Intriguingly in the full list he's lumped "brighton" with "briton/england" - Brighton is actually a place, albeit not a city.
"he" is a "she" you sexist idiot.
I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
21–30 of 104 posts
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#22Australian comedian John Safran (and all-round crazy person) made a pretty good point about this concept that Americans are uniquely ignorant of geography:
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#23It doesn't say why Liverpool is the most common choice, but here's my theory, as an American: the Beatles. Most Americans have heard of Liverpool in relation to them.
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#24I don't know what the author's real motives were (Was it really to beat on the theme that 'Americans are ignorant?), but I personally think this is a good exercise to humble yourself - 'My country/city is not as important as I think it is'.
Frankly, Britain is not as important as it once was and hasn't been for half a century. And it's not particularly notable. You would have better luck with Germany, France, Greece, Russia or many countries in Asia which are much more interesting tourist destinations and have more name recognition.
I see this in science a lot. There are people in a field who are very famous and who get a little spoilt by that fame. But if you happen to mention their name to someone from a slightly different field, its 'Who?'
I think it is important to realize that.
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#25You can cheat at this if you watch a lot of TopGear like I do.
How is that "cheating"?
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#26Now, ask 1000 Londoners to name a City in Illinois other than Chicago.
I'm British and could name many American cities (some I could even place on a map), but I have absolutely no idea which cities are inside which states -- I never seem to come into contact with state boundaries in every day life or in the media...
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#27Now, ask 1000 Londoners to name a City in Illinois other than Chicago.
Illinois is not a country. You should be glad people outside the US even know the name of the states at all. Do you know any county in Britain?
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#28Now, ask 1000 Londoners to name a City in Illinois other than Chicago.
As a belgian european I often wonder if the United States seems as big to americans as Europe seems big to me. I wonder if it feels different to be a citizen of a small country or a citizen of a continent-wide country such as the United States. Or maybe americans feel they are californians or new-yorkers before being american ?
Citizen of small country adjoining a very large country here. People of small countries tend to understand that other cultures exist, because when they travel a couple of hundred miles (or less) in any direction they're in another country. I suppose for people living in the central regions of a very large country, it's your country and your people in every direction for as far as you can imagine. Then you tend not to be concerned too much about other cultures. But of course, I'm speculating here.
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#29Not sure how Manchester could be beloved of anyone.
as a foreigner: The Smiths, Joy Division (and then New Order), the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays.
Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London
#30It doesn't say why Liverpool is the most common choice, but here's my theory, as an American: the Beatles. Most Americans have heard of Liverpool in relation to them.
Also, history.
Majority of UK emigration to the US was through Liverpool: http://www.european-emigration.com/uk/methods.html
Families would only need to know their family history to be vaguely aware of that city.