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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As someone who also lived in Britain I will tell you what really irritates the British and that's when Americans make snide comments or jokes about [b]teeth or British food being terrible or how America defeated Britain in the Revolutionary War as if they ever cared, or how America saved Britain's ass during WWII while completely ignoring that Britain literally fought the war single handedly for two years before the US joined, or the women are ugly, or that it's still a class ridden society with toffee ruling the roost and cheeky cockneys everywhere, or that the British are still obsessed with empire and imperial decline[/b]. You get the idea. I loved living in Britain and I'm a proud American as well but there's definitely an element of arrogant jingoism that can manifest itself among some Americans and many British have seen that enough times. So if you complain about arrogant British people sneering at Americans, remember it goes both ways. [/quote]

Is any of that untrue?  No.

By far the worst snide remarks come from the British about Americans.  
[/quote]

I'd argue much of it is untrue or pointlessly exaggerated - such as the teeth and food, especially when plenty of Americans have bad teeth and there's plenty of mediocre food in the US. Nor is it anywhere remotely true that "toffs" run the UK. [b]And there's something petulant and childish in crowing about a victory that occurred 250 years ago. [/b]

Claims that "by far the worst snide remarks come from the British about Americans" is unsubstantiated and even ironic given that plenty of Americans make nasty comments and jokes about all types of nationalities. If there are Brits who don't like Americans, they are hardly alone as many people globally don't like Americans. Our pointless and botched invasion of Iraq never went down well and only portrayed the US as big, nasty bullies. [/quote]

Not really, when it was a victory that decided the fate of the entire world and certainly the fates of the two countries involved.

Also many people globally dislike the British- I don't know that's a good defense for being rude to them (though I suppose I could try it) [/quote]

The revolutionary war is far more important to Americans than it was to the British. At the time (circa 1770s-1780s) the colonies were remote, had no real impact on the national psyche and the vast majority of British were unaffected or couldn't care less. Despite this there was even support within the UK for American independence. For the British at the time what was far, far, far more important were the wars with the French and the later Napoleonic Wars and the American Revolutionary War is usually taught as a footnote in the larger history with the French.

I assure you many more people globally dislike Americans than the British..... we the US are not exactly popular overseas due to global meddling, wars in the Middle East, supporting puppet regimes, and now Donald Trump.

This thread is turning childish (it was childish to start with) but whatever the views are let's remember all the claims made about British rudeness or whatever can be just as easily made about the Americans. And that is the key point. Remember the age old adage: people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones....[/quote]

You can make claims about anyone.  Whether those claims are true or not, is a different issue.  The British have a worldwide reputation for rudeness.  Americans do not.  Americans are considered, by and large, to be friendly- sometimes overly friendly, depending on the culture.  But not rude or cold.

To deny cultural differences make you look clueless.  And also in denial and desperate to obfuscate what are accepted facts.  It also doesn't seem to be convincing anyone in the thread, but by all means, carry on.  [/quote]

Do the British have a worldwide reputation for being rude? Really? I'll agree there is an old stereotype that they are standoffish and reserved but rude is new to me. It was the French who had the reputation for being rude   :lol:

Whatever you think of the British or stereotypes, Americans also have a worldwide reputation for being loud, vulgar, ostentatious, pushy and arrogant, and yes, rude. I say this as an American who's proud of being American and our history and accomplishments and I'm also an American who has lived overseas for more than a decade now. But I find all these silly bashing of the British or other nationalities exactly what it is, silly, ignorant and pointless. And if you want to keep pointing fingers, let's not forget there have been seemingly hundreds of threads on this very forum about how X or Y American city is full of rude people or why you shouldn't move to, say, Seattle because of the "Seattle Freeze."  :roll: [/quote]

Yes, yes they do.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/inaccurate-stereotypes-about-british-people-that-everyone-believes-to-be-true-a6776461.html

I find your hysterical jump to "Americans are bashing British" to be kind of histrionic and absurd.  This is a discussion board, where people go to discuss their concerns and make observations.   Actually, the other comment you objected to was left by a British person- NOT an American who has lived in Britain for a while, but a real Brit.  The discussion has, thus far, had a lot of great observations and personal experiences.  Just as you point out that there are threads about various American cities that have a reputation for coldness and rudeness, like Seattle, Americans have every right to discuss the rudeness they have encountered by the British.  I find it funny that you object so strongly to it.  Do you do this in every thread about cultural differences?  Did you do it in the "Seattle freeze" thread? [/quote]

The article you linked is from a third rate newspaper infamous for becoming clickbait, and is in turn based on a Quora question, and last but not least, is implying that the British reputation for rudeness is unfounded unless you apparently stand on the left side of the escalator in London.

I've only posted a few times in this thread so I can't be the only person either defending the British or thinking this whole thread is silly. And it is silly. Some people clearly want to keep persisting making a big deal over the British being rude. I agree with you that people are free to make their observations, but people are not free to have those observations go refuted and unchallenged or inconsistencies and hypocrisies pointed out. And no, I have not posted in the Seattle thread. And yes, I was born and raised in the US in two different states in different parts of America. And yes, this is my last post on this thread. [/quote]

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