Getting to Know Americans • Hacker News Board

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#161

Post by mturmon » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 7:51 PM UTC

crasshopper wrote: post #87

davidw wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the thing is titled "Getting to Know Americans", so why bother with an ugly sounding turn of words when you've already crossed that bridge? I didn't think that "US Americans" was even correct when I posted - it doesn't sound at all right to my ears. > Chilean, Canadian, Costa Rican grad students who would be annoyed at the implicit exclusion. Only the ones with a chip on their shoulder.

I was about to lament that English lacks a short, euphonic, idiomatic word for "US-icans" / US citizens & residents / culturally US people / estadounidenses . But then I remembered we do have such a word. Yanks.

The proportion of "US Americans" who would self-describe as a "Yank" must be vanishingly small. I think the first rule about names is that the named person should recognize the results.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#162

Post by rdouble » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 7:56 PM UTC

crasshopper wrote: post #87

davidw wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the thing is titled "Getting to Know Americans", so why bother with an ugly sounding turn of words when you've already crossed that bridge? I didn't think that "US Americans" was even correct when I posted - it doesn't sound at all right to my ears. > Chilean, Canadian, Costa Rican grad students who would be annoyed at the implicit exclusion. Only the ones with a chip on their shoulder.

I was about to lament that English lacks a short, euphonic, idiomatic word for "US-icans" / US citizens & residents / culturally US people / estadounidenses . But then I remembered we do have such a word. Yanks.

Nobody says yanks besides australians. And they don't really do it that much.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#163

Post by protomyth » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 9:35 PM UTC

jbooth wrote: post #49

billybob wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as an American who has spent time in Mexico, Spain and Ireland, and has traveled to southeast Asia: yes, Americans do sometimes have an arrogant view of the world. On the other hand, knowing about other countries doesn't come as naturally here. If you live in Europe, you can take an overnight train ride to any one of a dozen countries, with whom you share a currency and often a closely-related language. An e…

I think a lot of the beef with "typical Americans" is with your last type. If you get off the coasts you can find a whole bunch of Americans who are seemingly proud of not knowing anything about the rest of the world.

Wow, that's a pretty insulting statement. What is your source for this belief?

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#164

Post by yequalsx » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 9:41 PM UTC

rdouble wrote: post #159

yequalsx wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, he doesn't seem to mind me. He does have his prejudices with regard to America. (The amis is the derogatory German term.) Two months ago I had lunch with him, another former Wehrmacht soldier and three women from that generation. The other guy was extremely rude. He said many derogatory things about Americans and American prisoner of war camp guards (my dad was such a guard after the war). I don't speak German an…

You might have a thin skin. Old soldiers (and old people in general) say outrageous things all the time. My grandpa is also a ww2 vet and busts out new offensive material every time I visit. Even the hyper educated oldsters do it. 8 years ago I went to a lecture by James Watson and he spent the whole 45 minutes making racist jokes about Asian people... Whatever you do, don't ever visit Australia.

Your last sentence seems to imply that I do have a thin skin. It's possible. It's also possible that the generation of Germans that brought us Auschwitz is a disconcerting one to me and justifiably so.

Would you have lunch with Rudolf Hoss and be pleasant to him? What about a guard there? Perhaps the discomfort in me has to do with the fact that so many Germans committed atrocities and my conclusion is that I am no better. That is, in the same situation I would have done the same thing.

I could have a thin skin. By the way, my experience with men who saw combat - real combat - don't talk about it. The will tell a few anecdotes but nothing to do with combat. The ones who talk about their war experiences usually aren't the ones who actually did any fighting.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#165

Post by yequalsx » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 9:42 PM UTC

grammaton wrote: post #160

yequalsx wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, he doesn't seem to mind me. He does have his prejudices with regard to America. (The amis is the derogatory German term.) Two months ago I had lunch with him, another former Wehrmacht soldier and three women from that generation. The other guy was extremely rude. He said many derogatory things about Americans and American prisoner of war camp guards (my dad was such a guard after the war). I don't speak German an…

Thank you. I knew there was something interesting to learn from the story as soon as you mentioned it, and here it is. Thank you for sharing.

You're welcome!

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#166

Post by yequalsx » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 9:49 PM UTC

burgerbrain wrote: post #135

grammaton wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, thank you, I know who the Wehrmacht were. I paid attention in history class. More so I'm just surprised when I run across any veteran of WWII. FYI, no you don't run across WWII vets "all the time." Most of them are in their eighties or nineties at this point, and there aren't too many people of that age, let alone specifically WWII vets. Mainly I was just surprised by a very random piece of information. You cert…

Here, it is not at all uncommon to hear that somebodies grandfather is or was a vet. There were something like 15 million of them just from the US as I recall. For someone a decade or two older than myself (he says it was her father, not grandfather, so you can get a good guess at their ages...), encountering veterans would be only that much more common. "You certainly don't hear about the German veterans of WWII in…

Well, one thing that is odd is that I'm under 40. I didn't mention this though. But I did grow up in the Canal Zone and have a colonial/imperial perspective on the issue of national arrogance.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#167

Post by crasshopper » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 10:15 PM UTC

rdouble wrote: post #162

crasshopper wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was about to lament that English lacks a short, euphonic, idiomatic word for "US-icans" / US citizens & residents / culturally US people / estadounidenses . But then I remembered we do have such a word. Yanks.

Nobody says yanks besides australians. And they don't really do it that much.

Aussies + Brits say it.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#168

Post by aaronblohowiak » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 1:13 AM UTC

lupatus wrote: post #134

grammaton wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you get off the coasts you can find a whole bunch of Americans No, actually you won't. Most of America's population lives within two hundred miles of it's coastlines. This group of proudly ignorant people is therefore much smaller than they're stereotypically thought of being.

Having driven from Richmond, Virginia, to Anchorage, Alaska, twice, I can first-hand confirm that there is a LOT of empty land in the heart of North America. It is because of these trips that I no longer worry about global overpopulation and just look at people quizzically when they start talking about the topic.

It isn't empty, it is farmland. Space to live is low on the list of scarce resources that will cap population growth.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#169

Post by crasshopper » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 3:49 AM UTC

mturmon wrote: post #161

crasshopper wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was about to lament that English lacks a short, euphonic, idiomatic word for "US-icans" / US citizens & residents / culturally US people / estadounidenses . But then I remembered we do have such a word. Yanks.

The proportion of "US Americans" who would self-describe as a "Yank" must be vanishingly small. I think the first rule about names is that the named person should recognize the results.

You would think so, but Christ never thought of himself as Christ; Hindu is a name made up by outsiders; and Germany sounds nothing like Deutschland.

Anyway I was just seeking compromise.

Re: Getting to Know Americans

#170

Post by Dylanlacey » Tue, Apr 05, 2011, 8:05 AM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #79

loire280 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America isn't the most punctual culture, but there are plenty of cultures that are much more casual about lateness, including some Middle Eastern, South American, and African cultures. Most Americans brush off as much as 15 minutes of tardiness, but in some cultures, 30-60 minutes isn't uncommon. The German student who consistently shows up a few minutes early may be annoyed that fellow students show up a few minutes…

IST: "Indian Standard Time" When a family member invites us over for 7:30, they mean 8:00. If you actually arrive at 7:30, they're still getting ready themselves.

There are even sub-sub-culture examples. Rovers (http://www.rovers.com.au/) for instance have RAT: Rover Adjusted Time, which is approximately "the next x.30 to occur after the start time" and which is compensated for by the "car park meeting" that occurs after the event is over.

It wouldn't be notable except for HOW often they both occur in a pair.