Why are Americans so Loud?

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Drew_Kit

You do all realise that the title of the Graham Greene book “The Quiet American” is seen by most non-American readers as a deliberate oxymoron?

Well, it is more a nuanced irony:
*They say you come to Vietnam and understand a lot in a few minutes. The rest has got to be lived. They say whatever it was you were looking for, you will find here. They say there is a ghost in every house, and if you can make peace with him, he will stay quiet.
*Stranger

[Zsofia]

@Drew_Kit

You don’t stand require more body space than most Europeans of the same latitude, but I appreciate the attempt at an explanation, it could well be a factor. Another factor someone suggested here was environmental noise, which may cause poorer hearing. I gebnuinely think the national psyche is a major factor, 'We’re loud, proud and in your face".

Scottish people are quite loud too I admit, (and imho we are getting louder each decade) but it is not the capacity for loudness but the prevelance of loudness. That US lover of mine would literally be shouting at me as all the world was a stage, and she wasn’t talking to me but the far end of the theatre. I’d ask her to whisper and she would speak in a stage whisper.

We also, er, physically require more space. Hey, are you gonna eat that donut?

[Jackmannii]

The most obnoxiously loud people I’ve ever been around was a group of French tourists at a castle in Scotland. Damn, but they were noisy. Ever since then I’ve been convinced that the French are the loudest people on Earth.

Of course, they could’ve been French Canadians.

[Spoke]

I’m curious whether the people who think Americans are unusually loud have ever visited the US, or are they basing their opinions solely on encounters with Americans abroad? If you have visited the US did you find while you were here that Americans seemed unusually loud?

[Sitnam]

@amanset

The voices aren’t loud, the clothes are.

If you were talking about Germans this would be correct.

[begbert2]

@Drew_Kit

So for people who already accept that Americans are loudest in general, maybe a more interesting debate would be why?

And for people who don’t accept that Americans are the loudest in general, you’re debating the burning question of why elephants insist on hopping around on one leg all the time. Which looks pretty peculiar from where I’m standing.

[Khadaji]

Being so awesome makes us slightly deaf.

[TriPolar]

@spoke-

Drew Kit, that sounds like exactly the sort of confirmation bias DrDeth was talking about.

The loud, drunken Americans confirmed your stereotype, so you have happily embraced them as proof that Americans Are Loud. Of course, if there were quiet Americans on the train, you wouldn’t have noticed them, or perhaps even realized that they were Americans.

I encountered a loud, drunken group of German tourists in Prague once. But I didn’t think “All Germans are loud and obnoxious.” I thought, “Well, these are a bunch of young guys on holiday, and young guys on holiday get drunk and loud sometimes.” (Sort of like the ones on your train.)

My girlfriend and I were sitting quietly together and having dinner at the time. You know, like those Loud Americans never do. Maybe we should have worn stars and stripes attire to announce our nationality, the better to fight the stereotype.

The notion of Loud Americans seems to go far back. I have vaque memories of this concept being used in some very old movies and books. I wouldn’t be surprised if people held this view before they ever met an American. ‘Loud’ might also be a euphemism for ‘rude’ or ‘arrogant’, other stereotypes applied to Americans. Maybe stereotype is the right term in this case, Americans can be loud, rude, and/or arrogant, but the implication is that other nationalities aren’t. Experience tells me we aren’t the only people with those attributes.

[Dick_Dastardly]

I’m half British and half American and I’ve got to agree that Americans are really loud. Go abroad, walk through one of those hotel lobbies in a place where you have a whole bunch of nationalities sitting/reading/talking/drinking coffee etc. and you can hear the Americans from miles away. It’s like we’ve all got some kind of amplification device built into our voiceboxes. It reallt is quite remarkable, we just don’t seem to be able to do quiet. There are exceptions to the rule of course but in the main we are very loud indeed.

[DrDeth]

@Drew_Kit

I was taking an overnight train from Munich to Italy, and a bunch of about twenty American EuroRailers were running up and down it, in and out of compartments, screaming drunk and increasingly loud. I sat in a compartment quietly reading a book opposite a German muscle-man (white vest, long, golden curly hair, big blonde moustache) and his girlfriend, who were clearly irritated at not being able to get any sleep. .

How on earth did you manage to check all their passports? :dubious: Are you a Interpol agent?:rolleyes:
In other words, other than by assuming the Americans were Americans due to the fact they spoke English loudly, and the German was a German as he was blonde, how did you know? In reality, you assumed that people speaking American English loudly must be Americans*. Drunken Frat boys are loud and obnoxious in any language, even Ancient Greek.

I know some Europeans and many Canadians who speak American English without a trace of accent, unless you’re Prof Higgens.

[marshmallow]

Near as I can tell it’s a massive conspiracy perpetrated by the lozenge industry. Because I don’t understand how people can talk so loudly for so long without getting a raw throat, or at least getting a bit tired. I suppose it’s all in the diaphragm.

[Sitnam]

I traveled around the world for 6 months and the Europeans I continually met in Asia often agreed on one thing, Israelis are loud and obnoxious. In America those views would be considered antisemitic but in this context their stereotype was based on nationality and was no different than saying the French are rude or English food sucks.

And now I may sound antisemitic to American ears; from what I observed in Hostels, restaurants, and public transport they were often difficult to please and often abrasive to the indigenous population. I have no overwhelming feeling towards them one way or the other before I went on this trip nor do now, and there is a powerful sociological reason why Jews of this age group and disposition travel in this part of the world*.

What I will say is I sympathise more now with those effected by large groups of young loud people and don’t take it as a personal affront to America when it’s often Americans doing that kind of traveling.

*-Service in the IDF is mandatory and men typically do three years and women two, when they get out they’re 20 or 21, have plenty of saved up money and like the culturally mandated Aussie Walkabout want to tour the rougher parts of the world with their military buddies. Cultural tendencies aside these hot shot young turks are trained and experienced in conflict and it seems to me like they expect it.

[DrDeth]

@Sitnam

I traveled around the world for 6 months and the Europeans I continually met in Asia often agreed on one thing, Israelis are loud and obnoxious. In America those views would be considered antisemitic but in this context their stereotype was based on nationality and was no different than saying the French are rude or English food sucks.

And how do they know they are Israelis? If I remember right, us Americans went over about 65 years ago and convinced the Europeans to stop making them wear those yellow star things. It was one of those little cultural awareness programs, starring Patton and the 6th Army,and a host of others.

But of course- they know they are Israelis as they “look Jewish” and “are loud and obnoxious”. In other words; anti-Semiticism. :rolleyes:

[Zsofia]

@DrDeth

And how do they know they are Israelis? If I remember right, us Americans went over about 65 years ago and convinced the Europeans to stop making them wear those yellow star things. It was one of those little cultural awareness programs, starring Patton and the 6th Army,and a host of others.

But of course- they know they are Israelis as they “look Jewish” and “are loud and obnoxious”. In other words; anti-Semiticism. :rolleyes:

Um, they also have Israeli accents? I mean, how do I know those large drunk very pink people speaking German are German?

[Lust4Life]

Speaking as a Brit I don’t find Americans loud.

I often find Brits loud, particulary when on holiday, or for that matter most nationalities when they’re on holiday except for the Japanese.

[Snag]

We built the first guitar amplifiers and have been loving the result ever since.

[Dolukhanova]

@Sitnam

And now I may sound antisemitic to American ears; from what I observed in Hostels, restaurants, and public transport they were often difficult to please and often abrasive to the indigenous population. I have no overwhelming feeling towards them one way or the other before I went on this trip nor do now, and there is a powerful sociological reason why Jews of this age group and disposition travel in this part of the world*.

.

I think the only thing in your post that might sound antisemitic to “American ears” post is the ease with which you pass from talking about Israelis – a nationality well-known in the United States for a certain abrasiveness – to Jews.

[DrDeth]

@Zsofia

Um, they also have Israeli accents? I mean, how do I know those large drunk very pink people speaking German are German?

Can you really tell a Israeli accent from a Palestinian or Lebanese accent? :dubious:

And many Swiss speak German. Most Austrians do. Some Italians, and dudes from Belgium. Also, Namibia, and places in South America. Not to mention others. Thus the fact that they spoke German did not mean they were Germans. At least 15 million non-German Europeans speak German as their main language.

German language |

Again, this is confirmation bias, as spoke- spoke about.

[elfkin477]

@Jackmannii

The most obnoxiously loud people I’ve ever been around was a group of French tourists at a castle in Scotland. Damn, but they were noisy. Ever since then I’ve been convinced that the French are the loudest people on Earth.

Of course, they could’ve been French Canadians.

You know, there’s something I wonder about this. I generally find French-Canadians to be obnoxiously loud, and have noticed this about some Asian tourists too. I don’t speak French or any of the languages of Asia, and to me both groups seem much louder than tourists who are speaking either English or Spanish. But I speak both English and Spanish, so I can often understand what they’re saying. I can’t think of any other languages I’ve heard often enough to have an opinion on, since the other tourists, like Germans and Scandinavians, seem more willing to try to speak English.

Do people speaking in languages we don’t sound louder because it sounds like gibberish too us, which is annoying? I’m curious if we’re unconsciously chalking up our irratation that we can’t comprehend them as being noisier. Maybe someone who frequently encounters tourists who speak other languages they don’t but don’t find loud can weigh in too.

[Sitnam]

@DrDeth

And how do they know they are Israelis? If I remember right, us Americans went over about 65 years ago and convinced the Europeans to stop making them wear those yellow star things. It was one of those little cultural awareness programs, starring Patton and the 6th Army,and a host of others.

But of course- they know they are Israelis as they “look Jewish” and “are loud and obnoxious”. In other words; anti-Semiticism. :rolleyes:

As I expected. You fucking clown, as if no one outside of the Middle East can discern Hebrew.

@Dolukhanova

I think the only thing in your post that might sound antisemitic to “American ears” post is the ease with which you pass from talking about Israelis – a nationality well-known in the United States for a certain abrasiveness – to Jews.

Please. I know the SDMB is pedantic Nirvana, but please. DrDeth proved my point succinctly.