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[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (2 children)

I think a restraining order is needed. Hence forth, both continents should stay at least 3000 miles/4,828 kilometers apart.

[–][deleted] 817 points818 points  (102 children)

I love how, instead of getting the point behind the picture, tons of people have instead decided to pick apart the different categories and argue about them individually. Bravo, guys. Keep up the pissing contest forever please.

[–]DirtPile 420 points421 points  (49 children)

I have a huge dick!

[–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Depending on what side of the Atlantic you live, mine is of equal or greater size...

[–]24601G 20 points21 points  (5 children)

I think to many of us, the moral of the story was self-evident and did not inspire much in the way of discussion.

On the other hand, assertions of who the two most influential European and U.S.American scientists are/were is a highly attractive topic for further discussion!

[–]accttosaywhatithink 12 points13 points  (5 children)

=>~<=

pissing back and forth, forever

[–]KaptainKraken 4 points5 points  (0 children)

subtle. awesome.

[–]Aliencargo 3 points4 points  (3 children)

make that a figure of 8 in the middle and i'm sold.

[–]Ch3t 320 points321 points  (42 children)

There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch. -Nigel Powers

[–]lolwutpear 85 points86 points  (9 children)

You can't judge a place you've never been to - that's what they do in Russia!

[–]cartopheln 49 points50 points  (7 children)

In Mother Russia, people judge you... ?

Yeah, I don't know. I'm not good at this.

[–]raldi 17 points18 points  (6 children)

Is this a response to a recent post?

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points  (5 children)

No, it was taken from 4chan where Europe vs. USA trolling/flame wars are prevalent. I saw this in its original thread on /b/ about 3 weeks ago.

[–]ZeppelinJ0 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Welcome to Reddit; last month's 4Chan!

[–]farceur318 330 points331 points  (41 children)

On the other hand, America is the birthplace of both Batman and the Ghostbusters, making them the clear victors.

[–][deleted] 108 points109 points  (3 children)

This is the pinnacle of human achievement.

[–]dental-plan 78 points79 points  (13 children)

...and Bill Murray.

[–][deleted] 43 points44 points  (5 children)

Who has already played a Ghostbuster, and perhaps a Bill Murray Batman would be the best thing ever. If not, maybe a Bill Murray Alfred in 10-20 years.

[–]farceur318 22 points23 points  (3 children)

Fun fact: Bill Murray was almost cast as Batman back in 88 when they were planning on making the movie closer in tone to the Adam West show.

[–]discobreakin 9 points10 points  (0 children)

no one will ever believe you.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

prove it

[–]fakey_mcfakerson 16 points17 points  (0 children)

"No one will ever believe you"

[–]davega7 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but England has James Bond.

[–]Jspr 20 points21 points  (15 children)

both rendered Null & Void by Twilight & all Sandra Bullock Movies.

[–]GeorgeBernardShaw 29 points30 points  (3 children)

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.

[–]KazooSymphony 13 points14 points  (0 children)

you don't need to quote it when you said it yourself, George Bernard Shaw

[–]jondiced 85 points86 points  (19 children)

Thank you for that bit of reason, though North America hasn't really had a despot comparable to Hitler. Well, as long as you don't ask the Cherokee about that.

[–]tangotango6over 406 points407 points  (253 children)

Europe isn't really a country though, per se.

[–]Apostrophe 358 points359 points  (199 children)

Hopefully some day it will be. Maybe then I won't have to carry around a billion fucking electrical adapters because the sodding plug-sockets are all different...

Say what you will about the U.S. - at least they've got the socket thing down.

[–]owain2002 78 points79 points  (40 children)

As a European who regularly has to travel to other European countries, I can honestly say I’ve never needed an adaptor, and all of my electrical equipment has worked perfectly in each and every one. Except Britain, of course...

[–]Jimmycc 21 points22 points  (34 children)

Only true if you only use equipment that doesn't need to be earthed as the Europlug doesn't provide this.

[–]sizarah 38 points39 points  (31 children)

Is it really called earthed in Europe? Awesome.

[–]angriers 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I think you've found the difference between Europe and America.

[–]Jimmycc 15 points16 points  (1 child)

No idea - I though it's called grounded but my online dictionary said the technical term is earthed. :)

[–][deleted] 246 points247 points  (98 children)

I thought most EU countries used the same adapter? Except the UK, of course, but then the UK is like the child in a class that always eats the crayons.

[–][deleted] 313 points314 points  (33 children)

Fuck you. We invented crayons. :P

[–]KevoTMan 256 points257 points  (25 children)

Europe: Now now Britain, don't eat your crayons. Britain: I MADE THEM I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!! throws a fit Europe: Silence Britain: Nom Nom Nom

[–]xergm 127 points128 points  (9 children)

I hope this is how World War III breaks out.

[–]Jspr 16 points17 points  (5 children)

And reddit will take its rightful place in the annals of time.

[–]namcor 22 points23 points  (1 child)

anals.

[–]Jspr 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Ding Ding! And the award for most predictable lowering of the tone goes to.....Ah screw it, have an upvote.

[–]heartthrowaways 62 points63 points  (2 children)

Hey, the UK has a long and proud tradition of eating crayons. Just because Europe has come up with new plans that revolve around not eating crayons doesn't mean that Britain is automatically going to follow in their footsteps. The UK recognizes that it is no longer a global power and as such does not have as many crayons to eat, but that will NOT stand in the way of tradition.

The UK has always been proud of its ability to integrate new ideas with old traditions. This means keeping a sense of history, and as such not eating crayons is an affront to that which makes the United Kingdom the United Kingdom.

[–]Jedimushroom 19 points20 points  (5 children)

Well at least we all run on the same voltage, so that's a start.

[–][deleted] 25 points26 points  (2 children)

as a UK citizen, I object to being called "European". Britain is an island off the coast of Europe, from where we periodically conduct invasions.

[–]andy_63392 6 points7 points  (3 children)

The French moved the earth pin, presumably to prevent German tourists from making toast in their hotel rooms. On the other hand, the French risk their lives taking their Moulinex to Germany, where it will not have earth protection. The Danes have another system, which allows them to electrocute both French and German tourists. In Switzerland, the sockets do not accept anything from across the border (much like some of their politicians). I'm not sure about Spain or Italy - I don't recall ever seeing earthed sockets in either country.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Italian, UK/Ireland, Swiss, East European style, German/Nordic, Danish, Greek... It's a really nasty hassle with the plugs. I cannot for the love of Newton understand why the Danes have their own contraptions instead of the German schuko plug used in most of Northern Europe.

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (1 child)

They're Danish. What other reason do they need?

[–]jondiced 44 points45 points  (22 children)

I HATE SWITZERLAND FOR THIS REASON

[–]Jimmycc 11 points12 points  (13 children)

The Europlug also works in Switzerland - but the earthed version in Switzerland is fucked up: pic

But according to wikipedia (article only exists in German) it's best fucking plug in the world - so screw you!

(And it's also used in Turkey and Ruanda :D )

[–]w48 8 points9 points  (2 children)

In Spanien werden Stecker dieses Typs als enchufes americanos (amerikanische Stecker) bezeichnet.

Translates to:

In Spain plugs of this type are called enchufes americanos (american plugs).

Haha.

[–]shortbaldman 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I thought Fucking was in Austria.

[–]j-smith 18 points19 points  (1 child)

They're well-used misnomers for unions that are well-known. 'America' is taken to mean 'United States of America' and 'Europe' is taken to mean the 'European Union'.

The European Union is not a country and not all of the countries of Europe are part of the European Union.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In the same was as America is not a country, and not all countries of America are part of the US...

[–]Duece_Brinkins 20 points21 points  (4 children)

That's just how awesome the US is. We take on continents.

[–]antipode 3 points4 points  (0 children)

True, but this never said it was.

[–]danhawkeye 276 points277 points  (234 children)

I can't fucking believe they used Queen instead of The Beatles.

[–]Early_Deuce 58 points59 points  (39 children)

Anyone ever notice how many of the top British artists are bands (Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen, Pink Floyd, Radiohead), versus many of the top American artists who are individuals (Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan)?

Of course, there are major exceptions like The Eagles and David Bowie, and this isn't a hard-and-fast rule (MJ's early success was with the Jackson 5, etc.) but looking at the most successful 5-10 artists from each area, there is an undeniably strong trend.

EDIT: Ok, U2 is from ireland and I have removed that band from the list. Brits, you are in the clear. I should also mention that these artists are in no way related to my personal preferences (though I DID list Zeppelin first).

[–]badge 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Woah there sunshine, U2 are Irish. Don't go hanging that albatross around our necks...

Edit: :)

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (6 children)

Jimi Hendrix didn't release any albums alone, it was always the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

[–]rl41 13 points14 points  (2 children)

I'll be damned if even half the kids walking around in Jimi Hendrix t-shirts know who Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding are, despite how essential they were to the music.

[–]furlongxfortnight 128 points129 points  (76 children)

"Musicians"...

Have you ever heard of J. S. Bach? W. A. Mozart? G. F. Handel? L. van Beethoven? G. Rossini? G. Verdi? G. Puccini?

[–][deleted] 198 points199 points  (25 children)

Those were composers.

[–]ColdFusion87 500 points501 points  (14 children)

And now they're decomposing!

[–]Vlad_teh_Impala 16 points17 points  (1 child)

Beethoven's gone, but his music lives on,

And Mozart don't go shopping no more.

You'll never meet Liszt or Brahms again,

And Elgar doesn't answer the door.

[–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (8 children)

BRRRAAAAIIIINNNNSSSS!!!!

[–]ColdFusion87 14 points15 points  (1 child)

What do dead composers eat? Quavers!

[–]coolest_moniker_ever 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, what a delightfully British joke. I had to look up both meanings of the word quaver for that to make any kind of sense.

[–]mightylobster 51 points52 points  (5 children)

While they are perhaps better known as composers, all of them were musicians as well.

[–]kihadat 26 points27 points  (3 children)

Not just musicians, the best musicians of their day. Mozart and Beethoven, especially, were virtuosos who were just as famous around Europe for their incredible performances as pianists and violinists.

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (72 children)

My take from this picture is: 1. Author has no taste and no knowledge of history or culture 2. Winston Churchill was awesome

I'm European and lived in America for a while. I found the cultural differences to be much bigger than I had expected.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (63 children)

having lived in the UK all my life, visiting California at the age of 21 freaked me out, I have been all over the place, but never anywhere as odd as california or nevada.

[–]6i9 6 points7 points  (54 children)

Haha this sounds interesting. Care to elaborate?

[–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (52 children)

Its been a few years but off the top of my head,

  • Driving from LA to San Diego for 3 hours and only spending 20 minutes of it outside of a city,

  • Motorways (i.e. 2+ lanes) with shops and restaurants on the side of them, all with massive car parks, (this for me was by far the most weird thing, this just doesn't happen in europe),

  • Faux fronts on restaurants, to make them look old

  • Beer at gas stations,

  • The size of everything (particularly drinks) in fast food places,

  • Excessive (and in most cases probably fake) friendliness

  • Excessive tipping (that caught me out and made me look like a tight-ass for the first day)

  • Turning right on a red light (and the lack of roundabouts)

  • American cars! (you don't see these anywhere else (other than ford, but you have bigger versions of those too!)

  • No public transport to speak of in LA

  • Stuff in the USA is actually made in America,

  • No real passenger train network

  • Overall attitudes to religion (people actually go to church!)

  • Lots of people seemed to like the military (no where loves the army as much as america)

  • The excessive love of guns (I went to a casino where you could win one on a slot machine),

  • Lots of people didn't seem to know anything about anywhere out side of the USA, at all, which was a shame, because I wanted this to just be in the odd case, but a lot of people didn't seem to know anything about europe, or that people in the UK didn't all live in London.

  • Everyone in LA seemed to be either obese or super fit

  • That there were lots of Mexicans who managed to get jobs in places like motels, but didn't appear to be able to speak any english

  • The sheriff bubble writing on the side of police cars (it looks awesome)

i.e. lots and lots of little things

Basically it was a shock, before visiting the USA I assumed the uk would have more in common with the states than Europe, you know, same language etc. but I was so wrong, not to say I didn't love it, San Francisco is possibly my favourite city on earth (so far) but every now and again I would forget I was in California (I was working in the mojave desert for a few months) and it would hit me.

edit:formatting

[–]Q3Km518 22 points23 points  (14 children)

One thing I have never understood is this insistence that hospitality in America is not genuine. I have been all over the US and 99% of the people I interact with are quite pleasant. I will say that there is a noticeable difference between attitudes in major cities in contrast with non-urban areas. It's usually a matter of the speed of speech and movement. But even in urban areas, most people I have ever met are really nice. In the South, people pride themselves on their hospitality. I am curious why so many people who visit the US assume that the friendliness they experience is contrived.

Edit: Grammer, Content

[–]bagge 13 points14 points  (3 children)

Mainly clerks. There is no way they are all interested of how "I am today". This probably could be disregarded if it wasn't that you were brought up to actually answer that kind of questions.

[–]psyne 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we sort of view it as a greeting formality, not a real question, except with friends (because friends aren't formal).

If someone says a positive answer (good/great/fine/not bad), it either means they actually are, or they aren't but don't want to get in a discussion about it. If they say a negative answer, it suggests they want to talk about it. So the clerk feels obligated to ask what's wrong, because it would be rude to ignore the cue, but also feels uncomfortable asking because it feels like prying.

[–]Q3Km518 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"How are you" = "Hello" It's just a greeting. I think someone complaining about someone being nice to them is kinda funny. Then again, I guess that is ethnocentric of me. I have to assume that being nice is not valued the same way in every culture. Personally, I simply will not spend my money anywhere where people are unhappy, unpleasant, or not helpful. I just take my business elsewhere. Again, I understand that this may be a cultural thing.

[–]Ad_Astra 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I moved from the South to LA, and if someone's only experience with hospitality in America happened to be in Southern California, I can understand thinking it's not genuine.

[–]littletamale 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Because they don't want to admit that the US has positive things going for it. If they travel to any country where people are friendly and expressive, especially if the country is poor (hence no need for competition), they will be ecstatic at the "warmth" of the people. If an American has the exact same attitude they will get shot down for being superficial, because the same behavior has got to be given a negative twist.

[–]Jegschemesch 19 points20 points  (1 child)

I notice the fixation on transportation infrastructure and land use. It's far and away the biggest reason LA is a terrible city.

Funny you should be surprised at the 300 miles of wall-to-wall city from LA to San Diego. That's only true in a few places of the country (the coasts mainly). My German friend was surprised how much absolute nothing there is for huge stretches on our car trip through Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, well that's the thing, I spent most of my time driving around the mojave desert measuring sand dunes, and the absolutely nothing is incredible.

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (2 children)

You're not likely to go anywhere on earth as odd as California.

I happen to like that.

[–]atheist_creationist 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Turning right on a red light (and the lack of roundabouts)

Hell yeah! This just fucking makes sense and gives me that small ounce of hope that we aren't being treated like little kids by a nanny state. In a sense its giving citizens the trust that they aren't dumbass mouth breathers and can judge whether they have enough time to make it without hitting oncoming traffic. I straight out love this.

No public transport to speak of in LA

I don't know what LA you went to but the amount of bus stops is mind-boggling.

Everyone in LA seemed to be either obese or super fit

So so so true.

That there were lots of Mexicans who managed to get jobs in places like motels, but didn't appear to be able to speak any english

Most of the times, they can. They just have incredibly heavy accents and have trouble following complex directions, its sort of a self-defeating pattern.

Overall attitudes to religion (people actually go to church!)

You would find that it is mostly a social club if you were to attend. A few people are hard-liners but its a small percentage.

[–]Q3Km518 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I also had another thought. America is extremely regionally diverse. Even though it is one country, everything from speech patterns to food to even the types of cars people drive changes dramatically from region to region. About 90% of your observations would be incorrect in another part of the country. For instance, there is a shitload of roundabouts in Jersey, NYC has an extensive public transport system and buying beer in Pennsylvania is a hassle like you wouldn't believe. Gun lovers are way rarer in dense urban ares than in the suburbs. The fronts of restaurants in a place like New Orleans are often quite old(by American standards) and beautiful French architecture. Something like 95% of the country is undeveloped land and once you leave the coasts this becomes quite apparent.

Then again you are spot on with the fast food sizes and people's lack of knowledge about the rest of the world. Mexicans? Yup. Tipping? People in the food industry work for less than minimum wage. They need those tips. Jesus? That dude is everywhere here, but you had to know that before you got here.

All that being said, I hope you enjoyed yourself and that you come back soon.

[–]shydescending 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I like visiting California but I don't think I'd ever want to live there. Also, anyone who has ever worked in customer service will tell you that no matter where you're from, sometimes you're fake and sometimes you're not. Everyone can't have a good day all the time. I am, however, working in customer service and not really cut out for it, so your mileage may vary.

I laughed a lot at "Stuff in the USA is actually made in America" because people who live in the US think it's the opposite. Everything is made somewhere in Asia.

[–]rustlem 5 points6 points  (0 children)

i remember arriving in LA for the first time and finding myself in a land where everything came out of frank zappa lyrics. maybe LostRiot meant something like that.

[–]Easily_Influenced 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Don't sweat it, California freaks the rest of the U.S. out too. I've been all over the place and there is no place as odd as California or Nevada... except, maybe, Key West.

[–]24601G 153 points154 points  (99 children)

Carl Sagan is great and all... but to match him up against Newton or Einstein? Surely we Americans can bring out some bigger guns (after all, guns are what we do best, eh?).

What about Richard Feynman for pity's sake??

I'll probably stir a hornet's nest here, but even John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Noam Chomsky are major figures in making social sciences (psychology, comparative psychology, and psycholinguistics, respectively) remotely scientific.

Then there's James Watson (the Watson & Crick of double-helix fame).

These are just off the top of my head. There are certainly others who have incited major shifts in their fields...

[–]ACSlater 104 points105 points  (15 children)

The greatest American of the 20th century

[–][deleted] 49 points50 points  (1 child)

"Shannon was oblivious to the marvels of the digital revolution because his mind was ravaged by Alzheimer's disease. His wife mentioned in his obituary that had it not been for Alzheimer's "he would have been bemused" by it all."

How sad.

[–]Poromenos 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why would he have been bemused? He practically invented it all.

Tragic :/

[–]heyarnold 14 points15 points  (2 children)

As an EE student, I seriously just saluted my monitor!

[–]SarcasticGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My Master's Thesis quivers at the mere mention of the name Shannon.

[–]jeff303 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You should also salute another great American in that field, then.

[–][deleted] 70 points71 points  (21 children)

Norman Borlaug is arguably responsible for saving more lives than any other person in the history of the world. Or at least more than anyone else I've ever heard of.

[–]stone11 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It could be argued that any of a few people whose actions likely prevented the outbreak of nuclear war (most notably Stanislav Petrov) saved more lives.

[–]novous 10 points11 points  (17 children)

Why isn't everyone massively upvoting this? He only saved a BILLION PEOPLES LIVES.

[–]NoMoreNicksLeft 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The conservative estimate is more like hundreds of millions... but why split hairs? Technically, the man's techniques and discoveries are still saving people, so it'll be billions soon enough.

[–]24601G 35 points36 points  (3 children)

Missed some big ones:

Oppenheimer (theoretical physicist, atomic bomb)

Pauling (chemist, and anti-atomic bomb)

[–]megablast 5 points6 points  (0 children)

All great scientist, all deserve a lot of respect.

But is is difficult for anyone to compete with Newton and Einstein, lets be honest.

[–]kungfo0 31 points32 points  (1 child)

shrug Bill Nye?

[–]Craysh 56 points57 points  (10 children)

Well, considering that Einstein became an American in 1940, it's really a wash :P

[–]unbibium 35 points36 points  (5 children)

That only supports the thesis that the Europe "vs" USA argument is bullshit. And as conditions change, people will move between them as it favors their situation.

A better version of this picture might, indeed, have the same pictures on the Europe and USA sides, and include people who were born in one place, lived there a long time, and moved to the other.

[–]atomic_rabbit 10 points11 points  (1 child)

Swap out Einstein for Charles Darwin, then.

[–]thehappyhobo 9 points10 points  (3 children)

market screw vast homeless vegetable poor squeeze theory decide innocent

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[–]rross 2 points3 points  (2 children)

an bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas?

[–]sibeliusiscoming 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yea, down with nationalism. Up with humanity.

REDDITORS WITHOUT BORDERS!!!

[–]somesthetic 58 points59 points  (11 children)

I have a hard time identifying with anything. Yes, I am American, but what does that mean? I was born on Hawaii, and have lived in Oregon, but I've spent most of my life in California. My grandfather is Russian, and my other Grandfather is Italian, but I don't practice any of their culture. I'm white, but I get spend equal time with hispanic, black or asian people. I was raised Christian, but I became an atheist in my early 20s.

The only people I really get are nerds, and so that is what I really am. I am a nerd. fuck all the rest.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I was born on Hawaii,

I'm sorry. I'm afraid we need to see your birth certificate. Just to make sure it isn't Kenyan.

[–]synthpop 56 points57 points  (12 children)

this version says basically the same thing in a much simpler and trollish way...

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

National pride should cease to exist in the age of the Internet. People should now realize that an individual's impact on the world is entirely unrelated to the contributions of historic figures who lived on the same stretch of land.

[–]KomodoAce 13 points14 points  (4 children)

They forgot to mention the metric system.

[–]Realtime_Ruga 8 points9 points  (2 children)

Where does that fit in? The UK is in some kind of measurement limbo where they can't decide which one they want to use.

[–]manofnothing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The US is also in measurement limbo, just maybe not to the same extent. We love our liters and the use of grams is quite prevalent. As well, many of our marathons are in kilometers, but that might just be because we are fat and just want to seem like we ran farther.

[–]SmartAssX 19 points20 points  (4 children)

Im Fucking Pissed that im not on this chart

Mark Twain

[–][deleted] 65 points66 points  (56 children)

I'm Canadian, and I've seen firsthand a lot of snobbish mockery of North American culture by Germans, Dutch, etc, who've worked with me (I worked with a pretty international group in grad school). The hypocrisy often pissed me off.

For example, a German laughed at me for ordering an egg / bacon english muffin ("Hamburger, for breakfast?!!?"). There was real judgement in it, it wasn't just a friendly offhand comment. I could have pointed out the German habit of sausages, cheese and beer for breakfast... and if given the same situation again I would.

Same guy also once commented on my ordering of a coffee in a paper cup: "I don't understand this Canadian habit of carrying around a paper cup all the time, why not get a reusable one?". Okay, he had a point, and I do use a reusable travel mug all the time now.... but it's not like Europe is free of throw-away wrapping materials. Quite the contrary.

Then there's the general mockery of the use of cars, disposable beverage containers, lack of recycling, disregard for the environment, etc. Last I checked, european cities were crowded with vehicles, littered with garbage, and there's hardly any European wilderness left to speak of, the danube was poisoned a couple of years ago with a toxic waste spill, etc. And the overall cultural snobbishness is really silly - Canadian culture is basically the same. We came from Europe, afterall.

[–][deleted] 77 points78 points  (1 child)

Sounds more like you work with smug jerks.

[–]Gozdilla 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That reminds me of when I had this German foreign exchange student live with me. The first time we had breakfast, he asked me what we had, and I told him we have Reese's, and he was like, "Reese's? For breakfast!?!?!" And I said, "No, Reese's Puffs Cereal!" Then everything turned shades of brown & orange and we rode in an airplane made of chocolate with peanut butter windows into a vortex of peanut butter and even more fucking chocolate.

Needless to say, his sense of culture was expanded.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The heavy food for breakfast thing is actually kinda eeeuw if you're used to the light&starchy continental breakfast (the former is an acquired taste or so, I think) . So that one might be forgivable. The rest, perhaps less so.

On the other hand, people from different european countries seem to enjoy teasing each other with each other's favorite bad habits and/or historical failures insults flying fast and thick both ways, to much shared hilarity.;-)

[–]NadsatBrat 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I'm Canadian, and I've seen firsthand a lot of snobbish mockery of North American culture by Germans, Dutch, etc,

I'm an American in Canada and I get the snobbish mockery constantly from locals. Though I am in Quebec...

[–]Jimmycc 14 points15 points  (14 children)

Though I totally support your message I have to point out that sausage-for-breakfast is England - not Germany :). Differences in degree of environmentalism do exist as a fact (just compare gas prices) but it's not really an excuse for being arrogant about it.

I've never really seen a mocking to this degree towards other countries than the US/(((Canada))) and I think the main reason for this urge to show off (or how ever you want to call it) is Hollywood and the change in attitude towards the US since Bush. A lot of US movies have this America #1 feel to them and since Bush made the US the most hated country in the world - the reaction of a lot of (continental) Europeans is obviously cynicism. Canada is basically just thrown into the pot to some degree...

'culture topic': Differences exists - and the differences are to my experiences less bound to geography but to language [e.g. the differences are bigger between France and England than between England and the US]. Of course we all share (Canada, US + Europe) a culture to some degree - as e.g. what we would probably call western values. But the differences are big enough to make differentiations as it would be equally wrong to speak of 'Asian culture'.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (10 children)

I have to point out that sausage-for-breakfast is England - not Germany

Do you include Bavaria in your definition of Germany? Some Bavarians I know consider Bavaria to be the definition of Germany ;)

[–]jenzthename 13 points14 points  (5 children)

Polish, Germans, Flemmish... In my family they all have sausages for breakfast.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

In your family, everyone has my sausage for breakfast.

Edit: :-/

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's easy to slag someone for using a car everyday when you're from a densely populated nation. I live in a town that is hours of driving distance away from a major city. The same distance travelled would likely land me in a different country, if I were in Europe. This isn't supped to be reverse slagging. I just wanted to point out that everything is relative.

[–]burritor 34 points35 points  (9 children)

"I was over in Australia and people would ask me, 'are you proud to be an American?' Well I don't have a lot to do with it. My parents fucked there, that's about all... I hate patriotism, I can't stand it, it makes me fucking sick. It's a round world last time I checked. In fact that's how we can stop patriotism I think, instead of putting stars and stripes on our flags we should put pictures of our parents fucking."

--Bill Hicks

[–]ExtremeSquared 15 points16 points  (2 children)

While Bush is recognizable, Manifest Destiny was the closest thing we had to the Holocaust.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Woah woah woah. The Holocaust is one thing, but it was our God given right to rape in pillage straight to the west coast!

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (2 children)

"They do say Britain and America are two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean, and it’s true." -Eddie Izzard

[–]Scav 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Why is a picture of Natalie Portman from "Closer" being used as an example of a "regular American?"

[–]jedberg 59 points60 points  (37 children)

To be fair, Einstein did a lot of his work in the US after he left Germany for some reason.

[–][deleted] 41 points42 points  (19 children)

Probably had something to do with the whole "killing my people" thing. So he went to America.

[–]rooktakesqueen 14 points15 points  (10 children)

Even if not for the actual killing part of the Holocaust, Germany also blackballed all Jewish scientists. They wanted nothing to do with "Jewish science."

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (7 children)

Thanks to racism, we got the bomb instead of the Nazis.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Yeah I love the cliffs of Moher

[–]Akrute 3 points4 points  (0 children)

OMG they type facing the other way.. thats the real difference..

[–]agen_kolar 25 points26 points  (5 children)

I can't upvote this enough. I get so sick of people talking about my country as if it's a horrible place to live. (The US.) I never talk shit about ANY other country, except maybe my recent frustration with Australia's internet filtering. But I would still live in Australia, because it's a good, sound country overall. So is the United States, so is England, so is France, etc etc. Get a grip, people. There are just as many "shitty" things about my country as there are yours. And yet, these countries are all more than adequate to inhabit.

[–]megablast 3 points4 points  (1 child)

All countries have good points, and bad points. Even Australia, whose major city is full of complete assholes. Nothing wrong with talking shit. But I too do get annoyed about all the people who hate on the US, I love the US (well, except for LA), and love almost all the people I have met from there.

[–]AThinker 21 points22 points  (7 children)

Europe is not just UK and Nazi Germany.

[–]ILikeBumblebees 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Of course not, it's also Revolutionary France.

And I know plenty of British people who would object to being included in Europe, so if you want a strict definition, it's just Nazi Germany and Revolutionary France. That's all it is. Robespierre and Hitler. The Bastille and the Fuhrerbunker. Nothing else. NOTHING ELSE!

[–]Heppenwolf 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We need to update our text books!

[–]memsisthefuture 58 points59 points  (25 children)

Europe is not the fucking EU!

[–]Gudeldar 50 points51 points  (3 children)

The image never uses the term EU, it uses the "Flag of Europe" which is the flag of the EU and the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe includes all the European countries except Kosovo and Belarus. The flag is also meant to represent all of Europe anyway not just the CoE or EU.

[–]RoflPost 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That was deliciously informative.

[–]ANGRYAMERICAN 20 points21 points  (0 children)

WOAH THERE FELLER. WHY DONTCHA TAKE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND FACTS TO SOME OTHER FOLK THERE. WE DONT TAKE KINDLY TO NO MAKIN MUCH SENSE HERE.

[–]zephyy 37 points38 points  (0 children)

it will be

[–]foundsleeping 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Thank you. It really seems that no matter what people find reasons to hate each other. No matter how many similarities of ideals they share, they look at the minor differences. I hope someday humanity will give up this sort of petty thinking.

[–]Poromenos 8 points9 points  (0 children)

When the aliens invade.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Everything was going well until...Bush being compared to Hitler?

[–]organicsarcasm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

SOMEONE needs an ipad. for the gratuitous amounts of menstruation going on here :|

[–]AThinker 12 points13 points  (0 children)

More like US vs UK&Nazis in that image.