The DUMBEST Questions Americans Ask Germans | Feli From Germany | AMERICANS REACT

[@Caambrinus]

No, guys, wrong. The Romans called the people ‘Germani’ (and the area they inhabited ‘Germania’) more than 2,000 years ago; English gets ‘Germany’ from Latin. The French call Germany, ‘Allemagne’, from ‘Alemanni, a tribe which invaded them in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. European history isn’t just bloody; it’s also bloody complicated.

[@hannesmayer3716]

The English called it Allemagne for a long time, too. It changed around the time of Shakespeare to Germany, if I remember correctly.

[@Caambrinus]

@@hannesmayer3716 Thanks, Hannes, but remember that the dominant language in England, until the 14th century, was Norman-French.

[@alexandergutfeldt1144]

@@CaambrinusFrench was the language of the upper classes. The vast majority of the population did not speak French.

[@JacobSprenger]

The only one left to explain that I can think of is "Niemcy" = "Germany", "Niemecki" = "German" from the Polish language (and probably some variants of that one in other slavic ones, too).

[@Caambrinus]

@@alexandergutfeldt1144 Yes, Alex, but I wrote 'dominant' not 'most common'.

[@juwen7908]

Do you have fridges in Germany? No, after we invented this, we cut it out of our lives completely!! 🤔😉😎

[@ulliulli]

In the 90s (yepp, I'm old) I worked as a student for a touristic company (I basicly handed out flyers and ushered tourist group to their tourist guides) here in Berlin and wow, I have stories to tell when it comes to americans ;) One (then, in my eyes) older american in his 50s ask me where the ruins are. I asked him what ruins he is talking about. "The ruins of Berlin of course". I asked him if he meant the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, a church in ruins that should remember us that war is destructive. "No", he said, "the real ruins. We bombed you into oblivion. No way you guys rebuild that city in 50 years". He called me a liar when I told him that - at least west germany - was almost completly rebuild in the early 60s. Another one asked me why we germans drive american brands and if the reason might be that german cars are worse than american cars. I asked him what he meant, because all I see are VWs, Mercedes Benz, Audi etc atm. "Yeah", he said, "these are american cars. I see them all day where I live. Why should we americans import foreign cars? We invented them". He got very angry when I told them that these are all german brands and that Benz, who was german, invented the car. He wanted to speak to my manager to get me fired, because I was telling lies to americans. My manager just told him to f*ck off. But the "best" incident happened with my black coworker, who was born in germany, while his parents are from Ghana. I saw him yelling at a black woman, who was also yelling at him. He saw me and waved me over. The black american woman said to me "So, tell your collegue, that he is afro-american" - "NO, I AM NOT!", my coworker yelled - "Yes you are, darling. Every black man who is not living in africa, is an afrcian-american!" - "I AM A GERMAN-AFRICAN, NOT AN AFRO-AMERICAN!" - I said, I will not be part of this discussion. She replied "You are racist!"

[@EllaSilentDragon]

Wow 😳

[@Ilogunde]

A friend from university was in Florida once and was asked if we even have cars in Germany... So, I think, some of them really can't comprehend that those cars are German.

[@ulliulli]

A German INVENTED the modern car.... but most americans think, it was Ford. lol@@Ilogunde

[@herbie1975]

" I want to speak to your manager" "I'll have you fired" bla bla bla, that really sounds like an american (karen/kevin)😂 I guess you (and your boss) had a good laugh about those kind a people😅

[@Winona493]

​@@EllaSilentDragonYes, wow!!! There are simply no words for these stories, except a WOW.

[@e.s.7272]

I was asked the dumpest questions during my 4 week student exchange in Dover (New Jersey). Among other things, "Do you live in houses"? "Do you have cars"? The ignorance of many Americans was quite frightening.

[@eichzoernchen]

i think asking questions is curiosity the opposite of ignorance

[@beldin2987]

@@eichzoernchen If i "ask" you : Hey, where have you lost your brain ? Do you think thats just a question of curiosity ? 😄

[@CM-ey7nq]

Feli is great. Her enthusiasm is just so infectious. And I never blame Americans for not knowing something, that differs from person to person all over this globe of ours, it's when they're so *confidently* wrong that gets me. "No, that's not a fact about your country". Dude, I live here... :)

[@daphnelovesL]

It's just the lack of proper education

[@APCLZ]

she's ok, but i cant stand her on and off Cincinnati, Ohio explanation at the start of her every video 😩

[@leDespicable]

@@APCLZ But that's kind of important to know, experiences vary greatly depending on where in a country you live. Plus, her channel experiences many occasional viewers that haven't seen any of her videos before, so a disclaimer where she's from and where she lives is kinda needed in every video

[@アキコ2003]

​@@daphnelovesLAmerica is huge and they have allt of problems. They dont have the time or need to learn about other countries.

[@daphnelovesL]

And Europa is not big? The population is bigger then the USA@@アキコ2003

[@KrisThroughGlass]

The time zone thing is crazy to me, since you do have different time zones in your own country.

[@thesunshinehome]

Scandinavian isn't a language

[@lorenzsabbaer7725]

....

[@daphnelovesL]

It's a joke (i hope)

[@grakpan1233]

Or it is a Proof

[@MoLauer]

As someone studying scandinavian linguistic at Uni at the moment, I have to say it kinda is. Depends on how you define a language in contrast to a dialect.

[@Bungee75]

@@MoLauer dialect like: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Islandic, Greenlandic,.... so dialects ... yea right....

[@ulmerle100]

When I visited Boston, an acquaintance asked me whether there were buildings in Germany that were as old as here. When I told him that some people in Germany still live in houses that are older than the Mayflower, he was very surprised

[@_K.A.R.]

yeah watching out the window living in the second oldest town in Germany (Köln / Cologne / around 50 a.D as "AACC"). Or looking ~70km to the west "Ahrweiler" (893 a.D. as "Arwilre") with its mostly intact city wall and gates. Or aroung ~80km in the same direction "Andernach" (unclear age, as it evolved from a military camp, but around 55 a.D as "Antunnacum" also with its partly intact city wall and gates. Not to mention "Trier" 180km away (17 b.C. with numerous ancient buildings and ruins like the "Porta Nigra" 170 a.D.) ^^

[@roberthunter3178]

Do you have electricity in Germany? No Kyle, we build the Mercedes S Class in the light of candles.

[@angiewegenerdjmetalamazon4468]

You know what the most iconic German food is? Döner Kebab. It was invented in Berlin by people of Turkish origin decades ago and is now the most wide spread fast food all over Germany. No joke. You need to come here and try it out some time! :D

[@Marmagon]

I counter with Curry Wurst

[@DadgeCity]

Döner kebab was not invented in Berlin.

[@angiewegenerdjmetalamazon4468]

@@DadgeCity Well we Berliners know that it was. :D There is even the organisation of döner producers that says so. :D

[@draculakickyourass]

You should befriend the americans who claim that pizza was invented in New York, as you would have so much to talk about.😆

[@SheratanLP]

Heheee, Ich denke, dass die Thüringer Rostbratwurst auch nicht gerade unbekannt ist. Die gibts sogar in China und die haben größtenteils noch nie was von Currywurst oder Döner gehört.

[@hasumoto1707]

The dumbest questions I've got from Americans so far were (a few times!): "So you are a Nazi? You know, because you're German" or "Is Hitler still alive over there?" *facepalm* To all those Americans who don't listened to their history teachers in school: after WW2, the Nazi regime was destroyed. And also Hitler used a gun to end his own live. And also: how long do you think people and live? I mean WW2 ended in 1945. That's almost 80 years ago. Hitler was an Old grown man. How do you think he can still be alive? What the heck do you guys learn in School - history, biology, even common sense?

[@juwen7908]

The funny thing about the time zones is, that you actually have different time zones in your country while in Germany we just have one, but still know about it. So they don't even know enough about their own country 🤯

[@walkir2662]

Yep. When I was there in '99, the TV magazines had the time zones printed. Makes sense, no need to print it several times. That was probably before these guys cared, though. But every US channel I watch here on KZbin always gives the time zone because who wants to lose viewers just because people show up for a live at 9AM Pacific when it was 9AM Eastern?^^

[@wernerlampe8089]

Fun fact: The continent of America got its name from the navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci was a merchant from Florence who claimed in his book to have visited the continent 4 times in 1507, but this was not true. The name America is therefore based on misinformation that Martin Waldseemüller adopted in his first world map.

[@KarstenZingsheim]

Why Deutschland? The word comes from an old Germanic word "Teutsch". This means: people - so Teutschland is the land of the people. Germany was given to us by the Romans. "Ger - Mane" - Ger is the most popular weapon against the Romans - the spear. Mane = man. So German means man with a spear. I was asked the question with the Refridge as well. I replied: "Where do you think the BMW and the Mercedes come from?" Answer: "Those are good American Cars...."

[@kristena9285]

Most of them think Henry Ford invented the motorcar too.. ;-)

[@wezerd]

​@@kristena9285i don't blame them. Henry Ford made the first SERIALLY PRODUCED cars, which is easily overlooked when you're not really interested in cars. The Benz Motorwagen 1 is also not really that well known even in Germany, at least in my experience.

[@simon2083]

@@wezerdKarl Benz is known by almost every person in Germany.

[@elle-iza]

You know what I just noticed? In the US I've heard a lot of emotionally loaded discussions about the importance of the right pronunciation of a name, and how disrespectful it is to "mispronounce" a name (even if the mispronunciation is just a result of the speaker's native language), while I've seen many European people being so much more lenient and easy going. They are totally okay with other pronouncing their names according to their own language, and sometimes even introduce themselves in a modified way to accommodate the others.

[@paul1979uk2000]

You can be more forgiving for younger people that are still at school and learning, but even then, many of these things are basics that Americans should know at a young age, and when becoming an adult, there's just no excuse unless you've lived under a rock. I do seriously think that some re-evaluation is needed on the US education system to help broaden Americans minds on things, and not just on things from around the world, but even on their own country, because it's quite shocking how so many none Americans seem to know more about the US than Americans do, we are talking basics here that some common knowledge which is kinda universal, at least it is in modern countries, but the US does seem out of step compared to other modern countries.

[@ondrejvasak1054]

Jesus was not actually called Jesus by his contemporaries. That is a translation from Greek Iēsous, which came from Hebrew Yeshua, which equals modern Joshua. The Spanish Jésus is a bit more modern name, which probably came from Latin version IESVS.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

I recall my late mother chastising me because I only got grade C in French when I was 11. "You're a clever kid. What's so tough about French? Kids over there speak it when they're less than half your age". 😅

[@rosenclosed]

12:46 Thanks for the reminder about the fridges. I live in Germany and this question reminded me that I still have to put my groceries into mine

[@craighughes4906]

I was in La in the early nineties sat in a coffee shop american couple heard my accent asked where i was from replied UK Lancaster in the n/west of England. The cringe was when the lady turned to her husband & said "oh Honey look they named there town after Lancaster Ca" at this point a history lesson was order of the day i said Lancaster was built on remains of a Roman fort several hundred yrs ago but scary bit was when she replied everyone knows Roman is part of Romania the look of disdain implying i was talking nonsense still makes me smile today!.

[@hannesmayer3716]

Fun fact about naming other countries: On old German maps from the first half of the 20. century you may find the abbreviation "VSA". It stands for "Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika", the German translation of "United States of America". I've never seen it on anything printed in my life time, but in old atlases it was quite common.

[@publicminx]

it was actually not long time ago when words were still (not just in Germany) more localized. The thing to speak and write it more like the 'original' came with more and more knowledge especially in the 21. century. You have now also much more people who speak for instance French words like French instead of a Germanized version. And the more educated or traveled ppl from other countries do that as well. Here the US is indeed also a bit of an exception due to the fact that English is the global language. For instance BMW is still not spoken like the Germans do - while usually it is in Europe (many other parts in the world copied the American version). In some cases this might change with more knowledge as well, possibly in the case of the pronuntation of Adidas ...

[@jacquilewis8203]

Time travel... I need to sell stuff to those people... Snake oil, lmfao 🤣🤣🤣

[@lotog692]

The Timezone thing acutally explains why 9/11 was conducted in NY and not in SF, they would have been warned otheriwse. And no, NY could NOT warn about Pearl Harbour, because the planes came from the east, so they actually came from the future ... kind of. ;-P

[@tarwod1098]

I feel guilty about being ignorant as well. I’m German and I was on travel in Thailand. Somebody told me that he asked Thai students what they knew about WW2. They shrugged and had never heard about it. At the time I thought this was hilarious and I sided with this man. But now my perception has changed. Do we westerners know anything about the history of Asian countries? Why would we? And why should people in these countries learn about history that didn’t influence their lives at all? Should be different in Japan, of course.

[@scollyb]

Thailand was allied to Japan in WW2, annexed parts of Burma, Laos and Cambodia

[@tarwod1098]

@@scollyb I didn't know that. Seems these students didn't learn about it as well 🤷‍♀️

[@EllaSilentDragon]

There are so many names for Germany, because it depends on the specific German tribe our neighbors had the most contact with. Germany as a single country is not as old as the territories of the tribes. - Germanen (Roman word for all tribes) - Germany - Teutonen - Deutschland/ Tyskland - Allemannen - Allemagne - Sachsen - Saksa Only some Slavic languages call Germany something like Land of the mute/unintelligible. (E.g.: Niemcy in Polish) The first patents for an electric refrigerator were applied for by a German. (Linde) 😊 Daniel: "Football!!! or don’t talk about it!" 😂😂😂❤❤❤ The problem is not, that people don’t know things. How would you learn them without asking? 😊 Most Europeans usually wouldn’t know anything about Oceania. There are hundreds of countries. You can’t know everything. 😅 But some questions you can find out for yourself - by thinking. 😉 And the really stupid thing to do is trying to correct people about their own language/country/continent. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We have stupid people too, by the way. But they are usually not that confidently sharing their thoughts. 😅 I feel sorry for the poor Columbus-Ohio people. 😂 But if you want to roast other cities or states - just go for it. I‘m curious ❤😊

[@publicminx]

its not stupid to correct ppl about their own language/country/continent if you know it indeed better, only if they want stick on a pointless stereotype for the sake of keeping it. I have - as German - for instance always to explain to everyone (Germans, French, UK, etc.) that there was no guy with the name 'Charlemagne' (the Brits just took it from the French - and they just use it as much later localized name). His name was Karl/Carl (lat. Karolus/Carolus Magnus). Now, this is nothing ordinary people are to blame for, but historians and people who are deep into that time should know that, because ALL old historic texts from that time, architecture AND all other languages (all other Germanic based languages, Italian, Spanish, Slavic language, Arab always also refer to a Karl/Carl (like Carlo Magno in Italian/Spanish). Anyway, this just as example (of course more for geeks) that one can of course correct people if one knows more ...

[@MabuseXX]

When a southern german talks in full slang to a northern german, he don't understand one word....it's not like an accent, it's like a complete other language. 17:08

[@Caddl123]

In 2009 A family from the USA was in my bigger german city (93 000 habitants) They looked around asked me Why are there no Nazi flags and No Marschmusik playing And also no picturres of Hitler in the shops I was shocked. They meat it real not joking.

[@publicminx]

but to be fair, also many Europeans had especially in the 20. century and early 21. also still a lot of nonsense stereotypes about Americans (many still have. Actually many Germans even dont know all 16 states and their capitals in Germany - or who the actual foreign minister is (or Kanzler etc))

[@davidsteventhorpe]

Once, in Dallas, I was having a conversation with an American women and she asked me where I was from. I said "New Zealand". Her response was "What good English you have ".

[@VonDutch68]

Bloke in Texas said to me ' your english is very good, I thought you Australians spoke German ?' I had to swallow my tougue before explaining I was Australian not Austrian.

[@PropperNaughtyGeezer]

Germany - because 2000 years ago there was no state, only germanic tribes, like your natives "Indians". You also have states named after tribes. Dakota, Illinois, Iowa... But here it was the case that we had different neighbors who had contact with different germanic tribes. Those in the north with the Saxons, there we are called Saksa. The Slaws call us Niemiecki, which simply means strangers. In France we are allemands, because they had the Allemannen tribes there. This was also adopted by everyone who had contact with the French, Turkey, Spain, Persia. In the Middle East we are called Franconians, especially in the early days, because they got to know us as crusaders and France and Germany were once the Franconian Empire. The Italians named us after the Teutonic tribe. The "Teutschen" i.e. the Teutonics, this became the Deutschen and that is what we called ourselves who spoke this language. This became Deutschland, everywhere this language was spoken. the first encounter with the Romans, who mapped the country for their later conquests and who called the country Germania magna. The origin of the word is not exactly known. Some assume that the main weapon is “Ger”, a javelin and “man”. So men with javelins. The sidearm was called "Sax", which also explains the name Saxons. They also had the “Franziska”, a throwing ax, as a weapon, which explains the name Franconians. The Roman Publius Cornelius Tacitus has a treatise about the Germanic peoples, where he describes them as giants who live in impenetrable forests and can go weeks without eating but not a day without drinking. Actually quite friendly, not very busy, addicted to alcohol but with a very short fuse and superhumanly strong when drunk and angry. And they also felt the anger when a few hundred Germanic tribes joined together in the Battle of Varus and completely destroyed three Roman legions, which were considered the strongest, most modern, best equipped and best trained forces of the time, and their followers. And by complete I mean no one survived to report on it in Rome. They didn't know where they were for years. At some point, Roman expedition groups found the remains nailed to trees.

[@conallmclaughlin4545]

We call it soccer in Ireland too.... And you don't need to go 20 miles down the road for an accent change... More like 5 minutes away 😂

[@Thorium_Th]

11:56 No. Some examples in German: John = Johannes Luke = Lukas Andrew = Andreas Bartholomew = Bartholomäus

[@GdzieJestNemo]

Adding polish equivalents: John = Johannes = Jan Luke = Lukas = Łukasz Andrew = Andreas = Andrzej Bartholomew = Bartholomäus = Bartłomiej

[@Thorium_Th]

@@GdzieJestNemo Cool ^^

[@ulliulli]

Arabic: Isa/Isah = Jesus Yusuf = Joseph Ibrahim = Abraham Yahya = John Musa = Moses Yacub = Jacob Sulaiman = Salomon Harun = Aaron Ishaq = Isaac Dawud = David Suaib = Jethro Yunus = Jonas

[@Kayta-Linda]

Some of the names are literally abbreviated Russian names, which always feels kind of confusing to me 😅 Like, Masha, Katia, Tanya.. and so on. Those are all shortened and/or “friendly” versions of the most basic and popular Russian names! Masha is a cute shortening for Maria (which *also* exists in different languages) Katia is short for Yekaterina (I think the equivalent would be Katherine, too) Tanya is short for Tatiana I wonder how and why that happened.

[@juwen7908]

We call it Fußball - football, cause you play it with your feets, while what you call football, we call Tischkicker or Tischfußball, cause you play it on a Tisch - table. German is really a very literal language. 😉

[@hasumoto1707]

As a German, we used to say "Fußball" when it come to it. We only call it "Soccer" when there are Americans around, so they know what's talked about. You know, to avoid confusion. A lot of (EU) "hardcore" Fußball fans refuse to do so and call it football no matter what. I kinda use the word my audience understand the most and don't get confused by words. When talking to Brits "football", when talking to Americans "soccer". But when we talk about your football, we call it "American Football", so everybody knows what we're talking about.

[@andyt8216]

It’s not just the UK which drives on the left in Europe. The UK and EU members Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus do. Sweden and Iceland changed over from RHD driving in the 60s, and at one time half of Europe drove the same.

[@helloweener2007]

I also got asked if I speak German. This was in the UK and it was an old sweet lady who came in the shop where I worked. But I did not have to answer. Her daughter told her off.

[@charliebrooklin]

.. I have a question to americans. .. why have Americans never ever seen a map ???

[@ulmerle100]

because they can`t read it.

[@kult5185]

Iam from Germany and I would NEVER try to teach an American to call it "football" in his own country. Iam a guest, so I have to call it soccer. And I do all the time. If you visit me in Germany, maybe you can try to call it Fussball :)

[@tobiaslofi]

Also love how her video background set and lighting looks somehow simpler and nicer than your two sets even though you clearly have put lots of things, lights and effort in too.

[@axelk4921]

Do you know the reason why we drive on the right side?! Because of NAPOLENONE! If it weren't for Napoleone, we would all still drive on the left side because of medieval "chivalry". Knights carried the sword on the left side and drew it with the right hand and in order to have more space to swing they ride on the left side , and in the "first" modern war, Napoleon wanted to confuse the opponents because they stuck to this old "ritual" and thought his way, by changing sides thr Opponents' tought the troops "LEAVE" the battlefield because they are walking on the "Right" side That's why the spiral staircases in castles are built clockwise because the attackers storming up had less space to swing their swords

[@JohnHazelwood58]

Your name is Spencer? ... On german TV there was an epic puppet serie named "Hallo Spencer", which was aired from 1979 until 2001. Classic german culture! Worth watching at any age as you don't get some jokes as a kid. For example: the twins are named "Mona & Lisa" and the band is called "Quietsch Beus" (< referring to the "Beach Boys"). I still have the theme song in mind! :)

[@john9508]

A couple of us were over in the States with work and were asked where do we come from we replied Edinburgh, he then asked if we knew his cousin, we asked where he stayed, he replied Bristol 😵‍💫

[@jimmyincredible3141]

The soccer/football thing reveals that people deep down do not fully grasp the concept of someones native language not being english, where the game is called something entirely different...thats what makes it really annoying (and yes, i have heard that too)

[@helenewei4232]

An US American once said that the US is more of the continent of Europe and not like a country in Europe because each state is like a country. Like European countries don't have states. And the European states are so much more diverse than the American states because most of them were isolated kingdoms and tribes over thousands of years. Why do you expect me to know about Kansas when you don't know about Niedersachsen?

[@StarkWurst]

To be fair, if you are in deep Bavaria or Saxony asking if someone speaks German is not without reason as some dialekts are barely recognisable as part of the German language.

[@Caambrinus]

One of the most popular and international games worldwide is called 'football' (or variations in other languages); apart from that version, there are also: American football, Australian Rules Football, Gaelic Football and at least two different versions of Rugby Football.........

[@Winnywutz]

We call it Fussball in Germany because it is the german word for football. The same with Deutschland.

[@kjk8941]

"You are German? Have you ever talked to that Hitler guy?" - "So your grandpa was a Nazi?" - "How do you keep your food fresh? I heard you don't have fridges." Yes, that's right, the Hitler guy is walking around on the streets in Germany talking to Germans. Almost 80 years after his death. And all Germans without any exception were Nazis, including my grandfather. Thank you for asking, total stranger. And yes, we're still living like we were hundreds of years ago. Industrialization, modernity and all its important inventions never came to us - the land of poets and thinkers...

[@spirosgreek1171]

Good reaction. And don't worry Spencer, we will convert you at calling it Football eventually.

[@LolGamer5]

The worst question my mother got in the 80s were 2 "Do you have subways in germany (the trains)" And "Do you have running water in germany?" like bruh

[@svenpedersen9140]

I really like your new channel ! I like your soccer/football thing hehe :)

[@eisikater1584]

You guys made my day! Just downloaded the "soccer song" part. Will turn it into an mp3, load it onto my phone, and play it next time I'm at a soccer stadi... -- no, wait! Maybe that's not so good an idea. I live in Germany.

[@johannesmarkstrom3241]

Hello! I really enjoyed your clip. Feli is a girl I follow on youtube and I was happy to se this clip. First of all: Your countrys official name in Swedish is ”Amerikas förenta stater” and I guess you can see what the words mean. Secondly I hope you were acting stupid when you said ”We speak Scandinavian”. Scandinavia is a region in the north of Europe and we speak Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. Some would argue that it is Scandinavian since we kind of understand eachother. Think of siblings. They are the same family but not the same person. Don’t mix this with ”Norden” = the north. Norden also consists of Finland and Iceland. I hope you allready know this. Love from Sweden.

[@michaelgoetze2103]

The Southern US accents can be more difficult to follow. I had a friend from Dallas. When she spoke with us we could understand her but I heard her speaking to her husband on the phone one day and had great difficulty understanding.

[@dschoene57]

15:00 Soccer is actually the British original. The full name is 'Association Football', which the British abbreviated to Association and later just soccer. So basically soccer is the word that the British coined for it and later changed, while the Americans kept it.

[@Krokostad]

I'm also for you reacting to Feli's video "How Hitler ruined the German language"! Me as a German don't find it aggressive at all, but Germans aren't neutral on that :) For me Spanish sounds way more aggressive than German.

[@publicminx]

you are right. And apart from that, it wasnt Hitler anyway (even if it seems to fit), but the stereotype about harsh German is an older one and referred to the Prussian military and bureaucracy tone - which later in the Weimar republic got ironized by artists (till today which is why Rammstein or Nina Hagen etc. use this 'rrrrrrrrrrrrr' sometimes). The stereotype about the punctuality/efficiency and having no humor was also from that time. Thats all in reality stereotypes about Prussia. Some were already culturally ingrained (punctuality and efficiency), also from likeminded neighbors like the Netherlands - and just leveled up by Prussia ...

[@Hadewijch_]

While on holiday in Bonaire, I got talking to an American tourist who had already been on the island for two weeks. She: Why are there so many Dutch people here? Me: … Me: Well, why are there so many Americans on Hawaii? She: Hawaii is American. Me: Indeed. She: … She still didn't get it. So I explained to her that she had already been in the Netherlands for two weeks. I mean, how do you not know which country you are in? That would be basic information when going on a trip you'd think. So, have you guys ever been asked dumb questions about the US by one of us? 😄 And which ones?

[@MartinWebNatures]

Love this comment video. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱👍

[@daphnelovesL]

Germany is 8,7 bigger than the Netherlands and we have over 267 dialects.

[@ulliulli]

and over 300 types of bread and 1500+ breweries

[@pilotlars]

And a million windmills ;)​@@ulliulli

[@daphnelovesL]

no we don't @@pilotlars

[@pilotlars]

lol I know.@@daphnelovesL

[@zehtee]

And immediately I got the song 'There's nothing wrong with Ohio, except the snow and the rain...' by Bowling for Soup stuck in my head :D You guys make great videos, thank you very much!

[@MabuseXX]

Phil Collins once performed at the same day & same local time in the UK and the US (it was for Band Aid, he played in London, took the Concorde, and played than in the US). 20:42

[@denontour]

Accents in europe are based on different groups or tribes if you'd like. You also have this if you look at the people of the First Nations in America ... they all had different languages too. The other (non-indigeneous) people in america basically speak the same language, as they all opted to move relocate there and the base was from the UK & Ireland or were brought there as slaves.

[@fliplefrog8843]

i am allways amused about the US bubble :) Europe population is written in history books from at least(!!) 1500years bc. How old are the US? ;D And where did you originate from?

[@NightOwl_30]

British who mock Americans for saying soccer don't know their own history because the term soccer was originated in Britain and that's what it was called by many in Britain. Then it was exported to the USA with that term. So they only have themselves to blame.

[@Caambrinus]

Spenser (Spencer?) is a surname, originally, and this sort of first name seems quite common in the US. Was it naming sons after presidents (Washington Irving? Lincoln Duncan?) that popularised this trend?

[@ulliulli]

Technically, "Spencer" was not a name for a person but some sort of job description. (A spencer was a house steward). It's like naming your kids "Landlord", "Maid" or "Host".

[@Caambrinus]

@@ulliulli True enough, but that goes back to the Middle Ages. It's likely that some families want to preserve, say, a woman's maiden name in her child.

[@martins4879]

do germans have refridgerators? 🤔😅 Who invented the refridgerator? Carl von Linde , a german engineer. 🥰😂😂

[@walkir2662]

16:30 Yep. I have a book on the dialect of my city that has maps of which words are used for certain things where you can see the old villages that merged together in the Industrial revolution when people flocked here to work in the steel works. I don't remember ever hearing of them before that (doesn't necessarily mean people in that section of the city don't care to distinguish between neighbors, but it doesn't have any actual relevance) And if you know that sort of thing, asking a Bavarian if she speaks German makes *some* sense. Not so much for Munich, but, well. The people around 7:50 or so don't know enough to make their question non-idiotic.

[@johnnyrosenberg9522]

Just wanted to add a fun fact about that everyone in Europe drive on the right side except the Brits: We drove on the left side here in Sweden until 1967, when we switched to the right side over a night. There were very restricted speed limits for a while, but that's all, I think (I was barely born by then, so I have no personal memories of it). So if you visited Norway for instance, you switched side at the border until that day in 1967. A similar switch couldn't happen today, way too much traffic for that, so I think 1967 was kind of our last chance. Another fun fact: Even when we drove on the left side, driver's seat in all cars were to the left, which wasn't optimal.

[@Henrik_Holst]

What does the amount of traffic have anything to do with it? The change wasn't mid day in traffic, there where a complete traffic stop for several hours between the two events.

[@johnnyrosenberg9522]

@Henrik_Holst More traffic, more roads, more lines to repaint, more road signs and traffic lights to replace, more drivers that are likely to make mistakes when they have to rethink everything, and not all drivers are great drivers and so on and so on. There was a reason that they lowered the speed limits for quite some time.

[@Henrik_Holst]

@@johnnyrosenberg9522 but that just makes it more work. And I'm quite sure that people back in the 60:ies had the exact same arguments, that they couldn't do it because traffic was so much more than they where in the 50:ies or 40:ies.

[@johnnyrosenberg9522]

@@Henrik_Holst Well, they did it in the 1960's (1967) so obviously they thought it was possible.

[@Henrik_Holst]

@@johnnyrosenberg9522 yes that is how history works, with hindsight we know what did and didn't work.

[@fipsvonfipsenstein6704]

What's this Ohio thing all about? Must be something like Nebraska, when Brian Shul once said "we did Nebraska in four and a half minutes. That's the best way to do Nebraska by the way"

[@apfelguy]

Martin Waldseemuller, a German cartographer, was the first person to name this continent America, which is a Latinized version of Amerigo. U Welcome Guys

[@Covenantt666]

I don't understand why (some) Americans have a problem understanding timezones. Just in the continental US you got four of em. Plus one for Alaska and one for Hawaii (and parts of Alaska?). Its another thing to have to look up timezones. That always throws me for a loop too. But the concept as such? SMH 😂

[@Anna-zi7sx]

I don’t know how many regional dialects there are in the UK, but there’s like a bunch of accents that are completely incomprehensible to other German speakers in Germany. At least one is classified as another language

[@wernerlampe8089]

… A young woman in New York asks a German man "German man, why are there so many languages in Europe?" His not very serious answer: "Because we lost the war". She replies: "Oh, I'm so sorry for you Germans!" ... 🥴

[@thomasherreiner3583]

I am a German and I love the US and its people. But some US Americans are a bit self centered and simply do not know enough about other countries. "You drive on the wrong side of the road in Germany?" No, in Germany we do drive on the right side like most other countries do but more importantly "Why do you call the left side the WRONG side?" There is left and right but there is no correct and wrong side! This would imply that everything which is different to US American standards is wrong. And this is what I mean with a bit self centered 🙂

[@KrisThroughGlass]

German here... I learned American English in school and watched American football on TV (AFN) as a kid. There were a lot of American soldiers and their families living nearby. I think I was an adult before I ever met someone from England in person. So why would I call it football instead of soccer?

[@Gobbears]

"Deutschland" comes from the word "Thiot" or "diot", which means people or tribe. Both "Thiot" and "Diot" come from the word "Teutons". "Deutschland" roughly means "people/tribe of the Teutons". While "Germany" comes from the Germanic tribes and "Alemania" from the Alemanni tribe. All 3 were large tribes in ancient Germany.

[@nettcologne9186]

It's okay that you call yourselves America, because no other country in America (South, Central, North) has the name "America" in its state name, only the "US of America" has. - Btw, did you know that a German cartographer named the new continent America? Interesting, right?

[@publicminx]

yep, which is why Germany also invented America (not just the bike, printing press, computer, cars, jets, the phone etc.)

[@wernerlampe8089]

@@publicminx… The continent of America got its name from the navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Vespucci was a merchant from Florence who claimed to have visited the continent 4 times, but this was not true. The name America is therefore based on misinformation that Martin Waldseemüller adopted in his book. 😉

[@publicminx]

@@wernerlampe8089 yes and no. This Amerigo gave NOT the name, it was that German cartographer who made this name prominent. Without that, America was likely named different.

[@APCLZ]

beer cheese is basically obatzda... and that's a bavarian traditional food. im surprised she doesnt know it, but then again, it's probably because of the name difference and it's also a very niche type of dish that people don't eat very often.

[@tarwod1098]

The cheese on that picture didn’t look like Obatzda, more like cheese fondue 🤔

[@lumina9995]

I don't agree. Obaz'da has no beer. It is made from ripe camembert or brie, butter, paprika, onions and maybe caraway seeds (which I hate)

[@tarwod1098]

@@lumina9995 maybe they only call it beer cheese because they serve it with a glass of beer?

[@APCLZ]

ya, i guess when it comes to obatzda, most people are confused anyway xD i dunno anyone who actually likes it

[@lumina9995]

​@@APCLZThen you don't live in Bavaria?

[@omadduxo]

Just people that don#t know history are mad when you call football soccer. Football originated as a version of rugby, which was played by and under the rules of the rugby organisation. People were mad that an organisation that played a different sport (rugby) had the power of how football has to be played and founded their own organisation, called the FA or Football AsSOCiation. And these english people called their sports soccer when talking to outsiders to make clear that they're playing by the FA rules but not the rugby organisation rules. FA football players migrated to former british colonies like the USA or Australia where rugby was an important and established part of the culture, especially on colleges. And for the USA, where already another evolution of rugby called american football was established. So they just kept calling it soccer in these countries. And dialects really are a big thing in Germany. My state is just 1,000 square miles "big" and around 1 million people live there. But we have 6 recognised official dialects and at least 6 mixed dialects. I can drive from where i live for 15 minutes in any direction and people will speak a whole different dialect.

[@danman9439]

Why do you call your country by this weird name "United States of America", why don't you say "Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika" 😅

[@gwaptiva]

Let's call it by its proper name: association football. And now I'm off to the bookie to place some bets on this afternoon's races at Churchill Downs. The results were spectacular, as you'll learn this afternoon.

[@katydaniels508]

If I come to the US then I will use American English, and I will say soccer. Its just polite to speak the language of the country you are in (or at least, try) 😁

[@PropperNaughtyGeezer]

The name Spencer actually only exists in English. I haven't found a German or Latin equivalent. Warm beer that you have to drink with a knife and fork is only available in England. Beer is drunk cold but without ice. Some older men drink it lukewarm because they have to watch their stomachs. Dialects are declining here with television and the media. As a child it was much more. In Braunschweig they spoke a different Low German than in Wolfenbüttel and you can walk there, 10 minutes by car. Today they all speak standard German. With a good ear you can hear slight differences. Well, Swabians and Saxons are still intense and I need subtitles for some Bavarians and Swiss.

[@peterdubois65]

If you want to argue about which football code gets the name football remember the first to have an official set of rules codified was aussie rules

[@publicminx]

some questions are kind of dumb/uneducated/less aware but some are not, for instance the question 'how authentic' German food in America is. this question makes perfect sense (also that one does not necessarily know what exists in Germany or not does not make it dumper - thats kind of an additional aspect an answer could clear up). The time zone thing is not dumb but uneducated, since the USA itself has also many different timezones.

[@chriscb8353]

use the DeLorean DMC-12 for time travel :-)

[@andreasseipel7569]

i have been an exange student in Australia in 1990. I was asked by my history teacher if the word Kaiser is the german word for king in german. ???? There was no understanding of european history at all.

[@steffent.6477]

I would say close enough^^ King or emperor is not that much of a difference. They were the absolute monarch and ruler of the country. Almost nobody knows that germany still had his regional kingdoms existing during the german empire.

[@andreasseipel7569]

@@steffent.6477 ,sry but that is not true. King is a title which belongs to a family. the king dies and the son is the new king. Kaiser is a title only given by the pope. ,(napoleon was the first Kaiser who crowned himself). The title Kaiser or in russian Zar comes from Casaer. The title Kaiser is much much more than a king. It is the king of all kings.

[@tharneekaesler]

There is no language skandinavien.Danish,Norway,Swedish or Finish.

[@KerstinVomVulkan]

Finnish does not belong to the northern german language family.

[@HubiKoshi]

The Jesus name in South America was such a culture shock to me. I'm from a very Catholic country and I don't think I've ever seen someone named Jesus. And then I was watching Graivty Falls and learnt that Soos's full name actually is Jesus.

[@mariosgreek9707]

To be fair, there was a time Germans referred to themselves as German or to be precise Germanen.

[@berlindude75]

Picture the name "Faye-Leigh" when pronouncing "Feli".

[@madkuya9862]

You know what, you are right. The UK is our Florida. Fuss ~ foot Ball~Ball. Fussball is older then then even your "version" of "foot" ball in your Super Bowl. Fußball is about the 15th century. When did your Hand "Foot"ball start again? ^^ I love your videos.

[@arnodobler1096]

As)spencer😂 In Germany you cannot name your child: ¥₩☆¿!

[@pilotlars]

I've no idea why Americans think Germany or Europe drives on the wrong side because there's movies... the pink panther ones, 007, Taken, Ronan, Eurotrip... and WW2 movie with France or Italy or Germany... any movie with russians... the ONLY people seen driving on the left side is the UK and Mad Max people Down Under. Ugh!!!!

[@Sizzlik]

The poor souls that dont understand timezones..try to explain, that on christmas in germany we have winter, even snow...but in australia..its summer..and when we get summer..its winter in australia (still fekkin hot tho). Time is sonofabitch trickster.

[@martins4879]

With respect to driving right or left side, feli is not perfectly clear. It is not only british (with respect to europe) who drive on the left side, it is the irish too (they will kill you if you consider them british 😅), it is Malta (as a former Part of CommonWealth) its cyprus and gibraltar too. Indeed sweden changed on 3. September 1967 at 5am from left to right. in the beginning of of the 20thcentury still more countries drove left than right. In the earlier years many more countries driving left because it was easier to get on the horse and the horse-drawn carriage. It is not only a british commonwealth thing too. Japan is driving left side too, but has never been a british colony. as I said, it has historical reasons (horse/horsecarriage). So you could get in or on without walking in mud. Napolean changed it in many countries to right driving. And it got more and more the new standard (now "only" 59 countries drive left)

[@karstenbursak8083]

John Paul George And RINGO 😂

[@AriasandtheNATION]

Sister act? Lol

[@karstenbursak8083]

@@AriasandtheNATION oh ... I forgot ELVIS 🤣🤣🤣

[@Paltse]

Hmm. USA called The Thirteen colonies plus (other states) in English (British English, the King's English and all derivatives other than the American), anyone?

[@08Melb]

I was asked:" Do you have icecream?" Lol so random

[@svenpedersen9140]

You asked at the end of the video to comment on what is the dumbest question an American has ever asked you... well, I live in a city with a NATO base (not a 100% american military base like you can find in germany), all of the NATO coutries are represented. So they are well edeucated... no really dumb question asked here (they had to go to a selection before coming to Luxembourg)

[@DadgeCity]

We used to call it soccer in the UK until a few language nazis decided that was wrong, and now the whole "call it football" thing is just a sad meme.