Stereotypes about Your Country/State

[Viral Kira]

Canada.

We're extemely multicultural: It's more like soft multiculturalism. We love are the fun stuff, but anything like polygamy or female circumcision or anything that is culturally "hardcore" we probably won't except it.

It's always cold or snowing: It can actually be extermely hot and humid or dry in some places. Hell, I live in a temperate rainforest, I haven't seen a real big snowfall in 4 years.

Our healthcare is great: Meh, it's more like average. It has long a** waiting lists for everything.

[Sockers]

Flameinexile

Sergeant Beefstix

Minnesotans have "Minnesotan accent's"

Not really, I've almost never encountered one of these, you might happen to find one on one of the older folk and if they happen to only be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants.

That's not necessarily true.
It's not a full accent, it's specifically the "o". The way Minnesotans pronounce words with "o" in them is a little different, and it IS distinguishable.
Those from Duluth or the north of the state tend to have a much more pronounced accent.

Other Minnesotan stereotypes...
Sven and Ollie oh ya and Lena too, oh donchaknow. A lot of people at my school really expect me to talk...like that.
Hotdish? The idea that we cook nothing else, and if we CAN it's amazing.
Go fishin' all the time, summer, winter, whatever. Well. Kay so there's a good percentage of the population that DOES do that.
"Minnesota-Nice" - We're polite, friendly, will talk up anybody and everybody who wants to be talking. Like anywhere... Some people are, some people aren't. It's not a blanket.

Right now I'm living in Switzerland, Ticino, specifically, so there are a lot of crossing stereotypes, and a LOT of them are actually about Italians.

Swiss - Swiss folks are all super nice, super friendly, and blonde: Well. Hm. No ? They're like anyone else, but there are actually three (maybe four, I've never been to the Romanch speaking area, it's tiny) HUGE divisions between cultures between the Germanic-Swiss, French-Swiss, and Italian-Swiss populations.

It's SUPER clean everywhere - This is pretty true in a lot of places, they're serious about keeping things clean, and as they're the head of a lot of international watersheds... it's a good thing.

Punctual ! Where I've been, this has been true (barring the CISAlpino), everything, trains, buses, they run perfectly on schedule, and if the bus is late due to traffic, when it hits an area where it can, the driver will gun the hell out of it to make up for lost time.

A specific stereotype the Swiss themselves have is "If there is a black man near the train station or bus stop, he IS selling drugs". They can be horribly racist here, one political party in particular is just a hatehouse. (Proof: It says "For More Security". Proof2: "Stop Minarets in Switzerland". Proof3.

Italians- Don't walk on the street in front of one in a car, it may be the last thing you do. (They DO drive like they're mental, but they don't usually hit people).

Italians are always late - Their CISAlpino train is, that's for sure. Everything here does tend to run a little slower, and they stop to have conversations with those people they know, so it does happen on occasion, but no more than anywhere else.

I'll have to agree. I'm just from one state over (South Dakota) and I definitely noticed a slight accent on the "o" when I was in Minneapolis (Wisconnies have it too, I noticed in Madison). It's not huge, but it's there.

[Lutelvo]

Flameinexile

Lutelvo

Flameinexile

Sergeant Beefstix

Minnesotans have "Minnesotan accent's"

Not really, I've almost never encountered one of these, you might happen to find one on one of the older folk and if they happen to only be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants.

That's not necessarily true.
It's not a full accent, it's specifically the "o". The way Minnesotans pronounce words with "o" in them is a little different, and it IS distinguishable.
Those from Duluth or the north of the state tend to have a much more pronounced accent.

Other Minnesotan stereotypes...
Sven and Ollie oh ya and Lena too, oh donchaknow. A lot of people at my school really expect me to talk...like that.
Hotdish? The idea that we cook nothing else, and if we CAN it's amazing.
Go fishin' all the time, summer, winter, whatever. Well. Kay so there's a good percentage of the population that DOES do that.
"Minnesota-Nice" - We're polite, friendly, will talk up anybody and everybody who wants to be talking. Like anywhere... Some people are, some people aren't. It's not a blanket.

I'm going to agree with all of that, except for the part about Duluth (been there, they talk fine) and being from way up north. Generally, it's the "a" that gets us. We harden it; instead of keeping it soft. "aye" vs "a".

Just because I live up north....Does that mean I say "b-aye-g" instead of "b-a-g".
Nor does it mean I talk through my nose; say "dontchyaknow"; and all that good stuff you've seen in the movie Fargo. That's NORTH DAKOTA people. :/

Being from Wis-con-sin, NOT "Wesconson", I get that all the time. It's really aggrivating. I was in California once, and some guy expected me to have a thick heavy accent. :/

I grew up there.
Minnesotan.
I'm aware what movie it's from, but I'm also aware that the demographic breakdown of Minnesota is heavily influenced by Norwegian and Swedish immigrants, which is who "donchaknow" is picking on. The Duluth statement comes from having a good number of family friends who ARE from Duluth and DO have a VERY enunciated "o".
It's a stereotype, yeah, but SOME people do have a very prominent "o".
And she does "bayegal". xp And scoohns.

I never directed the Fargo statement towards you. :[ It was a generalization meant for everyone. The last few statements were my contribution to the thread. lol.

I'm from Superior, actually. I've never heard the enunciated "o" from anyone; maybe it's just a small demographic. "Scone" is "scone" across the bay. lol.

[Doppelgaanger]

That my state isn't actually a part of the United States. :

Or that everyone here must be hispanic and/or speak Spanish.

[Doppelgaanger]

Lutelvo

Flameinexile

Lutelvo

Flameinexile

Sergeant Beefstix

Minnesotans have "Minnesotan accent's"

Not really, I've almost never encountered one of these, you might happen to find one on one of the older folk and if they happen to only be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants.

That's not necessarily true.
It's not a full accent, it's specifically the "o". The way Minnesotans pronounce words with "o" in them is a little different, and it IS distinguishable.
Those from Duluth or the north of the state tend to have a much more pronounced accent.

Other Minnesotan stereotypes...
Sven and Ollie oh ya and Lena too, oh donchaknow. A lot of people at my school really expect me to talk...like that.
Hotdish? The idea that we cook nothing else, and if we CAN it's amazing.
Go fishin' all the time, summer, winter, whatever. Well. Kay so there's a good percentage of the population that DOES do that.
"Minnesota-Nice" - We're polite, friendly, will talk up anybody and everybody who wants to be talking. Like anywhere... Some people are, some people aren't. It's not a blanket.

I'm going to agree with all of that, except for the part about Duluth (been there, they talk fine) and being from way up north. Generally, it's the "a" that gets us. We harden it; instead of keeping it soft. "aye" vs "a".

Just because I live up north....Does that mean I say "b-aye-g" instead of "b-a-g".
Nor does it mean I talk through my nose; say "dontchyaknow"; and all that good stuff you've seen in the movie Fargo. That's NORTH DAKOTA people. :/

Being from Wis-con-sin, NOT "Wesconson", I get that all the time. It's really aggrivating. I was in California once, and some guy expected me to have a thick heavy accent. :/

I grew up there.
Minnesotan.
I'm aware what movie it's from, but I'm also aware that the demographic breakdown of Minnesota is heavily influenced by Norwegian and Swedish immigrants, which is who "donchaknow" is picking on. The Duluth statement comes from having a good number of family friends who ARE from Duluth and DO have a VERY enunciated "o".
It's a stereotype, yeah, but SOME people do have a very prominent "o".
And she does "bayegal". xp And scoohns.

I never directed the Fargo statement towards you. :[ It was a generalization meant for everyone. The last few statements were my contribution to the thread. lol.

I'm from Superior, actually. I've never heard the enunciated "o" from anyone; maybe it's just a small demographic. "Scone" is "scone" across the bay. lol.

Somebody actually moved to my school from Minnesota, and she definitely has an accent. Just thought I'd put that out there.

[I Hate Choosing Usernames]

Well, since there's a bunch for Canada, how about my Province?


- We're all stoners.
- We all speak / can pick up words in Chinese or Japanese.
- We're tree huggers
- We love fishing
- Everybody's from Vancouver


...not many, but welcome to British Columbia. D'|

[Rikku1994]

TheFluffyElf

Rikku1994

Well, I'm from Germany and there are some stereotypes 'bout Germans, too, of course. Ugh. Stereotypes are so dumb, like come on, get to know the person& not what country they're from. Aaanyway.

We love Hitler. - Number one clichée, really. It seems a lot of people have not yet realized there is no more dictature/ Hitler / whatever and there's actually a bunch of foreigners living here. Most Germans by now are very tolerant and open towards other cultures, countries, etc, and those who are not are dumb anyway =DD

We drink beer only and run around in dirndls all day. Thanks Oktoberfest. Alright, so Germans don't just sit around and drink beer all day. At least most. xD And if someone was seen in a dirndl or those typical bavarian leather trousers (and it's not Oktoberfest-time razz ), they'd most probably be laughed at ^^

Actually, I can't think of anything more right now... what stereotypes do you guys still know? Like, foreigners should know them best, after all.

The whole "all Germans are Nazis" thing is pretty prominent here in the states, unfortunately, also that you're all boozers who run around in Lederhosen. razz

And though I've never heard this myself, I have heard of it online; apparently some Americans think you guys are extremely serious and have no sense of humour, and also very kinky.

I'd also like to hear what stereotypes there are about America in Germany. whee

Huumm.. I think the 'serious' and 'humour' things can't be generalized. There are both serious people who never seem to laugh in here as well as those that just take everything lightly, laugh a lot, etc.
But, wow... kinky? xD That one kinda blew me. whee . It's just that sex is something people can talk about openly here and also, pretty much anything goes if all people involved like it (Uhh.. incest does not, but I guess that's self-explanatory).

Well, lemme see.. it's pretty much the usual stereotypes about Americans. Like, they're all fat, dumb, patriotistic, never knew there actually were countries apart from them, the usual. Either that, or the blonde, fake boobs & no brains type of people. Aaah.. how I love stereotypes. rolleyes
About the patriotism-thing, though... is it really as bad& a lot as it seems from outside of the US? razz

[Fortunatus]

i have actually met people who think that Australians are all bogan, and ride kangaroos to school. the funny thing is, i'm an asian living in Australia, and am not exempt from such stereotyping. :/

[kisimisi]

Iceland is a tiny island covered in ice. We eat rotten shark & ram testicles on a daily basis and there is absolutely no sunlight in the winter. But it's always winter in Iceland so.. NO SUNLIGHT AT ALL.

The country isn't that small but the population is only about 300.000
The average temperature here in the winter is higher than it is in New York. I still have flowers in my backyard but I'm crossing my fingers for a white christmas.
We only get about 8 hours of sunlight now and on Dec 21. we'll only have 4 hours! It's kinda cozy with all the lights in the trees and then the northern lights are clearly visible heart
But in the summer [that we don't lack!] the sun NEVER sets and the temperature can go up to 30°C [86°F].
And the lovely cuisine that I mentioned before is only touched on a special holiday called Þorrablót. It's impossible to eat without chugging a whole bottle of brennivín.

I'm not familiar with any stereotypes about Icelanders. Would I be a Inuit? or bankrupt maybe? sweatdrop

[i want in your pants]

I live in an igloo and ride a polar bear to school.

Canada, eh?

[Miah_308]

(I'm from Hawaii)
I have met people who think that we don't have any electricity or we ride canoes to school.
how stupid is that! some people thought we all would wear grass skirts and stuff like that everyday. We are part of America and we dress just like everyone else. Also not everyone here knows how to surf or paddle or dance Hula. (I do but that's only because I think it's fun)
And yes we do have our own dialect here called "pigin" but just because our dialect makes us sound like we can't talk properly don't think we don't know proper grammar. WE DO! we just choose not to use it unless needed because pigin is easier and much more fun to speak.

[Sockers]

Rikku1994

TheFluffyElf

Rikku1994

Well, I'm from Germany and there are some stereotypes 'bout Germans, too, of course. Ugh. Stereotypes are so dumb, like come on, get to know the person& not what country they're from. Aaanyway.

We love Hitler. - Number one clichée, really. It seems a lot of people have not yet realized there is no more dictature/ Hitler / whatever and there's actually a bunch of foreigners living here. Most Germans by now are very tolerant and open towards other cultures, countries, etc, and those who are not are dumb anyway =DD

We drink beer only and run around in dirndls all day. Thanks Oktoberfest. Alright, so Germans don't just sit around and drink beer all day. At least most. xD And if someone was seen in a dirndl or those typical bavarian leather trousers (and it's not Oktoberfest-time razz ), they'd most probably be laughed at ^^

Actually, I can't think of anything more right now... what stereotypes do you guys still know? Like, foreigners should know them best, after all.

The whole "all Germans are Nazis" thing is pretty prominent here in the states, unfortunately, also that you're all boozers who run around in Lederhosen. razz

And though I've never heard this myself, I have heard of it online; apparently some Americans think you guys are extremely serious and have no sense of humour, and also very kinky.

I'd also like to hear what stereotypes there are about America in Germany. whee

Huumm.. I think the 'serious' and 'humour' things can't be generalized. There are both serious people who never seem to laugh in here as well as those that just take everything lightly, laugh a lot, etc.
But, wow... kinky? xD That one kinda blew me. whee . It's just that sex is something people can talk about openly here and also, pretty much anything goes if all people involved like it (Uhh.. incest does not, but I guess that's self-explanatory).

Well, lemme see.. it's pretty much the usual stereotypes about Americans. Like, they're all fat, dumb, patriotistic, never knew there actually were countries apart from them, the usual. Either that, or the blonde, fake boobs & no brains type of people. Aaah.. how I love stereotypes. rolleyes
About the patriotism-thing, though... is it really as bad& a lot as it seems from outside of the US? razz

I think it's definitely generalised, no one people is always serious/always outspoken. Stereotypes about personality are always generalisations. lol I definitely don't believe any of those stereotypes, but there are people here who do for some reason.

And yeah, I've heard that a few times, that Germans are kinky. It's not as common of one, but I guess to the States it might seem that way.

And ah, I figured. And hmm... as far as patriotism goes, I think it depends. There's quite a bit of patriotism and you do get quite a bit of "America is the best country in the world!" in your face as you grow up, but I think most people are just kind of neutral and not really super patriots. You get your odd person here who is like "AMERICA IS BETTER THAN EVERYWHERE ELSE!! USA USA!!" but most people are pretty easy-going about it.

[Mercurial Anima]

We're all a bunch of backwoods, religious fanatic hicks, but not so bad that we marry our cousins.

I live in the middle of ******** nowhere. (Australians would be right at home here.)

I was born in Charlotte. I have no idea what stereotypes exist, but I've heard people say downtown Charlotte is the east coast version of Compton.

I've had a few foreign friends though, mostly in high school.

We had this black girl from Scotland. Well, her mom's from Louisiana.

That's....Three stereotypes.

She'll trade haggis for hot wings any day. But she does drink a lot and get into her fair share of brawls.

We've got an Australian too. The most notable thing about her is that she collects sharp pointy objects and voted for Tom and Jerry in the 2008 election.

My idea of Australian stereotypes?

Just making it to tomorrow is a crapshoot. I mean...The most dangerous animals in the world are native to either Australia or the Great Barrier Reef. In other words you have to kill at least five different species just to make it to work alive.

...One question though.

Is Darwin really the middle of nowhere like I think it is?

[Sockers]

Mercurial Anima -Zeph-

We're all a bunch of backwoods, religious fanatic hicks, but not so bad that we marry our cousins.

I live in the middle of ******** nowhere. (Australians would be right at home here.)

I was born in Charlotte. I have no idea what stereotypes exist, but I've heard people say downtown Charlotte is the east coast version of Compton.

I've had a few foreign friends though, mostly in high school.

We had this black girl from Scotland. Well, her mom's from Louisiana.

That's....Three stereotypes.

She'll trade haggis for hot wings any day. But she does drink a lot and get into her fair share of brawls.

We've got an Australian too. The most notable thing about her is that she collects sharp pointy objects and voted for Tom and Jerry in the 2008 election.

My idea of Australian stereotypes?

Just making it to tomorrow is a crapshoot. I mean...The most dangerous animals in the world are native to either Australia or the Great Barrier Reef. In other words you have to kill at least five different species just to make it to work alive.

...One question though.

Is Darwin really the middle of nowhere like I think it is?

I had a hard time reading your posts. Are you dissing Australians, or are you one?