# Why do Europeans seem so ungrateful to the US **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 2, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199 "2012-08-02T18:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/81 "2012-08-03T15:16:38Z")
**clairobscur** , I believe the term you are looking for is [Poe’s Law.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/82 "2012-08-03T15:23:33Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > She’s so funky, yeah. Sorry wrong thread for that. > So, doesn’t like most of Europe still owe the U.S. reparations for WWII? Our economy could sure use the cash right now, just sayin’. We can’t even manage to bail out Greece, and you want us to bail out the USA? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/83 "2012-08-03T15:36:37Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Everything’s ironic in light of Wisconsin. See, there’s nothing else to do up here in the boonies, so we buy Mr. Bubble T-shirts. Do we actually like or use Mr. Bubble? No, but we wear the T-shirt! > > **I’m not sure our EuroDopers that are reading this can really grasp the Boredom/Irony Proportional Square Law.** We had a mild winter, so that meant less curling, so that meant I bought FOUR T-shirts. > > One is a full wrap-around Thomas Kinkade painting, one’s a “Just axe Lester Maddox” shirt, one has Bob Ross and his “happy clouds”, and one’s a basket of puppies, all with a huge flag for a blanket. > > I don’t believe anything my shirts say. And _that’s_ America, bub. Bolding (and unbolding) mine. No, in fact I don’t understand the Boredom/irony Proportional Square Law. In fact, I don’t understand _anything_ in your post. When I read it, I’m tempted to ask where I can get the same thing you had. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/84 "2012-08-03T15:42:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > **clairobscur** , I believe the term you are looking for is [Poe’s Law.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law) Yes. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/85 "2012-08-03T15:43:32Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, even if the whole fucking non-U.S. world agrees, how can any view that counts soccer as an actual sport – and worse yet, calls it “football”! – be the norm?! 😉 We call it “football” because, in the course of playing it, one strikes a ball regularly with one’s foot. Your national sport should really be called “handegg”. Or “rugby for pussies who need armour”. (Insert smiley of your choice here) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/86 "2012-08-03T16:15:29Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > We call it “football” because, in the course of playing it, one strikes a ball regularly with one’s foot. Your national sport should really be called “handegg”. Or “rugby for pussies who need armour”. (Insert smiley of your choice here) If you call it football, why do you play it with a soccer ball? And you have no idea why our sport is called football do you? So go play your silly game. “oooo I can’t touch the ball with my hands, what a super game!” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/87 "2012-08-03T16:29:23Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > And you have no idea why our sport is called football do you? It because after wearing all that padding all day long your balls end up smelling like dirty feet? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/88 "2012-08-03T16:41:31Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Michael Bay and cheeseburgers. We’ve got the Liberty Bell, Disneyland on both coasts, it’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/89 "2012-08-03T16:52:52Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Or knows where Europe is. Big country Europe. If you can find it on a map, you’re a better man than I. You’re not French Canadian, are you? Oh, and to answer the title, Operation Gladio and for the English, the Suez. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/90 "2012-08-03T16:57:46Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > We can’t even manage to bail out Greece, and you want us to bail out the USA? Yes please. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/91 "2012-08-03T17:03:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you call it football, why do you play it with a soccer ball? And you have no idea why our sport is called football do you? So go play your silly game. “oooo I can’t touch the ball with my hands, what a super game!” Again, “foot” “ball”… it seems self-explanatory. Admittedly you do let someone on the field once in a while, escorted by a marching band and wearing boots you can barely walk in, to take one pre-programmed swing at the ball after due pomp and ceremony (I mean, if you want to see punting and so on then watch Rugby some time and you’ll see it improvised on a regular basis by ordinary Joes dressed like everyone else who have to pull a full workload of kicking, catching, passing, tackling and running, and even the place-kicker spends the rest of the match at his day job), but you have to admit, for nearly all the game the “foot” part of the name might as well not exist. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/92 "2012-08-03T17:09:29Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > Michael Bay and cheeseburgers. This is unnecessarily reductionist. We also have burgers _without_ cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/93 "2012-08-03T17:20:49Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > but you have to admit, for nearly all the game the “foot” part of the name might as well not exist. I agree, it really should be called Yardball, which is stupid but better than Meterball. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/94 "2012-08-03T17:36:17Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I agree, it really should be called Yardball, which is stupid but better than Meterball. It should be called Dorkball. 😛 But then, I am a soccer fan. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/95 "2012-08-03T17:48:17Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Bolding (and unbolding) mine. > No, in fact I don’t understand the Boredom/irony Proportional Square Law. In fact, I don’t understand _anything_ in your post. > > When I read it, I’m tempted to ask where I can get the same thing you had. Just good cuisine from the heartland: a friday night fish fry with a bucket of microbrews (or ‘local lagers’). But I am grateful to the Europeans for many things, including the ‘futbol’ league I play in. And I’d agree, the sport that uses feet should get to use the name, and we can come up with a new name for that “rugby for wusses”-- something better than Yardball… (the only good thing about Yardball is that the games are only about a third as long as a Meterball game) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/96 "2012-08-03T18:56:32Z")
At what point does mockery become ridicule? In the spirit of the Games, let us deny fuckholery, and embrace fuckstabbery as it applies to poor etv78. Really, I just need a hug. Could we all bring in it for a minute? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/97 "2012-08-03T19:07:43Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Again, “foot” “ball”… it seems self-explanatory. Admittedly you do let someone on the field once in a while, escorted by a marching band and wearing boots you can barely walk in, to take one pre-programmed swing at the ball after due pomp and ceremony (I mean, if you want to see punting and so on then watch Rugby some time and you’ll see it improvised on a regular basis by ordinary Joes dressed like everyone else who have to pull a full workload of kicking, catching, passing, tackling and running, and even the place-kicker spends the rest of the match at his day job), but you have to admit, for nearly all the game the “foot” part of the name might as well not exist. Again, you don’t know why the real sport of football is called that. Typical Euro-ignorance. You wouldn’t catch an American mouthing off about your English Rules Ice Hockey or whatever you call that exciting game where a rout is a 1-0 score without knowing what he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/98 "2012-08-03T19:08:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And I’d agree, the sport that uses feet should get to use the name, and we can come up with a new name for that “rugby for wusses”-- something better than Yardball… They should call it “Time-Out Ball”. I remember one themed gaming night we did a few years ago, playing Blood Bowl while watching the SuperBowl with popcorn and [del]piss[/del]Budweiser. I swear the action on the screen paused more often than that on the game board, and it’s a turn-based game ! With 4-min long turns at the most ! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/99 "2012-08-03T19:09:01Z")
I’m American, and I love stinky cheese. And I’d like to go record as saying that I found the people in Paris to be amazingly friendly. It bothers me a little that a lot of Europeans stereotype Americans, but at the end of the day it’s not a big deal. Life’s too short to worry about that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199/100 "2012-08-03T19:18:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Again, you don’t know why the real sport of football is called that. Ah. The \*real \*sport of football. You know, the one that was invented decades, if not centuries, after the \*fake \*sport of football. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-europeans-seem-so-ungrateful-to-the-us/630199.md?page=6)