Stereotypes in America, true or not

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I always found all the Australian flags flying from shared flats in Earls Court very jingoistic

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I think the problem with this thread is that it is very one sided and is only discussing stereotypes of one country. Perhaps we should expand it to discuss the stereotypes of all countries. We could start off with Australia. It is widely believed that all Australians wear hats with corks round their heads and that they sit around the barbie all day throwing shrimps on them and knocking back the tinnys of XXXX. They love to hunt crocodiles and have pet kangaroos called Skippy. They say things like G'day Bruce and the ones in the outback seem to be a bit backwards. How much of that is true? I don't know any Australians so I can't really comment.

Lol while technically this derails the original topic (US specific) I will reply.

Hat's with corks exist in some of the Northern States. Maybe elsewhere but not in Vic unless we're taking the p*ss... which happens especially on Australia Day. The corks are to keep flies off your face... quite effective really. It gets really hot up north, dry heat. Well in the 110's+ Yes we tend to use BBQ's a lot because of how hot it is you don't want to heat inside. Again though it depends on your state and town and also sometimes on the season. Up north is hot a LOT so it'd be more prevalent there.

XXXX (4X) is a Qld beer and most other states don't like it Victoria Bitter is from the state of Victoria but last time I was working a bar Carlton Draught was more popular. I personally don't drink beer. I think Corona is popular too.. imported beers as well.

Shrimps are actually called prawns. We don't hunt crocs.. there might be the occasional person that does but it's probably state/area specific. Skippy was a TV show. Kangaroos are kinda in "pest" proportions so people DO go "roo shooting". We do say g'day and mate. There aren't as many "Bruces" as there once was.

We get a LOT of American TV so we are polluted with Americanisms and behaviour etc. The one thing about Aussies is we love to travel. It's the norm for people to travel to the UK and Europe. We do exchange programs with the US as well. Because of that I learnt (was lead to believe) the US education system is sub-par to ours. The girl that went was not smart yet she was put up a year because she was "too smart" and was getting straight A's. I believed for several years that all American school must suck if they thought she was smart ('cause everyone else was Einstein compared to her). Of course now I know there are BIG differences between state and especially between schools and while I don't remember what school she went to I suspect it was the school that was the issue, not the US education system in general.

[Stu4Lee 66]

Only US stereotype I found to be true is the love of the English accent, though the novelty of reading out the menu to the waiter/waitress soon wore off.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I always found all the Australian flags flying from shared flats in Earls Court very jingoistic

We like to fly flags on special occasions (a win in the cricket, Australia day), and especially while out of the country. It's not the norm for us to have flag poles outside our houses, I've noticed it's VERY common here. We like the fact we're Australia, we're pretty patriotic, we just rarely rub it in people's faces all the time. We don't say "Australia is the best country in the world" any time someone tries to talk to us about another country. We rarely jump on someone when they say they don't like something about our country. Of course this is a generalisation. There is an exception to every rule of course and there are some CRAZY patriots out there (bogans usually).

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Skippy was a TV show.

LMAO Vanessa, this post is making me laugh! I am sure if I listed all of the unusual things about the state I am from people would laugh too

Let's just say I know one town near to the one I am from had a party line until the 90s! For the whole town!

Edited January 11, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

You need to fix your irony detector, V&T. And visit Earl's Court and Acton, aka "Little Sydney" to count the flags

I will say that your people do, however, get very drunk at the Walkabout in Shepherd's Bush every weekend and chant Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi! on the night bus up the Uxbridge Rd. Scary, but in a different way.

[scotinmass 588]

Lol while technically this derails the original topic (US specific) I will reply.

Hat's with corks exist in some of the Northern States. Maybe elsewhere but not in Vic unless we're taking the p*ss... which happens especially on Australia Day. The corks are to keep flies off your face... quite effective really. It gets really hot up north, dry heat. Well in the 110's+ Yes we tend to use BBQ's a lot because of how hot it is you don't want to heat inside. Again though it depends on your state and town and also sometimes on the season. Up north is hot a LOT so it'd be more prevalent there.

XXXX (4X) is a Qld beer and most other states don't like it Victoria Bitter is from the state of Victoria but last time I was working a bar Carlton Draught was more popular. I personally don't drink beer. I think Corona is popular too.. imported beers as well.

Shrimps are actually called prawns. We don't hunt crocs.. there might be the occasional person that does but it's probably state/area specific. Skippy was a TV show. Kangaroos are kinda in "pest" proportions so people DO go "roo shooting". We do say g'day and mate. There aren't as many "Bruces" as there once was.

We get a LOT of American TV so we are polluted with Americanisms and behaviour etc. The one thing about Aussies is we love to travel. It's the norm for people to travel to the UK and Europe. We do exchange programs with the US as well. Because of that I learnt (was lead to believe) the US education system is sub-par to ours. The girl that went was not smart yet she was put up a year because she was "too smart" and was getting straight A's. I believed for several years that all American school must suck if they thought she was smart ('cause everyone else was Einstein compared to her). Of course now I know there are BIG differences between state and especially between schools and while I don't remember what school she went to I suspect it was the school that was the issue, not the US education system in general.

Well all the stereotypes about Scotland are true. We wear kilts all the time with nothing under them of course. I even wear my wee kilt pajamas in bed. I eat nothing but haggis. This is because it is soft and I can't chew very well with my rotten teeth. We are all drunks and drink gallons of whisky. I've even been known to pour it over my cornflakes. We are lazy and work shy and sit around all day living off the taxes of our generous English neighbours who we hate! Don't ask us for anything though cos we are really cheap and won't spend a penny on anyone but ourselves. The only time we don't drink is when we are whacking balls round on the golf course but after a round we head for the clubhouse and open another bottle. Living under the grey wet skies all the time makes us a miserable unhappy dour people. But you ask us and we'll tell you the greatest country on earth is Scotland (even though we secretly hate ourselves!) Scots. Wha's like us? Damn few an' their a' deid!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

You need to fix your irony detector, V&T. And visit Earl's Court and Acton, aka "Little Sydney" to count the flags

I will say that your people do, however, get very drunk at the Walkabout in Shepherd's Bush every weekend and chant Aussie, Aussie Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi! on the night bus up the Uxbridge Rd. Scary, but in a different way.

Yeah... bloody bogans

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrQxQPG8JdE

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Well all the stereotypes about Scotland are true. We wear kilts all the time with nothing under them of course. I even wear my wee kilt pajamas in bed. I eat nothing but haggis. This is because it is soft and I can't chew very well with my rotten teeth. We are all drunks and drink gallons of whisky. I've even been known to pour it over my cornflakes. We are lazy and work shy and sit around all day living off the taxes of our generous English neighbours who we hate! Don't ask us for anything though cos we are really cheap and won't spend a penny on anyone but ourselves. The only time we don't drink is when we are whacking balls round on the golf course but after a round we head for the clubhouse and open another bottle. Living under the grey wet skies all the time makes us a miserable unhappy dour people. But you ask us and we'll tell you the greatest country on earth is Scotland (even though we secretly hate ourselves!) Scots. Wha's like us? Damn few an' their a' deid!

Don't forget you ALL play bagpipes, live in grand grey castles and have a title of some form... "Earl" etc. You also like to do that pole throwing thing... the name escapes me.

[scotinmass 588]

Don't forget you ALL play bagpipes, live in grand grey castles and have a title of some form... "Earl" etc. You also like to do that pole throwing thing... the name escapes me.

Of course how could I forget the bagpipes. I was playing mine earlier.

And we toss the caber. Not as much fun as it sounds!

Don't forget you ALL play bagpipes, live in grand grey castles and have a title of some form... "Earl" etc. You also like to do that pole throwing thing... the name escapes me.

And I am the Laird of Upper Sheeptown.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Of course how could I forget the bagpipes. I was playing mine earlier.

And we toss the caber. Not as much fun as it sounds!

And I am the Laird of Upper Sheeptown.

That's it! Caber lol. Dad's from Aberdeen.

[scotinmass 588]

That's it! Caber lol. Dad's from Aberdeen.

I lived in Aberdeen for 4 years. My son was born there.

[Krikit 1,164]

Closed for review.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

**** Upon review, this topic has gotten way off topic from the original discussion on US stereotypes and will thus remain closed *****