I cannot stand articles like this:
It has the problems of being both an attack on American English and on Americans in general, and of misrepresenting British people by generalizing them as petty, America-hating bigots who are intolerant of other variations of English. Granted, people like that do exist here, but they are not a majority or even a significant minority; it's not "what British people hate about Americans" but rather, "what some narrow-minded individuals don't like about another country". Bashing of American English becomes very boring very quickly and pictures of Betty White, awesome though she is, don't lighten the overall negativity of the article's content.
I've heard most of those "complaints" in the aforementioned article before but the ones in the list that stand out the most are #2. because it's hideously offensive and trivializes all the deaths that occurred that day; and #10. because that person is ignorant of the fact that the use of "fall" to mean "autumn" was commonplace in the UK prior to 1900 and is hardly an American invention, not the mention that many Americans use fall and autumn interchangeably.
It isn't just this particular page, though; I merely chose it for this piece because I saw it today. There are plenty of articles about what British people supposedly think of America, but in reality it's just a few arrogant and ignorant people making hateful comments about cultural differences. These people exist everywhere but I am confident that they are a shrinking group, given that differences are embraced rather than dismissed and because everyone in the world is much closer now than ever before.
Sorry for the rant. I just hate "criticism" of the US that's actually trolling rather than valid criticism and I hate articles which imply that British people (or other types of people, including Americans) are all narrow-minded and bigoted.
Everyone hates Americans. When I was in Australia doing my best not to be an ugly American, this Australian guy heard me and said, "I hate your accent."
ReplyDeleteI must agree with #14 (I think). Why do we steal all of the UK shows?
Don't worry, not everyone. :) That guy wasn't just bigoted, he was a jerk and had no reason to annoy someone who was minding their own business and doing their best to respect a foreign country.
DeleteI don't see the problem with it, provided that it's a good remake. :) Mum and Dad always hated the British version of The Office but like the American redo.
When you "grow up," you should be a defender of women in some way. You seem very passionate about it. I've seen it on other blogs.
DeleteJust my opinion on the matter. :-)
Thanks! :) I'll reply to this in detail in an e-mail tomorrow.
DeleteHaha. I actually spell "color" as "colour." I love how my laptop and version of word makes "colour" with a red underline. :D I remember in Middle School, that used to drive some of my teachers nuts. Great times, great times.
ReplyDeleteBut, yes, these type of people annoy the hell out of me. I remember my Welsh friend read my cover letter and I used a British variant of a closer in an "American way" and he ranted about how Americans ruined the British English. Whatevs.
I've seen you use that spelling! I think you use it more than I do. :D
DeleteI really don't see why such people see the need to "correct" other people's English when it wasn't even wrong or how they have the gall to insult someone dialect or regional writing style to their face. Who cares what they think of American English or Canadian or any other variant? If they hate it, they should keep it to themselves.