What Europeans think of each other
This is a basic backgrounder for Americans, primarily, who might think Europeans do nothing all day but bitch about Americans. Don’t get me wrong—they do love bitching about Americans. But they also like bitching about each other, as well. Bordering countries, especially, have complex caricatures of each other, even when an outsider might think they’re more or less the same. The following is based on my numerous interactions with Europeans, having lived there for 4 years. Here’s a run down:
The French — Disliked by some Spanish (particularly the Catalonians), for being arrogant. One woman from Barcelona told me, “Come on, who really likes the French? Nobody!” The Swiss don’t like the fact that they have contempt for authority and are lazy. The Brits, of course, have the most mixed feelings about the French, though. One half the country hates them, the other half loves them. Those that hate the French tend to like the Americans, and vice versa. In the UK, they’re considered stinky, rude (they never line/queue up like decent people), and a bit yellow, based on their tendency to not fend off invaders like the Nazis.The French, in turn, dislike the British, look down on Belgians for being stupid, and don’t have much to say, in my experience, about Spaniards or Germans (oddly).
The Italians — Most of the stereotypes are positive, but mostly because of the food. Northern Europeans consider them lazy and flaky, and maybe incapable of managing anything right (mostly because of the 50+ governments they’ve had since WW2). One Dutch professor I had dismissed another Italian one, saying, “All the Italians care about are pasta and mamma.”Italians, in turn, don’t have strong feelings about other Europeans, but within Italy, the north-south divide is pretty strong. Northern Italians continuously complain that Southerners are lazy and unproductive, while Southerners complain that Northerners are devoid of culture or joie de vivre.
The Germans — Germans are considered industrious but uptight and humorless, by just about all the other Europeans. They know WW2 is a sore spot for them, so other Europeans will often mercilessly tease them about it. As much as Germany is considered an economic powerhouse, the vast majority of Europeans don’t really want to learn German or study there (or send their kids there to study). The food is considered uninspired, too, and only Berlin has some cachet among younger Europeans for its vibrant underground club scene. The most anti-German sentiments are among the Dutch and Danish, who just hate them from invading their countries too often. When German ask for directions in Holland, they’re usually given directions to the shortest way out of the country, or told “Give us back our bikes!”, a reference to the fact that Germans confiscated Dutch bicycles during WW2.Danes hate it when you pronounce their capital as “ko-pen-HAH-gen”, because this is the German pronunciation. Either pronounce it the English way (with “HAY” instead), or the Danish way, which is literally impossible to put down here.Germans tend to like their Western neighbors far more than they are liked by them, but they look down on their Eastern neighbors, particularly Poles. They, oddly, have some mixed respect for the Czechs, who have resisted German aggression.
The Scandinavians — Widely respected by most other Europeans, because of their high standard of living …and blond hair and blue eyes. However, within Scandinavia there are some persistent stereotypes. The Norwegians, Danes and Finns all think the Swedes are stupid and uptight. Norwegians are considered racist. Danes are considered more blunt than the others, maybe a bit more cranky, and the Finns are oddly introverted, even by Scandinavian standards. Except for the Danes really disliking Germans, and Finns really disliking Russians, they don’t really have anything against other Europeans.
The Belgians — Considered idiots by both the Dutch and the French. Belgians, in turn, consider the Dutch to be a bunch of cranky assholes, and French stuck-up.
The Dutch — The Dutch, like the Scandinavians, have an enviable economy and social order that’s admired by southern European countries. However, they do have a reputation of being self-righteous “know-it-alls” and very similar to their German cousins in terms of their rigidity. But they do not like any comparisons to Germans, and if you remind them that the Dutch national anthem makes a reference to the Dutch being “van Duitse bloed” (from German blood), you might quickly get the silent treatment. The Dutch are also disliked for being the biggest misers in Europe, and because of this they incur the wrath of the tourist industry wherever they travel. The Dutch have been known to stock up on water before they take their campers down to the south of France.The Dutch, in turn, kind of look down on just about everyone. Yes, there’s a bit of a reason for the “know-it-all” smart-ass reputation they have.
The Swiss — Considered extremely rigid, even by the Germans. Blunt to the point of being rude, the Swiss probably have the least likely reputation for being characterized as “friendly” or “warm”. Note that there is a big cultural divide between French-speaking Swiss, and the German-speaking Swiss. The former are almost exactly like the French, except having a blander cuisine and more respect for authority, the latter being more like the Germans except even more stiff, rigid and cranky. However, everyone knows Switzerland “works” so the fact that foreigners comprise 20% of the population (mostly from EU member states) should make this clear.Note that the German-speaking Swiss also speak their own variant of German, which sounds very strange if you’ve only been exposed to standard “hoch-Deutsch”.
The Spaniards — Honestly, very little antagonism against the Spanish or by the Spanish. No one really seems to dislike them, and they don’t seem to really dislike anyone else. (Yes, some Spaniards near the border to France don’t like the French very much) Not entirely sure why. However, God forbid you speak Spanish with a Latin American accent — there is still a lot of snobbery among Spaniards towards Latin Americans. Spaniards consider themselves white and European, and would be deeply insulted if you suggested they were Latin American of any kind.
The Greeks — Only nominally considered European by other Europeans, but the Greeks fiercely identify as European. Naturally, this is a huge irritant to Greeks.
The Poles — Not much seems to register about Poland and the Poles except that they’re quiet. They are a relatively big country (40 million people) so the supposed scare of being overrun by Eastern Europeans when a bunch of Eastern European countries joined the EU in 2005 focused in on the Poles. The Germans really don’t like Poles, and among Germany’s 9 neighbors, are disliked the most. Poland is considered a country of car thieves by the Germans. Really, the relationship between Germany and Poland is similar to that of the United States and Mexico, and often for many of the same reasons (differences in income, history of war, different languages, etc.).Poles really shore up their hatred for their eastern & southern neighbors, primarily Russia and Ukraine, although they don’t like Czechs, Slovaks or Lithuanians either. Oddly, they don’t really mind the Germans, and probably still fear them a bit — you never, ever hear jokes about Germans in Poland.
The Czechs — Considered a relatively bright spot of Eastern Europe by Western Europeans, but I think primarily because Prague is such a gorgeous city and a popular tourist destination. Czechs are a bit like Germans, though — a bit rude, blunt, and cold. Poles don’t have much good to say about them.
The Austrians — Considered a mix of the best & worst aspects of Germany and the Balkans, Austrians are considered laid-back but very nationalistic and racist. They’re said to be the birthplace of Hitler, but never came around to being fully apologetic about the Holocaust (unlike Germany). Neutral feelings from most ofWestern Europe, negative feelings from Germans (who consider them backwards, and not always the representing the best image of German-speaking people) and admired by Eastern Europeans (a throwback to the Hapsburgs).
The British – About half of the British would be really angry at being called European, so that should provide an apt starting point. The main beef with the Brits is that they’re considered the lapdog of the U.S., and are anti-European because the U.S. tells them to be so. They are considered polite, but maybe a bit two-faced (hence “Janus Britain”) and snobby. The Scots and Welsh are tolerated and liked, inasmuch as that no one really knows too much about them outside the UK, but the English are those that bear the brunt of negative sentiments among other Europeans. After all, London is in England.
The English also have a poor reputation in tourist traps, such as Amsterdam and Ibiza, for being loud-mouthed, obnoxious drunks.
The English, in turn, really seem to hate everyone. This is because it’s pretty hard to find an Englishman that has even, at best, neutral opinions about other Europeans (or Americans, or other nationalities). Europe is full of English expats, and the longer they live abroad, the more they seem to hate their host country. And yet they never seem to want to move home.
The Irish — A very small country, despite its exaggerated importance in Americans’ minds (just over 4.6 million in the Republic of Ireland) but considered polite and humble. They nominally dislike the English, but I have yet to meet an Irishman who really loathes the English. The sentiments towards the Irish and by the Irish seem to be positive, overall.
I personally don’t know much about how the Portuguese, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, and others are perceived, or how they perceive others, but if you have something to add, please do so in the comments below.
I’ll leave you with this poster I saw in an Italian office years ago, that helps sum it up in some ways:
In Heaven…
- the mechanics are German
- the chefs are French
- the police are British
- the lovers are Italian
- and everything is organized by the Swiss.
In Hell…
- the mechanics are French
- the police are German
- the chefs are British
- the lovers are Swiss
- and everything is organized by the Italians.
Update: Here’s my follow-up after this post got an avalanche of traffic and comments.
Another update: Here’s a related post on what Americans think about Europeans.
And another: 20 ways to slice up Europe.
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
the greeks are the best of the europe and better lovers than the italians…haven’t you heard about greek lovers?
Comment by alex — April 1, 2008 @ 3:39 am
Very factual observations – even if only meant as humor.
Comment by MONN TANNO — April 1, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
Hey, czech part is not quite accurate 😀
“Czechs are a bit like Germans, though — a bit rude, blunt, and cold”
– Czechs dislike germans because they are rude and blunt. The correct is: Some czechs are unfriendly to strangers, becasue of communist dictatorship they are really cold. Also dont behave much “freely” – dont want to step out from crowd. We like our Slovakian brothers, we like poles too, or we dont have reason to hate them. We dont like germans, not because of WW2, but because the way they eat food (they grunt), also we dont like austrians because they kept blocking southern border and kept shitting on our very unstable nuclear powerplant at their border ( :d ), and also because they consider czechs thefts and criminals – they were scared after EU border opening that we will become refugees ( 😀 ) and run to south. Nothing from that happened.
Comment by Czech — April 9, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
[…] – and animosities remain until this very day.I had to really laugh out loud when I found this great blog post on Daily Candor about the characteristics of all the different Europeans and what they think of […]
Pingback by What Europeans Really Think Of Each Other | Marc Baumann — April 9, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
My grandmother was Hungarian. I don’t know if she was typical of Hungarians, but here goes: She hated the Polish, the Czechs and the Russians with a passion so great that swear-words in English were apparently unable to properly convey her sentiments. She respected the Germans, but the rest of Europe was useless and only good for vacationing. She loved America so much she migrated over here and became a citizen. She also hated a bunch of people named the “Roma” that she said where worthless gypsies that needed to be killed on sight. She also said that no one in Hungary shed a tear when Hilter carted the Roma off to the concentration camps.
Comment by forteanchicken — April 11, 2008 @ 6:17 am
Very very nice article! Even tho i’m european i’ve enjoyed it thoroughly! nice job
Comment by Raul O — April 12, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Did you know there are tree kinds of Dutch?
answer: the Amsterdamn Dutch, the Rotterdamn Dutsch, and..the other damn Dutch….heh heh…
Comment by Cor Hollenberg — April 14, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
I disagree with some of the morons that have posted here. Obviously illiterate Swedish white trash that neither comprehend the English language nor the geography culture and history of their part of the world. Even though the Finnish language differs from Norwegian Danish annd Swedish, the Finns share so many cultural social and historical ties with their Scandinavian neighbours that they very well can be, and often are considered as being Scandinavians.
I share the view of the writer that the Swedes are disliked by their Nordic neighbours. They are thought of for historical reasons as the cowards that chose to stay out of the last war and instead collaborate with the natzis, why their countries(Norway Denmark) were occupied.The Finns who literally were fighting for their lives against their colossal Soviet neighbour feel the same way.
Furhermore the Swedish men are thought of as emotional feminine sissies and drunks that cannot handle their liquor, that when abroad are loud hysterical and ill-mannered.
Comment by Lalli — April 26, 2008 @ 9:00 am
The Danes are icky and lazy.
Comment by Christer Soneson — April 28, 2008 @ 11:52 am
Some remarks from a Swede on the Nordic countries.
First of all:
Scandinavia = Sweden, Norway, Denmark
The Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland
Between the Nordic countries, we seem to bicker and bitch a bit, but it’s mostly just teasing, because we actually like eachother, but then again, we get annoyed with eachother too sometimes. So, I guess we are just like siblings, except Iceland, who is more of a cousin.
Languages: To a Swede, Danish sounds like someone is talking with their mouth full, Finnish sounds strange, ugly and sad, Norwegian sounds jolly, funny and a little stupid, Icelandic strange and intriguing and every word ends in “-ur”.
Sports: To the Swedes, Finns are rivals in ice-hockey and athletics, Norwegians are rivals in skiing. Danes are really not rivals (possibly in football/soccer), because they are not that good at sports. If Sweden gets knocked out of a soccer tournament, Swedes tend to cheer for Denmark instead. We would not cheer for Norway.
As a Swede, I would think of Danes as laid-back and outspoken, Swedes as rational, polite and introvert, Finns as sad, manly and extremely introvert, Norwegians as jolly and proud, but a bit in the back-waters, Icelandics as… well, we tend to forget that they exist, but they are usually very nice people.
Swedes like, envy and admire the Danes because Danes seem to be able to enjoy life more, and not take things that seriously. So, Swedes also think Danes are a bit lazy and less industrious. We laugh at Danish workers who drink beer in the morning. On the other hand, Swedes often have a bad reputation in Denmark as drunks behaving badly. Danes seem to view Sweden as a very bureaucratic country, and Swedes as uptight. I always get the feeling that Swedes like Danes more than they like us.
Swedes tell jokes about Norwegians and vice versa. We don’t tell jokes about Danes, and seldom about Finns. I guess the Danes don’t really care about us that much, and the Finns are probably busy boozing and knife-fighting in the sauna. Or maybe it’s because telling a joke about Swedes would force them to actually say something. ;.)
Sweden is politically correct, Denmark is not. So, in Denmark, immigration problems are discussed openly, which makes Swedes see Danes as more racist, although they are just more frank.
Sweden is the largest of the Nordic countries, and we tend to forget that the others don’t want to be bossed around, and that they resent us when we think we know better. And most of the times, we think that we know better.
The largest Nordic immigrant group in Sweden is, by far, the Finns, and some Swedes seem to look down on them a little. On the other hand, there is a small Swedish minority in Finland that divides that country a bit, and many Finns resent the fact that they have to learn Swedish just because of this small minority.
If Finns think Swedish men are all feminine (and even gay), I understand why. We deserve that reputation. 🙂
Comment by Mr Hamrell — April 29, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
The Irish do too hate the English. I know like two guys who fondly reminisce (I am in Scotland) of their grandparents hiding shotguns etc in their houses during the troubles, and how whenever the troops said “hi” they would just spit on the street and keep walking.
Comment by Max T — April 29, 2008 @ 10:33 pm
this is all bulshit. Europeans only bitch about the states becuse they all sit on their fat asses and think they control the whol world. And most European countries get along with echoter they dont bitch about the other countries only if they due something really stupid. I dont know where you got your info but its all a bunch of bullshit. And it dosent sound like u know anything about Europe.
Comment by unknown — May 10, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
What a bunch of crap!
I can tell you one thing: Most Europeans will have their prejudices about Americans confirmed by viewing your ridiculous allegations.
Comment by Siv, woman from Norway — May 15, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Nope – you are way off with that.. Wrong on too many levels to count..
Comment by Bud Fox — May 27, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
Nice article there 🙂
Comment by Bruno van den Elshout — June 8, 2008 @ 7:58 am
As an American, I’ve learned several things, especially from the comments: the Irish are very sensitive about the size of their population, the Spanish are very sensitive about any implication that they may not be white or European (they’re certainly both, for the most part, but why the anger?), and that quite a few Europeans express hatred of ALL Americans when one American stereotypes them.
Also interesting to compare some American attitudes about Blacks and some European attitudes about the Roma (Gypsies). The difference being that we’re far more likely to elect a Black leader than any European country a Roma leader…
Comment by Bricker — June 9, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
Very true, Bricker. I’ve found that Europeans in general are a lot more sensitive around nationality than we are. They know more, but with that seems to come a host of very specific, incontrovertible prejudices. That is a generalization – I’ve certainly met a few exceptions – but it’s one that holds true far more than for Americans.
I also await the day that a European country elects an ethnic Arab or Turk to head their government. (I don’t think it will happen in our lifetime)
Comment by JM — June 10, 2008 @ 10:07 am
European nations, I’m afraid, cannot get rid of stereotypes. Some of these are well grounded in the past and the nature of the nation. As a Pole I cannot think well about Germans who murdered several members of my family, millions of Poles, destroyed Poland almost completely – my home as well, and never tried to pay a pfenig of war damages. Owing to the war we had communism which combined with war ruined our economy so that now many Poles like slaves have to look for employment abroad. That is why Germans will remain the most hated nation in Poland.
But it is not true that Poles hate all the rest – Czechs with their culture, language, films, humour, etc. are very popular in Poland. Slovaks are generally liked as well. With Russians and Ukrainians we had rather complicated relationship which finds reflexion in an ambiguous attitude towards these two nations. Lithuanians do not like us because we took Vilnius before the War – but in Poland people tend to think – still – well about them because for centuries we had a common state. There are, of course, grumpy idiots everywhere, who seem to hate everyone else, but it would be most irrational to describe nation’s feelings towards other nation on the basis of what those grumpy idiots think.
Comment by Pawel_Poland — June 14, 2008 @ 6:52 am
Swietnie powiedziane, Pawel. It helps to understand some of the historical context to some prejudices, like you’ve done.
Comment by JM — June 16, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
as a german i can say the following – the ‘ive been in germany before….but we didnt land’ seems to be the most popular joke ever
else, about england – they all look the same (esp the ghastly women) and have sticks up their bottoms
the scots are fat & mainly eat fried mars bars
italians scream for their mothers when climaxing
all of scandinavia is seen as sweden which is seen as that cook from the muppet show
Comment by fritz fritzofferson — June 18, 2008 @ 10:09 am
[…] It’s pretty interesting to see what Europeans think of each other. […]
Pingback by The World of Stuff » Blog Archive » This is it — June 18, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
Well, as a Czech I would rather deny that Czechs are cold. They are cold on the first sight toward unknown people, that is right, but after they get to know the other side better, Czechs usually throw off that cold shell and change themselves into charming hosts and good friends. Just do not push hard on Czechs, give them some time to have a sniff at you. You will not regret that :-). As for Slovaks – people from Slovakia are our closest friends, I personally have lot of friends and customers in Slovakia and generally I feel at home in Slovakia. We consider Poles as religious bigots a bit, but generally we like them (some of my most impressive vacations have taken place in Poland). We hate Russians for being such imperialistic thugs taking no regard toward us (a relict from the Soviet occupation era). We also consider Austrians as “cold noses”, overlooking us and blaming us for the end of the austro-hungarian empire. The Germans still are accepted with rather negative feelings (wounds from the WW II are still live here).
Comment by Dave — June 23, 2008 @ 1:40 am
Hi, I am Czech and I have got a comment to this discussion, not to the article above.
Many here say that Czechs did not resist the Nazi Germany.
Well, just imagine the possibilities: if you are a 40 million nation like Poles, you can have this luxury of fighting against german tanks on horses or you can have this luxury of declaring the policy not a step back when you are 200 milion Soviet nation. But what to do when you are a 10 million Czech + Slovak nation and you await confrontation with a nation of similar technical level, but 8 – 9 times larger and even fanatical? Especially when all your neighbors are his Allies against you (even Poles).
I am proud of Czechs who killed One of “top ten” Nazi leaders (Heydrich), I am proud of Prime minister of WW2 Prague czech puppet government, who was unmasked as leader of antinazi underground movement and I am proud of members of prewar Parliament fighting in guerilla forces.
Of course Poles and mainly Soviets were needed for the victory. I would say nobody in history sacrificed like Russians to fight such evil.
But I do not feel shame for czech way of thinking.
And by the way the article is a piece of crap.
Comment by Jura — June 24, 2008 @ 2:21 am
You´re right Jura. When Munich Agreement was signed by Neville Chamberlain (GB), Édouard Daladier (France), Adolf Hitler (Germany) a Benito Mussolini (Italy) we hadnt many options to defense. Chamberlain with his policy of appeasement which never works sold us to Germans. And French Daladier didnt worry about breaking military alliance with us. M.A. demanded on Czechs to give up their border areas called Sudeten.Key fact in this is that in Sudeten were most of our border defenses and military equipment as well. The only possibility to fight against Hitler was guerilla war or escape from country and fight side by side with R.A.F.
Comment by Joe.Cole — June 25, 2008 @ 10:33 am
And to the article, I hope nobody gets it seriously. At least half of it isnt true, but I think main purpose of this article is to entertain and it did. American view of Europe will always be out of focus (and vice versa). And I must add:
– Czech imagination of German is fat stinkin loud guy wearing Bavorian garb :).
– Czechs make fun of Slovak because of their nationalistic vein.
-Czech dont like Gipsies because most of them just get social security benefits and dont work, steal, make mess and noise.
-Czechs as one of the most atheistic nation in EU dont understand Poles, very small amount of them hate them because they think Poles are bunch of thieves and fakers, but generally theres no hate towards them
-Czech rather than have a mad on politicans, sportsmen representing their country and failed, politicans and politicans 🙂 make fun of them, but you can also meet attitude of “know-it-all fatheads” who spend all the time by sitting in pubs and talkin about stuff they dont know nothing about but have solutions to all problems of the world.what a pity they dont move their asses and do somethin:).
=>this reminds me my former P.E. teacher and his advices. Once we took part in basketball tournament and one of my classmate, Adam was really good at it and the teacher really pissed him.
F.E. he was about to shoot 3-point and the teacher was like: “Dont shoot Adam, OMG!!”, Adam scored and teacher: “Oh yes, great Adam , thats how I like it”
Comment by Joe.Cole — June 25, 2008 @ 11:23 am
uups sorry for my english, i forgot theres no double negative it should be stuff they know nothing about
Comment by Joe.Cole — June 25, 2008 @ 11:26 am
[…] Read more Posted by bobak Filed in Psychology […]
Pingback by purplemass » Blog Archive » What Europeans think of each other — July 23, 2008 @ 10:36 am
I am actually waiting for the Asian version of this stereotyping.
Comment by sub — July 27, 2008 @ 3:35 am
sub – so a I! Asians are oddly reticent when it comes to talking about their neighbors. All I can tell is that the richer ones look down on the poorer ones.
Comment by JM — July 27, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
You f***in moron. You think by living 4 years in Europe and by talking to a few people, you think you can understand the complex relations, that europeans have with each other???
You’re my internet douchebag of the week!
Btw, everything you wrote down here are stereotypes!!!! You didn’t realize that? Oh maybe that’s because you’re a conservative blindfolded dumbass american!
I’m so sick of all the people, who think we germans are villains of europe, never able to laugh or to cook a decent meal! Ah just wastin my fuckin time on you, freak!
FUCK YOU!
Comment by ProudGerman — August 8, 2008 @ 7:54 am
It’s only a stereotype until someone like you confirms it. Danke schoen!
Comment by JM — August 8, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Sweden is looked down upon by other Scandinavians because we, just like England, take after the US so much. And we really do and I totally agree with them even though I’m a Swede. I can’t stand the americanizing. Otherwise it’s like someone else said; we tease eachother like siblings do.
Comment by David — August 12, 2008 @ 6:28 am
Interesting article and comments.
As a Brit, I think your remarks about us are pretty much spot on, especially those about Brits living elsewhere in Europe.
Personally, I’m a big fan of France – a beautiful country, nice people and great food. However, on the world stage, I find them a bit arrogant (but so are the Brits) and generally not team-players.
I’m also a big fan of Germany. Everything seems to work very well – and on time – but they can be very rigid and a bit stuck in their ways.
The Dutch are very self-confident and, yes, a little self-righteous, but also very friendly and easy to get along with.
I think Belgium is all too often overlooked as a country, which is a shame because it has lots to offer and absolutely amazing food (and beer!).
The Poles that I work with are very polite and have an excellent work ethic. They are also pretty quiet, but give them a drink and it’s a different story!
The Irish are great fun – a bit mad at times (in a good way) and very likeable.
The Scandinavians, generally speaking, are either too weird, too serious or too boring (sorry!).
Comment by Rob UK — August 17, 2008 @ 9:06 am
Agreed about Belgium – underrated. I really like Brussels (although I felt Antwerp was a bit underwhelming).
Comment by JM — August 19, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
“Poolse Landdag”, an old Dutch saying about a completely disorganised parliament / parliamentary system, also used when confronted with a big meeting of squabbling people who cannot agree about anything.
The saying is centuries old (stems at least from 19th century) and yep, since the brothers Kaczinsky moved in, the Poles are living up to this expectation again.
Comment by Peter — August 31, 2008 @ 7:23 am
You missed the Albanians. The most current joke is now:
“Come travel to Albania, you car has arrived already”
Comment by Peter — August 31, 2008 @ 8:12 am
Hey there.
The Poles don’t dislike the Slovakians. They just think they sound funny. Supposedly, Slovakian sounds like a baby form of Polish…..so the Slovakians sound like children.
Also, lots of the south western Poles dislike the Germans because the past.
Oddly, Poles pretty much hate all other Poles. I’ll give you an example: In the south west there are two towns next to each other which hate each other because they each used to be in different partitions when Poland was wiped off the map. Crazy!
Great post!
Cheers, Tom
Comment by Tom — September 3, 2008 @ 4:42 am
First, too all those that (typically) call this article “crap” or “bullsit”, and otherwise take offense: you miss the point. Yes these are stereotypes that don’t apply to 95% of the people. Most people are pretty much the same. But it is human nature to focus on perceived group differences. No intelligent person takes them seriously.
To all the Spaniards: the comment “Spaniards consider themselves white and European, and would be deeply insulted if you suggested they were Latin American of any kind” is not supposed to be read literally, the author was using a literary trick (called “tongue in cheek”) to paint a picture from a different speaker’s viewpoint with the understanding that it’s not true. Poor choice for an international audience, but those of us fluent in English “got it”.
On the Scandanavian/Nordic issue: thanks for educating us “New Worlders”. The ignorance on this issue is due to our education, we are taught that Finland is a Scandanavian country, and memorize it as such. But I doubt that many ‘peans know the differences between Montana and North Dakota. I suspect that it is somewhat like the Holland/Netherlands issue, those who live there know better, but become tired of trying to educate the ignorant (Americans, usually).
==
Now, on to my contributions to the stereotypes:
I’m not much of physical world traveler, but:
Germans: (from 1976) I got yelled at by a German shopkeeper for not saying “hello” when I entered his store. (I’m genetically 100% German, btw)
I used to work for Finns: Compared to American WASPs (like me), Finns expect each other to do what they say they will do, and don’t tolerate deviation well. Progress reports aren’t expected, final results are. Most are nice, but the few that aren’t, are real jerks. They are real clanish, they will only buy Finnish products, even if those products aren’t the best solution. Their software interfaces are atrocious. The only male Swede that I worked with *was* effiminate, but was a breath of fresh air compared to the Swedes, and the other Swede (a woman) is the only one from that firm that I stay in contact with. She was fun and feisty (and not blonde). I didn’t experience the drunken, knife-wielding, but I worked with white-collar professional sorts, who by the way, would never have lunch with production staff back in Finland but tolerated here in the states, when forced.
I’ve never met a Pole in person, but deal with hundreds online. Most are (justifiably) bitter about Germans, many of them would love to rewrite history (there’s a whole legion of them on WikiPedia, conducting never-ending edit wars). Between the Germans and the Soviets, they’ve been beaten down forever. They are one of France’s only real friends (due to Napoleon’s brief “liberation”).
Comment by ContorlsFreak — September 6, 2008 @ 6:24 am
Mmm,
Scandinavia consists of Norway, Sweden and Denmark
NORDIC countries, which for the Nordic Union are Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Comment by FinnGirl — September 13, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
I’m a Swede and I think that finns only say that we are homos because they have no better insults to come with, you mostly hear such things over the internet, I for one have never met a finn who have dared or even wanted to say that in my face, also I don’t view finns as violent drunkards, mostly maybe because I have finnish friends.
Comment by Swede — September 15, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
? ?? ??? ? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?????.
Comment by Iwasjustpassingby — September 20, 2008 @ 8:05 am
Nice read,
I am an Albanian, only a couple of comments on us here; by the way the joke about Albania was funny. To a certain extent one has to create some stereotypes, in order to be able to deal with people of different nationalities. I have had the chance to meet Greeks, Macedonians, Turks, Dutch, Spanish, French, English, Poles, Italians (of course). My stereotypes (not necessarily right) are:
Greeks…too much talk about nothing people, lazy, loud
Macedonians…wicked but ordered
Dutch…hard working, smart, not funny people
Spanish… explorers, loud a bit like the Greek, friendly
French…wine drinkers, mono-language, strange culture
English…think the rest of nationalities are crap
Poles… quiet, non agressive, sometimes meaningless and not funny
Italians…lazy, mafioso-type (especially south), cook well and make loads of unnecessary gestures
Albanians…impulsive, hate being fooled, lazy, euphoric
Comment by Ed — September 29, 2008 @ 7:58 am
As a Finn, I can tell you that the hate of swedish people is mostly just in the southern and western part of Finland. Here in eastern, in russian border, we have a real hate of russians.
We have here thousands and thousands of joke books full of jokes about swedes, which starts: “There was a Finn, a Norwegian and a Swede…” and the swedish dude always draws the shortest straw.
Yes, we think that all swedish men are gay and that norwegians are rich, eats fish and burns up churches.
We don’t have a common opinion of danes and icelanders
Comment by Sambo — September 29, 2008 @ 11:50 am
[…] What Europeans Think of Each Other […]
Pingback by What Europeans Think of Each Other | swirlspice — September 30, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
HOLY CRAP !!
AN ALBANIAN JUDGES THE GREEKS!
I’TS LIKE THE PARASITE – A FLEE FOR EXAMBLE -JUDGING IT’S HOST, THE DOG!
OH, AND… MACEDONIANS?
WTF IS “MACEDONIANS” ?
SORRY, NO SUCH THING AS “MACEDONIANS”… MAYBE YOU MEANT “SCOPJIANS” ?
BUT THEN AGAIN, YOU’RE JUST AN UNEDUCATED IGNORANT LITTLE PRICK, HOW SHOULD YOU KNOW?
Comment by bob — October 3, 2008 @ 12:57 am
I love learning about all peoples, countries,
and have some friends in many countries around the world.
I wish that we can all be kind to one another and learn.
I have European and Native American heritage.
My country is the world.
I run a website where I make earthquake, severe storms and volcano predictions. I care for all people equally.
I love geography and learn where all the places are in the world.
It is only through understanding and learning about others we come to know ourselves.
May all learn to live in peace and help each other.
Pam
Comment by Pam — October 18, 2008 @ 2:58 am
As a Serb, it is a bit hard to say anything good or bad about us, after so much propaganda in the last 15 years about us. We as a nation are the most keen on Russians and Greeks, because of strong bonds from thousands years long history. We also respect Germans, as hard workers and honest people. We do not like English, because of lot of troubles they put us in through history. They put us in the war with Hitler only because they wanted to save their own ass for a while. We consider them as cold, polite, and very dishonest. We generally do not hate Croats, as they hate us, but we carry unforgetable wound from the WW2 by killing and torturing millions of Serbs by Croat Ustase under Hitler’s regime and then not getting any responsibilities or punishment for it. We as people are very impulsive, temperamental, honest, warm, unrealistic and sometimes a bit too proud of ourselves. We are also very disappointed about the whole injustice on our nation caused by USA and their EU followers only becaues of some big geo-political games, but we forgive everything as we know that God will have the final word :-((
Comment by Serbgirl — October 20, 2008 @ 8:04 am
I’ve visited Europe 3 times and am still amazed how openly racist people are. I mean, this website is for a bit of amusement but if it was around in 1935 we’d probably be laughing about how the Germans don’t like the Jews!!!
I live in Melbourne, Australia; my country certainly isn’t perfect as far as prejudices go, but I know we’re a lot less tolerant of racists and bigots than in Europe. I’ve had the good fortune to teach in schools in Western Melbourne where there is a high migrant population, up to 50/60 different nationalities in a school. And you know, when 1 or 2 racial groups dont dominate in a school, race almost ceases to be an issue.
Another thing; my ancestors came to Australia about 130 years ago, but many Europeans couldn’t accept that I was ‘Australian.’ I was British, Cornish or Irish because my ancestors were from there!!
Comment by Matt — October 22, 2008 @ 5:21 am
Brilliant piece here. I myself am British.
The worst thing about peoples opinion on the UK is its mostly based on the snotty uptight rich snobby wanker unbelievable useless politicians who for some reason run this country due to a rigged voting system for the past 100years or so. OR the drunk loutish people who seem to roam our streets or everyone else’s street plastered causing havok!
I admire the rebuild start a fresh attitude of most Europeans. unlike Britain rebuild the old ways bollocks
true to the fact we don’t like being called Europeans.
we love to winge about how crap everything is but who doesn’t? its good for the soul well kinda.
One statement in particular that we all love Americans is a load of crap. we hate them and we hate our government who seem to endlessly bend over and take it from the USA.
As I said above we don’t like being called Europeans but we would rather be that than the USA’s lap dog.
[Ed: Reread my post. I make it clear the Brits hate everyone, esp Americans. Anyone who’s spent any reasonable amount of time with Brits knows them to be misanthropes.]
Comment by Max Williams — October 23, 2008 @ 3:45 am
Hi!
After reading most of the article and some of the replies esp about Poland and Poles (since I’m one)
I’d like agree that some of the antagonisms really exists but I don’t won’t to focus on them becouse it’s in my opinion pointless and serves no purpose. I’d like to however to turn your attention towords the element of friendship between countries and nations. I’m sure one of them exists and should definitelly be practiced more; it’s the nobel idea of firendship between Hungary and Poland (as Matt already mentioned).
Polish and Hungarian people to some extent I believe are aware of it but to other of You – who would like to know more – I suggest to google “Pole, Hungarian, two good friends” and you’ll see an interesting article about it in Wikipedia”. Excert from the article about already metioned proverb “Pole, Hungarian, two good friends” might be a “bait” for You to read it entirely:
“The full Hungarian text of the proverb often recited during drinking is „Lengyel, magyar két jóbarát, együtt harcol s issza borát,” that is „Polish, Hungarian (are) two good friends, they fight and drink their wine together”.
The Polish version: „Polak, W?gier, dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki,” translates to „Polish, Hungarian (are) two brothers, both for saber, and for (drinking) glass”. (full text: Wenger Polák dwa bratanki/Ido Szabli ido szklanki/Oba zukhi oba zsvavi/Nekh ikh Pan Bog blogoslawi)”
No other similar widespread bilingual proverb exists about the mutual relations of two nations.”
…Or does it?
I don’t know which countries are expecially fond of each other but after watching couple of ‘infamous” eurovision contests I’ll noticed that some countries repeatedly vote for each other and regardless of the artist’s performance they give highest notes almost every time.
Such tendecies I’ve observed comply to countries like:
Finland – Estonia
Turkey – Azerbaijan
Grece – Armenia
So if anyone of you knows about some special friendly relations between two countries I’d be eager to find out.
Comment by Dan Geruss — October 24, 2008 @ 4:08 pm