britain bashing

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ive noticed on alot of shows (south park, family guy etc ) that there is alot of making fun of english people i know there are alot of english people on this site so i was wondering does this bother you at all?

particularly the south park episode where they made fun of 24 and the british were sailing to america on giant wooden galleons and they all had yellow buck teeth then the americans destroyed their fleet with little to no effort

Nah, I don't mind. I thought it was quite amusing. Apparently the people who do South Park have quite an admiration for Britain.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. I always find it quite interesting to see what quirks of our culture are picked up on and found amusing by other countries. I find it particularly funny that we still, in this day and age, are percieved to speak in either an upper-class-twit or a cockney accent and walk around with a bowler hat on.

Besides, enough of our comedians make fun of other countries, so it would be hypocritical for me to dislike the same fun being poked at us.

nope it helps to have a sense of humour

It doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, I find it quite funny.

I'm a Canadian-born Brit, by the way. I've always felt much more British than Canadian.

I think I'd be upset if no-one mocked us

Doesn't bother me.

Nope, we just counter-attack with American bashing.

My mum knew another British person at work who flew the Union Jack on Independence day. He also flew it outside his house, until his home-owners association made a rule that said only the American flag could be flown outside the houses. The only thing that annoys me is when American people try to imitate British accents (badly) and say things like "pip-pip". I don't know of any British people who still say things like that. I also don't like when British people are portrayed as being prudish and up-tight. I think they have a much better sense of humour and are much more liberal then the Americans, who I think are the prudish ones.

We don't tend to fly the Union Jack outside our houses, though many people do put the St. George's Cross in the bedroom window.

Home associations are annoying. Although admittedly, flying the flag of UK to the exclusive of the Stars and Stripes on July 4th could be interpreted as intending to be insulting. I wouldn't want to go to Canada and fly the Stars and Stripes on Canada Day, on Britain on the Queens Birthday, or in Australia on Australia Day.

I want to be clear, I consider the United Kingdom to be a longstanding ally and friend of the United States, and I would be proud to fly it's flag, but their is a thing such as courtesy.



I have to admit I have never heard of that expression, although I won't deny you are telling the truth. Is this a reference to Americans on television (like comedians, or character actors playing parts) or ordinary people joking around? If iit's the former, then Europeans do the same thing. If it's the latter, then the targets of impersonation/mocking/whatever are not just Brits but Germans, Russians, Southerners, New Englanders, ect...The President of the United States is also a target of such impersonations.

Admittedly, perhaps many Americans (and not just Americans) are not aware of the amount of specific variations of accents that are present in Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. It has been commented (and not just by Americans, and certainly not as some kind of negative) that in the information age the United States' way of speaking has become more generic more quickly then Great Britain.



Well, that beats me. I don't know any British people at all, at least not personally.



Far more Americans play prudish up-tight people then British people to in American cinema but...you have a point. I wonder if this all started with Star Wars when most of the (talking) Imperial Officers where played by Brits. Now to think of it, American military personal, people in corporations, or Christians are much more likely to be portrayed negatively then people from Britain...but anyway, still you are right. There was a time when European actors were openly well...European (I'm thinking of Claude Rains, ect...) but I some point they figured the audiences wouldn't buy it any more. Of course those studios wouldn't cast a Black person in a leading role either hmm...they still seem to be somewhat reluctant to do that today. British actors adopt magic American accents or spend so long in the United States they don't have accents any more (it's quicker in the US then the other way for some reason) so as to blah blah blah...

Blame Hollywood.



If you mean that the a gossip newspapers with topless beauties would not sell like they do in the United States, yes. If it means that Britain, generally, is as open to different ideas as Americans; well, that is debatable.

well i think british people are seen as prudish, because Queen Victoria and her 'puritanical' views ( which eventually led to the many deaths in WW1; but this not the issue.)

Anyhow, i think there are some countries in Europe which are more liberal and you can see where the notion of British stiff upper lip comes from. But also, there are some more repressed countries in Europe too.
When it comes to being prudes, i think we all know which country is in a different league.
and its not even close.

I don't think she mentioned sales of gossip columns jim.
dunno i cant be arsed to read it again

If you flew the Stars and Stripes in Britain on the 4 July you would look an idiot but not everyone here understands its significance. In fact, some English villages actually do fly the stars and stripes and celebrate Independence Day, like one not far from me in Lancashire.

Flying the Union Jack on national days of most former British colonies would be seen as offensive (implying quasi-colonial status) and in some places could be quite dangerous. That said, it would be considered suicide to fly it in parts of the UK (parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland for example) because of their sectarian/national divide.





I find that insulting. Scotland is in Britain. England and Britain are two seperate things. If you want to refer to the countries of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland the easiest way to say it is "UK and Ireland" or, perhaps, "Britain and Ireland". Britain, Scotland and Ireland will make you look ill-informed.

It's confusing, but:

England: constituent country
Scotland: constituent country
Wales: principality
Northern Ireland: province/region

England + Scotland + Wales: Great Britain
England + Scotland + Wales + Northern Ireland: United Kingdom (often incorrectly but popularly referred to as Britain)
Great Britain + all of Ireland: British Isles (not used in the Republic of Ireland)
Isle of Man + Guernsey + Jersey: Crown dependencies
UK + Crown dependencies: British Islands (but this is not often used)
Gibraltar, Bermuda, Falklands etc: Overseas territories

So, if you're referring to the state (like the United States) you refer to the UK.



Well, there's plenty here. And I'm one of them!

Well put Tequila... and...

What is this thread called.. "britain bashing", which manages to not quite match any of the things on your list. In fact, I suppose nothing has been called specifically "Britain" for a long while. Looking at the Wikipedia articles makes the whole business even more complex, and murky.

Anyway, to return to "britain bashing", don't we just deserve it? We're viciously subtle, at times, when we bash any/all others. We can take it.

I'm proud to be a Brit, British, a Briton, English, a Limey and an Imperialist Pig-Dog! Pip! pip! Don'tcha know. My good man. What ho!

i don't find it offensive
we are much more offensive when we take a bash at other countries but we do it less often just look at Jeremy Clarkson