There goes those damned Mercans, again

Warrigal said:
In my experience, Americans on either side of the country are stereotypically different. Both groups are loud, the Californians complain more and appear more self entitled and those from New York are funnier and are sanguine about setbacks and minor disappointments. Just one woman's impression after travelling around Greece and Turkey in a tourist bus.
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We're wonderful people that way ... ;)
 

Shali, I'm very bad at identifying Canadian accents but hubby can. He likes to say he can tell because they are polite. Haha.

Our neighbours here are from Alberta and I find their accent very strong.
 
I can identify some Canadian accents, maritimes and Newfoundland are easy, some Albertans have a sort of twang. I have been told I have the west coast drawl, whatever that is, Annie. Lol.
 

Before travelling to France we were told we'd be mistaken for Brits and to make sure we identified ourselves as Aussies. Apparently Aussies are popular in France and the Brits not so much. On a number of occasions we found this to be true.
 
We had the same advice, Mitchezz.

I would love to visit the WW I battlefields where the 1st AIF saw action.
I believe the Aussies are still revered in some French towns.
 
That's strange because I have always been made to feel welcome in France.

I have been told though, that you can always tell an Australian in England because of the whining and moaning they do.
 
Yes, well I did remark negatively about gammon steak and being served chips at every pub meal, even when mashed potato was one of the veggies.
I also remarked the mist never seemed to go away to reveal a blue sky until I realised that it wasn't mist but air pollution.
I lamented that I couldn't see the stars at night. I did so want to see Polaris and Ursus Major but they eluded me.

Other than those little gripes, I loved every thing I saw and experienced while in England, Scotland and Wales. :Grin:
 
Warrigal said:
Yes, well I did remark negatively about gammon steak and being served chips at every pub meal, even when mashed potato was one of the veggies.
I also remarked the mist never seemed to go away to reveal a blue sky until I realised that it wasn't mist but air pollution.
I lamented that I couldn't see the stars at night. I did so want to see Polaris and Ursus Major but they eluded me.

Other than those little gripes, I loved every thing I saw and experienced while in England, Scotland and Wales. :Grin:
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No air pollution in Scotland and probably not Wales. Must have been England.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
infoman asking for a UK forum site reminded me that we , "Mercans" are a nationality. I don't believe most of us understand that. Years ago I got to go to the UK and France. One of the things that blew me away was everybody knew we were Americans. We weren't dress any differently. And it's not like we were carrying around a huge neon sign, or we had US flags on our clothing. My friend and I would walk into a pub, and everybody knew we we Americans. How???? We never opened our mouths. In the UK, they drive on the wrong:) side of the road. We would walk to curb and immediately people would be watching us so that we didn't step into traffic, (which for us is a real easy thing to do). How did they know? Here in the US, yeah, we know were Americans, DUH!, but it's so strange when other people just know you're an American. Is it me, but I never thought of me being a nationality like the French, Germans, Brits, etc.
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I haven't read all the replies on here yet so pardon me if someone else has already asked this, but were you wearing a fanny pack? That's a dead give away if you were.
 
:lol: and if you refer to it as a fanny pack there will be no room left for doubt.

The slang meaning of "Fanny" has different meanings in the U.K. and Australia than it does in the U.S.
In the U.S. it means the buttocks, while in Australia and the British Isles, it refers to the female *******s.
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My mum used to call my sister and I 'little faggots' when we were naughty.
Why we were likened to a bundle of kindling I have no idea but that is what she understood the word to mean.
 
We used to call cigarettes fags back in the late 60s in Canada. Gays were not called that, if I recall correctly, until 70s.
 
Wow. What I meant was that most of us " Mercans" don't realize that we are a distinct group- Americans. And for what ever reasons, other people can "pick us out of the line up". When most of us go abroad and people ask us where we're from, we don't say America, we say New York, Texas, LA, Michigan, etc. I don't believe we know we have a unique American culture. That doesn't mean Americans are good or bad, it just means that Americans are Americans. Aussies are Aussies. French are French.
 

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