Really Dumb questions you've been asked about the UK

[Fandango 1,439]

'Do they celebrate Thanksgiving/4th of July?'

or

"DO THEY HAVE CHRISTMAS OVER THERE?'

#######?

add your own!

[Mags 112]

When someone asks me where I am from (I say London, they'd not know where Essex was!) they say "Oooh I have a friend who lives in London, do you know her?". #######? There are MILLIONS of people living in London, what are the chances eh?

Edited March 18, 2007 by mags

[Lizzy 0]

Do you have easter there?

How can you get about in London if you don't drive?

[flutter95 4]

Some I posted in another thread but I'll re-post here:

Do you speak English there?

How long would it take to drive there?

Have you seen the Eifel tower in London?

I have also been asked about this person ....do I know them? knowing/meeting royal family etc.

Been asked about electricity, running water.

And TWICE asked "so...what do you guys do there for fun?"

[PaulineA 1]

When I tell people I'm from Scotland, they ask where in London are you from? I have to explain that London is in England and it isn't the whole of the UK. Also, if I'm going to teach my son how to speak the Scottish language, and I have to say it's the same as the English language, but with a different accent, lol.

[Mary Lou 681]

Gary has been asked if he knows the Queen ffs

[truffles 2]

[b]I love this this one...because to be honest when i am asked about stuff i tend to think they are winding me up...then when i realise they are serious i tend to go into overdrive - i explain that visitors from US are required to fill in a questionaire before leaving the plane - invariably they alway ask on what topics...so....i explain as Police are under pressure to actual conduct policing matters it is no longer acceptable to " ask a policeman" and that the visitor has to demonstrate ability to navigate the London tube network...questions on currency because after all they have - we hope come to spend money - and demonstrate a reasonable knowledge of history - for example when standing in front of the houses of parliament it is important that they grasp the importance of the law making machinery at work - and its influence all over the world to ensure the visitor get the best from the experience( etc etc etc) after a while i realised the person i was doing this to wasnt "getting it" and had to confess - to be honest i was geting bored of it...interestly she was amazed at our gun laws ( the one bit of real fact and that really shocked her??? - ). I always makegod any misconceptions - usually they are amused ...usually!!!! lol[/b]

[featherB 1]

I'm sure I have plenty of these, but can't remember many at the moment. Apart from (same as Mags) telling someone I was from London, and being asked if I knew his ex-girlfriend. When I said no, and pointed out that London is pretty big, he still persisted with it, like I might remember that I did actually know her after all. He was saying 'I'm trying to remember her address... where did she live... what was that street called....?' and I (trying to be polite) asked what area she lived in, only to be told 'London!'.... after umming and ahhing (despite me assuring him that I didn't know the girl) for ages he triumphantly announced the name of her street - something or other Close, y'know, some suburban-sounding place that could have been in Barnet or Barking or Bexley or anywhere... followed by 'do you know it?' and a whole lot more describing of how she had brown hair and was 25 and blah blah blah.... gaaaaaahhhh!!!

[*julez* 124]

I took Griff to a Bills football (American) game and my colleagues asked him to teach them how to riot like they "always" do after soccer (sic) games in England.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be American.

[featherB 1]

I took Griff to a Bills football (American) game and my colleagues asked him to teach them how to riot like they "always" do after soccer (sic) games in England.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be American.

Errrrmmmm.... how thoughtful of them to try to make him feel 'at home'....

I'm quite amazed by that one!!

[flutter95 4]

I moved to Pennsylvania and I have learned that PA is half the size of England, and it has 12 million people living there.

So when I have been asked and pestered about do I know someone I tell them that although England is only twice the size of PA (which you know, is kinda decent) it has SIXTY MILLION PEOPLE IN IT! and I tell them that PA has 12 mil people and if it was double it would have probably about 24mil and remind them again about the 60 mil...they kinda look shell shocked theres that many people in England

[ajames79 0]

I know several people who I would consider to know my story pretty well...the traveling back and forth to England to see Chris and all.

But flipping every single time I go or come back they ask me how London was. Or when you going back to London.

I sarcastically (but still trying to be pleasent) say "Well I haven't been to London since I was 13, but Yorkshire which is a few hours from London was GREAT"

But I have to admit I did a stupid American thing the first time I met some of Chris' friends at a pub. One of the guys asked me where I was from and I stupidly said "The US". LIKE DUH...of course you are. I hate it when people say that to me...when I ask where they are from.

[Muuuuah 0]

Gary has been asked if he knows the Queen ffs

I have been asked that one so many times also. When people ask where i am from and i say the UK, they always say i have always wanted to go to London....They think that the UK only consists of London..........

[*julez* 124]

Gary has been asked if he knows the Queen ffs

I have been asked that one so many times also. When people ask where i am from and i say the UK, they always say i have always wanted to go to London....They think that the UK only consists of London..........

On a much smaller scale thats how most of the world looks at New York - they think it consists of only New York City, not realizing there is an entire NY State!

[TimsDaisy 0]

I love the "do they celebrate christmas over there" question - though, to be fair to my friends, most of them mean, even if they don't say it clearly, do they celebrate it the same way as we do. fair question, i suppose. i mean, we don't have pantos or boxing day (not really) over here.

And I get the "how was London?" question all the time too. While it is true that I arrive and depart from Heathrow (which is only kinda London, anyway, right? Like LAX is LA or SFO is SF), I spend my UK time in Suffolk.

I also get all kinds of wide-eyed oooooh every time I go to England for any amount of time - but especially when it is a brief trip - a Thursday-Tuesday kinda of thing. I mean, yeah, it's far to go, but is any distance too far to go for love? And it isn't like I'm Ms. Moneybags. Who can really afford this kind of relationship? But it's worth it right? Luckily, I have my Visa until he gets his visa, if you know what I mean. It isn't SO Far. Americans just don't travel enough, do we.

Mags - where in Essex? My fiance grew up in Chelmsford. I won't claim to know a lot about Essex, but a bit!

Oh - my friends' all-time favorite silly American question: do we have accents to you?

And best comment: "how long have you been here? you've picked up the language really well!"