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What does Google think about your nation? | ||
Tags: Google | Cultural Identity | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| reineke Senior Member United States https://learnalangua Joined 6256 days ago 851 posts - 1008 votes  Studies: German | Message 25 of 60 22 December 2008 at 7:42pm | IP Logged | ||
"AMERICANS ARE SUCH"... paints a more uh, balanced picture. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| anamsc Triglot Senior Member Andorra Joined 6012 days ago 296 posts - 382 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Catalan Studies: Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Written), French | Message 26 of 60 23 December 2008 at 4:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Californians are known for their optimism.
Californians are known for loving their cars. Californians are known for their weirdness. Californians are known to be radical. Californians are known for rather hasty decision-making. Californians are known to be a little more casual. Californians are known for being laid-back, even when it comes to earthquakes. Californians are such bad drivers. Californians are such friggin' tight-@$$es. Californians are such wimps about the weather. Californians are such hopeless wannabees. Californians are such selfish and worthless pieces of crap. Californians are such a handy lot. Californians are such dedicated environmentalists. (I think "are such" has more of an intrinsic negative connotation; maybe it would be different with "are so".) Northern Californians are CRAZY. Northern Californians are lucky. Northern Californians are rude, reckless, selfish, and stupid. Northern Californians are forced to abide by water conserving laws because the water resources drop to dangerous zones. (Don't even get me started!) Northern Californians are known for saying "hecka". Northern Californians are chow-crazed. (?) Hmm, I had no idea! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 5843 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 27 of 60 08 May 2009 at 11:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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And here's what Google (or the collective English-speaking part of mankind) has to say about Europeans:
Europeans are known to be weird and stuffy Europeans are known to be racist, protectionist and anti-competition Europeans are known to be early adopters of technology Europeans are known to be recyclers Europeans are known to be more aggressive drivers than their American counterparts Europeans in general are known to be little mobile Europeans and Japanese are known to be extremely innovative automotive engineers Europeans are known to be sexually irresponsible Europeans are known to be truthful and speak of justice The "X are such Y" search tends to return only the negatives: Europeans are such great dancers (ok, that's not negative ;p) Europeans are such cowards Europeans are such prudes Europeans are such beer snobs Europeans are such evil socialist taxing communists Europeans are such airheads Europeans are such racists Europeans are such radical secularists Europeans are such an ungrateful lot Europeans are such puritans Europeans are such hypocrites Europeans are such intensely religious people Europeans are such passive twits And here's a little something about polyglots: polyglots are übersexy polyglots are naturally good linguists polyglots are left-brain damaged polyglots are better at visual puzzles polyglots are wicked polyglots are generally untrustworthy as linguists Edited by Sennin on 08 May 2009 at 11:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6512 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 28 of 60 09 May 2009 at 1:09am | IP Logged | ||
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Funny idea!
Danes (except the dogs called Danes) are supposed to be... ... incredibly lazy when it comes to diction, and tend to both swallow some of the letters and chain the words together ... an easy going, freedom loving people, but they evidently do not take kindly to threats against those freedoms, whether it is threatening the lunch time beer and Jaeger, their long standing record of freedom of speech, or their delightful nudist beaches. ... friendly and easy-going. However, they are sometimes considered to be somewhat reserved and private people ... informal and they favour a humorous and extroverted tone at work. ... very aggressive drivers and cyclists, though we didn't see any of that while we were plodding along on our bikes ... efficient and this is certainly reflected in the conference preparations. They can also be somewhat inflexible, so do send your abstracts in time for the deadline! ... pretty resourceful substituters! ... the least, of all Europeans, given to religion. At the same time they are also one of the least governed countries in the world. So in essence we are a bunch of anti-autoritarian, areligious, easygoing anarchists who drive like maniacs on our roads and eat our syllables. Apart from removing those pesky dogs I have quoted the sentences in the order they appeared in Google. Edited by Iversen on 09 May 2009 at 1:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dark_Sunshine Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5574 days ago 340 posts - 357 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 29 of 60 09 May 2009 at 1:19am | IP Logged | ||
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This thread is so funny! I found some gems of my own today, all of the following have been directly copied and pasted from a google search:
the British are known to be different from the Europeans; you’ve grown up, accepted aspects of the Human Condition in a far more mature manner than we ever will, and I salute you for it. The British are known to be mad. But in the maiming of their privileged young, they are criminally insane. the British are known to be disciplined and fierce warriors. The British are certainly known to have one of the best Naval services in the world. the British are known to be engaged in overt or covert hostility towards Ethiopia. as the British are known to be profoundly dishonest anything they say is dismissed as lies even when there is truth to their complaints; The British are known to be highly conservative when it comes to food and they may balk at the idea of eating something that is related to mould, ... The British are known to be polite, no? I'd like to think they are. Obviously, these are all taken out of context- but this exercise certainly made me smile! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ExtraLean Triglot Senior Member France languagelearners.myf Joined 5803 days ago 897 posts - 880 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German | Message 30 of 60 09 May 2009 at 4:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Alright, I'll play.
* Australians are known to be rugged, direct, and tough-minded people, quick to assert what they percieve to be their rights - occasionally at the expense of others. Australians are known to be the friendliest people on the planet. Australians are known to be sports-mad Australians are known to be hard, fast and up front in their business dealings, giving the appearance of being confrontational. No less than two thirds of Australians are known to be overweight and the percentage of obese Australians is only one percent less than the U.S.! (I believe we are now winning) Australians are known to be very health conscious. (we're a continent of contradictions) Australians are known to be a nation of individuals, yet we are not a nation of Normans. Australians are such idiots Australians are such nice people Australians are such a diverse lot Australians are such hypocrites when it comes to language. Australians are such financial poltroons and my favourite. Australians are such violent people..throwing boomerangs at each others, wrestling dingos and gators, fighting albinos... Thom. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Uthnapistim Diglot Newbie Finland Joined 5503 days ago 19 posts - 25 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English Studies: German, Indonesian | Message 31 of 60 09 May 2009 at 5:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Great idea! Here are the results for Finland.
The following are the first 10 actual hits from a Google search. Very enlightening ;-) Finns are known to be drinkers who don't even know what "social drinking" and "personal limits" mean. Finns are known to be hard-working and highly educated, but their introverted nature and direct communication style can be confusing to newcomers. Finns are known to be a nation favouring the minor key, and Finnish music is made of sorrow. Finns are known to be originally from Urinal. Finland has no forests. It's actually a desert. (This is from an 'Uncyclopedia' article) Finns are known to be poor at small talk and usually start meetings straight away. Finns are known to be the world's heaviest coffee drinkers, averaging 3-4 cups per day. Finns are known to be very nice, but also straight to the point. Finns are known to be a silent nation. Finns are known to be shy, cold and distant people. Finns are known to be conservative and happy with silence. For an interesting comparison, the same search in Finnish. Again, the first ten hits: Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti laskutaidotonta porukkaa. (It is a known fact that Finns do not know how to count) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti olleet hyviä rakentajia. (Finns are known to be good at construction work) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti kahvihullua kansaa. (Finns are known to be crazy about coffee) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti ahkeria ja työhön motivoituneita. (Finns are known to be diligent, industrious, and motivated to work) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti pitäneet arvossa säästämistä ja niukkuutta. (It is known that Finns have held saving money and living stingily in high esteem) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti erittäin instituutiouskovaisia. (Finns are known to believe strongly in institutions). Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti saunahullua kansaa. (Finns are known to be crazy about saunas) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti lainkuuliaista kansaa. (Finns are known to abide by the law) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti olleet hyvin liikkuva kansa. (Finns are known to exercise and do sports frequently) Suomalaiset ovat tunnetusti kielitaitoista väkeä. (Finns are known to be good at languages) Quite a small sample I know, but still it is curious that the 'silence' aspect is only present in the English quotes - obviously we Finns do not notice it ourselves ;-) Edited by Uthnapistim on 09 May 2009 at 5:40am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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