American-British Q&A

[IndianaJonny]

I'd like to know how some of you British folks feel about President Obama.

He's not Bush. That gets a LOT of praise.

However, referring to BP as "BRITISH Petroleum" all the time is rather jingoistic given that BP hasn't been British for a long time.

Yes, to quote Robin Williams, we're glad the 'comedy pinata' has moved on. Obama's autobiography The Audacity of Hope was well-recieved here and he was seen as a promising candidate but even we rolled our eyes a little when the Nobel Prize came around. To be honest, I think we're glad he's not as irksome (or downright scary) as some of the Republicans - coming from a rather moderate, welfare-state country (but God knows how long that's going to last!) your two-party 'bastion' of a system is rather beyond us, I'm afraid.

I should also point out that our own domestic politics have been more exciting than usual over the past year with us currently under a coalition government so the US situation maybe hasn't had the same extent of coverage as it otherwise would have. This extends more recently to events such as us patting ourselves on the back about how we quickly we reacted to Libya while merely approving of Obama's change in approach to involvement in the Arab Spring since 'dithering' in Egypt.

 

[JDKJ]

I'd like to know how some of you British folks feel about President Obama.

He's not Bush. That gets a LOT of praise.

However, referring to BP as "BRITISH Petroleum" all the time is rather jingoistic given that BP hasn't been British for a long time.

Yes, to quote Robin Williams, we're glad the 'comedy pinata' has moved on. Obama's autobiography The Audacity of Hope was well-recieved here and he was seen as a promising candidate but even we rolled our eyes a little when the Nobel Prize came around. To be honest, I think we're glad he's not as irksome (or downright scary) as some of the Republicans - coming from a rather moderate, welfare-state country (but God knows how long that's going to last!) your two-party 'bastion' of a system is rather beyond us, I'm afraid.

I should also point out that our own domestic politics have been more exciting than usual over the past year with us currently under a coalition government so the US situation maybe hasn't had the same extent of focus as it otherwise would have.

We may have the makings of a three-party system. Those Teabaggers look like they're here to stay. And are wielding quite a bit of influence up on Capitol Hill these days.

 

[Belligerency]

I'd like to know how some of you British folks feel about President Obama.

He's not Bush. That gets a LOT of praise.

However, referring to BP as "BRITISH Petroleum" all the time is rather jingoistic given that BP hasn't been British for a long time.

Yes, to quote Robin Williams, we're glad the 'comedy pinata' has moved on. Obama's autobiography The Audacity of Hope was well-recieved here and he was seen as a promising candidate but even we rolled our eyes a little when the Nobel Prize came around. To be honest, I think we're glad he's not as irksome (or downright scary) as some of the Republicans - coming from a rather moderate, welfare-state country (but God knows how long that's going to last!) your two-party 'bastion' of a system is rather beyond us, I'm afraid.

I should also point out that our own domestic politics have been more exciting than usual over the past year with us currently under a coalition government so the US situation maybe hasn't had the same extent of focus as it otherwise would have.

We may have the makings of a three-party system. Those Teabaggers look like they're here to stay. And are wielding quite a bit of influence up on Capitol Hill these days.

Naw, three parties would never fly I can barely remember the two we have now! Also, the Republicans will just reabsorb the tea partiers.

 

[IndianaJonny]

We may have the makings of a three-party system. Those Teabaggers look like they're here to stay. And are wielding quite a bit of influence up on Capitol Hill these days.

That should be interesting, the Republicans will find themselves as the moderates without having moved an ideological inch. Over here, the Tea Party are essentially percieved as the zealous 'boy-scout movement' of the Republican Party so should a three-party system emerge, chances are the UK will see it as 'Democrat Party', 'Republican Party' and 'Republican Party Jr.'.

 

[Belligerency]

We may have the makings of a three-party system. Those Teabaggers look like they're here to stay. And are wielding quite a bit of influence up on Capitol Hill these days.

That should be interesting, the Republicans will find themselves as the moderates without having moved an ideological inch. Over here, the Tea Party are essentially percieved as the zealous 'boy-scout movement' of the Republican Party so should a three-party system emerge, chances are the UK will see it as 'Democrat Party', 'Republican Party' and 'Republican Party Jr.'.

I'm waiting for the Donald to form his own party and get elected president on the Birther ticket, that'll make it a three party system for sure.

 

[JDKJ]

We may have the makings of a three-party system. Those Teabaggers look like they're here to stay. And are wielding quite a bit of influence up on Capitol Hill these days.

That should be interesting, the Republicans will find themselves as the moderates without having moved an ideological inch. Over here, the Tea Party are essentially percieved as the zealous 'boy-scout movement' of the Republican Party so should a three-party system emerge, chances are the UK will see it as 'Democrat Party', 'Republican Party' and 'Republican Party Jr.'.

That's precisely the bind in which the Republicans find themselves. As a whole, they're being torn between the fiscally radical Teabaggers (who insist on trying to accomplish the politically suicidal (e.g., tinkering with the old folks' Social Security and Medicare)) and the more moderate members of the party who'd like to hang on to their jobs and know better than to alienate all those old folks (old folks vote -- they ain't got nothing better to do).

 

[holy_secret]

i have a question for America,
Why do you do your dates backwards? as in MM/DD/YY opposed to the way the rest of the world with the DD/MM/YY, smallest unit FIRST so today is 21/05/11 in most of the world but Americans have it as 05/21/11.
i just had a minor rant on another thread about this and felt i should probably get some enlightenment.

None of this makes sense!
In Sweden, it's YY/MM/DD. From biggest to smallest. It makes more sense. Imagine organizing your picture into a bunch of folders. Of course you would have the biggest one first (the year).
Blablabla holy crap I went off topic.
Maybe...I wanted to participate here a little...

Am I allowed to asked questions? I'd like to go both ways if that's okay.

I have no clue why we Americans do it, it is stupid and annoying, like Imperial units. I have heard of how British and Latina American countries use the DD/MM/YY but the Swedish system is better in my opinion since people read left to right and I want my most important number to be read first.
Retort question. For listing divide 3/2 do you label it as 3,2 like in Latin American or 3.2 like in America? 3.2 makes sense to me because when I put down a million 1,000,000 the commas seem to me to list it off like items on a grocery list compared to how in Latin America they would put down 1.000.000

Don't mention the imperial system I swear to god we've had enough of those discussions (seems to be a good fuel for fire if you catch my drift).

It is so confusing to read a date when it's in two numbers per category (xx/xx/xx instead of xxxx/xx/xx), because then it can be difficult to know exactly if they're talking about days or months or years.
10/04/06. Which date am I refering to?

Hmm...I'm not really sure. Math is not my strongest subject (I'm a linguist). Can't help you out there bud. Need to know what you're talking about first

 

[Scrubiii]

Question for Americans. I have heard Americans reference Scotland, England and Ireland but I have never heard a single American reference Wales. What are your thoughts/stereotypes of the Welsh?

 

[IndianaJonny]

That's precisely the bind in which the Republicans find themselves. As a whole, they're being torn between the fiscally radical Teabaggers (who insist on trying to accomplish the politically suicidal (e.g., tinkering with the old folks' Social Security and Medicare)) and the more moderate members of the party who'd like to hang on to their jobs and know better than to alienate all those old folks (old folks vote -- they ain't got nothing better to do).

I'm curious as to what Americans consider of the quality of (political) news commentary they receive through the media of television, radio and newspapers. Most of the good quality reportage here is done for the papers and for radio, is the same true for the States?

 

[Sun Flash]

Re; Obama, he seems like a pretty smart guy and would happily have him as PM over David Cameron. I think it's a shame that his health care reforms got so much backlash and a few other of his policies seem to keep getting blocked by Government, which leads to Republicans saying he hasn't done anything since he came into office, when it's their fault in the first place.

So what do you dudes think of our PM, "Dave" Cameron?


I hate to bring the tone down from serious political discussions here, but my dearest Yanks, I believe you have this bread, it's like brown bread, but it has a white swirl in it. I have never seen this in British stores and it looks super cool. Tell me; what am I missing out on?

Oh and Also, I once got into a conversation with an American whilst I was on holiday in Florida it went has follows;

Dude: "Hey, you, kid. Where you from?"
Moi: "Scotland"
Dude: "Oh really?! Hey, do you know my brother John? He's a train driver and lives in Italy."

So, how are Americans on European geography? and do many of you accept that Scotland, Wales and Ireland are a part of Britain and not just parts of England? I personally can't recite all fifty states but if you told me one of them, I could point out it's general area on a map.

 

[Gameslayer_93]

Alright so my question is this? What is a Chav? I've been called this on occasion and I don't think it's anything good, would someone care to explain?

A chav is a stereotype of certain people in the United Kingdom. Also known as a charver in Yorkshire and North East England "chavs" are said to be aggressive teenagers, of working class background, who repeatedly engage in anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, drug abuse and rowdiness, or other forms of juvenile delinquency.

also, in Scotland we call them Neds, slight difference here and there but basically the same thing
OT: my question, is it true that most Americans don't know the difference between Britain and England or is that just a bad stereotype?

 

[Verlander]

...

I'm a Brit who lived in Atlanta, Georgia for a while, so I know most of the things I would ask questions about. Here's the main one-how ready are you for when oil and petrol run out???


(oh, and that stuff you put in cars, y'know "gas" isn't a gas. It's a liquid, called petrol. And don't give me no crap about "gasoline" either!!)

Nationally, a fair ammount of our Electricity is produced via renewable energy and nuclear power. There would certainly be large-scale blackouts both scheduled and unscheduled but there wouldn't be mass death because there isn't enough power to pump water into peoples homes either. Transport-wise, a fair amount of people have bicycles. Everyone in my family does and my friends do so short-distance transport would still be possible.
Most people are reliant on their cars though and electric cars aren't all that common over here even if enough power could be spared to run them.

Personally, I live out in the countryside surrounded by farms so food isn't a major issue issue and if my place of work could somehow remain open then it's within cycling distance or even walking distance if I don't mind losing most of my working day.

American question for the Brits.

Is Dr. Who, like, "mainstream" over there?

Because here, almost no one's even heard of it, and that's really a shame.

It's huge, which is odd. I thought it was pretty big over there though?

I'm a Brit who lived in Atlanta, Georgia for a while, so I know most of the things I would ask questions about. Here's the main one-how ready are you for when oil and petrol run out???


(oh, and that stuff you put in cars, y'know "gas" isn't a gas. It's a liquid, called petrol. And don't give me no crap about "gasoline" either!!)

I guess it depends on what part of the United States you're from. Where I live Dr. Who isn't exactly a cult classic. Would it be right to say that it was like the Brittish Star Trek though? I mean it's not that big here, but it is well known.

As far as for petrol I would say that we've pioneered a lot of alternative energy sources such ashydroelectric, solar, and hyrodgen reasearch among others yet these days the more connected world is finally making Science the team sport is should be and I'm sure you probably know that BP was a major patron of developing biodiesel.

So while we're on the subject how come petrol stations in the U.K. always have sacks of charcoal for sale and ours don't? (Yes this is asked because of that Eddie Izzard joke that I didn't get until he explained it. He explained the joke he just never expained why?)

Petrol stations are like mini-marts, or whatever they're called in the US. They also have kindling, papers, flowers, food and all sorts. Anything to make a penny I guess. The thing is, it's easier here to get barbeque stuff in a hurry from a garage (which is what some of us call petrol stations) than it is to find a home store.

As for the fuel thing, I'm really not convinced. You guys have a huge country, and it's backbone relies on fossil fuels./ Britain can't survive on renewable energy, and we have 3 (or 4, can't remember) nuclear station, and so much renewable energy sources, that you can't go anywhere without seeing them! I see the amount of effort tat goes into simple things, like moving food and stuff around, and I think you guys are screwed, although famous American ingenuity will almost certainly come through before that.

I found these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_Kingdom and it doesn't look like there's much different at the moment, although you guys are going to have to invest a lot more per head than we are

And Vegas would be completely fucked.

 

[Randomologist]

I'd like to know how some of you British folks feel about President Obama. Do you see him making the changes that he promised at the beginning of his term? Do you like him? Do you even have an opinion? I'd like it if only British folks responded to this one, if you all don't mind.

I know he promised healthcare reform and the closure of Guantanamo bay, I assume there was other stuff but to be frank a politician will spout policies like a fountain. I doubt every Briton remembers Cameron's every word. Half of it was policies, the other half crude sniping at Labour, the incumbent party. Anyway, it seems that some Americans don't like the new reforms, saying the UK has long waiting lists. We do for some things, but the Accident & Emergency departments are usually well-staffed and well-equipped, in my experience. Its the non-emergency stuff that needs work.

I don't really know what to think of Obama. Obviously, he seems a charismatic guy, but very few people aren't. Gordon Brown might have been an exception, whose smile made it look as if he was having electrical currents strategically applied to his face, but then he was never voted for. There was quite a fuss over his election, but I couldn't help but feel that some voted him in for his personal appeal rather than his policies. As some other guy here said, we did roll our eyes when he won the Nobel peace prize. My first word on hearing this was "What?", shortly followed by "Why? He hasn't done anything yet". Again, I think this might have been the fever surrounding his personal traits.

Overall I'm probably neutral on the guy. If I was American, I'd have voted on him, purely because I didn't want the Republican party in power, even if a bag of oven chips McCain was leading it.

Sorry for the wall of text

 

[JDKJ]

That's precisely the bind in which the Republicans find themselves. As a whole, they're being torn between the fiscally radical Teabaggers (who insist on trying to accomplish the politically suicidal (e.g., tinkering with the old folks' Social Security and Medicare)) and the more moderate members of the party who'd like to hang on to their jobs and know better than to alienate all those old folks (old folks vote -- they ain't got nothing better to do).

I'm curious as to what Americans consider of the quality of (political) news commentary they receive through the media of television, radio and newspapers. Most of the good quality reportage here is done for the papers and for radio, is the same true for the States?

Personally, I try to avoid CNN, FOX, FFN, MSNBC, HLN, and all the other mainstream 24-hour cable news stations. They all try to blow smoke up your ass (the direction from which they blow is the only difference). If you search hard, you can find cable stations with more objective coverage. There's RTV outta NYC (targeted at America's Russian population) and a few news programs on the public broadcasting stations (e.g., PBS) that aren't as shamelessly biased (actually, I find that BBC America ain't half bad in comparison to the Americans). My rule of thumb is that if they're willing to regularly run clips from Al Jazeera, they can't be all bad.

Print news I can't speak on -- too lazy to read. And the stereo in the ride's for music. Nothing else.

 

[BlackStar42]

I'd like to know how some of you British folks feel about President Obama. Do you see him making the changes that he promised at the beginning of his term? Do you like him? Do you even have an opinion? I'd like it if only British folks responded to this one, if you all don't mind.

Well, he seems like a good man trying to do the right thing to me. Hasn't been that successful yet, and the whole "calling BP British Petroleum" thing was a tad annoying, but I'd take him over Cameron any day.

 

[JDKJ]

Alright so my question is this? What is a Chav? I've been called this on occasion and I don't think it's anything good, would someone care to explain?

A chav is a stereotype of certain people in the United Kingdom. Also known as a charver in Yorkshire and North East England "chavs" are said to be aggressive teenagers, of working class background, who repeatedly engage in anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, drug abuse and rowdiness, or other forms of juvenile delinquency.

also, in Scotland we call them Neds, slight difference here and there but basically the same thing
OT: my question, is it true that most Americans don't know the difference between Britain and England or is that just a bad stereotype?

Probably not. But for a fact there was a poster here who posted, in relation to free speech in the UK, that "they don't have a constitution, they're governed by a monarchy, so I guess it's whatever the King and Queen say." Is that emblematic of all Americans' knowledge of the UK? Probably not. But it does say something about some Americans' knowledge of the UK.

 

[megajon]

Alright so my question is this? What is a Chav? I've been called this on occasion and I don't think it's anything good, would someone care to explain?

A chav is a stereotype of certain people in the United Kingdom. Also known as a charver in Yorkshire and North East England "chavs" are said to be aggressive teenagers, of working class background, who repeatedly engage in anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, drug abuse and rowdiness, or other forms of juvenile delinquency.

also, in Scotland we call them Neds, slight difference here and there but basically the same thing
OT: my question, is it true that most Americans don't know the difference between Britain and England or is that just a bad stereotype?

Probably not. But for a fact there was a poster here who posted, in relation to free speech in the UK, that "they don't have a constitution, they're governed by a monarchy, so I guess it's whatever the King and Queen say." Is that emblematic of all Americans' knowledge of the UK? Probably not. But it does say something about some Americans' knowledge of the UK.

well the Monarchy themself actually don't govern the country themselfs and actually have next to no actual power there really just figureheads and just there to bring the tourists.

 

[silent-treatment]

Re; Obama, he seems like a pretty smart guy and would happily have him as PM over David Cameron. I think it's a shame that his health care reforms got so much backlash and a few other of his policies seem to keep getting blocked by Government, which leads to Republicans saying he hasn't done anything since he came into office, when it's their fault in the first place.

So what do you dudes think of our PM, "Dave" Cameron?


I hate to bring the tone down from serious political discussions here, but my dearest Yanks, I believe you have this bread, it's like brown bread, but it has a white swirl in it. I have never seen this in British stores and it looks super cool. Tell me; what am I missing out on?

Oh and Also, I once got into a conversation with an American whilst I was on holiday in Florida it went has follows;

Dude: "Hey, you, kid. Where you from?"
Moi: "Scotland"
Dude: "Oh really?! Hey, do you know my brother John? He's a train driver and lives in Italy."

So, how are Americans on European geography? and do many of you accept that Scotland, Wales and Ireland are a part of Britain and not just parts of England? I personally can't recite all fifty states but if you told me one of them, I could point out it's general area on a map.

My biggest problem with the health care bill is that it was not voted on by the people, it was put into affect by the senate/house. When something like this, you know something that will greatly affect people on a hugely personal level, is even considered the public should decide if they want it (and I want it, but I also want to be able to opt-out if something better comes along).

To be honest, I have no opinions about David Cameron because this is the first time I have heard of him. God, gotta love American media (also "gotta" required no red lines, what has spell check come to). What has he been doing? Also how strong is the "conservative" (in quotes because I do not know the proper term, basically your guy's GOP) in the UK?
And the bread is interesting, but not any different then the white bread.

*cringes* sorry about that. Sadly Geography as a whole seems to be EVERYONES cryptonite over here (mine included, sadly) but that example is like, way extreme.

 

[Scrubiii]

how big is baseball in the UK?

Virtually non-existent. I don't know anyone who knows the rules or has ever played or watched a game in their life. Same with American Football.

 

[JDKJ]

Alright so my question is this? What is a Chav? I've been called this on occasion and I don't think it's anything good, would someone care to explain?

A chav is a stereotype of certain people in the United Kingdom. Also known as a charver in Yorkshire and North East England "chavs" are said to be aggressive teenagers, of working class background, who repeatedly engage in anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, drug abuse and rowdiness, or other forms of juvenile delinquency.

also, in Scotland we call them Neds, slight difference here and there but basically the same thing
OT: my question, is it true that most Americans don't know the difference between Britain and England or is that just a bad stereotype?

Probably not. But for a fact there was a poster here who posted, in relation to free speech in the UK, that "they don't have a constitution, they're governed by a monarchy, so I guess it's whatever the King and Queen say." Is that emblematic of all Americans' knowledge of the UK? Probably not. But it does say something about some Americans' knowledge of the UK.

well the Monarchy themself actually don't govern the country themselfs and actually have next to no actual power there really just figureheads and just there to bring the tourists.

Gee, thanks. Any other useful tidbits of information I don't already know and which you can share would also be greatly appreciated.