Tomorrow we are going to see in Finnish TV what Conan O'Brian thought about Finland, when he visited here. Americans saw it already at last Friday, I think?
I started to remember all bizarre fallacies (hope that is the right word, plural from word fallacy) about Finland, like we live here in igloos and have polarbears. Well, we do have polarbears, that is true. In the ZOO 
!
I have also heard, that in maps in some schools in U.S.A Finland was still part of U.S.S.R at 80's, despite the fact Finland have been independent since 1917.
What fallacies have you heard about your homeland? I'm from the US and I am sure you have already read alot of the misconceptions about my country. Many people portray us as a bunch of gun toting rednecks who blindly follow Bush's ideology and we are all working together in this country to suppress all other countries and stamp out individual thought and free will. I'll even go so far as to say that some moron will reply to this message saying "They aren't?". George Bush does not speak for every American, and the current policies of the US government aren't everyones cup of tea either.
I don't know who coined this phrase but it's food for thought..."Believe half of what you read and none of what you hear".
Like previously said, the misconception about the United States is our biggest problem. People blind themselves picture us as blind, following crazy ideas, and trying to control everything. But really, we aren't, we are trying to make the world safe for democracy. And as the saying goes, "Democracy is the worst system of government, it's just better than all the other ones we've tried."
It is just FAR beyond me that when we extend our hand and try to spread liberty and freedom throughout the world, we get a response of hate, anger, and despise. It puzzles me, to this day.
i'd say most of the fallacies of the US are true. americans suck for the most part (yes, i'm american). we're loud, obnoxious, have huge egos, take everything for granted, use up 2/3rds of the worlds resources, and the majority (or so it seems) voted for bush.
i'm moving when i get the chance. america is great for oppurtunities, fraud, education, and money.
that's about it.
I'm English. I wear a bowler hat, carry a furled umbrella and a copy of The Times. I take tea & scones every afternoon at 4, and play cricket on the village green every Sunday. My favourite pastime is riding around on my horse saying "Tallyho, old chap", to everyone I meet.
My best friend is a chimney sweep who wears a scraggy old cap. He's always dancing and singing, and saying things like "Cor Blimey" and "'ello, Meery Powpins"
(Please note - some of the above may not be strictly true)
| DoctorBeaver wrote: |
I'm English. I wear a bowler hat, carry a furled umbrella and a copy of The Times. I take tea & scones every afternoon at 4, and play cricket on the village green every Sunday. My favourite pastime is riding around on my horse saying "Tallyho, old chap", to everyone I meet.
|
Quite nipping figure of speech aside from I thought you would have tea at 5p.m and say "Good afternoon" (tone of Jeeves) Scotland:
- We all go around wearing kilts! (We do on certain occasions, weddings, dances, graducations etc tho)
- We live in sheds ontop of a hill or in the middle of a field
- A haggis is a small rodent that runs around the glens and moores of scotland ( it isnt btw! and no its not horrible! its amazingly tastey! Think...spicey meat 'mmmm')
Oh and most americans seem obssesed with out accents apparently. haha I have nooo idea why! Maybe someone could explain?
I am Dutch:
We are incredibly stingy. The country is as flat as a cardboard. We all live in windmills among fields full of tulips and we all are fond of flowers. We prefer to walk around on wooden shoes. Our favourite meal is cheese. When we aren't hammered with one of the brands of beer we produce we are spaced out from all the drugs we smoke. Of course our favourite pastime is banging on of those prostitutes on the famous 'Wallen' (note: this is meant sarcastic, not to be offensive in any way).
| Slammer wrote: |
| ...Oh and most americans seem obssesed with out accents apparently. haha I have nooo idea why! Maybe someone could explain? |
hmmm...Accent Envy? hehe 
I am Canadian. Contrary to popular belief, we do not live in igloos.
| Ms.Pseudo wrote: |
| DoctorBeaver wrote: | I'm English. I wear a bowler hat, carry a furled umbrella and a copy of The Times. I take tea & scones every afternoon at 4, and play cricket on the village green every Sunday. My favourite pastime is riding around on my horse saying "Tallyho, old chap", to everyone I meet.
|
Quite nipping figure of speech aside from I thought you would have tea at 5p.m and say "Good afternoon" (tone of Jeeves) |
Only a Philistine would take tea at 5pm, a gentleman partakes of his tiffin at 4pm.
"Good afternoon", is perfectly acceptable in most instances, and especially when perambulating; but when indulging in equestrian pursuits one is required to say, "Tallyho".
Incidentally, Jeeves was the butler. It was Bertie Wooster, his employer, who had the aristocratic accent. 
Slammer - Scottish? That means you're permanently drunk, have ginger hair, and a hairy butt! lol
| DoctorBeaver wrote: |
| Slammer - Scottish? That means you're permanently drunk, have ginger hair, and a hairy butt! lol |
obviously! 
you know us well then..... | DoctorBeaver wrote: |
Incidentally, Jeeves was the butler. It was Bertie Wooster, his employer, who had the aristocratic accent. |
I know, Jeeves and Wooster is my favourite show ever. But from my perspective Jeeves is prototype of Englishman, and Wooster wouldn't be a gentleman without Jeeves . It is also hard to sort out different accents, because my native language is not English (as you probably found out already;)). | Ms.Pseudo wrote: |
| DoctorBeaver wrote: |
Incidentally, Jeeves was the butler. It was Bertie Wooster, his employer, who had the aristocratic accent. |
I know, Jeeves and Wooster is my favourite show ever. But from my perspective Jeeves is prototype of Englishman, and Wooster wouldn't be a gentleman without Jeeves . It is also hard to sort out different accents, because my native language is not English (as you probably found out already;)). |
Oh, absolutely. Wooster is a bumbling oaf; but that's a trademark of the British aristocracy.As an Aussie (that's Australian) I'd like to clear up a couple of the misconceptions that plague us.
1. We don't ride kangaroos to work, though kangaroo steaks are becoming more popular.
2. We don't all live in desert country towns and say things like G'day mate. 90% of the population is on the coast.
3. We aren't all loud drunken yobbo's(aussie slang for uncouth) some of us are very softly spoken yobbo's
| hades9366 wrote: |
As an Aussie (that's Australian) I'd like to clear up a couple of the misconceptions that plague us.
1. We don't ride kangaroos to work, though kangaroo steaks are becoming more popular.
2. We don't all live in desert country towns and say things like G'day mate. 90% of the population is on the coast.
3. We aren't all loud drunken yobbo's(aussie slang for uncouth) some of us are very softly spoken yobbo's |
But I bet your name's Bruce! lol
I think you can blame Les Patterson and Kevin Bloody Wilson for a lot of the stereotyping - or, at least, they reinforce it.
The word yobbo is used in the U.K. too. I thought the Aussie word was hoon (a contraction of hooligan).I'm Canadian, eh? I live in an igloo, which I travel to via sled dog team. Nanook and I watch the Northern Lights on the "ruf" while swilling beer and talking "aboot" the latest hockey game. Yup, and we're all SO polite.
| hades9366 wrote: |
As an Aussie (that's Australian) I'd like to clear up a couple of the misconceptions that plague us.
1. We don't ride kangaroos to work, though kangaroo steaks are becoming more popular.
2. We don't all live in desert country towns and say things like G'day mate. 90% of the population is on the coast.
3. We aren't all loud drunken yobbo's(aussie slang for uncouth) some of us are very softly spoken yobbo's |
I wish I rode a kangaroo to work... and a kangaroo steak sounds good, too. Do you suppose I could get a job in your fair country, ride kangaroos to work, then grill them for supper? Of course, if I'm living in the desert, I'd have a long commute... I guess I could have a beer on my way to and from work. | barkman wrote: |
| hades9366 wrote: | As an Aussie (that's Australian) I'd like to clear up a couple of the misconceptions that plague us.
1. We don't ride kangaroos to work, though kangaroo steaks are becoming more popular.
2. We don't all live in desert country towns and say things like G'day mate. 90% of the population is on the coast.
3. We aren't all loud drunken yobbo's(aussie slang for uncouth) some of us are very softly spoken yobbo's |
I wish I rode a kangaroo to work... and a kangaroo steak sounds good, too. Do you suppose I could get a job in your fair country, ride kangaroos to work, then grill them for supper? Of course, if I'm living in the desert, I'd have a long commute... I guess I could have a beer on my way to and from work. |
But don't forget you'd have to wear 1 of those hats with all the corks hanging from it 
| Ms.Pseudo wrote: |
I started to remember all bizarre fallacies (hope that is the right word, plural from word fallacy) about Finland, like we live here in igloos and have polarbears. Well, we do have polarbears, that is true. In the ZOO !
I have also heard, that in maps in some schools in U.S.A Finland was still part of U.S.S.R at 80's, despite the fact Finland have been independent since 1917.
|
Ahh, I love Finland.. for the polar bears.. oops, sorry 
for the magical winter, woods and lakes everywhere, Nightwish and ski jumping, though I heard most of the Finns hate it for the same four reasons
And yeah, I'm from Poland, so..
1. I can have more than 5 promiles of alcohol and survive (Quite true, Polish record is something about 12, only Russian and Chuck Norris beat us )
2. I'm a car theft (A German proverb says "Come to visit Poland, your car is already here".)
3. I'm an orthodox fanatic nazi catholic (the last word matches to me ) and I hate Jews, muslims and Germans:/.
4. I live in Russia. (There a lot of people on the net asking if Poland is a part of Russia, but even better are those who say that).... :
5. Poland a district of Chicago - I know that there are plenty of Polish living there, but if someone still doesn't know - we do have our own country. That is not a part of Russia. And we don't have communism here (though we used to for some time). And we do watch color TV, and we have acess to Internet... OK, I'd better chill powitanie, the_mariska - Don't forget that you've all got huge moustaches and you only eat beetroot
| DoctorBeaver wrote: |
| hades9366 wrote: | As an Aussie (that's Australian) I'd like to clear up a couple of the misconceptions that plague us.
1. We don't ride kangaroos to work, though kangaroo steaks are becoming more popular.
2. We don't all live in desert country towns and say things like G'day mate. 90% of the population is on the coast.
3. We aren't all loud drunken yobbo's(aussie slang for uncouth) some of us are very softly spoken yobbo's |
But I bet your name's Bruce! lol
I think you can blame Les Patterson and Kevin y Wilson for a lot of the stereotyping - or, at least, they reinforce it.
The word yobbo is used in the U.K. too. I thought the Aussie word was hoon (a contraction of hooligan). |
I always thought yobbo was Australian slang. Well that's my new thing for today. We do also use the word Hoon but more specifically for revhead(car enthusiast) yobbo'sI'm from Belgium, and we eat French fries all over the time. And we have a stupid government, and bizarre laws. Guess what? Yes, the last thing is true 
.
