, due to what appears - to me - to be a kneejerk defensive posture that, IMO, isn’t necessary. ---
**Author:** ![poissongrand69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/848f3c/32.png) [@poissongrand69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poissongrand69)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/243 "2004-01-28T15:46:29Z")
[QUOTE=MartinL] I think that _rude_ is not the word I would use, uneducated or mannerless is more like it. I have never had anyone say or give me weird looks for using the fork in the left, and the knife in the right and I live in Iowa… Items like eggs or something that can be cut with the fork… then the fork is in my right hand and the left hand is on its own… I find it easier to eat this way, and quickest. I never did understand the switching the cutlery… well thats my $.02. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/244 "2004-01-28T16:32:26Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > While there clearly are a few European posters who are genuinely anti-American, there are also a few of us who indulge in a) taking the piss (which is indeed ‘mocking’, but affectionately so), and b) making enquiries or observations of certain aspects of the US that are either genuinely or debatably negative. Both of these practices seem to be greeted by some US posters as “whining” or “slamming”, due to what appears - to me - to be a kneejerk defensive posture that, IMO, isn’t necessary. As far as a) goes, **jjimm** , I think that’s just a lack of familiarity with your style of humor. Mocking here is pretty obvious and often includes some exaggeration of the thing you’re mocking. Your mocking is not so obvious, a problem compounded in person by the usual dry and straight-faced delivery and online by the lack of visual and vocal cues. To you it’s poking gentle fun; to an American it sounds like an insult. Hence the defensiveness. **The Loaded Dog** mentioned that Australians only do this with people they like, and in my experience it’s true. However, it still took some getting used to, even after months of practice. 😃 My Australian colleagues got as much of a kick out of my first impulse to take them seriously as anything. ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/245 "2004-01-28T16:40:48Z")
…add _Instingating a hijack_ to my List of Achievements at the SDMB. Thanks for the good answer, though, **Smiling Bandit**. [/Hijack] God bless us, each and every one… Actually, our president (of Iceland) says God bless this and that quite often. Doesn’t offend _me_ anyway. In fact, may Osiris, Anubis, Chandra, Freyja, Odin and every other God do so - I need all the blessings I can get. ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/246 "2004-01-28T19:05:33Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > Anybody wanna sing _God Bless America_? Do I _look_ like Kate Smith to you? 😛 Although this board _is_ beginning to resemble a hockey game… 😃 (For those who are unfamiliar, the song “God Bless America”, is best known for being performed by [Kate Smith](http://katesmith.org/), especially at hockey games…) * * * On the subject of how you hold your fork - I would speculate that the Euro method of holding both might appear “greedy” to some Americans - as if you were so hungry you couldn’t waste the half second to put the knife down… As far as that goes, one of the things they tell the gravitationally challenged (of which I am a life member) is to cut one bite, put the utensils down, pick up the fork, put the bite in your mouth, put the fork down, chew… etc… The idea is to force yourself to eat more slowly. It never slowed _me_ down, though. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/247 "2004-01-28T19:38:30Z")
This thread, and the hundreds of others that have devolved into America hatred, has finally convinced me that the yanks are the most even-tempered and thin-skinned peoples on this planet. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/248 "2004-01-28T19:40:57Z")
This thread, and the countless others which have been hijacked to take a dump on America, has convinced me that Americans are the most even-tempered, thick-skinned peoples on this planet. God Bless America. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/249 "2004-01-28T23:01:03Z")
[QUOTE] World Series: ok, it’s like calling something a world-class conference centre or whatever, but with capital letters. It’s kind of weak to say that the best talent is in the USA when AFAIK there are few countries which even PLAY baseball, let alone have professional teams. QUOTE]So you admit that pretty much all the world’s best baseball talent is playing in the same 7-month tournament, but because it’s _only_ about, oh 400 or 500 million people that the talent is drawn from, that negates the fact that the best available talent is in those leagues somehow? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/250 "2004-01-28T23:01:14Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > Anybody wanna sing _God Bless America_? > No? > > Ok. > :shuffles off: _God Bless America_ nothing. If we really want to scare the Europeans, we’ll just break out into _The Battle Hymn of the Republic._ ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/251 "2004-01-28T23:19:59Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > This thread, and the countless others which have been hijacked to take a dump on America, has convinced me that Americans are the most even-tempered, thick-skinned peoples on this planet. God Bless America. The fact that some Americans take the relatively calm discussion of perceptions and opinions about America, in a thread specifically devoted to “Uniquely Distinct Americanisms”, as “Taking a Dump on America” (and a hijack) has convinced me that those Americans definitely have a geocentric, ethnocentric, overly defensive, thin-skinned, arrogant and paranoid view of the world. Whoever said that Americans have a hard time differentiating between observations and criticism was right on. And this is coming from someone who was raised (but not born) in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/252 "2004-01-28T23:36:55Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > _God Bless America_ nothing. If we really want to scare the Europeans, we’ll just break out into _The Battle Hymn of the Republic._ 😃 Good one. Militaristic and stridently religious; I can see euro-hair standing on end already. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/253 "2004-01-28T23:40:13Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > This thread, and the countless others which have been hijacked to take a dump on America, has convinced me that Americans are the most even-tempered, thick-skinned peoples on this planet. God Bless America. This post illustrates that the great European myth “Americans don’t get irony” is utterly false. ---
**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/254 "2004-01-29T00:33:22Z")
\*\*Food[/B Only when food contains +50% sugar & +50% fat it could be tasty **Money** If you work hard you’ll be rich **Politics** USA is the home of the free **Society** USA is the only country where you can get the capital punishment under 18 and not have the permission to buy a bottle of whisky **Elections** The show must go on. Unbelieveble for an outsider. ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/255 "2004-01-29T00:38:00Z")
> [@Zweistein](#): > > **Food** Only when food contains +50% sugar & +50% fat it could be tasty > **Money** If you work hard you’ll be rich > **Politics** USA is the home of the free > **Society** USA is the only country where you can get the capital punishment under 18 and not have the permission to buy a bottle of whisky > **Elections** The show must go on. Unbelieveble for an outsider. Is that observation or criticism? Also, I don’t even understand the last one. “The show must go on?” ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/256 "2004-01-29T01:08:28Z")
QUOTE]So you admit that pretty much all the world’s best baseball talent is playing in the same 7-month tournament, but because it’s only about, oh 400 or 500 million people that the talent is drawn from, that negates the fact that the best available talent is in those leagues somehow? [/quote] My point is that they are all PLAYING FOR the same country not that they all COME FROM the same country. The WS has an international flavour but that does not make it an international competition. Most pro basketball teams in Oz have imports but it is still ONLY a national league, not an international one. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/257 "2004-01-29T01:27:11Z")
> [@boofy\_bloke](#): > > My point is that they are all PLAYING FOR the same country not that they all COME FROM the same country. The WS has an international flavour but that does not make it an international competition. Most pro basketball teams in Oz have imports but it is still ONLY a national league, not an international one. Couldn’t agree more. In the last ‘soccer’ (uggh) World Cup, the English Premiership sent more players, representing more countries, than any other national league. Nobody in England is under any delusion that we attract these players to our clubs for anything other than our Fat English Pounds (a la Bill Hicks). And the Premiership is most definately not considered ‘international’…local/regional rivalries between teams still spill onto the pitch when there’s no local players involved, ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/258 "2004-01-29T09:08:49Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > While there clearly are a few European posters who are genuinely anti-American It may not be seen much in this thread, but I would say there is a healthy amount of American posters who seem genuinely anti-European, especially when those Europeans are weird _socialist/communist/evil_(\*). (\*) Delete according to your political standpoint. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/259 "2004-01-29T09:15:54Z")
You know what really pisses me off about German tax laws, English health-care, and Swiss foreign policy…nothing! Nobody cares. Unless you live in the geological High-school called Europe. Where you can drive through 6 countries in a day. The dirty laundry of most nations doesn’t make international news, but we (Americans), being the wold’s largest superpower, have to endure that indignity. Do we have idiots living here? I’d bet we could win any idiot/moron contest you could think of. I’ll leave war records out of this, since that’s basically asking “who’s the tallest one on the playground?”. Anyway, I guess the world is waiting with baited breath…what will be the next british fashion? Teeth? Culinary taste? Sex appeal? ---
**Author:** ![porkchop\_d\_clown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@porkchop\_d\_clown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porkchop_d_clown)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676/260 "2004-01-29T11:30:55Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > It may not be seen much in this thread, but I would say there is a healthy amount of American posters who seem genuinely anti-European, especially when those Europeans are weird _socialist/communist/evil_(\*). After decades of treating Americans alternately as clowns, corrupt businessmen and military butchers, you can’t understand why Americans might feel a certain amount of resentment? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uniquely-distinct-americanisms/225676.md?page=14)