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I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

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Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#42
post #26

Now, 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...

If memorising state capitals worries you, might I recommend Australia as a beginner's challenge? We only have six. Seven, if you count the Northern Territory.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#44
post #6

Not 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.

The Buzzcocks, The Chameleons, James (before they went awful), Inspiral Carpets, The Fall, Crispy Ambulance, and millions* more.

Plus the city itself is upmarket gentrified in the centre parts now. Just avoid the students and you'll be alright.

* ok, maybe tens.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#45
I realize most of the British city names I know are from soccer teams (except for Arsenal etc). The rest is quite accidental :

- music history (Beatles) - trips (Canterbury is a regular short visit for french schools)

The interviewees could also cheat. New York : USA, York : England.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#46
post #6

Not sure how Manchester could be beloved of anyone.

Manchester United is the #1 or #2 football/soccer "brand" or club with more international recognition (and football is the most popular sport in the world).

So to explain the results: The Beatles and soccer.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#48
post #24

I 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,…

as a Brit I totally agree with the notability thing and it's a crying shame - the UK has always been such a key player on the world stage (not always in a positive light, mind you) until WWII. It seems pretty crazy that Germany has since recovered to become the most powerful economy in Europe while Britain has never really found its feet again, given Germany suffered arguably much more crushing losses.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#49
post #9

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 think you need to carry yourself a bit more like an adult. Whoever posted that comment probably didn't bother to check the gender of the author, and as in many languages, the pronoun people tend to default to is the masculine "he". There isn't anything inherently sexist about that, it's just how the language is.

Re: I Asked 1000 Americans to Name a British City Other Than London

#50

Now, 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 ?

To be fair, Canada and Mexico are also part of the continent :-) Although you did say continent-wide and the US does span the entire width...
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