Ask an American!
- keenmaster486
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Ask an American!
Well... most of our members are not from the U.S., right?
So I thought it might be fun to have a thread where the non-U.S. members can ask the Americans questions about our quirky country.
Admins, shut this down if it's stupid, I don't care; just throwing it out there
Who wants to start?
(btw, maybe we should stay away from politics and focus on pop culture.)
So I thought it might be fun to have a thread where the non-U.S. members can ask the Americans questions about our quirky country.
Admins, shut this down if it's stupid, I don't care; just throwing it out there
Who wants to start?
(btw, maybe we should stay away from politics and focus on pop culture.)
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
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It has always surprised me that some Americans think nobody knows anything about their country while correctly identifying their country as the leading world superpower.
US power is hard to ignore for most people. We have had to follow yanks into wars, put up with their troops and bases on our soil, and so on.
Awful trade agreements mean that in many countries US pop culture is the dominant pop culture.
Even the small garg gets through - I don't think anyone sells pumpkin spice anything in Australia, but I sure know a hell of a lot about it.
The thread idea isn't silly, but I think you will be surprised how much many of us non-Americans already know.
US power is hard to ignore for most people. We have had to follow yanks into wars, put up with their troops and bases on our soil, and so on.
Awful trade agreements mean that in many countries US pop culture is the dominant pop culture.
Even the small garg gets through - I don't think anyone sells pumpkin spice anything in Australia, but I sure know a hell of a lot about it.
The thread idea isn't silly, but I think you will be surprised how much many of us non-Americans already know.
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- keenmaster486
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Oh yeah, no, don't get me wrong; I know you all already know quite a lot, as is obvious from the well-informed posts that have been made in other threads. This thread is just for the things that might confuse you, not having a unique perspective from the inside.Keening_Product wrote:It has always surprised me that some Americans think nobody knows anything about their country while correctly identifying their country as the leading world superpower.
You know, it used to be once a day in elementary school but I'm not sure whether that's done any more. These days it's somehow thought to be wrong, and atheist activists hate the "under God" provision. Wait... checking Wikipedia I remember now: it's still recited in schools but students cannot be forced to comply.Levellass wrote:Exactly how often did you have to say the Pledge of Allegiance? 'cause that is just weird.
I can still recite it word for word though.
Why the Pledge? The biggest thing I can think of is just pure patriotism. You know how much Americans love their country, and we want to pass that on to future generations.
Edit: you may get alternate opinions on these questions. That's great; I think that falls right into the purpose of this thread.
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
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We have that attitude? Well, at least, I don't...
We own our stuff and our overseas land, assets, and troops. We don't own the world and it would indeed be idiotic to have that attitude.
But we are the most powerful nation in the world. We're acutely aware of that, so maybe that kind of arrogance stems from that fact sometimes?
Edit: Wait a minute, are you talking about individual people? In that case, I would just say that yeah, we tend to be very arrogant in general. Something I often decry in our society. Nanomekia, then, got very close saying that we're just idiots.
I forgot one:
The wall isn't actually necessary. Proper enforcement of existing laws (the same laws that haven't been enforced for the past so many years...) would take care of it just fine. But the wall is much more fun, and makes us feel like evil supervillains or something. Plus if the President actually pulls off a miracle and forces Mexico to pay for it, then it feels like we dropped a car on the annoying chihuahua or something. It's an emotional satisfaction thing really.
...anyway, let's stick to pop culture (edit: or just culture in general). Too easy to fall into political arguments that have better threads for them elsewhere.
We own our stuff and our overseas land, assets, and troops. We don't own the world and it would indeed be idiotic to have that attitude.
But we are the most powerful nation in the world. We're acutely aware of that, so maybe that kind of arrogance stems from that fact sometimes?
Edit: Wait a minute, are you talking about individual people? In that case, I would just say that yeah, we tend to be very arrogant in general. Something I often decry in our society. Nanomekia, then, got very close saying that we're just idiots.
I forgot one:
Ever since Trump started doing his thing and being so popular, it was inevitable.lemm wrote:Did you ever think you'd see the day when middle school children chant, "Build a Wall!"
The wall isn't actually necessary. Proper enforcement of existing laws (the same laws that haven't been enforced for the past so many years...) would take care of it just fine. But the wall is much more fun, and makes us feel like evil supervillains or something. Plus if the President actually pulls off a miracle and forces Mexico to pay for it, then it feels like we dropped a car on the annoying chihuahua or something. It's an emotional satisfaction thing really.
...anyway, let's stick to pop culture (edit: or just culture in general). Too easy to fall into political arguments that have better threads for them elsewhere.
Last edited by keenmaster486 on Sun Nov 13, 2016 20:04, edited 1 time in total.
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.
Used to do it every week for Boy Scouts, now not nearly as often unless there's some ceremony for some specific organization/party/holiday (4th of July Independence as an example.)Levellass wrote:Exactly how often did you have to say the Pledge of Allegiance? 'cause that is just weird.
mortimermcmirestinks wrote: Now I wish MoffD wasn't allergic to me.
Levellass wrote:You're an evil man.
Yeah, I was thinking of it as referring to us as individuals and not one homogeneous mass. If it is in fact the latter then yeah, you're more correct than I am.keenmaster486 wrote:We have that attitude? Well, at least, I don't...
We own our stuff and our overseas land, assets, and troops. We don't own the world and it would indeed be idiotic to have that attitude.
But we are the most powerful nation in the world. We're acutely aware of that, so maybe that kind of arrogance stems from that fact sometimes?
Edit: Wait a minute, are you talking about individual people? In that case, I would just say that yeah, we tend to be very arrogant in general. Something I often decry in our society. Nanomekia, then, got very close saying that we're just idiots.
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- keenmaster486
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Pffft... beats me. Wikipedia says it was chosen because it didn't interfere with the Sabbath and most town's market day (Sunday and Wednesday), which makes sense, but why not make it Saturday then? Yeah, it doesn't make sense. But that's the way we do it and we like it!
It's like they just sat around, threw votes in a hat, and chose a random day just because.
It's like they just sat around, threw votes in a hat, and chose a random day just because.
I flermmed the plootash just like you asked.