I am part .... and part... and a quater ....

Is this universally annoying for everyone that is not from the US? My husbands friends were talking to me about their trip to the States for our wedding and were making cracks about everyone they met saying they were 1/3 german, 2/3 irish, 1/8 scottish... then talking about it to my new sister in-law who lived in Germany said she did not mind people on the street (yes on the street when we were out) tell her that their family was german but didn't know why everyone then broke it down into fractions. Do you know what I mean? Is this an "US thing"? and does it really annoy everyone that is not US to hear it?

I think that's a very US thing, being that a large portion of the country was founded by immigrants. That and because of that reason, Americans were very prone to holding on to their backgrounds- i.e. Italians versus the Irish, etc-   I had to explain it my co-workers and they went "ohhhhh that's why". 

Colleen,

It's funny that what we see as normal in the US is so abnormal in the UK. I am 100% Italian-American. And my BF said to me the other day, I don't see you as Italian at all you are American to me. And I said yes, I am American but my culture is Italian, and am just 3rd Gen US citizen. So we went around for a bit about it and he finally understood how important our individual cultures are here in the States because no one is really from the States - we are a melting pot of every nationality possible . We celebrate our heritage and are very very proud.

When things like this come up you do sort of feel silly (I know I do) and think "am I in the wrong, do I sound silly" but we aren't, it is just that we are different.

I love my Brit very much, however, they do often think they have the upper hand in the etiquette department. ( I just let him keep thinking that ) 

CMG x

It's funny that what we see as normal in the US is so abnormal in the UK. I am 100% Italian-American. And my BF said to me the other day, I don't see you as Italian at all you are American to me. And I said yes, I am American but my culture is Italian, and am just 3rd Gen US citizen. So we went around for a bit about it and he finally understood how important our individual cultures are here in the States because no one is really from the States - we are a melting pot of every nationality possible . We celebrate our heritage and are very very proud.

I agree with this totally! My family all came here from Cuba pretty recently (I am first gen born in the US) and sometimes my husband doesn't quite "get" why I still feel very Cuban, even if I was born in the US...but a few family parties later, plus some extended visits to Miami and he sees it now lol.

I just want to say a little off topic but saying it because this topic and countless others on here make me sooo thankful for UKY and all its wonderful members.

Its great to know none of us are alone and go through very similar things with our respected partners 

An interesting topic.  I think my hubby sees me more as American than Jewish.  I had a Dutch girl ask me if I felt more American or more Jewish.  It was something I couldn't really separate.  Jewish-American for sure (it was my great-grandparents who came over from Poland / Russia).  Growing up Jewish in the US is definitely not the same as growing up Jewish in Israel or even England, it's sort of its own thing, so yeah Jewish-American.

Is this universally annoying for everyone that is not from the US? My husbands friends were talking to me about their trip to the States for our wedding and were making cracks about everyone they met saying they were 1/3 german, 2/3 irish, 1/8 scottish... then talking about it to my new sister in-law who lived in Germany said she did not mind people on the street (yes on the street when we were out) tell her that their family was german but didn't know why everyone then broke it down into fractions. Do you know what I mean? Is this an "US thing"? and does it really annoy everyone that is not US to hear it?

I find it annoying, yes.
I understand why people who have strong ties to the culture... like, if your parents were immigrants, or if you were brought up in a particular ethnic culture, would want to hold on to this.  But some of it is quite embarrassing... pal, you and your 1/16 Scottishness?  You bled that out last time you had a paper cut.

I find it intensely irritating when people just come out with it completely out of the blue like I am somehow supposed to care.  Plus it's confusing when someone professes to be "Italian" (for example) yet have never even been to Italy and were actually born in Kansas or something.  My dad is Italian born and bred and so is that entire branch of my family but i'd never say I was Italian.  I think Brits and other nationalities tend to think they "are" the nationality of the country they were born and raised in whereas in America it's a lot to do with their ancestors.

If it's a topic of conversation then fine but sometimes people just go too far with it.  My favourite was a girl who told me she was a "direct descendant" of Katherine Howard, 5th wife of Henry the VIII.  The one who died childless.

like, if your parents were immigrants, or if you were brought up in a particular ethnic culture, would want to hold on to this.  But some of it is quite embarrassing... pal, you and your 1/16 Scottishness?  You bled that out last time you had a paper cut.

Yes, this is the exact sort of thing that is annoying. I was born in Brasil, have lots of family there and spent a lot of time there when I was growing up, so I feel very Brasilian. On the American side, there was German, English and Ulster Scots (irritatingly called Scots-Irish in America usually), but all 4 or more generations removed from me and with no cultural influence on my family except for that generic American bourgeois WASPishness. It drives my partner mental when Americans come to Scotland and go on about being some fraction Scottish or whatever, because their great-great-grannie's auntie was from Greenock, and they therefore were 'coming home'... to play golf.  

This is a huge pet peeve of my Irish husband. He hates the term 'Irish-American'. Before we got married I went for girlie drinks with my friends at an Irish pub in Baltimore (second in Irish-Americans only to Boston). All of the staff there is imported from Ireland and I told them I was marrying an Irishman. The waitress gave me this look and I was like, no, he's from Cork and we live in Dublin. I got some free drinks after I explained! 

I... pal, you and your 1/16 Scottishness?  You bled that out last time you had a paper cut.

  That's good. Real good. <note to file in grey matter>

no one is really from the States

That's not strictly true.

You bled that out last time you had a paper cut.

 

I don't know that I find it truly annoying, but it does sort of amuse me.

I suppose I'm one of the irritating ones!!  

But that's fine- I'm quite proud to say I am Scottish. Yes, I am American and a whole mix of things, but I usually say that I am Scottish- because I had a huge influence of Scotland in my life growing up.
When asked around here, I will usually say it as "My Grandfather was born in Scotland and I still have lots of extended family here".

 I have been corresponding to my family members who live in Edinburgh and one thing that is been a huge influence in their lives, which carried across to my Grandfather's family, who all grew up in America esentially, was music - they all play something and sing.  Also,  I grew up knowing traditional Scottish (and Irish) music fiddle players galore in my family, my grandfather included.
  
Interestingly enough, because I live in a small city, when one of my family members in Edinburgh mention someone who lives here, I actually know some of them. Its a small world.

 

I always think of it as just what your background may be.  I also haven't encountered that question so much here as I did at home, so I guess I never really thought about it.  My family is Lithuanian on one side, and Irish on the other.  I don't claim to be either, but if people ask what my background is, I let them know that my grandparents were american born, but the great-grands were from Lithuania or Ireland.  I do think it's nice to have that level of culture, though.  My fathers parents used to speak Lithuanian but didn't teach it to their kids so they could talk about them in front of them (they had a small apartment, not a lot of privacy!) and I wish they HAD taught them the language because I think it'd be nice to know.  

I can see why it might be annoying for someone to say "I'm Scottish" based on one distant ancestor, but is it really so annoying if people just say "I'm part Scottish" -- I think a lot of times, if someone is saying this to a Scotsman, they are just trying to find a way to relate, to express that their affection for a country goes farther than just a normal tourist.

My grandfather was from Yorkshire and while I would never say "I'm English", I know that when I finally go up to the little town he grew up in -- it's sort of the ancestral home of my dad's family, I'm sure I have lots of unknown cousins there -- I will definitely feel something more than if I was just a usual tourist.

I think people sometimes forget how recent most immigration to the US has been (100 years or less). I remember in middle school in new york, our class had to do some kind of geneaology assignment, and I swear everyone in the class got back as far as their grandparents or great-grandparents (people they knew) and then everything beyond that was lost back in Europe or south of the border.

What does American mean anyway? It's a nationality, not an ethnicity (unless you are Native American). I think it's natural for people to look beyond their citizenship for some kind of ethnic identity, as expressed in food or music or history or language or what have you.

I found it interesting coming over here and being told that to say "American" was arrogant -- that America included many countries on two continents, and for us to claim the word for our own country was offensive. (I really have heard this from a number of people, both Europeans and people from South America.) I take the point but what else can I say??? I'm United Statesian?