# What does Nationality A think of Nationality B? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252 "2005-09-18T20:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/21 "2005-09-20T17:42:34Z")
An Austrian, a Liechtensteiner, and a (German-speaking) Swiss are stranded on a desert island. Who gets eaten first? Would the arrival of a Berliner change the outcome? ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/22 "2005-09-20T18:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > What do people who live in Oregon think of people who live in California? Well, we used to have a big sign on the border at I-5 that said “Welcome to Oregon. Now go home!” (not an exact quote, but I’m not feeling like looking it up, you get the gist). Oregonians don’t actually hate Californians, but they definitely resent it when they relocate here after selling their hugely inflated California property & buy much more home than the average Oregonian, then turn around and tell us all “how we did it in California” and try to make us do things the same - hence the use of the term “Californication” to mean “the process of screwing up a place by trying to make it ‘just like we did it in California.’” And don’t even get the Seattleites started on Californians! ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/23 "2005-09-20T18:26:14Z")
Same deal in Maine with those Massachusetts people. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/24 "2005-09-20T18:39:37Z")
I had to smile at one of the “what does the world think of the U.S.” threads when I read someone from the U.K. list in the “pro” column: Annoy the French ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/25 "2005-09-20T18:49:14Z")
North Indians and South Indians bitch about one another constantly. According to North Indians, South Indians are unattractive and conservative (don’t drink alcohol, overly religious, strange). According to South Indians, North Indians are dumb and conservative (beat their wives, live in villages, strange). Although I’ve found that in cosmopolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi that stuff has become much less important but there’s still an undercurrent of resentment. I was never able to completely be part of the Asian club at my school b/c it was controlled by South Indians and I was too “North” for them even though I’m usually too “South” for North Indian people (I’m from a border state). The other N. Indian girl and I were pretty much excommunicated b/c we couldn’t speak either Tamil or Malayali. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/26 "2005-09-20T19:34:07Z")
How many of you have been on an airline flight where you developed a sudden dislike for the person sitting next to you, for no reason other than \*they were sitting next to you? \* You scorned their choice of drink, you heaped contempt upon their main course selection - all because they were sitting next to you. Those people three rows down - they were OK. But that idiot sitting next to you drove you nuts for the whole flight. Such is the parochialism of human nature. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/27 "2005-09-20T19:53:12Z")
Brazilians, Chileans and Paraguayans think Argentines are stuffy, pompous and arrogant. Argentines supossedly walk with their noses stuck up high. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/28 "2005-09-20T19:57:34Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > There ain’t nothin’ wrong with people from Mississippi. Really there’s not. Why, some of my best friends are from Mississippi. > I mean, I wouldn’t want my sister to marry one of ‘em or anything like that, but Mississippi folks are OK by me, ya’ know? Hmph! I’ll have you know my grandmama was from Alabama, Cherokee County in fact, and she married her a good Miss’ippi boy. (This means I ain’t fullblooded, so keep quiet about it, okay?) One of the reasons I posted this topic was because I was reading an article about international adoption from Russia. Much of the article was about Americans adopting Russian orphans, but there was also a mention of Japanese couples adopting Russian children. This made me curious as to the state of relations between the two countries – why would the outwardly homogenous Japanese seek Russian children for adoption instead of, say, Chinese or Korean children? One thing I’ve noticed from anime and manga is whenever there’s a token “foreigner” character, there’s a decent chance that s/he will be German. There’s also a number of German-language titles, or references to Germany and/or Nazism. From _Weiß Kreuz_ to _Kenrou Denetsu_ to Asuka from _Evangelion_ to Ban from _GetBackers_ (both characters are of partial German descent). ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/29 "2005-09-20T20:12:31Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > One of the reasons I posted this topic was because I was reading an article about international adoption from Russia. Much of the article was about Americans adopting Russian orphans, but there was also a mention of Japanese couples adopting Russian children. This made me curious as to the state of relations between the two countries – why would the outwardly homogenous Japanese seek Russian children for adoption instead of, say, Chinese or Korean children? Here are two datapoints for you, from which you may draw your own broad generalizations. I mentioned to a friend, who was half Japanese, half American, that I preferred going to Hong Kong on business over going to Tokyo. He exclaimed ‘How can you say that! Hong Kong is smelly. The whole city is nothing but sewage and food in the street!’ Another friend is from a wealthy Japanese family. We were talking about the differences between Japantown and Chinatown in San Francisco. Her voice trembled as she described the chickens hanging in the Chinese butcher shops. She said ‘That’s just the way they live…they don’t care…they\*\* like \*\* to live like that’ Notice a trend? ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/30 "2005-09-20T20:22:49Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > You don’t even need a border for this sort of thing. Northern Californians have stereotypes of Southern Californians, and nobody seems to know just where the border between the two is. Same thing in New York. Downstaters aren’t \*bad \*people; they’re just “different.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/31 "2005-09-20T20:32:21Z")
Or how about how people in Australia think of those in other cities? If you say to someone who lives in Sydney “I really like your city,” you’ll get a big smile and a thank you. If you say to someone who lives in Melbourne “I really like your city,” you’ll get a big smile and hear “Yeah - Melbourne is a lot nicer than Sydney, isn’t it?” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/32 "2005-09-20T22:02:28Z")
> [@Dark Side of the Floyd](#): > > Anybody know why Jamaicans and Haitians dislike each other? My sister’s father-in-law is Haitian, and he once told me doesn’t like Jamaicans 'cuz they think they’re better than everyone else. They are the biggest snobs of the Caribbean, or so he says. ---
**Author:** ![6\_6\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e0b2c6/32.png) [@6\_6\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6_6_6)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/33 "2005-09-20T22:44:06Z")
The Turks and the Greeks have a long history of mutual loathing. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/34 "2005-09-20T22:57:01Z")
I used to have an Indian-American coworker who was very openminded and racially tolerant about everybody except Pakistanis. In her eyes, Pakistanis were the worst of the worst. If you went to a Pakistani doctor, he’d probably end up killing you and overcharging your widow. We had some fun baiting her. Never caught on. hehe ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/35 "2005-09-20T23:02:46Z")
Swedes tend to sneer at Finns, especially those who come to Sweden to work. They are considered unmannered country bumpkins who don’t speak a Scandinavian language and lack the “Nordic” appearance of Swedes. Finnish is nothing like Swedish, Danish or Norwegian, and they tend to have darker hair and be a bit shorter than Swedes. Finns consider Swedes snooty and full of themselves. Plus Finns know all Swedes are homosexuals. If A Finn does anything the least bit effeminate in the eyes of his mates he will get the nickname “Swenson”. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/36 "2005-09-20T23:04:39Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Australians and New Zealanders are about as alike as any two peoples on earth and yet there’s a fierce rivalry that can border on hatred in some cases. NZers feel that Australians are patronizing and crass, and Australians think NZers are parochial hicks with risible accents. It was a NZ Prime Minister “Piggy” Muldoon who said that the migration of NZers to Australia raised the average IQ of both countries. I have to say I’ve never met anyone who has felt any hatred or rivalry towards NZ, except for when the cricket or rugby is on… ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/37 "2005-09-20T23:07:37Z")
I often think the Kingston Trio got it right: “the whole world is festering with unhappy souls; the French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles, Albanians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, and I don’t like anybody very much.” ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/38 "2005-09-20T23:19:04Z")
I’m from NJ and we hate everyone who lives in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. And they hate us right back. Keeps things in balance. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/39 "2005-09-20T23:28:05Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > I often think the Kingston Trio got it right: > > “the whole world is festering with unhappy souls; > the French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles, > Albanians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, > and I don’t like anybody very much.” Or Tom Lehrer’s take on the whole thing, in _National Brotherhood Week_: \*But during National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week, New Yorkers love the Puerto Ricans 'cause it’s very chic. Step up and shake the hand Of someone you can’t stand. You can tolerate him if you try. Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics, And the Catholics hate the Protestants, And the Hindus hate the Moslems, And everybody hates the Jews.\* ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252/40 "2005-09-20T23:34:51Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > I’m from NJ and we hate everyone who lives in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. And they hate us right back. Keeps things in balance. So true. Damn Jerseyites. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-nationality-a-think-of-nationality-b/322252.md?page=3)