h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As you've pointed out, tropical islands are great in dreams, but in reality they're filled with all these nasties including crocadiles, snakes (land and sea), spiders, poisoneous jelly fish, stone fish, sharks (the sea going critters residing in the water, naturally, not on the island itself), and by far the worst; the beer swilling tourist.

You may want to consider a more temperate climate that, by nature of it's cooler temperetures, is less appealing to the nasties.

Hello,

From the cartoon "King of the Hill" a few seasons back:
"Bobby, this is British humor. It's very subtle."
"That man's wearing a dress..."
"Like I said, it's very subtle."

I think there are some things that can bring Americans and Brits together. Our mutual mockery of Canadians and the French, for instance. But I suppose that doesn't really help.

I can certainly see why people can get upset at Americans. It is true however that nobody gets more upset at American tourists abroad than other Americans. Still, it's hard to feel good when you witness one of those Ugly American moments. Still, it is a good country and it gets slammed for things that are not entirely its fault. But it's not the only culture in the world. And we're sometimes not the best at blending in... (although you should have seen some of the hideous matching outfits this French package tour were wearing in my neighborhood the other day...)

Of course, my opinions don't matter, since I come from New York City, the apparent home of narcissistic, petty, and moronic people with gigantic apartments. Or so it is, if you believe the sitcoms. Stereotypes are stupid.

Yours,
Jake

Actually, 'aluminum' is not the original name given by Sir Humphrey Davy. This next passage is condensed from the entry in Worldwide Words ([URL removed by moderator])

Sir Humphry first named the new element 'alumium' (this was in 1807) then changing it to 'aluminum', and finally settling on 'aluminium' in 1812. British scientists preferred 'aluminium' right from the start, because it fit in with other elements whose names ended in '-ium', like 'potassium', 'sodium', and 'magnesium', all of which had been named by Davy.

The spelling in '-um' continued in occasional use in Britain for a while, though that in '-ium' soon predominated. In the USA the standard spelling was 'aluminium' right from the start. This is the only form given in Noah Webster's Dictionary of 1828, and seems to have been standard among US chemists throughout most of the nineteenth century; it was the preferred version in The Century Dictionary of 1889 and is the only spelling given in the Webster Unabridged Dictionary of 1913. However, there is evidence that the spelling without the final 'i' was used in various trades and professions in the US from the 1830s onwards and that by the 1870s it had become the more common one in American writing generally.

Actually, neither version was often encountered early on because aluminium was hard to extract. For many years it was a rare and expensive metal, more expensive than gold This changed only when a way of extracting the metal using cheap hydroelectricity was developed.

The official change in the US to the '-um' spelling happened quite late: the American Chemical Society only adopted it in 1925. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially standardised on 'aluminium' in 1990, though this has done nothing, of course, to change the way people in the US spell it for day to day purposes.

So, you see, the British have got it right for a number of reasons: 1) We named the element in the first place. 2) The Americans originally reckoned we were right and changed their minds later on. 3) An international organisation says we are right.

I really don't care what any international organization says. We're Americans and we can do what we like within our own borders.

Being wrong is a fundamental American right!

BTW, you didn't discover it as a nation, one individual did.

What's Wrong With Americans?

Their President. Their "Democracy."

Power and Stupidity are a dangerous combination.

Well, he's our choice, not yours.

We're not a democaracy and we shouldn't be confused with one. Our system of government is built to ensure our liberty not our security.

You make your choices, we'll make ours.

In no particular order
The Super Bowl(three solid hours of nail biting commercials interspersed with twenty second interludes of fat splattering action) - Perfect teeth - button noses - kids with guns - adults with guns - have a nice day - Ronald Macdonald - the baseball world series(ha)- pollution - The American Dream - fat farms - KKK - the inability to spell or pronounce words carrectly (Dan Quails potatoe) -what is this irony thing all about anyway - get bent - the commercial break every ten minuets - the manipulation of history (every significant historical event gets changed to show the usa in a positive light, for example how you won WW11 thats world war two not eleven ) - not knowing how the film Titanic will end - Donald Trump (is there really a Trump Tower) - popular country music - The Magic of David Copperfield - Friends - political correctness or PC as its known in middle class America

I could go on and on.
Please add to this list if you like
And no doing a List about the British wont be considered ironic

HAVE A NICE DAY
YOALL COM BACK NOW YHEAR....EEE HAAAA

Oh dear.. I had hoped this thread was dead.

peace
~jwf~

Nope,

There are always more windmills to tilt at...

Yours,
Jake

I find all these generalizations abhorrant. I don't believe that the British are arrogant, smarmy, rude, or any sort of generalization one may imagine. I don't appreciate the allegations that our history curriculi solely concern domestic history. I've studied the Middle East, Revolutionary China, South Africa, Columbus' voyage (in both the sugary and the harsh truth versions), and WWII (which focused mainly on the British and French (and Germans, of course) than on Americans. I don't speak loudly, I'm not rude, I'm not ignorant of other cultures, I don't call people rude, primitive, or savages because their culture differs from mine. What really irks me is when people assume these things about a culture, especially my own. Please have tolerance, people.

whoa.

how about what's wrong with people? too many are intolerant.

i was just born here. that's all.

Huh. Yet another place to complain about those dang foreigners. Well, I'm American. I can't say that I like all the things that my country does, but as it's probably been said before in this forum, I'd rather live here than anywhere else.

Everybody resents the tourists. Mostly it's a subconscious territorialism - 'this is my land, not yours!' The problem I have with America-bashing is that people tend to make assumptions about Americans in general based upon the people they see tramping around their landscape, littering, overtipping, and shouting loudly at each other. The more I get around, the more I realize that people are really the same all over the globe - some are obnoxious and loud, some are quiet and subdued, some drink a lot, shout and litter, and some leave the place better than when they found it.

I doubt any tourists leave the places they visit any better than than when they found them. Unless, of course, they visit Slough, and even then they'd have to drop an exceptionally large quantity of litter to improve the place.

This has to be one of the most negative conversations on h2g2. I've been working on this global website for nearly two years. I've met some truly fabulous people from America, Europe, Australia and Asia (and Antarctica). And yes, I've met some people who are self-centred, arrogant and stupid. But these dumb folks don't appear to come from any one country or continent, they seem to be *very* evenly distributed. So no, I wouldn't put it down to nationality at all. I'd just put it down to *some people*.

Oh, and as an aside. The other interesting thing about people who come into h2g2 and behave anti-socially. You know, they change? People learn to behave here, they come in and they slowly start to mellow, and adapt and then start to interact positively with the other community members. So it seems that most people really aren't awful or stupid, it's just that they haven't quite got their heads around how to behave in a social setting. And that is understandable and quite acceptable. We all get there in the end.

Peta

Agree. This is a horrible silly thread. As was the one about the French. I am usually and often amused and entertained on h2g2. This sort of stuff makes me want to go away.

That's the point. Don't go away. Stay and help me to change people. As people become more worldly they start to understand that racial stereotypes are really irrelevant. Many people rarely meet others from different races, apart from on the web. That's what makes this environment so special.

Don't preach at me Peta! I'm cross, and those spectacles you are wearing are distinctly rose-coloured!

Me? I'm just curious about who exactly Peta has met from Antarctica on this site...

Tim Smith-Antarctic Correspondant Extraordinare!

Check out his entries. Maybe start with this one, McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A362134

See, I wasn't fibbing.

I bet it was Chilly Willy.
*that's a penguin cartoon character for those whose minds may be slipping into the gutter*

note to 'hellfaerie':
Welcome to h2g2. Open your homepage (MySpace - your Personal space) by putting in a few words. Then people can post there and show you round and offer tips and advice about the site. I'm afraid this one conversation you've picked so far is dead. Dead, dead, dead I tells ya. Or at least doomed.
There are thousands of better conversations than this sad dead horse.
Maybe one day, you will start a thread called 'What's right about Americans' and I will come and say, 'well some of 'em have got a lot of spunk' or something equally nice.
peace
~jwf~