Job Discussion Forums

[grahamb]

Guty, no not even the English - except when it comes to sport, of course, be it football, rugby or tiddlywinks.
The hate problem here - by which I mean the central belt and the south-west of Scotland - is religious bigotry. It's still alive and kicking more than four centuries after the Reformation. The ironic thing is that many who profess to be "protestant" or "catholic" show more devotion to their local pub than the church.
Kattie, would that be "tar" or "tar and feather?" Seriously, however, I'm happy to re-phrase my original statement viz: "many of our southern neighbours."
Season's greetings to everyone, whatever their nationality, colour, shape, religion, sexual orientation etc.
Graham.

[kattie72]

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=81373&dict=CALD :
"tar sb with the same brush"
to think that someone has the same bad qualities as another person:
Because they worked so closely in the same department, John was tarred with the same brush as Tim.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tar :
tar and feather
To punish (a person) by covering with tar and feathers.
To criticize severely and devastatingly; excoriate.

so I guess both apply

[johnslat]

I'm reading Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari - Overland from Cairo to Cape Town" (and highly recommend it) and came across this passage that seems appropriate for this thread. Theroux has been journeying with two companions picked up along the way: Tadelle, "a good driver, the middle-aged pessimist" ( 'I hate zis country ((they're in Ethiopia)), zey are all termites') and Wolde, "the youthful optimist, eager to please". But now they have to go their seperate ways. As they spend their last night together in a miserable hotel room in the town of Moyale, the following conversation takes place:

" Wolde was still snuffling with grief, and Tadelle was quietly uttering treasonous remarks. Then the lights failed and there was silence.
At last, in the darkness, Tadelle said, " My name means 'gift.'"
"That's a nice name."
"Zere was one man," he said. "Adam."
"Yes," I said.
"He have children."
"Yes. They found the bones in Ethiopia." The Lucy skeleton bowlegged and tiny and apelike - I had seen it in the museum.
"According to the air conditioning," Tadelle said, meaning weather and climate, "za children were different colors."
"Yes," I said.
"I am black, you are red."
"Yes."
At the far end of the table, in the shadows, Wolde began quietly to sob.
"But we are bruzzers."

Regards,
John

[AlexW]

Sometimes heard between Wessis and Ossis after German reunification:

[grahamb]

Kattie, I was employing a bit of irony there. Must be getting subtle in my dotage. But you're right, it's unfair to generalise.
John, as the song says, "For a' that and a' that, it's coming yet for a' that, when man to man the world o'er shall brothers be for a' that." Doubtless the PC brigade would amend that to "brothers and sisters," but Burns' goodwill extended to the fair sex as well. He certainly enjoyed their company.
On a different note, I'm sure the great man birls in his grave every time someone pronounces the "s" in "Auld lang syne" as a "z."
For the benefit of those planning to welcome 2004 with a song, "syne" rhymes with "sign."
Spread da woid, brudders!

[nomadder]

Let's see. In my travels I've heard this:

The Canadians put down Americans.
Americans either put down everyone(America is the best) or no one(don't know or care about any other place).
The English put down all the other English speaking countries in their midst, North Americans, French and Germans.
Australians put down Asians, Kiwis and Pommies(didn't help when the Japanese almost took over).
The Scottish put down the English.
The Irish are too busying partying to put anyone down.

[dmb]

The Scottish don't put down the English. We just support 'the other team' in sport

[Canuck2112]

Many Canadians absolutely hate Americans. It's unfortunate...our country is very tolerant of almost everyone else but many Canadians think of "American" as a homogenous species of ignorance and arrogance. I personally haven't met all 270 million of them so I can't comment.

I've heard many negative comments in Japan about America, China, and the Phillipines.

[SueH]

[Capergirl]

I've heard that other EU nationals root for whichever team is opposing England in the World Cup of football (soccer where I come from). Is there any truth to that rumour?

[dmb]

It's not a rumour caper, it's true

[Wolf]

[Gordon]

I have to agree with Wolf. Most Canadians don't hate the Americans. Sports, however, is a different matter. Many Cdns, myself included, cheer for whomever is playing against the US. That's jsut a game though.

[Capergirl]

I agree with Wolf, too. Canada and the U.S. are like siblings in my mind. They have a very close relationship, but sometimes like to razz each other a bit. They might disagree on certain things, but when push comes to shove, they are each other's biggest ally.

Very few Canadians "hate" Americans...they might hate Bush, but that's another thing altogether.

[Canuck2112]

Dang. I think I HAVE had the worst luck when meeting Canadians in other countries then, as well as back at home. Often times, people who I've just met and otherwise seem pretty cool will try to draw me into an America-bashing discussion. Of course Bush is brought up, and rightly so, but it extends far beyond that. A picture is painted of a "typical" American...usually an ignorant rube who enjoys blowing stuff up and is completely indifferent to the rest of the world. If it's not hate, it's a strong dislike. I've been to a decent number of countries in my travels, and pretty much whenever I encounter other Canadians some America bashing is soon to follow, and I'm really getting sick of it because we're better than that.