American reacts to Posts That Prove American's Think That Only They Exist [part 2]

[@laisiraquel3731]

when I was in America a kid asked me "why do you speak Portuguese if you're from Brazil? shouldn't you speak Brazilian?" I looked at him and said "why do you speak English if you're american? shouldn't you speak American?" he just looked at me like :| then I told him he speaks English because America was colonized by the British, but he REFUSED to admit he was wrong, told me americans invented English.

[@tymax6751]

He might actually believe that.

[@99Hudson]

@@tymax6751. Sad, but true.

[@medmar7919]

Era só o que faltava...

[@JayeEllis]

The funniest thing is when they say 'speak American'... What does that even mean in a country with no official language?

[@MixedGamerOfficial]

@@JayeEllisAmerica has lots of different languages depending on where you live.

[@thomashaes8251]

Like someone once said: "America is like a teenager. They think they know everything but have no clue at all."

[@sndrka12]

Absolutely correct!!!!!

[@richardstuart3882]

@@thomashaes8251 America is like a younger brother who gets all the toys but no idea what to do with them 🤣

[@-IceyBoy]

@@richardstuart3882 fr

[@Jean-Jacques-f9x]

And Europe is like the arrogant old fart who thinks he knows everything, but in reality the World left him behind a long time ago and doesn't understand anything anymore.

[@MoodyMarco-vj3oe]

In nation-age terms, America IS a kid/young teenager

[@kenny832]

American tourists asked us where the fireworks (4th of July) were going to be - This is the UK - the country you wanted to be independent from!

[@katepoole6891]

Should get the fireworks out to celebrate that America is independent from the UK.

[@jezuconz7299]

​@@katepoole6891 agreed!

[@dbclass4075]

​@@katepoole6891Such move was informally described as, "Happy Treason Day".

[@AlanXEverfrost]

To be fair, looking at a lot of the Americans about to run the show there, I think a celebration day for no longer having to be directly involved is due.

[@florenciabalori3625]

@@katepoole6891 LOL

[@Z3r0thz]

Once I was playing online, I started chatting in Portuguese (I'm Brazilian) with my friends. After killing some other players I received an angry message from one of them telling me to go back to my home country, that I was an illegal immigrant in the USA, note that I live in Brazil, I was in the living room at home.

[@EmL-kg5gn]

Omg 😭😭😭😭 I wish I could say I was surprised to read this

[@Pi4ever]

Ianques. . . 🤦

[@JohnsonJohnsonJohnson-j6r]

Also he couldn't tell the difference between that and spanish

[@pi_xi]

They think, the Internet and games only exist in the US.

[@nyankosoldier5156]

​@@JohnsonJohnsonJohnson-j6r They would have voted to kick out California for having 30% population being spanish speaker

[@Yosh1az]

OperaGX replying "we're Polish sir" is the equivalent of "sir, this is a Wendy's"

[@JayeEllis]

But all I want is Wingstop! 😂

[@Konrado28]

Wendy's? What is it? Is it an insult towards polish people?

[@JayeEllis]

@@Konrado28 it's a fast food restaurant. The quote has nothing to do with nationality, culture or race.

[@peachesandcream22]

​@@Konrado28 The quote is a joke to make people humble when they speak nonsense.

[@Konrado28]

@@peachesandcream22 ahh okay

[@eisikater1584]

Back in 2008, many Americans were really confused when news about the war in Georgia hit their media.

[@thefiestaguy8831]

And many of them struggled to find Georgia on a map....

[@keisermick]

😂😂 almost wish I could have been there to watch them panic

[@onoffbutton9922]

@they probably didn’t, but they haven’t known they were looking for wrong one

[@bellagreen6660]

@@thefiestaguy8831they probably can't find their Georgia either 😂¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@thefiestaguy8831]

@@bellagreen6660 "Largest US state by landmass?" Americans: "That's so obvious, it's obviously Texas" Meanwhile, Alaska: 😏

[@GalenLeRaaz]

8:56 fun fact - by the time Americans can legaly drink alcohol,most Europeans are already quitting drinking. Unless You're a student. In that case, You drink until graduation and somehow not become an alcoholic.

[@alexalbuquerquerodriguesal108]

I wonder how the uni parties work in the US, the consumption of deadly amounts of alcohol just seems natural for such party.

[@notllikethat]

I quit drinking at eighteen, lol

[@Carool1201]

That's true for Brazilians too

[@swatcccp4673]

I didnt even start

[@RomanII1997]

Oh you become an alcoholic but you probably have enough money and social capital that you can cover it up well until your 60s

[@jurii_vladimirovich]

Once, an American asked me if we have toilets in Russia. I replied, "No, we poop out the window." He believed me.

[@Menmaism]

You have already toilets since your so-called soldiers are stealing them from Ukraine

[@mason6381]

Be thankful that he didn't ask about bears on the street, tanks instead of cars and whether you are a communist.

[@jurii_vladimirovich]

@ If he'd asked me that, of course I would have confirmed everything.

[@MrSuperBurunduk]

Most of you do though. Why else would you steal toilets?

[@janhansen554]

@@jurii_vladimirovich Nice. Make their brains confused and stupid... lol

[@johnvaller1707]

"Why has germany states?" - well, a better question might be: "Why has USA schools?"; You do NOT use them!!!

[@Anon54387]

Hogwash.

[@melissareohorn7436]

German States are on average 5 million, USA is 6 million so german states make perfect sense

[@jolandafrijlink6103]

They are more indoctrination places then where they learn useful things.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Recent events have confirmed that Americans do indeed learn nothing. Ever.

[@RJM56]

​@@Anon54387 so defensive.

[@tcyxicirzt3011]

Here's another very common thing: Random person: "So last week when I was in Paris / Bali / Sydney I saw this ...." American: "Stop showing off your fancy vacations abroad! Most people can't even afford to leave their state, let alone visit other countries! You're flaunting your privilege." Other person: "Uhm I literally live in France / Indonesia / Australia."

[@declaredjeans7555]

But, but I thought America was the richest country on earth.. 😄

[@isaiasaguirre342]

​​@@declaredjeans7555A country doesn't mean the mayority of their population is Rich.

[@akhsanarrazi7825]

​@@isaiasaguirre342yep, many of the are living paychecks to paychecks. The rich are the minority elites only

[@fizzinsoda]

living there is different

[@fizzinsoda]

​@@declaredjeans7555 only like 1% is considered extremely rich

[@bradleyholdom9677]

I remember an American couple coming into the pub me and my mate were drinking at here in Newcastle, Australia, and they threw a massive hissy fit when the guy working the bar wouldn't accept their US currency lol. It was adorable, like watching a child realise their parents actually have first names 😂

[@thefuturist8864]

I liked it when Americans came into the pub where I worked, because they didn’t know we don’t always tip. In the UK the smallest paper currency is a £5 note so I made about £50 from a small group of Americans.

[@GreySeashell-j3m]

What were they thinking? How'd they even get there??

[@101steel4]

I had an American come into my shop in England, and ask the price of something. When I said 10 pounds, she replied "You mean Dollars " 🙄

[@thefiestaguy8831]

@@101steel4 Deluded Americans. The world is full of them, a bunch of stupid people that claim to be the most intelligent, utterly incapable of realising different currencies are used in different countries, and that place names in the USA are often named after places in the UK, not vice versa. Some Americans literally think "York" in the UK is named after "New York"... despite the fact York has been around a hell of a lot longer... "New Hampshire" vs "Hampshire"... "Birmingham, Alabama" vs "Birmingham" in the midlands... the list goes on. It's difficult to remind them their education system is on average 2 years behind most European countries, over all the chants of "USA USA USA" "We're number one". The USA has an appalling reputation and frankly it fully deserves it, it is now viewed by a lot of people as the laughing stock of the planet, with it's latest stunt of electing a convicted criminal as it's leader. The USA gets zero sympathy or respect from me.

[@dickydoes]

When I worked in West End Theatres, there were so many Americans that would be annoyed that I wouldn't accept dollars. I used to say that we'd had our currency longer than they'd had a country.

[@markalexander3659]

I told a story online involving my "black friend" (her race was relevant to the story) and an American corrected me saying "you mean your AFRICAN AMERICAN friend". I'm from the UK. My friend is "Black-British" and of Afro-Caribbean descent.

[@jasminejo2424]

yeh its different here, no one says "african british.". for one africa is a continent not a country so its like me introducing myself as from europe rather than from the uk and for another i refer to anyone born and living in the uk as from the uk, not from the uk and insert the general word region where there parents were from here. to me it seems like a way to divide people not a way to all be the same and get along better. If you were born in america, went to school and grew up in america you are american. you can be proud of your heritage but dont ask me to guess it, what if you are carribean american not african american and i get it wrong? american is easier and more respectful in my eyes

[@Teverell]

There was the American reporter trying to interview Linford Christie (IIRC) after he won gold and couldn't get past "How does it feel to be African-American and..." "I'm black British." As if the term 'African-American' is the equivalent of 'white' or whatever to describe the skin colour of every black person on earth. It's not.

[@keisermick]

@@markalexander3659 Typical American ignorance on proud display! 😆 Also, they should ask ACTUAL Africans what they think of this idiotic African American notion. Most will laugh in their faces 😂

[@fizzinsoda]

I have a funny feeling having to explain that not everyone is African American would make a braindead Americans head explode. like yes there are other forms of being black lmao

[@RafaelMunizYT]

​@@Teverell and americans say "african american" as if they're fresh off the boat and just got a visa. many black people don't even know their last african ancestor, at this point they're just black. they can't wrap their head around the fact that black people exist outside africa

[@CROM-on1bz]

This reminds me of a discussion with an American who said that compared to the USA, Europe was a third world country. I admit that I did not have the time, the desire or the courage to educate him.

[@__-fi6xg]

and that is perfectly fine.

[@Kim-427]

What you said is so on point. I can’t get why many outside of America have the constant urge to correct and scold us?! Why do so many care so much about a young dumb nation and such slow people? But,Thank you so much for not having the time and patience that day to scold one of my countrymen. Lol

[@thorin1045]

and the funniest part is if you know where the first/second/third world comes. since than some part of europe was third world (as in not part of the west and east fun of the cold war.)

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

Don't educate them, if their own country can't be arsed why should we waste our time, they could just 'google' it? 😉😂

[@CROM-on1bz]

@@Kim-427 Even if I had, would it have done any good? The brainwashing is so deep...

[@cassandravision]

I used to date an american (I'm from Italy)... the amount of time his parents told him I was a gold digger serching for a green card was baffling🙄. He and his family were broke! Meanwhile I was financially stable with a very good job and debt free...also I was making sure he wasn't starving😂😂😂😂. Like get a grip people😂😂😂

[@stevehuynh6681]

Omg I'm Vietnamese and same thing happen to my friend , she used to date an american guy at college. His mother told him that my friend just want a green card. 😂 My friend came from a rich family her uncle was a doctor at Germany, her father has a transport company moving things around asia, she has her own house with her name on it when she 18 and somehow she still poor in her ex'mother eyes😅

[@KBRoller]

No no, the only reason people from other countries come to America is to stay here forever because we're so great and [insert any other country] is awful in comparison! If you seem like you like someone here, that's all a ploy to legally stay here! No. Other. Reasons. Exist. ...this was sarcasm, if it wasn't clear, but also after writing it I'm now crying a little.

[@nerissarowan8119]

@@KBRollerI know people who moved to the US for love. One would dearly love to come back to Australia with his family because working conditions are so much better, but can’t afford the move. I don’t even have a desire to visit the place, personally. I’m sure there are some great things but a country that can’t even look after its citizens is not a place I want to be.

[@Madonnalitta1]

​@@nerissarowan8119I guess ot went straight over your head. Nvmd.

[@KBRoller]

@@nerissarowan8119 So... you missed the last sentence of my previous comment, then?

[@nemesislooms6315]

I first came across this particular US mindset way back in 1973, - when I was a British immigration officer working at Heathrow airport. The guy told me that he didn't really have to give me his passport for inspection since he was a US citizen, which meant that he was entitled to enter - and that he didn't appreciate being asked his business, - as in "What is the purpose of your visit to the UK?" The conversation went very much downhill from there, - ending in his taking the next flight back to JFK after a brief stay in a very small room with a hard bed and a toilet in the corner.

[@CarolWoosey-ck2rg]

Nice one!😊

[@MostlyPennyCat]

Nice

[@lisaistryingtolive]

how did he even get on a plane to the UK without a passport

[@brigidsingleton1596]

So... He pooh-poohed the very idea of being asked such impertinent questions eh?!! (At least they provided him with a lavvy !!(

[@airplanedud]

@@lisaistryingtolivebefore 9/11 was crazy times

[@101steel4]

The fact they call it "The 4th of July " and not independence day, speaks volumes. When my English cousin lived in Florida, he was asking some at a fireworks celebration, what it was all about. Not one knew. Same goes for thanksgiving. He mentioned he came from Harwich, England. Home of the Mayflower. None of them had heard of that either 😂😂

[@Roadent1241]

I don't expect anyone to know the Earl of Rone either but I think that might actually be a smidge more localised.

[@yeehaw-q6n]

tbf, here in brazil we also call "o 7 de setembro", though we only call it between ourselves, and "the independence day" is also largely used

[@alejandroparedes2500]

Americans seem like people who came out of the Idiocracy movie.

[@krankarvolund7771]

In France we call it "National Day" "14th of July " and "Prise de la Bastille" pretty interchangeably. But I think 14th of July is the most common, because its the one easy to say and pinpoint on a calendar.

[@SolidusCurncer]

We do that with some holidays in russia too

[@saad-t7k]

The European education system prepares children to understand the world and know how to navigate it. The U.S. education system prepares children for work in the U.S.

[@rolflin]

Good.point😅

[@Xnoob545]

In Lithuania the Lithuanian language lessons only teach you absurdly difficult grammar rules and stuff for the exam. They're purely taught just so you pass the exam I hate it

[@mindaugas205]

​@@Xnoob545 They are taught to keep one of the oldest Indo-European languages alive. There are fewer of us in the world than some cities have people. Besides, it’s not difficult at all-just a set of rules that needs to be remembered. Hard would be trying to build a particle accelerator in a room with scrap metal, not memorizing a thin book’s worth of rules. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling around the world, and I can firmly say that Lithuanian education is one of the best in the world when you consider the price-to-value ratio. (Our GDP is about the same as Apple’s two months of revenue, so we don’t host world-class scientists from other countries.) The only issue is that people don’t use it to its full extent, as most are unhappy they have to study at all, let alone take on additional after-school or university curriculums. P.s Its only for exam if you arent using it later. Same applies to all fields of study. If your wish is to become linguist, then its useful, but if your wish is to become cook, it would be needed.

[@abraxas2563]

I feel that the education system is just a child minding service in the US. Not much education happening

[@PaulG.x]

Well , that was once the case , in the modern USA the education system prepares children to be ignorant enough to vote against their own interest

[@margaretnicol3423]

The nation of Georgia has been around since the 11th century. The state of Georgia has been around since yesterday!!!

[@vano133945]

Georgia is really way more old

[@AmberyTear]

To my knowledge Georgia is WAAAy older than that...

[@margaretnicol3423]

@@AmberyTear It's been around forever but I believe it was named 'Georgia' in the 1000s.

[@ТатьянаРа-у8о]

Гамарджобат!)

[@Likgaty15]

Georgia is simply older than Georgia

[@enigmaticbloke1129]

I really wanna go to an American high school to check what exactly they are teaching the kids there but I'm also really really scared to go to an American school as well.

[@marr6712]

🤭

[@marialourainebanosia26]

Something stupid

[@thefiestaguy8831]

"Today class, we're learning how to hide under a table, shielding behind our bible... repeating religious words, the bible shall protect thou from all bullets".

[@NurmaBP]

I heard they have drag queens goes to US schools

[@RalpGalland]

Back in the 90's one of my classmates at the gymnasium (norways "higer education" high school) spent the first year at a american high school. He brought with him copies of every test he had taken in that year, and proudly showed off his american grades, having scored 100% on all tests. For fun, we took the american tests in the corresponding classes, math, english, history etc. and the average score was 97%, with the ones under 100% being the slackers who spent the time joking then spent the last 5 minutes franticly filling boxs. Interestingly enough, these were 3-6 hour tests, and we took them during one 1 hour class... They were all "choose the answer" tests too, barely any writing to do but sign your name, and the answers were rather hilarious. PAraphrasing here, but the choices were usually so wildly erronous that it turned into childsplayu, like: "4 times 10 = 40, 82 or 3?" So yeah, we didn't really have high regards for the US High Schools after that experience.

[@kaznatbabs]

I work for a UK insurance company, which caters for all nationalities living anywhere (except the USA). Had an American on the phone and when I advised the policy didn’t cover pre-existing conditions, she said “Er, that’s illegal! Haven’t you heard of Obamacare?!”. Yes ma’am, I have, but we are a British company operating in the UK, and don’t insure people living in the US. American laws do not affect us. She hung up.

[@ottkaru5253]

To hell with the right to bear arms. I stand for the right to arm bears.

[@yendor9078]

Lol. Wittiest post to date!

[@oldman1734]

I’m dead against bearing arms. It might be ok in hot countries, but here in the uk it’s far too cold to bear arms for most of the year.

[@madmark1957]

I think that part of the constitution was actually intended to refer to the right to wear sleeveless tee shirts.

[@hypatian9093]

Ooooh - a new take on "hunting season" :)

[@jeraldboddy5031]

Look up the Robin Williams sketch on this exact topic.

[@ugrasergun]

That post about Georgia reminded me what happened to me. I was in an international meetup in Prague where you would mingle with strangers who are in Prague. Since I just moved to Prague it was a good way to make friends. A dialog I had with a girl: + Hi hello where are you from - Georgia + Cool, I am from Turkey hello neigbour. - (with a confused look) what do you mean? + You are from Georgia right? We are neighbours. After a couple of back and forth I realised she was from Georgia the US state not the country. I had to explain to her when somebody asks her where she is from they do not ask for the state but the country.

[@manueltapia1859]

They tend to asume everybody knows the states are from. When I introduce myself I say northern México 🇲🇽 but never the state, unless they ask which part I'm 🎉

[@lisaistryingtolive]

imagine you asking me where I'm from and hearing Udmurt Republic instead of Russia in response. wouldn't you be confused?

[@zloychechen5150]

@@lisaistryingtolive ОПЯТЬ ФИННО-УГРЫ

[@kangihota9002]

@@manueltapia1859 I'm offended you don't know all 50 states and 16 -18 territories of the USA 😄

[@dmgroberts5471]

Ok...from now on, we should all give our country's equivalent to a US state, instead of the country name, when Americans ask where we are from. See how much you can confuse them.

[@wakkadakka9192]

Greetings from Canada. Few years ago I went to the US for a week on my car for work, and at one of the gas stations a nice woman noticed an unusual plate on my car, so she decided to come up to me and say hello, she asked where I was from. I answered that I'm from Canada. She praised me and said that for a foreigner I speak English very well. I apologized and said that I was still learning. That was very funny. 😄

[@pammelvaine8176]

You just can't help ignorant and stupid. The real problem is that they breed.

[@turkoositerapsidi]

​@@yendor9078What is Texan means?

[@TheInsaneupsdriver]

I convinced one lady in Florida i forgot to put away my penguin, i live in Windsor Ontario.... the most southern part of Canada.

[@GreatCdn59]

​@@turkoositerapsidipeople from Texas

[@turkoositerapsidi]

@@GreatCdn59 Oh thanks, is it in USA?

[@nkwan4848]

I once had a tourist asked me why we celebrated the aniversary of the victory of the Vietnam War, adding "why celebrate the war which we lost". Like you knew you were in Vietnam, the country that WON the war, right? It's you who lost the war, not us.

[@PaulG.x]

Another anecdote I have is when I was on a trip to Sydney , the company I was visiting arranged for a limo to pick me up at the airport. I looked at the driver's ID plaque and noticed he was Georgian , so I asked him if he was from Tbilisi. He said he was and that I was the first passenger in 20 years that didn't say that he didn't seem to have an American accent. So , ignorance is also seen outside of the USA

[@uinsel]

why the limo though? public transport is quite neat from there.

[@OctoberOctopusM]

​@@uinsel Maybe the company wanted to impress?

[@Ruukasu97]

dont tell americans that only 4,24% of the world live in the us

[@BlackHoleSpain]

So many? Mmmmm... it must be made up! 🙄

[@noefillon1749]

"It's 4.24 not 4,24"

[@cjmhall]

As a foreigner living in the US, I was watching a presentation at work where somebody had accidentally used a comma as a decimal point for one of the figures. The speaker said "I guess we can pretend to be Europeans for this slide" and everybody laughed. I was pleasantly surprised that anybody got the joke.

[@riittarankinen4749]

Whether comma or point used depends on language my dear English speaker.

[@CraigKeating-g3f]

@@noefillon1749Not in continental Europe. They use the comma.

[@sabinemetzger3219]

I once overheard some teachers on public transport in germany complaining that all the us exchange students who came to germany immediatly got super duper drunk at the first opportunity they got and the teachers and host families got into real hot water from that because they did not prevent it. Then one teacher said she prevers other international countries students because they can at least can hold their alcohol and know when to stop most of the time.

[@ak5659]

That's what happens when the drinking age is 21.

[@KBRoller]

@@ak5659 Truth. The first time I drank was in college (uni), and man, I had no idea of my limits. I was at a frat (I never joined one, as they're dumb, but the brothers at this one frat were fun to hang out with) and one of the brothers was making drinks for everyone. I didn't know really anything about different drinks, so when he offered me a Long Island Iced Tea, I said, "Sure, just... make it a little weak, please." He said okay, but then handed me an absolutely-not-diluted drink... which I fully drank anyway. I remember trying to think "is this what being drunk is like?" but also noticing how hard it was to form that coherent thought 😂 I will say, I don't like being drunk, so I can count the number of times it's happened on one hand; and only one of those instances was after the "university parties, still learning my limits" era. But definitely for the first bit of time, limits were unknown and bad things happened. Related note: do not play beer pong with tequila. You will stumble home in a blur that night, and it tastes like rubbing alcohol anyway 😅

[@KhanhTheLearner]

This has the vibe of the time when someone in the UK said she was jealous that other countries have an independence day and she wished the UK had independence day, too. And people were like "Independence of what? You're the reason other countries have independence day!" and she still did not get it.

[@MoodyMarco-vj3oe]

Georgia (the State) admitted to Union in 1788. First unification of the Georgian Realm as a country: 1008. So to answer the question "Since when was Georgia a country?", since 780 years before Georgia was a state in the US (and 768 years before the USA was a country). That's when.

[@noneofyerbeeswax8194]

Oh yes, Georgia, the United States of Armenia.😁

[@WooShell]

@@noneofyerbeeswax8194 🤣

[@ianmoseley9910]

I believe the state was named after King George and the country after St George

[@m.goedeker7381]

Wow.. just wow…. Georgia the country existed around BC530 and evolved into its modern country around AD 1008…

[@thehawkseye3412]

The irony here..." Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the intersection of Europe and Asia. It's bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The capital is Tbilisi, and the official language is Georgian."

[@coopsey]

I also find it baffling when there's a stabbing in the UK, Americans jump on it like 'wouldn't have happened if people had guns' or 'the UK is lawless, look at all the stabbings!' In 2023, there were 244 homocides in the UK using a knife, while in the same year in the US there were 46,728 homocides with a gun... Incidentally, on top of the gun violence, there were also around 1500 knife deaths in the US in 2023.

[@Kim-427]

Now who is full of themselves?! You really think that they report knife crimes here?! No,They really don’t. You’re tripping badly. It usually has to be something really horrific. The crime of the little girls being attacked by the immigrant and the rioting that took place was seen over here.

[@LeSarthois]

@@Kim-427 US news outlet maybe not, but Pro gun nuts in the US totally does, yeah. Seen it. One of the most sad and really enraging example I have seen online is about the Charlie-Hebdo massacre. So many gun nuts saying "if they had AT LEAST one person with a gun, this wouldn't have happened." yeah, seems like they missed the part where Frank Brinsolaro, the cop in charge of Charlie-Hebdo security, was armed, and trained to use his gun. So yeah, this happen, and it's always used to push the pro-gun argument no matter what the circumstances are.

[@Rsama60]

I just looked up the homicide number for Germany un 2023. There was a total of 299. I quickly don‘t find the reason for the homicide if done by knife or firearm etc.

[@Novenae_CCG]

It is a little disingenuous to list total numbers, because the US also has a greater population than the UK. It should be per capita to portray an accurate comparison. That said, the US still comes out worse.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

Fun fact that's more knife crime per capita in the US than in the UK. It just doesn't get media attention since they have much worse to worry about first.

[@MellonVegan]

"Germany is the size of a state" If you start with the smallest and add them up, Germany is actually the size of 11 US states. But everyone always immediately thinks Texas and California when they say shit like that. Not that the argument would otherwise be less nonsensical.

[@stefanbozic6413]

The federal state of Alaska is not only the largest federal state of the United States, but it is larger than all European countries except the European part of Russia.

[@Anon54387]

Look at it this way. The USA is about as big as Europe, Canada is about the same size as the USA, and Mexico is bigger than Germany, Spain and France combined. This continent is huge. California is about the size of the UK, and there are two adjacent counties in California that, put together, are as big as Scotland.

[@stefanbozic6413]

@@Anon54387 Canada is bigger than the USA and the continent of Europe is much bigger than the USA

[@Westpol_West]

While we speaking of this, I would like US citizens to think why they have states because their entire country has a size of 3 russian state (Saha republic or Yakutia) 😂

[@stefanbozic6413]

@@Westpol_West Yakutia is much smaller than the USA

[@Moonless-ih9em]

I remember when in early 2000's I (a finnish person) saw an American xenop hobic "documentary" about how "sad" and "terrible" Finland is. They didn't understand cultural differences between Finnish and Americans AT ALL. They kept following random Finnish people minding their own business and filming them. They were absolutely weirded out how the Finnish people "didn't smile back at them and that must mean they are all sad" 🤦🏻‍♀️ in Finnish culture, random strangers smiling at people for no reason is seen as creepy and weird. They also thought for some reason that I still cannot understand, that because Finnish language has so many dialects that MUST mean it's not a great country to live in and a sign of depression? No joke, that was their conclusion 🤣 Finland is one of the safest and happiest countries out there, and was like that even during the early 2000's. But because my culture is different from American (for example not smiling for no reason) that must mean that we are sad all the time 😅😂

[@ralphpotowski-pn5hn]

Well, on the other side, if americans believe that docu, they will stay away. Win win😂

[@user-guigui01]

I would be in big trouble for a while in Finland because I usually smile a little when meeting other people. 😂😂😂😂 It's kinda common in my hometown when it comes to elder people, even thou some young people still keep doing it.

[@Muru-Sha]

It really fills weird to smile when you don't want to. What a toxic positivity behaviour 😢

[@COLLAPSARQ]

They think same about russians

[@comradewindowsill4253]

well, I would not be smiling if you followed me with a camera, that's for sure!

[@shmick6079]

Yeah this stuff happens all the time. I’m convinced that a high percentage of Americans think they’re on the “American internet”.

[@Hayden1969-ws4vy]

Well, Americans did invent the internet, so, not surprising!

[@KumaLynx-mj9cz]

​@@Hayden1969-ws4vy well, if it's not surprising to you it tells a lot 😂

[@akhsanarrazi7825]

​@@Hayden1969-ws4vysadly the smart is only a small percentage, while the rest lacks even the most basic common sense😅

[@Zayany-Malik]

A British man made the Internet. And it was made during Britain was in the EU, so you can't say, "Oh well, the uk isn't in the EU"

[@Hayden1969-ws4vy]

@@Zayany-Malik NO! A British man DID NOT invent the internet! The internet was invented by the US army in the late 60s, called DARPAnet, for linking their computers together. This was later released to the public in the 80s allowing true connectivity for millions. In about 89-90, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who was working at CERN in Switzerland, came up with a way to display pages of information from the Internet that was neater & quicker, using a code called HyperText Markup Language or HTML for short. He called this the 'World Wide Web' & released it for free to the public. The WWW became massively popular, but IS NOT the Internet. The net is a way to join computers together, the WWW is a way of displaying information and is a tiny part of the Internet! Many people make this mistake: Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the WWW, not the Internet! 🙂

[@IvaJelinkova-x3q]

In Europe, states have more historical background. These are territories with certain languages, as well as former principalities, duchies, royal territories...

[@jenniferharrison8915]

Exactly, as in having a Head of State - like Commonwealth countries do - for example The King of England! The Principality of Monaco, etc! 😄

[@Alltagundso]

Well, to be fair, there are territories in North America with languages that were used there for centuries.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@Alltagundso Don't you mean reservations? 🤔

[@Alltagundso]

@@jenniferharrison8915 In the USA it's maybe only about reservations, not so in Mexico though. And most reservations are in different places from where they were originally I guess!?

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@Alltagundso If you mean indigenous languages, that would be true! Those native reservations were selected by the government of the time, for reasons of their own, not for the needs of the specific community required to live there! There would be few traditional languages spoken there now, maybe just specific words!

[@mskatonic7240]

1:41 Germany had around 80 million people last time I checked. Meaning it is actually more populated than any one US state.

[@nicoladc89]

Not only that. Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Bayern (Bavaria) have more people than alle the US states except California, Texas, Florida and New York. Baden-Württemberg has more people than 43 US States. Lombardia (a Region in Italy, it's not a State but it has its parliament, its governor, its court) has more people than 40 US States. Andalusia more than 38 etc...

[@birgitschuster3361]

Even the smallest German State by population (Bremen) would not be the smallest US-state. Vermont und Wyoming have fewer people. Aswell as the District of Columbia (though not really a state)

[@nicoladc89]

​@@birgitschuster3361Kubrick made the European version of Shining 25 minutes shorter than the American, he said that Americans are so stupid that he needed those 25 minutes to explain them everything happens in the movie, while Europeans are able to understand by themselves.

[@birgitschuster3361]

Where German states would rank by population if they were US-states: North Rhine-Westphalia:5, Bavaria: 5; Baden-Württemberg: 8; Lower Saxony: 13; Hesse: 18; Rhineland-Palatinate: 28; Saxony: 28; Berlin: 30; Schleswig-Holstein: 36; Brandenburg: 36; Saxony-Anhalt: 37; Thuringia: 37, Hamburg: 39; Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: 40; Saarland: 45; Bremen: 49

[@Ichigoeki]

This is the same nation that's divided between which one should have more say in how to run the country: areas with more people or areas with more land. And they're actually saying that it shouldn't even be half and half, but that the land should have more say than the people.

[@Konrado28]

Also Americans speak and consider Europe as a 1 country with 1 culture, not a continent with multiple countries and multiple cultures. It bothers me a lot.

[@lees4416]

When their own country is like 20 different countries culturally

[@neilbradley5011]

Without migrants from Europe there would be no USA. If you are not descended from the First Nations you are descended from immigrants,or migrants, from Europe and other non-american countries.

[@37_newts_in_a_costume]

There are multiple cultures within each country too I can think of three different cultures in Italy alone

[@samanthafairweather9186]

I was asked recently what I'm doing over Thanksgiving. I asked, "What exactly IS Thanksgiving"? I was told I'm un-American for not knowing what Thanksgiving is. I'm Australian. Living in Australia. I still have no idea what the hell Thanksgiving is about! 🤣🇭🇲

[@sarahhanson7127]

Google it. It's actually terrible but I don't think the majority of USA citizens know how it originated. Put it this way, indigenous Americans do not celebrate it.😢

[@The0Stroy]

I mean - how US treated native population was not that different how Australia was...

[@thefiestaguy8831]

I'd have laughed in their face and told them to do one... typical American thinking they own the entire world, and everywhere celebrates July 4th...

[@SVPearler]

@The0Stroy interesting fact, guess where South Africa's apartheid system came from? Bloody QLD.

[@RinChan82]

What it's about is pretty obvious from the name. It's about giving thanks for what you have (family, friends, etc). I'm Canadian and we celebrate it here too, but a little over a month earlier than the US does.

[@thefiestaguy8831]

"Land of the free, home of the brave" the Americans claim. "Land of the fee, home of the deluded slave" is what I say.

[@emilywyatt9340]

Land of the felons and home of the deluded idiots. I am referring to Maga not decent Dems BTW.

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

We're not all deluded. But considering I worked 9 years before I had a job that offered me vacation time or health insurance, I sure feel the slave part.

[@SVPearler]

Land of the Fear. Be on alert, Fear the neighbour, the person walking down the street, person driving that car, the police, the government. Funnily enough, not the military, oooo rrrraaahhh

[@thefiestaguy8831]

@@SVPearler Incompetent military. The US military is huge, but actually not much more powerful or advanced than the likes of the british army... Despite the US's claims of being the "world saviour" and "saving the UK from the Germans in WW2".... actually it turned up years late when the majority of the fighting was done, and provided weapons to Great Britain on a "lend-lease" agreement (i.e for financial gain - there's a surprise - America doing something for a monetary incentive). Lost in Vietnam, beaten by rice farmers with sticks and resorted to poisoning their population with toxic chemicals leading to many premature deaths, and babies born with disfigurement or missing limbs. Couldn't take control of Afghanistan, given 10+ years and a huge budget. Supposedly the only war the US has won of it's own accord was the likes of Grenada... which is a tiny tiny island. Incompetent American pilot shoots at british soldiers TWICE from his aircraft, with his cannon... opens up, comes around for another pass and opens up again, still doubting the people he was shooting at were even enemies. Resulted in the serious injury of 5 british soldiers and the death of one. "Friendly fire" , the US is king of it. What happened to the pilot who DID NOT have clearance to engage, and opened fired on people TWICE he doubted were even enemy? That's right - it's the barbaric nation known as the USA... they simply went "Whoops", classified the tapes and he was never subjected to any punishment, charges or court martial for KILLING one british soldier and seriously injuring 5 other british soldiers as a result of his own itchy trigger finger. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron,_Blues_and_Royals_friendly_fire_incident "Great American military".... need I say any more. The US is so backwards, the police are so terrified of every citizen, to the point where they are VERY quick to use lethal force against the citizens... that is not the sign of a "developed, civilised, first world nation". So please, any American reading this, forgive me, for not liking the USA one bit, for all of the many reasons I have commented on.

[@SVPearler]

@thefiestaguy8831 oh but but, they are the best. I had a teacher who was a vietnam veteran(Australian), and he was not a fan of the US guys. They did not take it seriously, loud, etc etc. He felt like they were more of a liability. Sure, they had tech and shiploads of man power, but with a false belief and complacency. But I guess with conscription, it throws in some complexity.

[@Bierzgal]

One of my favourite things to say to such people is reminding them they are only around 4% of the world population. Really puts things into perspective.

[@birdmanoo0]

I like to say that we have the third highest population in the world.

[@Jack_Over9000]

I like to say that their individual opinion is only 1 of 7 billion and can therefore be safely ignored.

[@Pulstar232]

Its actually a little over 8 billion now ​@@Jack_Over9000

[@NessieNice]

​@@birdmanoo0 and that's still just 4% of total world population. Perhaps the world is even bigger than you thought?

[@PeauDuVieilOurs]

They won't understand because they believe that 15% of 100 is 75

[@MixedGamerOfficial]

Young American here. I will say, this is definitely true of I feel like the older generations but the younger generations are learning more. I for one, knew that Germany did have states. Australia has its own states as well. And we got our colors from Great Britain due to the fact we were their colony at one point. It just depends on how stupid you are really. Keep in mind, I am 16 so I may not know much but I pay attention in school😂 Have a good day yall.

[@paulm2467]

Nice one kid, keep learning and realise that we’re all a bit out of our depth and you’ll be ok.

[@milliondollarart]

you would be still surprised how many other countries have states :D

[@MixedGamerOfficial]

@ I would assume most countries do

[@ZulRf]

​​@@MixedGamerOfficial well in my place (Indonesia), we called it "Province". Basically similar to states in the US, but with less freedom of administration.

[@MixedGamerOfficial]

@ really? Good to know

[@vibekered7784]

The rest of the world really don't give a shit about 4th of July😆

[@georgkrahl56]

I don't. My father died on 4th of July, my father-in-law died 4th of July, so I am constantly somewhat nervous on that date.

[@vibekered7784]

@georgkrahl56 ❤️

[@U-A-FTAUTTPTAYFGAATZNTTPTUTTD]

​@@georgkrahl56 Sorry For Your Loss

[@xI-MIKE-Ix]

​@@georgkrahl56 So... you do give a shit

[@Yoooo_Z]

Who cares about, even 15 september México independence is more celebrated in another countries

[@bjhellstream]

Saw a documentary on racists in small town in the US. When the TV crew said they were from Sweden they scratched their heads and asked if it was near (the closest slightly larger town)... Even people in the middle ages knew more about the world.

[@Darkprosper]

Well, the people living in America during the Middle Ages didn't know about Sweden either ! Wait, actually, there was a brief period of time in the Middle Ages during which Sweden was one of the very few old world countries that some people in America would have known about... They don't even get that excuse.

[@shy404usernotfound]

Well no sh*t, Sherlock. As an American I already know that wherever those "racist" were from, it was some red neck, hill billy, small town, where the State is poor and therefore the education system is not funded well. Them being racist alone should have told you that they were dumb as hell. If they would have been born in a more wealthier State, with better education, I guarantee you they would have known where goddamn f*cking SWEDEN was. Y'all don't know sh*t about the USA either, so I'm not sure why y'all act intellectually superior. We have endless cities, towns and State named after European places, you know? There very well could have been a town called Sweden nearby him. You do realize that Europeans came here and named places after where they were from... right? Hello, duh.

[@YouHaventSeenMeRight]

@@Darkprosper Since the only people living in America during the Middle Ages would have been the American Indians, its not surprising they wouldn't have known anything about Sweden.

[@Darkprosper]

@@YouHaventSeenMeRight I was referring to the short settlement of Vinland by Middle Ages Scandinavians. Of course that is a ridiculously tiny fraction of the american population in the entirety of the Middle Ages.

[@messmeg7582]

But why you go to US country side to Paint them as racists? It is foooking rude at laest. I will do not want to know you too. Greets from Poland

[@captainfrandad1138]

The poster talking about the universal right to bear arms will get a very swift shock if they tried to bring a gun through UK customs. They’d be on the next plane out of here, once they’ve served their prison sentence.

[@infin8ee]

Like the American girl who "forgot" her's when she entered Australia a few months ago 😂

[@Flirkann]

Along with a set travel ban and being flagged for "random searches" from then onwards

[@robinholland1136]

@@Flirkann And, more than likely, a permanent 'no fly' order.

[@heidimueller1039]

Same with Canada.

[@raybenstead2548]

Chatting to an American on the internet when he suddenly came out with- 'You Brits only speak English because you learned it from us Americans during the war of independence when you flew over to fight us.' The mind boggles.

[@AlperdincOG]

If i heard that in a conversation honestly i would laugh cause like how do you not know you were a colony

[@PeBoVision]

I am constantly having my spelling called into question because I spell colour, honour, neighbour, splendour etc with a "u". I do enjoy explaining that only Americans have trouble spelling English words, and that not everyone is American. On more than one occassion I have received replies in the vein of "Americans invented English". You are what you eat.

[@UtamagUta]

Same! I even have my settings on British English and it still insist in omitting the u

[@heatherjay8802]

According to the current President-elect, Americans invented the wheel - he actually said that!

[@PeBoVision]

@@UtamagUta My OS and software do not default to english at all. this has the advantage of red-lining everything I type in English. Turning off auto correct became a neccessity. So my software leaves my spelling alone.

[@aussie6910]

I get picked up for using spelt instead of spelled. I then explain to them I don't suffer from US Ed. I was taught English at school in the '60s.

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@heatherjay8802 Heard at a Trump rally - "If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!"

[@kiha2213]

Ryan, do check out the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games in the US state of Georgia. As the Olympians walked in and the delegation of Georgia was announced, a huge cheer went up. My local (German) tv reporters commented on this as the result of local Georgian (US) crowds apparently thinking they have their own Olympic team… 🤦‍♀️ Well, I hope the athletes of the European/Asian state of Georgia took a lot of support from this random cheering 😂

[@manueltapia1859]

Yes I remember that, the ignorance. I'm surprised they didn't think Brazil was also a state from México 😅

[@nicksykes4575]

I'm willing to bet most of them still believe it to this day!

[@maleboglia1775]

Confirmed!!! I also saw this together with my parents, we looked each other in the face and started laughing uproariously!!!

[@ulricaandrae4381]

That’s hilarious!

[@claude199x]

@@manueltapia1859 To be fair México could have been mistaken for New Mexico

[@Kari.F.]

It's not uncommon to come across Americans on social media who are shocked to find out that the Europeans they are comminicating with on social media have access to social media. 🤦 And not only that, but we have access to the internet, too!?! Whaaat? 😂

[@phillipnash2843]

@@Kari.F. Don’t tell them that the Brits invented television, telephone and the internet. They’d need to lie down.

[@Kari.F.]

@phillipnash2843 If we started telling them basic fun facts like that about the world, they'd need to open carry smelling salt pouches and handheld fans, too. (Let's not tell them that the guy who invented the car was German. That would be too much.)

[@Bramfly]

Don’t tell WIFI and Bluetooth are Dutch inventions

[@Kari.F.]

@Bramfly I promise, if you swear never to tell them that GSM and the spray painting robotic gear used in car manufacturing are Norwegian, and that the ATM was invented by a Scotsman.

[@phillipnash2843]

@ Or that they didn’t invent apple pie. That would be cruel.

[@CherMcGuinness]

I’m an Aussie, but on a holiday in Italy in 2006, a group of Americans in a restaurant kept telling the waitstaff to speak American. Not just Ignorant, but excessively rude. 😢

[@thefiestaguy8831]

Standard American really, the vast majority I met were rude, arrogant, obnoxious, loud and abusive, demanding things and had no manners. I've zero respect for them frankly and they deserve that lack of respect.

[@bola1714]

@@alexfreeman-day7027 keyword: italy

[@livb6945]

I know it's been pointed out many times but - red, white and blue are the most common flag colours IN THE WORLD. It's in no way a US thing. In Europe they are known as the Slavic colours. I know you know this Ryan, this comment is for other viewers 😊

[@HisuiOgawa]

As a frenchie I always find it hilarious because we usually just say the blue white red flag when talking about our flag 😂

[@m420-nd1if]

​@@HisuiOgawa You mean the tricolore?

[@Maedhros0Bajar]

Even better, it was copied from the British East India Flag (which some rebels used early in the Revolution). The only difference between the flags is the topleft part. No idea what that says about the US, that they use aflag based on the one of the megacompany that once ruled India and waged war with China over the right to sell Opium to the Chinese

[@HisuiOgawa]

@@m420-nd1if Yep. Can't remember the last time I heard someone call it properly outside of a somewhat official setting. lol

[@reluctantheist5224]

Ah the Union Jack

[@ingegerdandersson6963]

If we have to obey by the US constitution I think we should get to vote in your elections.😂

[@hypatian9093]

Or change HOW they elect: have election on a Sunday so that most people don't have to work on that day, get rid of how you have to register for being able to vote and organize it to reduce the waiting time (I never waited longer than 15 minutes in the four decades I've been voting).

[@birdmanoo0]

Do you want to be a US state? I'm sure everyone here would be willing to let you become one. Oh, just so you know the popular vote doesn't actually mean anything in the US. It goes by electoral votes.

[@ingegerdandersson6963]

@@birdmanoo0 i was sarcastic. As comments that were in the video were people from US talking as if the US constitution is the law of the world, then the world should get to vote.

[@birdmanoo0]

@@ingegerdandersson6963 I know. I was also being sarcastic. And just so you know, the people in the US don't OBEY the constitution. It is more of a set of laws for our government. It says what they can and can't do.

[@ingegerdandersson6963]

@@birdmanoo0 yes you do. Even if it mostly talk about the government you did have the rule against alcohol in it for a while, and it gives your neighbours the right to have a gun, even if you don’t like it. You can’t decide against it even if everybody in your town, including your local politicans, think its wrong. Its not only rules for the government.

[@livb6945]

It's an interesting take to use the US as a template for the rest of the world seeing as it is a fairly young country and a very special and irregular nation at that.

[@Gambit771]

Who's existence is borrowed templates from everywhere in the world.

[@MellonVegan]

It is quite irregular but as a country in its modern form, more or less, it's actually one of the oldest.

[@fionagregory9147]

​@@MellonVeganThey ruined the English language. It's revolting.

[@Dutch1961]

​ @MellonVegan yeah, that's why they copied our declaration of independence of 1586. We were a republic back then. We only became a constitutional monarchy in the 19th century.

[@RiaVersteeg]

@@livb6945 Very special????? Where did you get that idea?

[@mors134]

As an Australian I can confirm that as a non American I always have to be aware that if I say something wrong I'm going to have Americans questioning me. Another thing that I've noticed is how unwilling to learn how many Americans I've talked to are. Now that's not every American, Ive had a few exceptions, but the vast majority seem perfectly happy having no clue how the metric system works for example but expect me to understand their imperial system. Now of course I do have a basic knowledge of their measurements, but really the metric system is way easier and they all seem content to not even give it a go.

[@crismcdonough2804]

As an elementary school student in 1972. We were told the metric system was "coming" and it was based on tens and so much easier. But then... nothing changed.😂

[@Diane-s5g]

In Canada, we have to convert metric to imperial U.S. measurements when doing our grocery shopping. It’s sort of a hybrid. our grocery stores sell both in metric and imperial. You’ve got grams, ounces, kilos, pounds, litre, gallon. So much fun.

[@miksol320]

​@@crismcdonough2804 there is actually a funny story about it. Well, ship with metric system sailed to the USA but it drowned. And this is the reason why Americans don't have metric system

[@Liquid278]

I'm an Englishman and I've had my American friend ask me without any irony, "do you guys celebrate the 4th of July there or not?" the same friend also asked "do you have pizza there?"

[@dmgroberts5471]

I like to reply, "why, did something happen on that date?" as a barometer of how sane and rational they are...or aren't, as the case may be.

[@andreww2098]

well wimbledons usually on then!

[@UtamagUta]

to be fair american themed barbeques became quite popular, since straight bang in the middle of the perfect weather season. What I find abhorrent is that people started celebrated Halloween in my Catholic country simple because of popular culture... I've had coworkers who not only carved pumpkins (that's cute), dressed their children in costumes (cute), farmers started growing a foreign vegetable (pumpkin) en masse for EU subsidies (weird) and last straw was when those children had helloween parties at kinder gardens and parents dragged them around to ask for candy. Thing is we have basically the same celebration in spring, but it considered lame by millennial parent 😥

[@DanDanDoe]

I’m Dutch and met Americans who thought we didn’t have cars in the Netherlands. Even some pretty well-traveled Americans have baffled me with their statements and questions.

[@compulsiverambler1352]

The second one is actually reasonable, you shouldn't assume that foods common in your own country are widely even heard of in another. For example, most Americans have never heard of blackcurrant as it has never been easily available there, and to use another example from Italian cuisine, most Americans haven't heard of Spaghetti Bolognese, even in New York, because most of their Italian immigrants were not from the same regions as most of our Italian immigrants have been. There are other Italian dishes that are common knowledge in the USA which in England most people have only heard the names of in American mafia movies and couldn't recognise them from a line up.

[@sweety1746]

I'm German, born and raised here. I DO celebrate July 4th AND I make my family celebrate it, too. Every year, without exception! P.S.: It's my birthday 😂. So, no fireworks unfortunately, but cake and presents which I prefer over loud noise, obviously 😉.

[@marikothecheetah9342]

much belated - but Happy B-day :) Fireworks hurt animals, so if anything - laser displays are better.

[@Bassalicious]

@@marikothecheetah9342 Those endanger aircraft if used open-air.

[@marikothecheetah9342]

@@Bassalicious ah, true. Well, confetti still works :)

[@Bassalicious]

@@marikothecheetah9342 If it's biodegradable that'll work yeah :)

[@marikothecheetah9342]

@@Bassalicious damn, I love your approach. 💜💙💚💛🧡❤

[@loantran-thanh7795]

When I went to live and work in the US in the early 90’s, after having heard so many things about America’s greatness, and thinking that installing a phone line or power line in my house would be done quicker than in my own country, France, I had to deal with the harsh reality of a crashed dream. It took me weeks and hassle before completing those mere tasks, why? Because, if in the chain of command, one person is missing, everything stops and you have to wait until that person returns. Nobody to replace him or her, come on, we are talking about utilities not a dressmaker! I remember thinking at the time « at the end of the day, this whole so called greatness is pure propaganda, because American workers are the same as everywhere, no better, no worse » But now, I think they are worse than then. It’s like they live on this huge island, and they think (for 95% of the population) they are the only ones who matter on this planet, and that the rest of the world should be at their feet. I think Julius Caesar thought the same; we know what happened to the Roman Empire…

[@TheDeldaisy]

Omg! Yesterday! On an AUSTRALIAN page too. It was a discussion about American politics (that future president) and this USA guy was SO angry I had an opinion on American politics. "What has OUR politics got to do with ANYONE ELSE in the world?! Mind your own business! You have no right to comment." Like dude, of course it affects us directly. AND the rest of the world.

[@alganhar1]

Americans are also quick to jump in to try and 'correct' the politics of other countries, even allies.... I remember very clearly for example the US Government publicly supporting Remain in the UK Brexit referendum.... Surely the referendum is the business of the British people by the very same logic, so what business does an American have in offering their opinion?

[@m1chico]

I don't like politics and i try to avoid any politic situation but when a election happen on america i know EVERYTHING all the internet lets me know what is happening even if i don't care so it isnt a surprise if a non america acknowledges it

[@bulgarianreaper6587]

I mean if the USA didn't try to be the "world police" and meddle in what other countries do, we wouldn't care.

[@grahamj9101]

And now we have Elon Musk commenting on politics in the UK. It seems that freedom of speech is unidirectional

[@patrickcornelius4783]

I don’t know if this is funny anymore. Don’t forget the US is one of the most powerful countries in the world and the level of ignorance about the rest of the world is painfull to see.

[@arnie111999]

Terrifying isn’t it

[@patrickcornelius4783]

@ absolutely. Even more after the last election. People follow that lunatic blind and who knows what he is going to do. In Europe we are completely baffeld how the US people could vote for that man.

[@greenscene5215]

I think that IS what makes it funny!

[@keisermick]

Shouldn't worry too much. President Chump is going to make them great again soon.

[@thehellyousay]

painful, indeed ...

[@johnwilletts3984]

Fantastic if here in the U.K. we could party on the anniversary of every nation’s independence from us. That would mean a celebration every other day.

[@mikonyx7712]

Also, DOUBLE CELEBRATIONS!

[@catshez]

😂😂😂👍👍👍

[@lube6966]

Better even: Reconquer the lost parts of the empire, then let it fall apart again. This'll double the amount of independence days and consequently, assuming they're all state holidays, you'll never have to work again

[@dreamerlotus]

Bank Holiday for each of them please 😂

[@hansgruber3064]

Of course we would all take the time to reflect on the past……down the pub.

[@phillipnash2843]

I think it’s baffling how people in the US think that they’re the only country that matters.

[@Kim-427]

That’s what you people think. If I’m in America yes I’m all that matters when I’m trying to put food on my table,keep a roof over my head and just survive everyday. Excuse me for thinking about my well being and not stopping my day to give you and whoever a shoutout. You people are mental.

[@jamescole1314]

​​@@Kim-427 And yet you have time to come and comment something like this on multiple comments on this video 🤣🤣🤣 Though I notice you left the one saying we don't pay for drs or hospital visits alone 😘

[@phillipnash2843]

@ That’s what you get in the land of the free.

[@PINKH0RNET]

​@@Kim-427 Saying this as an american who expects the world to be about themselves all the goddamn time is a bit ironic don't you think ?

[@manueltapia1859]

​@@PINKH0RNETyes, I wish Kim luck with the medical bills, little sick days, no maternal leave 😅 but hey that's the price for living in the "freest" country hehe. Greetings from northern México 🇲🇽❤

[@asharak84]

I still remember playing an old strategy game (colonial conquest) on the Atari. You could play as a whole bunch of different countries. And when someone won, it said "The has won" which only worked as a sentence for USA. "The Russia has won" etc was always funny.

[@thehellyousay]

even more ironic is the fact atari is a japanese company ...

[@mikkoolavijarvinen3653]

@@thehellyousay Atari was an American company (although the name is a Japanese word from the Go game) and this game was made by SSI, also an American company.

[@Poochyvert]

Since it's an American company, what I'm about to say doesn't excuse them at all but otherwise, it could have been a translation error because for exemple, in french, we say "the United states" and "the Russia" and in general "the " (but in french, obviously)

[@pi_xi]

It also works for The Netherlands.

[@asharak84]

@@pi_xi it would, but they were not a country. I think it was France, Germany, Russia, Japan, USA and England.

[@saladin6233]

You should see how … distressed Texans get when they discover that Western Australia is more than three and a half times times the size of Texas. Texas - 695,662 km2 Western Australia - 2,527,013 km2

[@michaelmclachlan1650]

Do you remember when Rudd told GW Bush that Queensland was much larger than Texas? The look on GW's face!

[@futurefox128]

You guys are just projecting! ...one could even say mercator projecting.

[@thefiestaguy8831]

US Citizens: "Yeahhhhh, Go America, whoop whoop!" Australian Citizen: "Hold my kangaroo".

[@Xnoob545]

², btw

[@andynieuwenhuis7833]

Now Canada has entered the chat, We've got Three Provinces bigger than Texas, and Australia can very nicely fit into Out Country also, so Please hold my beers!!!😅🎉😮

[@larissahorne9991]

One reply to a comment of mine on Facebook from an American man was the following. "After all, we're all American here." I'm an Aussie.

[@solothecanadianlynx]

Something similar happened to me except I was on VC and some guy kept yelling something like "AMERICAN POWER!! FEEL THE FREEDOM! WE AMERICANS CAN FIGHT BETTER" with a midwest accent whilst half of our team were europeans and I'm canadian (felt bad for the guy not knowing our nationalities 😅)

[@futurefox128]

"You are Aussie? So are you here legally or illegally?"

[@larissahorne9991]

@@futurefox128 🤣

[@rainerzufall42]

But I still bet, he wasn't the dumbest American in that thread...

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

To be fair you have forgotten that a significant number believe that Australia does not exist .......... 😜

[@sonyan2902]

Here in Australia we have a cattle station (ranch) that's the size of Texas in the state of South Australia run by 11 people...Anna Creek Station. Yes Australia has states and a territory bigger than states in the USA.

[@anthonyj7989]

The bloke who owns Anna Creek Station also owns other stations in the area and his total land holdings come to about 4.5 million hectares or just over 11 million acres and runs almost 60 thousand branded cattle in a good year (in Australian mega cattle stations, his cattle numbers are on the lower end).

[@wessexdruid7598]

Australia is bigger than the contiguous USA. Mercator's Projection doesn't help.

[@Dr_KAP]

@@wessexdruid7598nah the contiguous USA is slightly bigger (3.1 million sq miles) than Australia (2.97) but they’re close!

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@Dr_KAP The land area of the contiguous US is actually 2,959,064.44 square miles. You can't actually live _in_ the Great Lakes. But how like an American to get hung up on 'which is biggest', like it matters. At all.

[@ninjasiren]

It takes days to travel from one part of that cattle station (ranch) to another part. Its either you drive a ute or fly a helicopter, maybe a plane

[@Henoik]

03:41 Opera is actually Norwegian - but Opera GX offices are located in Poland.

[@slavic_viking9638]

Almost right Opera is the main company founded in Norway, while Opera GX was developed by a Polish team working in Opera Poland that is in Krakow. So, Opera GX is Polish not because Opera has offices in Poland, but was developed in Poland

[@6tobi6hana6]

They are owned by a chinese company

[@thepyrors9019]

Is a brain illegal in the US???

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@thepyrors9019 I think lateral and critical thinking must be! 🧐

[@NaeniaNightingale]

Seems so, unfortunately

[@futurefox128]

Soon will be, just wait for it.

[@phillipnash2843]

@@thepyrors9019 It’s an optional thing.

[@cjmhall]

Having lived here for 10 years, I've found it's a country of both the dumbest and the smartest people in the world. It's a land of extremes.

[@drjamespotter]

I've said it before and I will say it again. A significant number of the people from "that country" do not understand the concept of "other countries". My best one was an argument with one of them on Reddit on a post concerning a contractor. The post had Edinburgh in the title. he insisted that US tax laws applied...in Scotland.

[@Patterner]

to be fair US Tax Laws apply to US Citizens (maybe even Ex-) outside the US. but not for everyone in foreign countries.

[@AFNacapella]

"medieval peasant's scope in worldview" !!! that's beautiful, I need to adopt and overuse that

[@belleharris2059]

Had an Aussie web based business for the last 7 years and sold 80% of our product to the USA. One of my biggest engagement posts on social media ever was when I posted a map of Australia superimposed over a map of the USA. It blew all the Americans minds we were “the same size” These posts were my daily. The ignorance was gobsmacking.

[@thefiestaguy8831]

To be fair the Americans are the most ignorant people. In my experience that has always been the case. Shout the loudest, most demanding, most rude and most arrogant and self entitled.

[@Diane-s5g]

You should live above the meth lab, if you look at a map of North America from a U.S. perspective, Mexico is never shown and Canada which just happens to be the second largest country in the world with three oceans is a small dot on the horizon.🇨🇦

[@thefiestaguy8831]

@@Diane-s5g Americans: "Nowhere else exists, just America".

[@IceFireofVoid]

​@Diane-s5g I'm Canadian and I always thought it was hilarious that world maps/globes made in the US tend to purposely make Canada much smaller than it is, so the US looks bigger in comparison. Why? They're insecure of our surface area?

[@talibiran7457]

Calling the USA 'America' is another example of U.S. defaultism. America is a continent, consisting of 35 countries.

[@Romapolitan]

Do you mean 2 continents? Because there is no singular continent called America. It's South and North America.

[@shawnwharry952]

@@Romapolitan This depends on where you went to school. Some places concider north and south america one continent.

[@adlerlp4388]

​@@shawnwharry952what?

[@jofrench2674]

⁠@@shawnwharry952where specifically?

[@Romapolitan]

@shawnwharry952 I don't really know any place where they think there are only 6 continents, so what's the replacement?

[@FalcoSorreo]

9:40 I remember watching an interview in which both the interviewer and the interviewee were from the US. The latter was talking about Stalin, and he mentioned Stalin was from Georgia. The interviewer looked confused and asked "wait, he was american??".

[@ebiruzzkix]

😂 cringe

[@TaniaShipman]

I once told an American I was Australian on an online game. He replied that my English was pretty good. When I replied that I said and spelled it better than he did, he said I should be proud of how well I spoke my second language. When I asked what he thought my language was, he replied Australian.... He might have thought I was Austrian, but they speak German or at most Bavarian. Another American referred to us Australians as idiots because we were talking about "maths", informing us it was "math". When told we called it Maths, he told us we were wrong and should change it. The sarcastic comments flew quickly along the lines of the sarcastic "sure, we'll get on that right away" or in that quintessential Aussie way, a lot of "yeah, nah" happened.

[@ZZMJo]

🤣Talking about Austria...there's was a video about it, and American wrote "I would learn Austrian if I go there...." I asked which language is that? He never answered....

[@rikschaaf]

2:36 States, provices, bundes, departements, etc. We all have different names for them, but ye. We divide big thing into smaller things to make them more manageable. Who'd have thunk? :D

[@Konrado28]

In Poland there are "Województwa" :D

[@NapoleonVIII]

What does that word mean translated literaly? I don't speak Polish.

[@comradewindowsill4253]

@@NapoleonVIII war-leader-dom

[@NapoleonVIII]

@@comradewindowsill4253, thank you

[@Konrado28]

@@comradewindowsill4253 what the hell are you talking about ? Don't lie

[@MazzaEliLi7406]

Ryan, you missed the opportunity to pull up a map that showed the country of Georgia.

[@nancyrafnson4780]

That’s what I was going too! From 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@MazzaEliLi7406]

@@nancyrafnson4780 Cheers!

[@turkoositerapsidi]

​@@nancyrafnson4780I thought that's Canada.

[@nancyrafnson4780]

@@turkoositerapsidi , yes 🇨🇦 is Canada.

[@turkoositerapsidi]

@@nancyrafnson4780 Ok, thanks!

[@aledjango]

We know that geography is illegal in the US, don't worry chief

[@ak5659]

Omg, yes! I'm a sign langunge interpreter and I was once asked py a hearing American how Deaf people identify countries and cities since sign names tend to be local. I gave an example of Buenos Aires. I held my hands to indicate North and South America then pointed to the location of B.A. The person couldn't believe that Deaf people just assume other Deaf people know Geography. 😅

[@GdzieJestNemo]

re 1st one - it will probably blow most americans' minds when they learn that full name of Mexico is United Mexican States (or United States of Mexico) :)

[@Gambit771]

Really? I never knew that. Not a yank so I have no reason to know this.

[@Daktangle]

USM! USM! USM! :D

[@this_andrew]

😮 well, I learned this today. From now on whenever someone mentions the "US" or "the United states" I'm just going to assume they are of course referring to the United States of Mexico and respond accordingly. "Georgia? in the United States?? Surely you mean Guerrero?"

[@rolflin]

Viva México!!! Nuestros hermanos al otro lado❤

[@emilywyatt9340]

And Mexicans are most likely indigenous.Aztec descent . It's the American and Spanish colonialists were the immigrants.

[@ChipJam]

If main character syndrome were a country…

[@torejorgensen5344]

Germany has more than twice the population of California, so in that sense USA doesn't have any states as big as Germany. Here in Norway with 5.5 million citizens we find counties and municipalities to be enough. BTW, Opera is Norwegian but there are people working in other countries as well, with major hubs in Poland, China, Spain, Scotland and Sweden.

[@ArturR-xu4dt]

One small correction. Opera was Norwegian, it was sold to a Chinese company.

[@IIITheDeadGamerIII]

Here in Kiwi Land, we have one state too. We also have local councils because yes.

[@Craftee6]

But opera gx is polish i think right? Or at least admin is.

[@ArturR-xu4dt]

@@Craftee6 in the old opera 12 days a lot of the programers working on it were from Poland. There even was an office in Poland. Do not know how it is today.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

As an Australian citizen I now wish to demand my USA Constitutional right to bare my arms, carry huge stripey flags, yell at strangers and sing endless marching songs! Not! 🥴🇦🇺

[@Gambit771]

You can expose your arms in Australia.

[@nolaj114]

You can bare arms in a singlet 😅

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@nolaj114 I tried writing the musket story, but it was deleted! 😁

[@kotqrka]

@@Gambit771 And feet.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

@@kotqrka Our whole feet! 😂

[@visionsofcody1]

0:42 Yeah, I‘m in a permanent state of Claustrophobia here in „The United States of Germany!“ 😜

[@rainerzufall42]

TBC it's the "Federal Republic of Germany", which triggers the question, if the US of A are a Republic (or a Democracy, as there was also a German Democratic Republic). And sometimes we are in a State of Disbelief...

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

As an Australian and one who's ONLY experience of "social media" is a KZbin comment section, I've become reacquainted with the phenomena of "American Exceptionalism"

[@trueaussie9230]

It lives strong in this environment. Try telling one of them that they wouldn't be using YT but for Australia giving the world wifi. 🤣

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

@trueaussie9230 Sshhh! Try not to mention the Ute, Car radios, Hills Hoist, Lawnmowers, Pine Gap, etc, etc, etc.

[@trueaussie9230]

@frenzalrhomb6919 'Over the horizon radar' that neutralised the US's 'radar invisible' Stealth Bomber even before they'd finished testing it. That one always tickles me.

[@philrichmond5919]

@@trueaussie9230oh that showed how self absorbed the USA is. They were asked to help and declined, until it looked like we would succeed, then decided they should help because it was better for them to know what we were up to. And to think the contract for the first array went to Hills Hoist because they were the lowest cost. Top secret military hardware lurking in every Aussie backyard 😂

[@thehellyousay]

i envy you, that you're only contact with americans has been on social media. they're far, far worse in person, and i live in a port city where cruise ships dock, so they're here by the thousands every year

[@angelamcguinness1970]

The public school system in the USA has certainly failed generations

[@JayeEllis]

Understatement

[@MilitaryGuy1v5tBOSNIANARMY]

bro schools don't exist in the US they are shooting ranges

[@Kat-mu8wq]

I've noticed the more Americans I talk to, the worse my English gets 😭

[@tachiebillano6244]

Most Americans assume that when they are in a reputably "conservative" country, that country has the same definition of "conservative" as Americans do. They get surprised when in my country, being conservative means you do NOT think that proliferation of guns = safe, and that you should always run to women to lead in a crisis or when you need someone to take charge of managing the money (in the family or a company) because no man can trust another man as much. And that you are supposed to live with your parents and you are supposed to keep close ties with relatives and friends in every aspect of your life, to a degree of personal invasiveness that you wouldn't see in America.

[@Werty715_25]

This reminds me of an article where an American "expat" cried about shops not being open on Sundays in Hungary and that "the libs ruined it". The shops are closed due to the CONSERVATIVE party forbiding shop workers to work on Sundays.

[@Flypho726]

As a Pole, I can only say that I have no idea what’s going on in the States on the 4th of July.

[@jsleeio]

best to keep it that way I suspect

[@michaelbrown1993]

It's the day we set off lots of fireworks! Someone once mentioned to me something about someone getting their independence or something like that. Like, whatever!

[@jacquieclapperton9758]

It's their Ungrateful Colonials Day.

[@DanDanDoe]

They celebrate the release of the best movie ever made: Independence Day.

[@birdmanoo0]

It is the day we signed our declaration of independence. More or less we celebrate the day we separated from the brits. It's America's birthday basically. Do you guys there have anything similar?

[@rogergreen9861]

As the grandson of an American who stayed in Australia after WW2 and was a great bloke, I have been shut down by "What would you know, Aussie" comments right up to my pointing out that I am descended from Germans that emigrated to America when it was British, had lands granted to them by sons of William Penn, founded Lebanon County, lost loved ones in the Civil War fighting in blue, and served in WW1, 2, Korea and Vietnam. Had America ignored WW2 completely (as was the plan), I would not exist, so thank you Japan for forcing the US to honour alliances. Weird even to me, but it slams down on the love-it-unconditionally-or-shut-up crowd. Love your work. Power on.

[@module79l28]

About the Georgia "confusion": imagine what US americans from one of the 11 US cities called Lisbon would say when they landed in Lisbon, Portugal, a city founded in 1200 b.c. They'd probably go up in arms accusing us portuguese of stealing the name. 😂

[@rainerzufall42]

Recently I heard something similar about "Boston". They've accused some Brit to be stealing that name from the US.

[@annafrolova7891]

Actually, I was once asked by an American lady in Paris airport where am I flying to? I said Moscow. And she was like: Oh, Idaho! I'm from Washington.

[@rolflin]

You can find lots of spanish names in.the southern and west states. I don't know if they know why

[@module79l28]

@@rolflin - And let's not forget the french names. 😀

[@marikothecheetah9342]

@@annafrolova7891 In Poland we have a small town/village near Warsaw called Włochy, and we also call Italy Włochy. I believe, we also have America (Ameryka).

[@JenaveevJones]

It is so sickening how little America knows about the rest of the world, in Canada we take more world history and per capita are more educated and less religious. I see what extreme maga evangelism has done to citizens. VERY sad.

[@FlbcImp]

Ignorance is a badge of honour in the U.S. all they need is the bible and Fox news.

[@ilsignorsaruman2636]

Hey now, no need to bring in religion.

[@FlbcImp]

If only Americans didn't.

[@Teuwufel]

God forbid, muricans ruined religion and turned it to a psycho sect, now they think it's like this everywhere. Yikes.

[@thefiestaguy8831]

You forgot "Thoughts and prayers". Most important things in the USA, in no particular order: 1) Ego - We are the best, we are the most free, everyone is jealous of us. 2) Guns - Guns "Save lives" apparently... remember. 3) Bigger is better, ask any American, "our trucks are bigger than yours" 4) The bible 5) Their guns "We claim the second amendment". Sadly many of these delusional people think it applies worldwide. 6) "Thoughts and prayers" 7) Bulletproof backpacks

[@FlbcImp]

Forgot freedom 1 freedom to go bankrupt because you needed medical treatment. 2 freedom to eat food that is slowly poisoning you. 3 freedom to have no workers rights. 4 freedom to be the only industrialised country that doesn't have maternity leave and pay. 5 freedom to have the most openly corrupt politicians and judges.

[@Philosophocles9]

I lived in Tbilisi for a few years and my parents frequently had exasperating conversations with currency exchange tellers: "Do you carry Georgian Lari?" "They use dollars in Georgia." "No, we meant Georgia the country." "Georgia isn't a country, it's part of America." "Yes, the state of Georgia is part of the USA, but we are visiting the Republic of Georgia which is between Russia and Türkiye. You could've just said you don't have lari." I also once got a Christmas present in MARCH because it had gone from the UK to the USA then been returned to the UK because 'nowhere called Tbilisi exists' then sent again with the words 'NOT AMERICA!' written in huge letters under the address. So, I guess it's not just USAnians...

[@ZZMJo]

Oh well, the 2nd one must have been DHL...Once I sent something to Colombes, France...it landed in ...COLOMBIA.

[@taykeir1682]

@@ZZMJo I had a package end up in New Zealand once instead of Zeeland, a province in The Netherlands. Would have been faster to get back if it ended up in Zealand, an island in Denmark. People are stupid

[@ZZMJo]

@@taykeir1682 🤣

[@richardcooley9730]

In dealing with Americans, and I speak as a European, it helps tp remember we are dealing with the more educated people who actually have passports. Nevertheless the US has a below world average level of literacy, it is actually behind Syria which has been in a state of war for 13 years and eight months,

[@joaoassuncao1]

It's actually funny because the experience I have with Americans on the whole country/state thing is most times the opposite, that they assume each and every country in the world runs on a federal system just like the US, when in fact there are actually more unitary countries than federal ones in total. And while yes, most times there's a correlation to country size, that's not always the case. Austria (yes, the one with no kangaroos) runs on a federal system too, and is quite smaller than Germany even. On the other hand, China is a massive country, and is (in theory at least) an unitary state.

[@Diane-s5g]

Try explaining the parliamentary system to an American, good luck.

[@EmL-kg5gn]

The kangaroo confusion reminds me of how the arctic and antarctica are named 😂 If we renamed ourselves kangaroos and no kangaroos do you think it would actually help these americans remember??

[@DougBrown-h1n]

Happens to me all the time because I'm fairly well informed about US politics and social issues. I think it's based on the assumption that we are as ignorant about the "outside world" as they are. I like to cook, and my personal bete noire is American recipes (published on the WORLDWIDE! web). Apart from the mysterious units of quantity (a "stick" of butter??), I saw one the other day that instructed cooks to "heat the oil to 350 degrees". If people didn't realise that this was in American, there'd be kitchens on fire across the World.

[@NaeniaNightingale]

The rest of the world is not as stupid as you Americans, we would fully understand something so obvious.

[@paulavitoria1798]

@DougBrown-h1n Apparently, US butter comes in sticks, several per package. And I recently bought (in a dollar store - well, the Portuguese equivalent) two sets of measures: the unities are CUP and TABLESPOON (1, 1/, 1/4, etc.).

[@hypatian9093]

German here. I especially hate it when, in blog or even magazines, they simply translate an American recipe and don't convert measurements etc. - you want to make money with such shoddy work??

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@paulavitoria1798 However the measure of 'one cup' is different in different countries - just like US gallons and US tons, among other measures.

[@nelltheretrogamer]

I've also come across recipes that mix different units. I tried one recipe that gave the other measurements in grams, but then it included one "cup" of water. I didn't really think about it and assumed that it means one deciliter, but that clearly wasn't enough when I tried to make this food... then I googled what a "cup" means and turned out that in this case it probably meant 2.3dl. That resulted in the right kind of mixture.

[@stephenjones8928]

At a CONCACAF press conference some years back, an American sports journalist, upon reviewing the matchups during the qualifying round for the cup, asked why the United States had to play both Trinidad and Tobago on the same day. The press core and spokesmen fell silent.

[@ralphpotowski-pn5hn]

Not only the same day, but the same time. Two vs one.

[@user-guigui01]

I thought the journalist thought that Trinidad was one country, and Tobago was another. 😂😂😂😂

[@ralphpotowski-pn5hn]

@@user-guigui01 mmh, yes, that's in fact what he thought.🤔

[@stephenjones8928]

@@user-guigui01 Exactly. Which is why he was implying with his question that it was unfair that the U.S. had to play both on the same day.

[@randomdeadpool]

I didn't know this was an actual thing that happens so often they created a whole subreddit about it I remember once I was answerind questions in a comment section about daily life in my birthcountry and someone randomly accused me to be faking, he said something like "sounds made up, your english seems too american to me" like if people can't learn a new language

[@gspaulsson]

I say give the animals a fighting chance: defend the right to arm bears.

[@Llortnerof]

But how am i going to get my bear arms then?

[@davebox588]

@@Llortnerof From Santa Claws?

[@dmgroberts5471]

@@Llortnerof Ah yes, the right to _bear_ bear arms. 😆

[@sugarnads]

Yes. Ive been a Fforde-ian for years

[@Flirkann]

Ours are adequately armed as it is... Holding you as they use you as a punching bag, disembowling kicks, beaks/spurs that are readily used against eyes/faces, spines/fangs/glands that will visibly express venom...

[@carolinekofahl8867]

Switzerland has cantons. As much as possible is decided locally. That's democracy 😊🇨🇭

[@ZZMJo]

Don't tell them they have 4 official languages....and everyone speaks the language they can, 2,3, and additional even English....

[@to_loww]

@@ZZMJo To be fair: They probably prefer English over the languages of the other regions.

[@ZZMJo]

@@to_loww I never spoke E to my ex MIL, FIL, BIL, SIL, Nice and nephew...

[@georgkrahl56]

Yes, and Switzerland is CH, meaning Confoederatio Helvetica, which in turn is United States of Switzerland. Together maybe as large as just one state of Germany. The Swiss constitution has been, ehm, heavily inspired by the American constitution, by the way. A nice invention was to have seven presidents at once, diluting all these Trumps.

[@craighardie5373]

I (an Australian) was on a Destiny cruise in the Caribbean in July a few years ago with a lot of Americans on board. I was talking to a person from the midwest (Kansas) about the weather. He was dumbfounded when I told him it was winter at the moment in Australia. He called his wife over and excitedly related this information to her. She was a bit disbelieving and they both were completely bewildered. I started to explain that the tilt of the earth was the cause but thought "What's the point" and talked about american football instead.

[@pascalsch14]

2:40 admitting to not knowing something is incredibly based and even more so when there is a effort to learn. Not knowing that other countries also have states may sound silly but if you don't hear about it, you wont know about it. It's impossible to know everything thats why you never stop learning. The only time when someone should be embarrassed about their lack of knowledge is when they refuse to learn and/or act as if they know everything there is to know about something

[@gLu3xb3rchi]

You wont believe the shit we have to deal with. I was called out on reddit because I used „." quotations marks instead of "." with the reasoning „IF YOU WRITE IN ENGLISH USE THE CORRECT FORM". Bitch I'm from Germany, my phone automatically uses them, there is nothing I can do execpt change my keyboard to English I guess. I didnt even know what to say to this lol

[@lyaneris]

Pretty sure I've seen them used in a bunch of academic papers as well. On mobile it's one thing, but you bet I'm too lazy to change it when I'm at the computer 😂

[@Sine-gl9ly]

​@azzyy09As an English person, don't apologise for your English! I love it that so many people from all over the world want to learn English - I thank you for it. Most Americans, though, are not very literate in English or in any other language.

[@jjosz9565]

Had the exact same thing happen when I was writing fanfiction and post it online. I appreciated the feedback about sentence structure and stuff, as writing a story in English differs to German. As I used English, I wanted it to be a smooth read in that language users. But the amount of people complaining about me using the quotations for speech wrong... well, yeah, my German MS Word and OpenOffice of course put them the way they are supposed to be. In German. *sighs*

[@deineroehre]

@@jjosz9565 And there is nothing wrong with that. 191 out of 194 countries have to deal with these weird legacy units like lbs, inch, yard, mile (instead of normal units like meters and kilograms) to which only developing countries are still stuck to, so that minor inconvenience of having the quotation marks in international format is OK.

[@TheFeldhamster]

​@@jjosz9565tbh, if you're going to write actual fanfiction and not just comments, you might want to consider your target audience. Since you're writing in English, you might as well switch the language of your wordprocessor - which will then give you English spellcheck as well and make things easier for you. If I were to, say, write in Spanish for a Spanish speaking audience, I'd use ¿ and ¡ and ñ as well, even though they don't exist on my German keyboard (I'm Austrian).

[@Danimally]

Hey. To compare sizes of countries, you should use a good map viewer like " The true size of ... ", beacause "flat maps" don't show proper sizes.

[@davebox588]

Mercator projections are so misleading. Southern Africa looks small until you realise that the bus journey from Jo'burg to the border of Namibia is 3 days, and East to West in Australia is HUGE.

[@thechows324]

@@davebox588well it was used by sailors to get accurate direction instead of true size so you can forgive them for that

[@squizzo5809]

@davebox588 The Mercator projection makes things bigger than they truly are the further away from the equator they are. Meaning South Africa would appear larger on the Mercator projection than it actually is on a globe.

[@judileeming1589]

Not all Americans are uninformed about the rest of the World. I once travelled on a guided bus tour with only seven non-Americans among a bus load of Americans. The Americans were lovely people who were apologetic about asking for information about other people and places. They had a thirst for knowledge wanting to see everything and asking questions. I often fondly remember a young College student Tom, who sat with the Aussies and South Africans and surreptitiously but studiously copied how we used our cutlery. Apparently we are always formal in how we use our cutlery, but so what, I can’t use chop sticks but that’s because I have never needed to.

[@ak5659]

I was vaguely aware of how the rest of the world uses cutlery put didn't pick it up until my first trip to Poland in '83. OTOH, Poles were shocked that about 1/3 of us from the US knew how to use chopsticks. They laughed uhen we ex'lained that most of us learned because we had lunch in front of us and no cutlery because someone was a smart ass.

[@melaniay5521]

Agree. It is important to surround yourself with smart and curious ones.

[@melaniay5521]

Agree. It is important to surround yourself with smart and curious ones.