The americans and the British life the biggest difference?

Smiley culture fucking rules! though he got killed by police last year

i was at a festival he played at just before he died but missed him cos i spent 3-4 days lost from too much acid + k... DOH, horrific exp.

smiley culture - police officer is the best

 

Brits have island mentality, Americans have superpower mentality, also this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/books/review/Dyer-t.html

 

You're either taking a very peculiar route there, or you need to have your engine re-tuned :mickey:

Oxford to Bristol should take less than an hour by my reckoning. A34 to Newbury then stonk along the M4.

Anyway, to revert to the question, the americans and the British life the biggest difference (emphasis added). So it's not a question about the difference between the people, but the (way of?) life.

Hmmmmm.

Well, obviously, first and foremost, the majority of Americans have never learned to change gear :mickey:

And we British tend to notice wars as soon as they start and get stuck right in there, whereas the Americans ...

We also tend to notice when a war has ended, too. Whereas the Battle of New Orleans was fought ... what was it? ... two weeks AFTER the Treaty of Utrecht had brought the War of 1812 to an end.

But nah ... I think that the REAL differences, the ones that matter, are:

In Britian, a "public school" is one that you pay to send your children to, whereas in America it's one that you don't.

In Britain, "football" is a sport in which you propel the ball with your feet, whereas in America it's a sport in which you propel the ball with your hands.

In Britain, tea is something which is made in a teapot, poured into cups and drunk, whereas in America it's something which is pitched over the side of ships into the harbour.

But ... the key difference of all, is that one stands for Parliament, whereas one runs for Congress :mickey:

 

One distinct impression I get is that basic education must be much better for British. Certainly with English language skills...

I mean shit, even grade-school children in England are more articulate than your average American...yup :cowboy:

ZW

 

Hi Guys,,
In British English, not only do we pronounce the same words differently (accent), we also use different words for the same things making it more a difference in dialect.
American, Canadian, Australian and the British use a lot of the same words . . . but they say them differently and/or the words have different meanings.

 

Wouldn't this actually be an example of the converse since it was the British who were the aggressors in this particular battle? Or maybe the attacking British army forgot to exchange their uniforms for civies and were just coming for a good time. :willy_nilly:

 

god bless.

 

So many accents in an area half the size of Texas. It's amazing they're not constantly punching each other in the face. Or are they united in hatred towards the Irish and Scottish perhaps?

 

stop forgetting us welsh!!

difference between british and americans

we understand geography it seems :frown:

 

Do you remember Charlotte Church appearing on Have I Got News For You? She said that when she'd met George W, he'd asked which state Wales was in, and concluded "It made me feel so stupid!"

Ian H did that sort of bug-eyed thing he sometimes does, and said "You felt stupid???" in his most incredulous tone (and if anybody does incredulous ... it's Ian H!!)

 

I can tell the difference between a Deep South accent and a New York accent but all the rest sound the same to me.

I Love the great difference in our British accents, Especially Weegie (Glasgow) and Geordie (Newcastle) accents though i'm sure Americans don't really hear the differences.

Contrary to what is shown on most U.S TV shows, not all Brits love the Queen, live in Country Mansions and speak with posh southern accents. If Americans want to see a great example of proper British life don't watch 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' watch 'Brassed Off'.

 

Speak for yourself, hun :smilielol5:

 

The main political spectrum is wider in Britain, albeit slightly. In the U.S there is only Democrats (right-wing) or Republican (very right-wing). In Britain there is Tory (right-wing), Labour (centre-right) or Liberal Democrat (Centralist) - although I can't imagine anyone taking them seriously since they jumped into bed with the Tories.

Having said that the political structure in the U.S is more Democratic. In Britain our system is still essentially Feudal. Our Prime Ministers are usually aristocrats, our current one is as well as half of the cabinet. The House of Lords is full of unelected aristocrats and our laws have to be signed off by the Queen! - ah to live in a proper democracy!.

 

:biggrin: You really think they're more democratic because their power-hungry politicians don't have a title? They still have family clans that give each other jobs (the holy Kennedys, the Bushs). Besides, it's not like the queen actually has a lot of/any say in what she's signing. there's no actualy political power, just putting on a show and watching people in other countries do their countries' folk dances.

 

Technically the Queen still retains a great deal of power. Not only must all laws be signed off by her ( if she doesn't sign it, it means nothing ) but even a Prime Minister must be OK'd by her before he takes office. She rarely uses these powers likely because she understands people expect democracy, but she certainly has used them.

 

The last monarch to refuse to give the Royal Assent to an Act of Parliament was Queen Anne, in the early 18th Century (when America still belonged to us ... apart from the bits that belonged to Russia, Spain, France, and the native Americans)

The exercise of the various surviving Royal powers and prerpgatives is heavily bound about by constitutional conventions, and there is no real freedom of action there.

 

Hahaha!!!! That was great!

 

I often think about what the world would be like if the United States never existed.

 

Not just Mrs. Windsor, either. Dont forget recent revelations about eldest son Charlie and his private domain, the Duchy of Cornwall...

Ministers have been forced to seek permission from Prince Charles to pass at least a dozen government bills, according to a Guardian investigation.

Full story - http://www.republic.org.uk/updates/?p=120



.

 

The system is far more democratic in the US. We elect almost everything from the president and senate down to our local school boards. In New England town hall type city governments are still commonplace where anyone can vote, referendums are common across the country from state level initiatives to local town budgets. Almost any politician can be primaried at any level from a member of their own party, ect, ect. The issue at hand is Americans don't utilize the system, our voter turnout rates especially for anything that isn't a presidential election are hilariously low and our nation is, to be blunt, Americans are dangerously stupid to be a democracy, we are quite possibly the most misinformed electorate in the first world and this applies to both left and right.