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What does the World think of The American People?

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Usht Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard from an arbitrary view point. Since: Feb, 2011
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
#301: Mar 17th 2011 at 8:59:50 AM

Yeap, and since America invented Free Enterprise, it's even more awesome than before.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
Usht Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard from an arbitrary view point. Since: Feb, 2011
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
#302: Mar 17th 2011 at 9:10:24 AM

Okay, this has gone on long enough.

Republicans are a diverse group, Nazi's were neither liberal nor conservative, democrats aren't nazis, Obama is not a puppet for the Republican party, Arnold Schwarzenegger should be allowed to run for office, Nazis were all for the laborers, revolution is unnecessary and wasteful at this point in time, the US didn't nuke the world because that would be a stupid move to make, the war we're having is in fact an actual war, socialism is not nazism, stock holders don't own your body, free enterprise allows for the scenario where both the customer and the producer are most happy, the point behind manufacturing companies is specialization which cuts down on costs overall, and England invented Free Enterprise.

Finally, you can't stereotype any single kind of person or group, and that goes especially for countries who's population is more or less made out of immigrants or their descendants. Neither the Republican or Democratic party is inherently evil, totalitaristic groups out to control people's lives. And that still doesn't change that I get far too many times in this forum opinions that are designated to be facts. Fuck that, just fuck that. I don't care if you hate a group of people, at least try to understand what they're saying first, understand their morals and then maybe they won't seem so damn evil. Maybe then we can have intelligent debates about what's morally right or wrong instead of more opinionated posts being thrown around for no other reason than because you feel that you must be right regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

edited 17th Mar '11 10:56:51 AM by Usht

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
tnu1138 Dracula Since: Apr, 2009
Dracula
#303: Mar 17th 2011 at 9:18:50 AM

[up] Can someone get a flaming poodle award for this individual? This post is the most epic thing i've ever seen on the fora. I know there is a trope for this kind of rant.

We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
LoveHappiness Nihilist Hippie Since: Dec, 2010
Nihilist Hippie
#304: Mar 17th 2011 at 9:22:33 AM

"free enterprise allows for the scenario where both the customer and the producer are most happy"

Well I'm obviously biased but these things are a concern to me [1].

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom
zoulza WHARRGARBL Since: Dec, 2010
WHARRGARBL
#305: Mar 17th 2011 at 10:35:09 AM

Something I never understood about American culture: what's with the obsession with where your ancestors happened to come from? You know, I hear people talk about how proud they are to be American, but at the same time say, "But actually, I'm a quarter German, and an eighth Irish, and a sixteenth Belgian, and 1/4325765434th Mongolian." Why?

I guess it mostly just bothers me because they don't actually have any interest in that country beyond the fact that their ancestor X was from there. Oh, what's that? Your grandmother was German? Do you know any German? Have you ever been to Germany? Do you know anything at all about German culture? No? Then you are not German.

SavageHeathen Pro-Freedom Fanatic from Somewhere Since: Feb, 2011
Pro-Freedom Fanatic
#306: Mar 17th 2011 at 10:42:06 AM

It's easy. All Americans, except for the Indians come from relatively recent immigration waves (except for the early settlers, whose descendants are a clear minority). The identity of the migrants became ingrained as part of the identity of their descendants. It was widespread enough to become a cultural quirk of the States. Nothing strange there, actually.

edited 17th Mar '11 10:42:42 AM by SavageHeathen

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.
Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#307: Mar 17th 2011 at 10:47:33 AM

I don't think that's that common. It's basically an interesting trivia tidbit to almost everyone I know, except second-generation people, and sometimes Mormons.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
Usht Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard from an arbitrary view point. Since: Feb, 2011
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
#308: Mar 17th 2011 at 10:54:56 AM

It's just a quirk of seeing where you come from. Kind of like an interest in history, only it's more personal. I mean, I've traced my roots back to a famous general in Spain who was one of the many crusaders in South America. I find that cool and interesting, but it doesn't do much more for me than that. Kind of like how people like to learn little odd facts about miscellaneous topics, it's for no other reason than to say "Oh hey, that's pretty cool".

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
johnnyfog Actual Wrestling Legend from the Zocalo Since: Apr, 2010 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Actual Wrestling Legend
#309: Mar 17th 2011 at 11:49:30 AM

Maybe then we can have intelligent debates about what's morally right or wrong instead of more opinionated posts being thrown around for no other reason than because you feel that you must be right regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

But everybody thinks that.

Besides, truth is so subjective to each individual that moral arguments are, essentially, a matter of opinion. Whoever argues the most persuasively is 'right'.

I'm a skeptical squirrel
Wolf1066 Crazy Kiwi from New Zealand Since: Mar, 2011 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
Crazy Kiwi
#310: Mar 17th 2011 at 1:51:00 PM

At the risk of posting something that might actually be on topic, I do find various American accents interesting - just as I find the multitudinous regional accents of the UK, Germany, France etc interesting.

Here in New Zealand we're unusual in that we don't have much in the way of regional accents. Certainly not to the same "extreme" as the USA or the UK where you travel a few kilometres up the road and folks speak markedly differently. Some of our South Islanders have a different accent to us North Islanders and some Maori have a way of pronouncing English distinctively - Maori vowel sounds in English words - but for the most part, New Zealanders sound like New Zealanders.

So hearing the different accents, Jersey cf Queens cf Boston cf Texan etc, is quite interesting to me.

Some of the pronunciations do get to me, tho'. I mean, New Zealanders are supposed to be "lazy speakers" and we don't pronounce the letter "R" as clearly as some Americans do (we'll say "get into the ka" rather than "get into the carrrr") but those Americans (don't know what region the accent's from, sorry) that pronounce "mirror" as "meer" do set my teeth on edge.

In the interests of fairness, I must admit that we kiwis pronounce the word close to "mirra" - but there's a limit to how much "laziness of speech" I can cope with evil grin

Another one that gets to me is how some pronounce "Antarctica" as "Anartica" ("Jack" from LOST springs to mind). I seriously feel like screaming "it's AN-TARC-TIC-A, for fuck's sake" sometimes.

One thing that's always puzzled me about the American accents (pretty much all of them) is the use of "ass" (and its derivative, "asshole"), in both pronunciation and spelling, to denote a piece of human anatomy.

The origin word is "arse", from the same Old Saxon word that gave modern Germans "Arsch". An "ass" is a donkey.

Now, calling someone an "ass" (as in a donkey) has negative connotations (stubborn, stupid) just as calling someone an "arse" is insulting, and I do know that some "plum-in-the-mouth" English accents pronounce "ass" more like "ahss", close to the common pronunciation of "arse", but surely that can't be the reason that an entire country at some stage decided to change "arse" to "ass" with an associated shift in pronunciation.

Here in NZ, we traditionally say, and write, "arse" but (due to the influence of American media) "ass" and its derivatives are becoming popular amongst the younger generation.

To the Kiwi ear, though, "I'm gonna kick your ass" sounds like you're threatening animal cruelty and "asshole" makes no sense as we keep our asses in paddocks, not holes.

I've got a Texan friend who has been living here in NZ for a few years and a while back he said someone needed a "kick in the arse" - I responded "My God, Jake, you've gone native!"

Ultrayellow Unchanging Avatar. Since: Dec, 2010
Unchanging Avatar.
#311: Mar 17th 2011 at 2:07:52 PM

[up] Pronouncing mirror as "meer" is quite common. If I'm speaking quickly, I'll get close, and only leave a trace of the "r" in the middle.

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.
Kino Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Californicating
Sivartis Captionless One from Lubberland, or the Isle of Lazye Since: Apr, 2009
Captionless One
#313: Mar 17th 2011 at 2:55:36 PM

@Wolf: I have never heard the word "mirror" pronounced with more than one syllable.

♭What.
snailbait bitchy queen from psych ward Since: Jul, 2010
bitchy queen
#314: Mar 17th 2011 at 3:11:34 PM

I've actually never heard it pronounced as "meer". I pronounce mirror with two syllables (meer-er). Maybe it's because of the region I live in?

"Without a fairy, you're not even a real man!" ~ Mido from Ocarina of Time
Usht Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard from an arbitrary view point. Since: Feb, 2011
Lv. 3 Genasi Wizard
#315: Mar 17th 2011 at 3:14:00 PM

Oddly enough, while I typically hear it with two syllable, due to the area I live in, some of the Japanese that land here have a tendency to mix up their r's and l's when they're learning English, resulting in millol or mirrol. Stranger still, some of the locals have picked up the tendency to switch r's and l's at times.

The thing about making witty signature lines is that it first needs to actually be witty.
Pykrete NOT THE BEES from Viridian Forest Since: Sep, 2009
NOT THE BEES
#316: Mar 17th 2011 at 3:32:44 PM

Thread hop but,

Also, I've seen everyone desperately try to convince themselves that the Mariners is an okay baseball team, but the only thing they've got going for them is Ichiro Suzuki. So Yeah.

They were great until Melvin sold off everyone except Ichiro.

Sivartis Captionless One from Lubberland, or the Isle of Lazye Since: Apr, 2009
Captionless One
#317: Mar 17th 2011 at 3:55:17 PM

Well, sometimes i do hear "mee-er". Or "mee-yer".

edited 17th Mar '11 3:55:51 PM by Sivartis

♭What.
apassingthought Moments Like Ghosts from the Fantasy Ghetto Since: Aug, 2010
Moments Like Ghosts
#318: Mar 17th 2011 at 4:10:07 PM

Here in NZ, we traditionally say, and write, "arse" but (due to the influence of American media) "ass" and its derivatives are becoming popular amongst the younger generation.

The same is actually happening in America (or at least where I live) but probably to a lesser extent. There's also the influence of online communication; I (subconsciously) adopted more than a few Commonwealth spellings after communicating online with those overseas.

Since we're on the topic of American accents, I don't get the "cot-caught" merger that is present in the western United States and Canada. "Cot" and "caught" sound exactly the same to me, like "kawt". Anyone care to tell me how these words are spoken elsewhere?

edited 17th Mar '11 4:11:37 PM by apassingthought

Kyelin Since: Apr, 2010
#319: Mar 17th 2011 at 4:41:08 PM

[up] cot with a short o as in 'cough' and 'caught' like cawt. At least here in South Australia (which btw does not have a 'y' in it... god that shits me)

Wax on, wax off
Madrugada Zzzzzzzzzz Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: In season
Zzzzzzzzzz
#320: Mar 17th 2011 at 7:27:00 PM

<Mod Hat ON>

Locked for being utterly derailed.

<Mod Hat OFF>

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
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