Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I am the OP of this thread and of course I didn't make it based on "one British person was rude to me one time". Actually I frequent the Daily Mail, and, while of course the comment section there is notorious trash, I am shocked by the level of highly upvoted comments bashing Americans. You don't see the reverse. Yes, it's a British paper- but comments bashing Brits wouldn't make it to the top of any American newspaper I can think of. Another thing- last season of Big Brother, the American contestants, with one exception, were all voted out first. The nice ones, who did nothing to rock the vote- out. Of course, we can talk all day about CBB being lowest common denominator- but these are platforms that have mass audiences, that truly check the pulse of a nation and the deeply ingrained beliefs. When article after article has Brits upvoting rude remarks about Americans (and, btw- down voting any comebacks Americans give, so it's not just about a sense of humor) and the widely viewed television shows target Americans, then we have a real anti-American sentiment that isn't even attempted to be covered up.

Additionally, if you can't already tell, I watch a lot of British television and read a lot of British work and I think "rude" is exactly how I would class a lot of the behavior. Of course there is an argument to be made for "television is not representative of a nation" but in a way it is- just as it says something about America that Carrie Underwood is the most successful American Idol of all time, etc.

Also- my personal experiences have also borne this out. I would generally not ever try to make that kind of observation unless I had viewed it across multiple platforms, not just- oh, i met this lady once who had a British accent and she was rude. I'm genuinely curious as to this cultural difference that I (and others) have observed

If you think the Daily Mail is bad, you should have read the Guardian comments section back in the day, before they clamped down. After 9-11 there was a thread about "Kentucky Fried Americans."

Oh yes. That's what's really gotten me. Seeing nasty comments after the hurricane hit Houston- I mean seriously? What is wrong with you? Of course there are nuts in every comment section but you would see these comments get heavily upvoted, and of course Americans being referred to as "dumb yanks" and people would up vote it. I truly cannot imagine, after a massive tragedy, Americans uprooting comments about "Dumb Brits" and being really vicious about it. In fact, I was trying to think of a slur for Brits- and we don't even have one!! That's proof right there of the difference...

That would be "Limeys". Signed, AA Gill poster

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor".

Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.

That particular aspect of British humor is called "winding you up" or "taking the piss" and it's practically a hobby. Not to be confused with the Monty Python-type wit you're probably also familiar with, or even something like Absolutely Fabulous.

FWIW, The British version of The Office is a lot darker than the American Version (which Gervais contributed to, btw).

I loooove the British Office (and think it far superior to the [quite frankly horrendous] American version) but this is not about that. I'm good at "taking the piss" as well, but that's different from being outright rude and condescending. That's not a different kind of humor, that's being a jerk.

Many, many Americans really enjoy and understand dark humor- hence the popularity of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Curb Your Enthusiasm. But Americans still manage to retain a level of friendliness to their fellow man which I frankly don't see in Britain (generalizing, of course)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I am the OP of this thread and of course I didn't make it based on "one British person was rude to me one time". Actually I frequent the Daily Mail, and, while of course the comment section there is notorious trash, I am shocked by the level of highly upvoted comments bashing Americans. You don't see the reverse. Yes, it's a British paper- but comments bashing Brits wouldn't make it to the top of any American newspaper I can think of. Another thing- last season of Big Brother, the American contestants, with one exception, were all voted out first. The nice ones, who did nothing to rock the vote- out. Of course, we can talk all day about CBB being lowest common denominator- but these are platforms that have mass audiences, that truly check the pulse of a nation and the deeply ingrained beliefs. When article after article has Brits upvoting rude remarks about Americans (and, btw- down voting any comebacks Americans give, so it's not just about a sense of humor) and the widely viewed television shows target Americans, then we have a real anti-American sentiment that isn't even attempted to be covered up.

Additionally, if you can't already tell, I watch a lot of British television and read a lot of British work and I think "rude" is exactly how I would class a lot of the behavior. Of course there is an argument to be made for "television is not representative of a nation" but in a way it is- just as it says something about America that Carrie Underwood is the most successful American Idol of all time, etc.

Also- my personal experiences have also borne this out. I would generally not ever try to make that kind of observation unless I had viewed it across multiple platforms, not just- oh, i met this lady once who had a British accent and she was rude. I'm genuinely curious as to this cultural difference that I (and others) have observed

If you think the Daily Mail is bad, you should have read the Guardian comments section back in the day, before they clamped down. After 9-11 there was a thread about "Kentucky Fried Americans."

Oh yes. That's what's really gotten me. Seeing nasty comments after the hurricane hit Houston- I mean seriously? What is wrong with you? Of course there are nuts in every comment section but you would see these comments get heavily upvoted, and of course Americans being referred to as "dumb yanks" and people would up vote it. I truly cannot imagine, after a massive tragedy, Americans uprooting comments about "Dumb Brits" and being really vicious about it. In fact, I was trying to think of a slur for Brits- and we don't even have one!! That's proof right there of the difference...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor".

Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.

That particular aspect of British humor is called "winding you up" or "taking the piss" and it's practically a hobby. Not to be confused with the Monty Python-type wit you're probably also familiar with, or even something like Absolutely Fabulous.

FWIW, The British version of The Office is a lot darker than the American Version (which Gervais contributed to, btw).

I loooove the British Office (and think it far superior to the [quite frankly horrendous] American version) but this is not about that. I'm good at "taking the piss" as well, but that's different from being outright rude and condescending. That's not a different kind of humor, that's being a jerk.

Many, many Americans really enjoy and understand dark humor- hence the popularity of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Curb Your Enthusiasm. But Americans still manage to retain a level of friendliness to their fellow man which I frankly don't see in Britain (generalizing, of course)

I'm the PP who posted about the British Office and I like it a lot too. But it is a lot darker. The long moments when Gervais' character humiliates the Pam
character are just painful, but there's more real drama there too. I also enjoyed the American Office. Somebody did a comparison of national identities based on their versions of The Office (the French Office is really bureaucratic, apparently). I think the author concluded the American version was more optimistic about finding happiness in the workplace, whereas other nationalities were pretty pessimistic. I'm at work now, and I provided the AA Gill link, so if anybody else is interested they will have to dig it out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^I am the OP of this thread and of course I didn't make it based on "one British person was rude to me one time". Actually I frequent the Daily Mail, and, while of course the comment section there is notorious trash, I am shocked by the level of highly upvoted comments bashing Americans. You don't see the reverse. Yes, it's a British paper- but comments bashing Brits wouldn't make it to the top of any American newspaper I can think of. Another thing- last season of Big Brother, the American contestants, with one exception, were all voted out first. The nice ones, who did nothing to rock the vote- out. Of course, we can talk all day about CBB being lowest common denominator- but these are platforms that have mass audiences, that truly check the pulse of a nation and the deeply ingrained beliefs. When article after article has Brits upvoting rude remarks about Americans (and, btw- down voting any comebacks Americans give, so it's not just about a sense of humor) and the widely viewed television shows target Americans, then we have a real anti-American sentiment that isn't even attempted to be covered up.

Additionally, if you can't already tell, I watch a lot of British television and read a lot of British work and I think "rude" is exactly how I would class a lot of the behavior. Of course there is an argument to be made for "television is not representative of a nation" but in a way it is- just as it says something about America that Carrie Underwood is the most successful American Idol of all time, etc.

Also- my personal experiences have also borne this out. I would generally not ever try to make that kind of observation unless I had viewed it across multiple platforms, not just- oh, i met this lady once who had a British accent and she was rude. I'm genuinely curious as to this cultural difference that I (and others) have observed

If you think the Daily Mail is bad, you should have read the Guardian comments section back in the day, before they clamped down. After 9-11 there was a thread about "Kentucky Fried Americans."

Anonymous wrote:^I am the OP of this thread and of course I didn't make it based on "one British person was rude to me one time". Actually I frequent the Daily Mail, and, while of course the comment section there is notorious trash, I am shocked by the level of highly upvoted comments bashing Americans. You don't see the reverse. Yes, it's a British paper- but comments bashing Brits wouldn't make it to the top of any American newspaper I can think of. Another thing- last season of Big Brother, the American contestants, with one exception, were all voted out first. The nice ones, who did nothing to rock the vote- out. Of course, we can talk all day about CBB being lowest common denominator- but these are platforms that have mass audiences, that truly check the pulse of a nation and the deeply ingrained beliefs. When article after article has Brits upvoting rude remarks about Americans (and, btw- down voting any comebacks Americans give, so it's not just about a sense of humor) and the widely viewed television shows target Americans, then we have a real anti-American sentiment that isn't even attempted to be covered up.

Additionally, if you can't already tell, I watch a lot of British television and read a lot of British work and I think "rude" is exactly how I would class a lot of the behavior. Of course there is an argument to be made for "television is not representative of a nation" but in a way it is- just as it says something about America that Carrie Underwood is the most successful American Idol of all time, etc.

Also- my personal experiences have also borne this out. I would generally not ever try to make that kind of observation unless I had viewed it across multiple platforms, not just- oh, i met this lady once who had a British accent and she was rude. I'm genuinely curious as to this cultural difference that I (and others) have observed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor".

Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.

That particular aspect of British humor is called "winding you up" or "taking the piss" and it's practically a hobby. Not to be confused with the Monty Python-type wit you're probably also familiar with, or even something like Absolutely Fabulous.

FWIW, The British version of The Office is a lot darker than the American Version (which Gervais contributed to, btw).

I loooove the British Office (and think it far superior to the [quite frankly horrendous] American version) but this is not about that. I'm good at "taking the piss" as well, but that's different from being outright rude and condescending. That's not a different kind of humor, that's being a jerk.

Many, many Americans really enjoy and understand dark humor- hence the popularity of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Curb Your Enthusiasm. But Americans still manage to retain a level of friendliness to their fellow man which I frankly don't see in Britain (generalizing, of course)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:an older British woman at Tysons butted in when I was paying and was astounded I got out a lot of coupons mailed to me and was like.... 'you have so many coupons! where did you get those?'. Then she stood there next to me and stared as I paid with my coupon and money the whole time as if I was doing something wrong.

And? Do you extrapolate from this that all British people are rude?

This thread is awful - I'm British and offended by it.

That's understandable. It's wrong to generalize and stereotype about any nationality, race, or ethnicity. As someone earlier said, we're talking percentages, but no body

That said, here's Brit A.A. Gill on engrained British anti-Americanism: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/07/america-with-love-aa-gill-excerpt/amp. Gill has a whole book (The Angry Isle or something like that) on why he thinks the British are always so angry.

I'm the pp with anti-American Scottish relatives, and I remember Gill because he pretty much nailed my relatives.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor".

Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.

That particular aspect of British humor is called "winding you up" or "taking the piss" and it's practically a hobby. Not to be confused with the Monty Python-type wit you're probably also familiar with, or even something like Absolutely Fabulous.

FWIW, The British version of The Office is a lot darker than the American Version (which Gervais contributed to, btw).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!

They say something insulting or mean spirited and then defend it by saying it's their "British humor".

Wit is smart, being condescending or insulting under the guise of 'humor' is not.

Anonymous wrote:I say this as someone with British blood, so it pains me to even say this. But lately I've noticed how incredibly rude and obnoxious many (not all) Brits are towards Americans. Lots of underhanded comments and snideness. I mean, what gives? I thought they were our major ally. I've lived in several foreign countries and never seen that level of condescending rudeness

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:an older British woman at Tysons butted in when I was paying and was astounded I got out a lot of coupons mailed to me and was like.... 'you have so many coupons! where did you get those?'. Then she stood there next to me and stared as I paid with my coupon and money the whole time as if I was doing something wrong.

And? Do you extrapolate from this that all British people are rude?

This thread is awful - I'm British and offended by it.

Anonymous wrote:I like the Brits. Many I've met have that dry sense of humor.

very witty

I can appreciate smart humor!