Follow-up: What Europeans Think of Each Other



I logged into my blog after two months of complete neglect to see over 400 comments awaiting moderation. I thought it was the usual spam crap until I started wading through the list. Not sure how this post made it on someone’s radar, but it seems to have spread virally, and I spent a good two hours reading through the over-300 comments added to it. It was thoroughly amusing.

My thoughts:

  1. There were a handful of people who didn’t hesitate to tell me that I was completely ignorant and was completely in the dark about Europeans. They were vastly outnumbered by those who agreed with me completely.
  2. I was amused by those who confirmed exactly those national stereotypes I had written about (the indignant Greek, the xenophobic Brit, the stupid Swede…ok, I’m joking about the last one)
  3. I really appreciated the insights about the Portuguese, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, ex-Yugoslavs, and others that I didn’t know enough about. (Truth be told, I’m part Croatian, and know a LOT about the ex-Yugoslavs, cak i govorim hrvatski, but at the end of the post I didn’t have the energy to go into it. Fortunately, “Serbo” was, for the most part, right – except for my family, who defy every possible Croatian stereotype, thankfully. He was only partially right about Serbs, but, being a Serb, of course he was.)
  4. Sorry – I always get “Nordic” and “Scandinavian” mixed up. So Finland is Nordic, but not Scandinavian. I’ll probably fuck it up again in the future. Fortunately, I don’t mix up Slovakia and Slovenia, though. That’s good because most Europeans do. (Add to that the eastern region of Croatia called “Slavonia” and you have a recipe for Europeans eating their words about American geographical ignorance.)
  5. I am aware that Spaniards are not Latin American. But when you hear a person speaking Spanish, even in Europe, it’s not all that unusual to find out that they’re, in fact, Latin American (the rich variety that moves to Mother Europe). They outnumber Spaniards about 9 to 1 worldwide. But if you dare ask a Spaniard if they’re from Colombia or Argentina, be prepared to wipe some venom from your eyes.
  6. The nationality that consistently told me I was wrong: POLES. Oh, the irony. I lived in Poland for 2 years (the other 2 years in Europe were spent in the Netherlands). I lived with two Polish families, in different parts of the countries. I speak Polish fluently. Alez Polacy….nawet MIESZKALEM w Polsce, to wiedze chyba wiecej o Wama niz to, co Wy wiecie o samym sobie. W odroznieniu od reszty nacji europejskich (oprocz Finow),  jestescie ciszymi introwertykami (nie ma w tym nic zlego!). A nigdy w ogole nie slyszalem ani jednego zartu o Niemcach…..ANI JEDNEGO! Takich zartow “Polak, Rusek i Niemiec” nigdy nie slyszalem.
  7. Times sure have changed. When I was living in Europe (the beginning of this decade) there was not nearly as much resentment against Poland. But then again that was before Poland joined the EU and Poles streamed out of the country to the west.

Because I’m multilingual, nonreligious, and not fat, I guess I didn’t fit any European stereotypes of Americans, which are much worse than the fanciful (positive) stereotypes Americans generally have about Europeans. I heard “But you’re not a typical American” all the time – which, I think, the usual American would embrace like a badge of honor, but which I felt vaguely insulted by (maybe I’m not typically American, then!). But, regardless, Europeans opened up to me and told me what was generally thought of other nationalities within their Union.

But, of course, these are mostly stereotypes, and very temporal in nature. And the intensity of feeling, of course, increases as you approach the border. Poles and Spaniards have nothing but good things to say each other, because they’re nowhere near each other. But talk to a Pole in Cieszyn and a Czech in Tesin (hint: it’s the same city, split in half), and you’ll suffer 3rd degree burns as each fulminates about the other.

There was a request about how Americans feel about each other. It’s not as nuanced, because our country is much younger, and Americans are far more mobile, but there are stereotypes and feelings. Many of them might not be any surprise to Europeans and others familiar with US geography; others might seem inconsequential.

Give me a day or two and I’ll publish something.

(A boyfriend of a friend of mine was Ghanaian, and worked in Ivory Coast, and told me all about Africans, back in 2002. I wish I could remember all he told me – that was a great listen)

Update: Looks like Metafilter picked it up. Thank you, goodnewsfortheinsane!

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39 Comments »

  1. Have you seen this? It’s a bit more vulgar than yours, but some of the ideas are the same. Having lived in the Netherlands as well, I can attest that the Dutch can definitely be “offensively tall” lol.

    http://www.exile.ru/transient/151/europeans-chart.html

    Comment by Istvan — July 18, 2008 @ 4:43 am

  2. Hey just a note to say I really enjoyed your What Europeans Think of Each Other blog, and found the observations to be dead on! I didn’t read the comments but can imagine what they were like, it’s a sensitive subject! I think when you’re from one of these cultures it’s harder to step back and see the bigger picture, and I’ve found that foreigners in Europe (like ourselves) are able to do this with a bit more ease. But if you asked me to compare regions of the United States, my description would certainly be coloured and distorted by my attachment to the Northeast. Outsider observations are often the most accurate, I find.

    Comment by Dave — August 12, 2008 @ 2:01 am

  3. I loved this and the original post. My sort of humor.
    I am Austrian but since i am quite cosmopolitical i don’t give much to it. But something bugs me… who told you that stuff about the Balkans?

    Something to add: We have kind of a hate-love relationship with the Dutch. They boost our camping tourism but slow down our overall traffic
    And we don’t like the germans, and we feel kinship with them for not liking us too.

    Comment by Chaki — October 27, 2008 @ 12:02 pm

  4. So, the final conclusion would be that, no matter where you travel, there are close minded morons everywhere? I can stay in stupid, lazy, troubled latin america to figure that out.
    Congratulations on your “enriched” vision of the world after all those years of traveling.

    Comment by Petronilo — November 1, 2008 @ 12:19 pm

  5. Swedes tend to dislike Russians for being aggressive and communist and poles for being thief’s.
    some swedes also dislike Norweigans and other tend to like them very much!

    Comment by Johan — January 2, 2009 @ 5:11 am

  6. I was wondering about how people see each other when talking about different parts of the USA. I have lived in California, Colorado and Kansas (then back to Cali). And I can say that there is a stereotype for each state that would be interesting to analyze. I know nothing of the South/South East or the East coast and would love to know the stereotypes they see.

    Comment by Suzi Roo — January 20, 2009 @ 12:39 pm

  7. […] numerous interactions with Europeans, having lived there for 4 years. Here’s a run down: {Via} {More} {More} and {More […]

    Pingback by It isnt “a load of crap” its ‘clever’ and what makes a lot of people ‘laugh’. « Funny Emails — July 27, 2009 @ 8:32 am

  8. I’m Dutch, but a special kind … the black kind.
    So, traveling around Europe I often get mistaken firstly for an American, then for English, then French, and when I say I’m from Amsterdam I immediately get asked for pot AND coke … 😉

    Okay, being black, I can say that nearly all Europeans are racists but in some countries you tend to notice it more, Eastern Germany being the most scary place I went to. I really got stared at, and sometimes I had the urge to run. Oddly enough (or perhaps not) Western Germans are generally friendly towards blacks, it’s the best country to hitchhike While Black! I guess they reserve most of their racial dislike for Turks. Greece, France, SPAIN! are not good countries if you’re black, unless you’re with other black people living there.

    Many people have told you you got it wrong on the Portugese which I confirm. Norway was one of the first countries with a large racist party (ooops, sorry the PC term is “anti-immigration” party) a reaction to ‘many’ Bangladeshi emigrating to Norway. So I guess that is the source of your Norwegians are racists.
    Finland is considered as different by the other Scandinavian countries, which is anecdotally demonstrated by the fact that they have their own aircraft carier Finair, they’re not in SAS.

    When I was a kid I disliked the Germans (mainly because of the football) and liked the French and English. When I started traveling on my own, and got my own I have found that Germans are the best European citizens, and not really arrogant, and that French are more arrogant and the most arrogant ones are the English. The euro hatred among white English is palpable, among blacks and asians not so much, in London at least where I lived.

    I’ve never encountered a Londoner who tried to speak anything but English, but in Paris I’ve met loads of Parisians who wanna help you find your way about town in charming English with a French accent.

    Italians are regarded as fascist, corrupt and maffiosi by the Dutch and sexcrazed maniacs towards blond women. In my experience, even plain dutch girls get lots of attention there if they’re blond.
    And the Dutch in general like every country north of them, and Britain. Having lost Billions in some Icelandic bank scandal, made them feel chilly about Iceland, but before when any body said Iceland we (like the rest of the world) we thought: Bjork! Geisers! Volcanoes!
    I guess we do seem to complain a lot, especially about all things Dutch but we extend that courtesy towards others just as easily.

    I got here via metafilter.

    Comment by Bij Lobith komt de Rijn Ons Land — August 6, 2009 @ 3:33 am

  9. In response to the post above, I disagree that France and Spain are bad if you’re black. I’m a black American and I lived in France for 9 months. Race relations were exponentially better there than here in America. I visited Spain for a weekend and had a blast! I also visited Amsterdam twice. Europe was amazing! It was fun reading this article too! I found the parts of it that I’ve actually experienced to be true.

    This is true especially about the Dutch. The few Dutch people I ran into were know it alls and blunt. One was blunt to the point of being rude!

    I heard that the French didn’t like Africans but I never saw this. It was someone older that told me this. Could be among the older crowd (45+). I don’t know. But everyone was fascinated by me. It was great 🙂

    I spent days in Paris with an Italian. He was a great lover! It was beautiful =)

    About the French, they seem to be a very proud people; proud of their country and culture. This is particularly among, again, the older crowd. I met a guy on the internet and spent a night with him in Paris and he took me down the Champs Elysee and was talking about all sorts of things about the city and country. That’s something I noticed about the French.

    Comment by Republique Francaise — January 22, 2010 @ 2:47 am

  10. Beeing Dutch I loved reading this blog and the posts. There is much truth in the observations. However, there are two things I would like to share:

    We Dutch are blunt, no doubt about that. However, we are as blunt to each other as we are to foreigners, so don’t feel offended. We just don’t know any better than that.

    When it comes to the Germans, it is my impression that the Dutch don’t dislike them as much as say 10 or 15 years ago. The very simple explanation is that there aren’t many Dutch left from the WWII generation. My late grandmother always referred to the Germans as “moffen” (krauts). Odly enough, she went on holiday to Germany alwmost every year…..

    Keep blogging!

    Comment by Jerry — March 4, 2010 @ 6:44 am

  11. Peachy! I got really entertained after my lunchbreak when I finished your blog. I’ve been living in Spain for 4 years now and travel a lot to Portugal also, but originally from Slovakia.
    Here is some input on the lesser known eauropeans.
    Slovaks – against all expectations we have friendly relationship to our czech brothers, just slightly competitive when it comes to sports. Hungarians are a different subject. We literally hate them for historical reasons and for the fight for Tokai wine region. Otherwise pretty neutral with the rest of europeans.
    Generally Slovaks are a bit invisible and adjustable for every condition. Nothing special, nothing bad. Kind of similar with Portuguese mentality.

    Comment by Kristina — April 21, 2010 @ 8:02 am

  12. You forgot to say that Austrians are hypocrites, i live there and i ignore them because of that.

    Comment by ottolenz — April 21, 2010 @ 10:38 pm

  13. I know you wrote this way back and are still getting comments, so here goes. Americans changed opinions about each other after 9/11. So we have two major epochs, like BC and AD, except I call it BN and AN (B4 9/11 and After 9/11). BN the way Americans saw each other was far less controversial than AN. AN, America was socio-emotionally divided into the very 7 regions the NAU (of the NWO) is reputed to have pre-planned for us. The Pacific NW is run by a secret god of the Martians, each July 4th they have annual love-in’s on large clean beaches where George Noory is dressed as a poodle and made to run around spreading memes of mass insanity. That’s how the Northern East Coast of America view them. OTOH, the Pacific Noory Memers view Northern East Coasters as being run by a group of invisible powerful European royalty, who have long had the tools of genetic enginnering applied to them, and may live forever, and so they are all-powerful and are going to make everyone slaves. They believe this knowledge came from UFO’s and are pissed the Northern East Coasters have it. The other four regions are the Middle and the South, divided into East and West. There’s not much thinking going on in those areas, just a lot of pork rinds, booze and underage sex. The only difference between the middle and the South is the averge US dollar value of personal hygience products purchased. That’s how the North, East or West views them. The Middle and the South of the US are constantly slammed with major natural calamities (hurricanes, oil spills, etc. ). However, these regions have become the laughing stock of the NorthEast and North West US because they have no clue these calamities are due either to UFO control of the planet (Western position) or due to the geo-stunts pulled by those shockingly old Purple (royal) people (Eastern US position), and so sort of deserve it (schadenfraude).

    Other than that, the US is psychologically as normal and as moral as everywhere else.

    Comment by AnnaBanana — July 14, 2010 @ 4:02 pm

  14. I did mean Schadenfreude with an ‘e’, although the accidental misspelling with the ‘a’ does hold literary possibilities.

    Comment by AnnaBanana — July 14, 2010 @ 4:08 pm

  15. I get your humour, I know it’s all just generalised statements but it’s still funny, and partly true.

    What I found especially funny is how many people, in trying to defend their country, conformed even more to their national stereotype. Especially Brits, reacting to the suggestion that Britain is a racist and xenophobic country by going on massive racist and xenophobic rants.

    What is always funny is that not only are people’s stereotypes often far from the truth, but also what countries think other countries think of them is often far from the truth.

    As a Brit I was brought up to think that the entire world hated us (except for a few Americans) and that as soon as you set food outside of the UK you will have a hard time as people shun and ignore you. This most definitely isn’t true, the countries where I expected to be hated the most actually quite liked us, i.e. Germany and France. But I think it adds to British xenophobia… lots of British people having a mistrust of anything outside of the UK because they’ve been brought up to believe that everyone else is burning with a deep hatred of all things British.

    The funny stereotypes are the ones that come totally out of leftfield, usually old ones that nobody actually believes but are funny nonetheless. I recently found out that a French stereotype of the British is that they slay virgins. That one really is totally random.

    Comment by Will McA — December 21, 2010 @ 8:28 am

  16. Was fun dissecting these cultural differences.
    How about the Belgians?

    http://meandmisterjones.com/blog/when-good-is-not-good-enough/

    Comment by Fanny — April 5, 2011 @ 1:24 pm

  17. So far in my European travels, I have found that everyone so far has been very friendly and helpful. I thought Parisians were friendly and curious about Americans. I usually spoke French first but they usually picked up on my accent and spoke back to me in English. I loved how one girl said her dream was to travel on Route 66. Italians seemed to be very flamboyant and like to draw attention to themselves. Being blonde (and half Norwegian), the men definately tended to stare at me very intently to an almost uncomfortable degree.
    s to what the U.S. is like, I would say above all, Americans value their freedoms, especially the center of the country . A man’s proudest achievement is owning his own home. The northeast tends to have a snobbish attitude towards anyone who doesn’t live on the east or west coast…viewing anyone in between as wasted space. Southerners have a very distinct class system…the rich are very rich, and the poor are very poor. There is a lot of distrust between the blacks and whites. The upper Midwest carries on its blue collar heritage. Its hard to tell the doctors from the factory worker because those that are wealthy drive the same cars as the middle class workers. They tend to be more practical however, and they love beer and brats. Its not uncommon to find all German, Polish or Norwegian communities that still celebrate their heritage. The upper Northwest tends to be a bit more progressive politically and environmentally and they love to tax EVERYTHING. They tend to be naturalists…one might call them hippies. The southwest still kind of lives up to its wild west history. You’ve got the ranchers, fiercely protective of their rights and lands. There is a lot of strife between the whites of the region and the large influx of Hispanic immigrants. California…well, that’s a story on its own. Los Angelas is very flamboyant, San Francisco is expensive and San Diego seems like it is part of another country. Then there is the bible belt, the south Midwest, were teenage pregnancy, poverty and stupid people abound. They are very traditional, go to church every week but somehow everyone is on their 2nd or 3rd marriage. However, I would say they are the most friendly and welcoming. If there is a natural disaster, they are the first to donate money or supplies and help with the cleanup.

    Comment by Melissa — June 28, 2011 @ 7:27 pm

  18. I find stuff like this really entertaining. I’m British and i think one of these main reasons losts of us would be upset about being called European, is because it’s such a hard concept for us to grasp, being so cut of from the mainlaind Europe (besides France, and you got those English-French stereotypes perfect by the way!) Not only this, but alot of us don’t speak any other language but our own. This really embarrasses me, so I’m trying to learn German.
    I agree with Will McA that alot of us Brits do distrust anything further than the UK, but I don’t really know of any particular hatred we have for anyone, besides the french, but we like to tease others based on stereotypes. Especially within ourselves, for example, people with welsh heritage where I come from get some stick about sex with sheep, and we naturally expect all Scotts to be agressive and have red hair. Again, pretty embarrassed that we’re considered to be very arrogant… We probably come across that way to tourists because outside of London we don’t get so many tourists from other countries so we don’t know how to receive them, lol.
    Oh, and it really annoys me but quite a few people I know dislike the poles because they apparently, Quote unquote, “come over here and steal all our jobs”

    Comment by Kathy — October 25, 2011 @ 10:38 am

  19. But there really are thousands of such jokes and they are told, it’s just not in the company of foreigners. I bet you haven’t heard much jokes about Blacks and Jews either — it’s people get hyperpolitical-correct when dealiing with foreigners. Except for Russian jokes I guess :))

    https://www.google.com/search?q=%22polak%2C+niemiec%2C+rusek%22

    44 thousand results.

    Comment by szopen — November 21, 2011 @ 3:36 am

  20. Republique Francaise – your comments on being black in Europe. I think it depends how dark skinned you are.

    I’m British of Jamaican origin, and have experienced racism in Europe. However, my cousin who is mixed race, and although clearly mixed race, is light skinned (our Jamaican ancestry has some white in the mix), with hazel eyes, and has never experienced any racism, in Europe (travelled extensively), and doesn’t know what I’m on about. Growing up in a white rural area, in Wales, she did not experience racism. We think it’s because there were not many blacks in her area, and everybody wanted to be friends with the only mixed race girl and boy in school.

    She only experienced racism, for the first time in her life, when she visited America. In Europe, she is recorgnised as being at least half european, and doesn’t get the racism at all. In America, she’s black.

    Comment by Kate — November 24, 2011 @ 5:21 am

  21. Won’t anyone tell this idiot that he spelled half those sentences incorrectly?

    Honestly, this is pitiful…

    Comment by anonymous — January 23, 2012 @ 9:24 pm

  22. And what about the Icelandic population with their Zenophobia?

    Comment by Elsa — February 2, 2012 @ 9:22 am

  23. I’ve visited a number of European nations and England is clearly the weirdest. It is simultaneously the most xenophobic and yet the least racist nation I have visited and has a huge napoleon complex. The xenophobia isn’t so much hatred as contempt and pity for not having the good fortune of being born English.

    Comment by David — February 28, 2012 @ 6:24 am

  24. For Niggers, Muslims and Browns: YOU MUST STAY OUT OF EUROPE!!!
    Europe is a sacred land only for whites and all non-whites who live here should be exterminated!!!
    You come here and you have the arrogance to claim rights, that you haven’t!!!
    Also you rape white european women and procreate mulatto bastards.
    So, fuck off out of my beatiful Europe, because you are ruining it!!!!!!! >:(

    DailyCandor: This user’s IP address says he is posting from Italy.

    Comment by EvropaInvicta!! — April 5, 2012 @ 9:46 am

  25. Evropalnvictal is a screwball so why you would not simply delete his post is beyond me…I loved your thoughts on this subject…very interesting. and the responses from others who either share or disagree based on their own travels make it even more interesting….Personally however, I wouldn’t dignify Eviropalnivicia with the privilege of contributing to this discussion. His is not an opinion based on real experience ..He’s obviously a racist nutjob..full of hatred…probably self loathing as well. People like this should be censored…”Niggers?” “Mulsims and Browns”? I’m a white American female by the way..This person now living in Italy sounds very much like an ignorant redneck American..Although there are many of those types in this country with such backward, prejudiced mindsets, there are thankfully more of us who are open and accepting of people from different cultures. The stupidity of this person is sad and sickening . But, back to your experiences and interpretations.a .very interesting and enjoyable read..Thanks!

    DailyCandor: I confirmed that his IP address is really from Italy. If anything, it just goes to prove that not only Americans can be racist. (Based on my experience, Europeans are at least as racist.)

    Comment by Bon — June 4, 2012 @ 2:06 pm

  26. I’m Dutch and my wife is British (English). I’ve lived in both countries as well as in France.

    In all 3 of those countries attitudes have shifted a lot over the last 30 to 40 years. Forty years ago many Dutch people had travelled outside Europe, but not many had seen much of their closer neighbours. The result was that they were generally well-disposed towards the latter, with the exception of the Germans. European integration and holiday-travel have changed that significantly. Hostility towards the Germans has decreased to a level of friendly, teasing banter. However, attitudes towards the French and particularly the British have changed completely. Both are seen as arrogant, but the Brits most of all. In a recent poll in Amsterdam people were asked what they considered the greatest nuisance in their city (crime, traffic, lack of parking space, littering, etc.) Answer: loud, drunk Brits. Also many people report being completely taken aback by the insularity, xenophobia and superiority complex of the British when they go there for business or holiday. This clashes severely with the traditional image they grew up with of a nation of polite, affable people living across the North Sea.

    As for the reproach of being blunt, many people in Holland recognise that, but not only do they deal with each other even more bluntly, they have been explicitly educated that way. The Dutch see it as being direct and honest. Hypocrisy is just about the most cardinal sin in Holland and from their point of view hypocrisy is what they get from other Europeans. This becomes clear from the way they warn each other about dealing with foreigners. Only Germans and Scandinavians (and the latter are fairly blunt too) are seen as trustworthy. That is partly due to a legal issue in commerce. Verbal contracts are binding in Holland and, I believe, in Germany and the Scandinavian countries too. The fact that in many European countries this is not the case makes the Dutch despise them as dishonest fraudsters who cannot be trusted further than they can see them

    Comment by FrankW — August 23, 2012 @ 6:22 am

  27. We are not telling jokes about Germans in Poland because there is nothing funny about them for us . We are ignoring their culture after 2WW because they have showed us who they are by killing mililons of innocent people just to have a more space for living for themself . Americans pumped a lot of money into West Germany after war while Poland was told by Soviet Union not to take any monetary help from USA ( Marshall plan) .Polish people are being humiliated by others for the latest 250 years so we are silent and not much cheerfull .I am not even much keen to explain you our complicated history because you have never heard about it and you would probably not belive that something more out of this world than Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland taken together has ever happened to the big , proud , fantastic nation in the middle of Europe……The rest is the silence over the Kingdom and millions of graves ….

    Comment by Beata — August 25, 2012 @ 3:20 pm

  28. 2 years in Poland huhhh…. You must know everything in the countries history, because you grew up in Poland right? You don’t know shit. I know EVERYTHING about Poland. I have lived there for 3 months and have a Polish girlfriend (well, OK, she’s a plastic blow up doll, but I call her Jadwiga).

    Comment by Sebastian — October 7, 2012 @ 5:47 pm

  29. this blog was fun, and from my travels – quite dead-on.

    having a german mother and danish father; growing up in a bilingual region of canada – raised by a spanish housekeeper … from birth i was fluent w/o accent in english, french, german, spanish, danish, swedish, and norwegian. blond, blue-eyed, thin and good-shape – made for interesting intimacies extended immediately to me as i visited others. the french wanted me to be french, and with no revealing accent – i was french. it was the same in every country. i guess the nordic look was an affirmation of each as to the true supremacy of their genes … weird. my immediate origins divulged just always made for a quick realignment … and again, just having fun. warm, welcome, and invited.

    anyway – only the brits were jack-asses – and mostly only those over forty. the young, scots, irish, and welsh all went out of their way to accomodate even so far as to enjoying hosting/sharing with a canadian. those older – upon heaing my canadian english accent far, far amazingly often vocalized loudly so as to attempt my humiliaion and to share with the engaging crowd in a collective derision barked out … of their former colony.

    only after their diatribe of glaringly unbelievable and palpable hatred and pathetically empty smug self-satisfaction was spent

    … i most surely in every of well close to a hundred times … if not over … would announce “the IGLOO-FUDGER would like to remind the previous speaker that his great anglia now had a lower standard of living than portugal, korea, and many others you mock … whereas canada’s is consistently in the top-five listed. our quality of life has been rated THE HIGHEST in the ENTIRE WORLD nine of the last twelve years listed … and even then only dropping to second place; whereas the uk floated always behind close to fifty other nations.

    that a canadian child without means is still afforded every opportunity desired to achieve their goals – whereas the british idiotic classist and elitist [heterosexualist, racist, and sexist as well] moronically inanely non-sensical social structure condemns children to a consistent and hopeless life of denial and inconsequentially awards dullard titled children to run your country and economy … and thusly genius is digging ditches and mediocrity is having drinks over lunch.

    that british xenophobia – oh, previous speaker … i forgot you probably dont know what that means – as your school graduates routinely score behind over twenty other nations in knowledge testing whilst canadians are in the top five. xenophobia means you hate everyone else to feel better about yourself. pretty pathetic of you, eh? oh, i bet inconsequentially blew right past your limited world – it means you get rewarded without derseving it …

    and remember your xenophobia – where if you mock me in diminishment … then you somehow are superior? see, your so pathetically desperate insecurity over the obvious faiures of your existence … well, as to your blatant inadequacies … you disgustingly and publicly terrorize others so hostile so you can silence by most voracious … again, sorry – i keep forgetting specious rather than salient … oops, your an idiot rather than clever …

    basically means your pig-like – vitriolic … oops – here – it means pathetic screaming self-righteousness … denunciating mockery of those more successful. like how your little dick just kills you. that your women are reduced to poverty unless herculean … – that means real, real strong strength or fucking real good luck comes her way.

    your gay people commit suicide for the perverted, evil, and unnatural freaks your culture loudly condemns them to be – in canada, if your child informs you that they are marrying another of same-sex … only one in five is of issue. bout the same for another race … oh, yeah!! you raped and prostituted the world for good old england but when you couldnt get out of having to accept the denizens of your orbit from landing on this green isle … fuck you hated that. darkie nannies and garbagemen aint bad – but man, now there’s darkies everywhere. making more money than you.

    you just fucking hate that the street scrum, derelicts, and urchins, gutter trash, and idiot sheep herders … you floated off to rid pax brittannica of it’s human garbage ruining the pristine sewage-choaked for empire and king … your england … somehow managed on that frozen rock you left them on … up there somewhere … somehow they managed to create the best possible life possible for every citizen … while you still raise toasts to god queen bess, drinking tin booze drunk living in council house. all of you with hideous teeth. should come to canada. dental care is free for everyone.

    i think i’m gonna sit back down now. how’s that empire doin’ for ya, previous speaker?

    and you know what? the group-humiliation of the speaker and the entire room – only seconds ago all brash in smug, gloating agreeing audience … sat and stood so shamed … as their red cheeks showed their true self-awareness only so pitifully painfully evident … the room every single time … lay silent for a long time … whilst i, put cue card of my speech [i had rewritten and edited after repeat usage] back in my pocket … and i sat back down and every single time … i felt like crying.

    Comment by davieboy — October 14, 2012 @ 6:07 pm

  30. just because you spent 2 years in poland doesn’t make you an expert on the country.
    & just because you never heard a german joke doesn’t mean they don’t exist (they’re the best ones!).
    also, the car thief stereotype is from the 90’s, and also applied to czechs. today it’s more of a joke used
    for teasing. in general poles and germans like each other and enjoy each others beers.
    i applaud your polish though.

    Comment by polak — May 23, 2013 @ 5:24 pm

  31. I can confirm that we’re (the Dutch) are pretty tall. I’m 1.91 meters tall and I notice that I am quite average. The best tip on how to grow tall is to eat lots of cheese (thank god we are like the cheese valhalla of the world) and drink a lot of milk. Just consume anything with dairy in it and you will be just fine. Unless you are lactose intolerant ofcourse.

    Comment by Ruben — August 26, 2013 @ 6:06 pm

  32. So, the spaniards spew venom when asked if Argentine? How funny, the place where most spaniards emigrated was to Argentina. Wi literally killed their hunger and saved them from war. But they still feel offended. I don’t worry, they are so delusional they still think they are europeans. Poor things.

    Comment by Patricio — March 17, 2014 @ 6:37 pm

  33. What a Kick.

    I’m an American Anglophile. ITV, BBC, PBS. But hate London, the people, weather and the food.
    I never met a Brit I liked in person. Except in US English Books and movies (the Hill). Go figure?
    Mostly British Mystery authors. Over 50.

    I’m also an Auzzpihyle. If there is one; Other than Mel Gibson. I like Rake and Miss Fischer.

    I Love Paris. The food, the people, the wine and service.

    I love Mandarin cooking, Climate and people near Taipei (Formosa when I was there), TW. But they killed and ait my cocker spaniel.

    Baguio, Philippines was great before the volcano hit Clark Air Base.

    Comment by Richard Patten — November 27, 2014 @ 9:09 am

  34. There is quite alot of Lady Clairol used in Sweden. A woman from Sweden admitted on the Merv Griffin show years ago. We had a family from Sweden across the street from our home several years ago in N.J. a lovely family, 3 grown children with dark brown hair and dark tan skin from the laying in the sun by the lakes where we lived. It’s another American falsity about Swedes.

    DailyCandor: Are you sure they weren’t expelled for having dark complexions? Just kidding. 🙂 But Sweden *is* overwhelmingly blond compared to almost everywhere else on earth, so the stereotype isn’t exactly coming out of left field.

    Comment by Maryann Schneider — February 5, 2015 @ 5:08 pm

  35. Such an interesting read. As an African (from a former British colony) I find the most interesting thing about some British people I run into is their obsessive clinging to the idea of ‘Empire’ and their delusion about their status in today’s world. They still fancy themselves a world power on an equal footing with the United States when in reality their influence, even over former colonies, has diminished to practically nil. The U.S. continues to police the world, China is flexing it’s new-found might, Russia shows exactly what you get when you poke a sleeping bear and Germany finally lords it over Europe. Even France still holds sway in Francophone Africa. These are world powers.

    Comment by Mike — March 1, 2015 @ 5:46 am

  36. …so according to you, Malta and the Maltese do not exist.

    DailyCandor: You’re talking about a falcon, right?

    Comment by Tanja Cilia — May 8, 2016 @ 9:34 am

  37. One comment that made me uncomfortable was saying “Spaniards consider themselves white and European,…”. Fact is they are as “white” as any Brit, Irish, etc. French are not all “light” and neither are Italians, which is why that statement felt to me was rooted in US anti american view of Spaniards. Language does not determine “whiteness”. I personally am aware there is not “white” ethnic group and it’s all a color coded game considering Irish and Italians were excluded for a long time until the English descendants in the USA needed their numbers up against the non african, non native spanish speakers in the Americas. Everything else was funny and amusing. Just tired of the Spanish is not “white” propaganda.

    Comment by Jeanette — February 11, 2017 @ 3:08 pm

  38. That canadian poof really had an identity problem, most Brits just get on with life, men are men, women are emotional and gays are bitchy,,,the irish are ugly as are the scots, the welsh thick, love the germans and hungarians, The french are arogant and italians cowards.

    Comment by Philip Minett — July 12, 2019 @ 3:59 pm

  39. Spanairds generally love Argentina

    Comment by vidal alcolea — December 4, 2020 @ 8:06 pm

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