[Jabberwocky]

You know you guys keep slamming the USA, but ,oh yeah, that's right it was other countries that populated the USA. Countries such as England, Germany, Spain, Franch, Italy, Japan, etc... the USA is a boiling pot of all the races in the world.

Anyways what state was this taken it? If the majority of the people were from Arkansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and a few others... well... yeah I'll just leave it at that.

Gimbal8 - I fully agree with you about sports before education. I opened the morning paper the other day and it said that the states schools (grammer, high, and post-high) will hvae major cuts... then you flip to the back of the paper "USA troops building school in Afghanistan."

[ May 02, 2002: Message edited by: Jabberwocky ]

[Basse_Ex]

Remember: 75% of all statiscics are lying.

[ May 03, 2002: Message edited by: Basse_Ex ]

[SWANYDSPIN]

what the fuck were you talken about Giant hamster?

We dont drink fosters, we drink VB


Damn yanks

[cheney]

quote:

---

Shizo:
Yeah Americans are pretty dumbass, and women are even more so :0
They know more about babies tho!

---

I can't help but think this is somewhat sexist. Hope you never have a daughter, because she might be even more stupid or ignorant than you, right?

[Gimbal8]

Next thing you know people will be saying this mean all Koreans eat dog.

I don't think anyone would be interested in cow meat tonic juice let alone dog meat tonic juice.

'How are you going to have any pudding if you don't drink your meat?!'

Maybe if they carbonate it. Then you can burp up wafts of dog meat juice.

[Giant Hamster]

YOU FUCKING DOG-MEAT DRINKERS!!!!! FUCK YOU!!! YOU SICK, SICK, LITTLE BASTARDS!

[wayfinder]

what's really sad (and that is a pet peeve of mine) is how extended exposure to american media is changing our (german) language.

Pretend, just for a second, that my english was less fluent:

I would maybe talk so, that many americans would laugh me out, or?

---- (ok, you can stop now )

Now, what dubbed movies and tv does to German is to take anglicisms an turn them into valid German. many German people already sound to me just as strange as that sentence up there might sound to native english speakers. people don't know how to use words any more, they even mess up proverbs, how fucking sad is that?
people here watch more (dubbed) american tv shows and movies than anything else. The dubbing is far from perfect, of course: lip synch and translation are not always compatible. So dubbers go for (tada!) lip synch. That's right.

Just two cases that annoy the hell out of me:

1.) the WEDDING CEREMONY

In America, the bride and bridegroom seal their marriage with the words "I will". In Germany, law requires a "Ja" from the pair. Now, in dubbed American movies, the bride says "Ich will", which is just great for lip synch. It means "I want". Which makes no fucking sense at all, of course. BUT! since everyone sees it everytime someone marries in a movie, people assume that that's the way it should be done here as well. The totally senseless phrase has been hammered into the minds of a tv-raised generation, and here we are. A majority of German pairs say "Ich will." at the altar, i think that's really pathetic.


2. Excuse Me?

In American movies, when someone wants to have a private conversation or goes away from a social group for any other reason, they say "excuse me (for a second)". There is no equivalent in German for this phrase, but since it is in every fucking movie, and people assume that people in movies and on tv speak correct german (even if they're dubbed), "entschuldigen sie mich" has leaked into German as well.


"That makes sense" is another anglicism that's widespread in German. "Das macht Sinn" is the lipsynched, senseless, popular version of the correct phrase "Das ergibt einen Sinn".


I hate that. Our language is deteriorated by badly dubbed American movies, and people seem perfectly content with that. Some of the stuff is officially correct German already! The reference is the Duden, the German dictionary. But the Duden promotes an ugly, americanized, gutwrenchingly wrong-sounding german - i don't have the words. I'm really, really sad about this whole matter, especially when I catch myself using anglicisms.

sorry for the rant, just had to get that off my chest.

[-HoodZ-]

very interesting wayfinder...i have German cousins and i think we had some influence with my younger cousin when they visited here in Jersey a few years back...hehe i remember he laughed at me when we were playing a playstion game i think it was Fifa94 and i said "BULLSHIT"..he explained to me that they didnt use that term.....oh well at least i learned some German curses

as for the survey...you can watch how stupid people are just by watching Jay Leno where he walks around the streets of LA to ask some very very simple questions...stuff like "during WWII who were Americas allies?"...then you get an answer like Germany ...sigh

[xino]

I doubt you should blame the US for your country's inability to dub our movies...oh yeah...didn't you know most countries dub in their country?


I can understand why you're angry though...same thing happens with anime or any eastern work of art (includes movies)

don't blame an entire country because the dubbers for your german tv are stupid though...that's almost as bad as some of the shit the fools in this thread have said...

and as far as I know most people say "I do" in wedding ceremonies...not "I will"...but that's just from my own limited experience...

don't take this post as a flame but I think the shit coming from some people's fingertips in this thread is terrible...


perhaps next I'll go and post something totally meaningless about every culture who tries to act better than the Americans...

no one is better. get the fuck over it already. it's because of this kind of shit-spewing that al queda and the taliban came to power in the first place. and if you think I'm wrong do some damn research. same with hitler.

[wayfinder]

xino, where did i say that i blame the american people for bad dubbing?

you are... GAH! ignorant fool! your whole post reeks of a single-digit IQ

[xino]

single-digit IQ?

I would say that about all these people who bitch about America seemingly acting superior while acting all holier-than-thou...I find that ironic....

I guess I misread what you were saying so I apologize..but it did come off as though you blamed America for the bad dubs your country had....if I'm wrong I'm wrong but that's not how it appeared to me at first...

sorry if my post was a bit angry but I'm getting sick and tired of people talking about the country I live in and love....

you don't see me talking BS about other countries now do you?

of course I wouldn't do that simply because geographic location has no real merits in intelligence as this whole thread proves

[elam]

I find it amusing that artist are giving scientist advice on how to do their job.

Ben, you see those links called tables and appendixes?

Those list, among other things, sample sizes, the questions asked, etc.

It's clearly stated that these are random samplings, so it doesn't matter who you ask, or their socio-economic level, whether they are a plumber or an engineer.
It's a random sampling of Americans. Asking people on the street is the fairest sample.

The NSF conducted this study, with taxpayer money.

"One of their examples is the percent of people who disapproved of not teaching evolution in Kansas, but Kansas doesn't represent the USA"

The 60% figure cited in the kansas evolution debate is the % of AMERICANS, not Kansans. Follow the links.

[ May 05, 2002: Message edited by: elam ]

[delo]

i think the general point is that an assertion has been made against americans in particular without any corresponding data to comparable 'knowledge' tests throughout other cultures. you cannot logically say that 'americans are dumb' when you offer no proof that other cultures are otherwise.
to summarize another point; having taken statistics at the collegiate level, the first thing you're taught is that statistics is only a science in so much that it is an interpretation of mathematics, and as such can be easily manipulated by various parties to prove any assertion. case in point: the 'scientific treatise' sold as the non-fiction book 'the bell curve' , which according to the authors and followers of the premise claims to statistically prove the superiority of certain genetic phenotypes over others in terms of intelligence, comprehension, culture, athleticism, et cetera. . . when in actuality, the authors/scientists used tests specifically engineered to generate only data that would support their pseudo-fascistic philosophical agendas in faovr of racial stereotpes.
in short, even this lowly american artist can appreciate that the pure mathematics of 2+2=4 is a surer bet than the statistical 2+2=4(�1). . .
;-)
delo

[PixHortHiT]

Yes, but Ur a stoopid!!
Har har har, I makez a joke on U!!!!!!!!!!

[PixHortHiT]

This thread is fun and all, but!

It wont change much, peoples minds are made up, everyone I know thinks that the major public in the US are ignorant fools!

and where the hell did they ever get that idea?

I wonder............

[Mindsiphon]

educate yourselves

[Pixie Nim]

PixHoretHiT - mm, yer right. No-one's gonna stop thinking Americans are thick until they prove us otherwise... I think it's just one of those things... like us English people all living in castles. I heard there are Americans who believe that one.... :\

wayfinder - dubbing bites 90% of the time... I would rather have subtitles, then I can listen to language too, and maybe learn something... but I guess you don't always get a choice whether to have American movies dubbed or subtitled... What do they usually go for, the dubbing option?

Dubbing is only good in one sense... 80s kung fu... XD

[edraket]

So do you have any close contacts with americans?
I can tell you that I know quite a few personally and they are all quite intelligent. The people on this forum don't seem stupid either now do they?

A test as the one discussed here can be manipulated in any way and doesn't say very much.

It's very easy to come to conclusions about people through what you see in the media.
But that doesn't mean they are in any way true.

[wayfinder]

pixie nim, they go for dubbing, 100% of the time. the market's too big not to.

god, how i hate it.

people on the internet are not representative of the whole population. i would estimate the average IQ of "vivid" internet users to be a good ten points above the average overall. tests show a trend in that direction as well. of course, it's because these people are attracted to the net, and there's a technological threshold, and various other reasons.

[Dameaon]

on a side note, my lucky number is 3,472

i was in school one day (i think 2end grade... good memory huh?) and our teacher was having us say our lucky numbers. proably to fill out her lottery ticket, but thats a differnt story.
anywho, everone had 1 diget numbers and such, so i wanted to be differnt... lets just say from that day forth, my position in the soical ladder fell dermatically and has never gotten back up there.

[Tinusch]

That "statistic" about 70% of high school graduates not being able to point out America on a map is definitely wrong. Seriously. That is so wrong it's ridiculous. I don't think any school system is that bad. I'd say probably 99% of Americans can point out America on a map by first grade.

[Lunatique]

United States would not be the #1 super power in the world if it's a country made up of idiots. The average American might not be very cultured compared to the average European, but we are not exactly mumbling barbarians either. America, since its inception, has produced more than its share of artists, writers, composers, scientists, political figures, philosophers..etc.

[ May 13, 2002: Message edited by: Lunatique ]

[Akolyte]

Did you know that 99% of people who have access to the internet spent entirely too much time using it?

[Pixie Nim]

yeees, Lunatique, but did you ever consider just how big America is compared to, say... France? England? Italy?

and it being the number #1 superpower (I agree, it is) has far more to do with money than brains.
I doubt very much other countries cower in fear of America because they're "smarter", more likely because George Bush's greasy mitt is the one hovering over that big red button...
argh, it's enough to give you nightmares...

[Drawnblud]

I would say that anybody out there that does not like Americans, then stop watching our movies,listening to our music and going to our plays. Germany, give us David Hasslehoff back. France, please give us Jerry Lewis back and England, you can keep Madonna and her fake British accent.
Oh yeah, and the rest of the world, stop using our Internet. It is slowing down my connection speed.

[glody]

i guess im going to take the traditional american approach to the arguement that we may be ignorant...but we can still bomb the shit out of anyone else's country... so THERE!!!

lol...just joking about the seriousness of that.

[roundeye]

wow. you americans dont come across as arrogant OR pompus. way to prove everyone wrong.

"you dont like us, stop using our internet!" youre one of the smart ones, eh? your step parents must be proud.

[Steelwind]

ART, goddamit! ART!!

[Unsound]

Bush at jibjab.com

[Drawnblud]

Maybe I came off kind of rough, but I really hate it when people generalize Americans as Moon-Pie eating, Jerry Springer watching trailer trash. Our country is fairly new compared to most of the world. There are a lot of things I hate about my country, but there are a lot more things that I love about it. It isn't perfect, that is for sure. But we do try and help other countries. Whenever there is an earthquake or flood or some kind of disaster in the world, we always send money and/or troops to help with the cleanup. That is done out of kindness. Sure there might be some political agenda behind it as well, but do you think that the people being helped by us give a damn? No, they are just happy to receive help. In 1992, when the Missouri river overflowed it banks and destroyed millions of dollars worth of crops and homes and lives, how many countries sent people over here to sandbag and cleanup? To my recollection, none.
This is my country, and it may be flawed, but I will stand behind it just as many of you would stand behind your country.