Brits!

They're a funny breed...sometimes so incredibly stuffy I don't think even ice cubes would melt up their bum! 

What are some of the more unforgettable/irritating/eye rolling things that have been said to you vis-a-vie your being an American?

One of the more irritating moments which stands out was when a woman I didn't even know overheard me speaking at some market stall or somesuch leaned over to me and said "American?"   When I replied (being more than a little bit annoyed by her presumptive attitude) yes indeed I am.  She then said "oh you still haven't lost it then have you?"  Knowing full well and good she was referring to my accent, I turned around and said "well actually I lost it when I was 18 but we won't go there." 

Of course my response went right over her head…duh...lollll

Hi,

I'm not American and there's lots of times I've overheard stupid crap from presumptive and narrow(er) minded people about the Americans many times.  I used to work at the UK offices of 3 USA based software/IT/Consulting specialists and most employees were indeed Brits. The amount of times I said to people/ex work colleagues 'Have you ACTUALLY been/set foot in the USA?' is crazy, 97% of the time it was replied to with a 'no' or 'don't need to as saw it on TV' !!

This topic also comes up plenty on this forum and it's a very common thing. In short, There's incredibly naive/ignorant/stupid/thick and incredibly naive ignorant stupid and thick people in every country in the world !

Meanwhile, on a forum not so far away, there's a posting from a woman "heard an american today and when i told her she hasn't lost it, she said something about losing it when she was 18 but she obviously hasn't as I heard her talk" !

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Probably one of the worst things someone has said is: "I heard Americans are so dumb their movies and tv need to spell everything out for them." Oh you heard that did you? Are you sure that wasn't just an insult disguised as a question.

At least for a little while I've noticed the anti American rhetoric die down a bit since brexit.

I've been married to my English husband for 20 years and it's my brother-in-law who simply cannot help himself with the Anti-American comments. I ignore him but my husband's mother and aunt have to keep reminding him that his nephew and niece (my children) are half-American so he needs to be mindful of his words.

Apart from the brother-in-law, I can't say I've heard much regarding me being American in the eight-nine years I've lived in England or the yearly visits since. However, I do get curious looks when my accent is heard. I am asked if I am American or Canadian but on only two occasions, I was told, "You can't really be American because you're not white!" I'm a dark-skinned Hispanic. So, I am guessing that is why I don't hear Anti-American stuff often from others.

"You can't really be American because you're not white!"

There's a lot rolled into this one...

First of all I have to apologise because I should have included in the subject line "Brits! LOL"  to make it clear that this post really was more about humorous experiences rather than anything which might cause offence.

Yes, you get muppets on all sides of the pond, it is part of the human condition.  Granted, some places seem to have more muppets than others lol but preconceived notions, opinions, ect ect are not bound by borders. 

I think it's okay to take the mick, as long as one  remembers to see people as individuals. 

Personally I don't care what colour a person is, black, white, red, blue with white polkadots (OK I draw the line at  polkadots lol), people are people - good, bad, indifferent - in every culture.   I think what is important to remember is not to get fixed ideas about people and cultures from what you see on bloody television. Or read about in the papers. 

So just to make it clear, this post was made tongue in cheek 😛.

I guess I've never really taken offense to those two people who told me that I couldn't be American because I'm not white. I've heard worse living in the USA most of my life, trust me. I did realize that they were operating on what they saw on TV in the late '80's and '90's and guess what, there weren't a whole lot of Hispanic people so, I can see why they would say that. Did I find it humorous? Yes, I did. I know that they didn't say it in the spirit of nastiness. It was out of ignorance but then they sort of realized that Americans come in all shapes, sizes, colors, religions, etc... It's the comments I get while living in the US or the absolute sh*t (forgive my language but there's no other word to describe it accurately) I have heard from American expats I've met over in the UK that's mean-spirited, vile nastiness but that's a conversation for another time.

On a lighter note, I did earn a nickname when I last worked outside the home, 19 years ago by my English workmates. I referred to the group as "Y'all" (I'm Texan) and I was called "J.R." after that. I don't actually have a Texan accent but a pretty generic American accent but I can lay it on pretty thick when I want to be silly. That's pretty often, actually.

lollll. you make me laugh lorenausuk 😆😆😆.

You know, for the most part I am really laid-back, it takes a lot to get me riled. But one of the things will set me off is bigotry and racism.  I CAN'T STAND EITHER.  So when I hear stories like your's and how people can be so mean spirited, all I can say is that I've got two words for those people, and they ain't happy birthday 😆😆. You just have to move the  finger in this emoticon 🤔 up a bit and you'll get the idea LOL

I'm so sorry that you've experienced the ugly side of peoples' ignorance ....  remember.. it's a very round world..