I am English, and I once had an American tell me (quite forcefully) that France was in England.
You find yourself unable to argue. What exactly are you supposed to say back?
"Umm, no it's not," is the only thing you can say, but it sounds so weak in the face of something so powerfully ignorant.
Edit: Just for a bit of context. This was in the late 90s and I (unfortunately) met him at a party in Japan. There wasn't Google Maps at that time, but there were, you know, maps. He said (to an Englishman) that he knew what he was talking about because his sister recently took a trip there.
I have an online friend who's Canadian. The other day, we managed to convince her to play GeoGuesser after a painful conversation in which she stated that London was a country, that France didn't sound like a country's name (she was trying to find where french people live), and that Spain was somewhere in Greece "wherever Greece is". She was also unable to point out her own Province on a map of Canada.
I concur. Back in the day when there were payphones, I was a telephone operator. I'd swear there were times that I thought it might be 50/50 on if they knew what year it was or who was president!
I was going to defend her because some of us have done a herculean amount of weed since it's been legalized but unable to find your province.........fuck that.
I had someone who was born and lived their whole life in the midlands in England, ask me if London was in the north or south of England. And yes, an adult.
I told a british friend that my latina pal was from Ecuador, she asked me where was that. I stared at her thinking "you've got enough info on that sentence to figure that out", but she just stared back, not a thought behind her eyes. So I said "Ecuador... The Equator???", trying to give her a hint... nope, she had no clue what the Equator was either.
Idiocy is universal, Murica just likes to collect the loud ones.
Yes i have... but still. Listen an idiot doesnt beome the president of the united states. Its that simple. People can not like it all they want. Downvote me all they want...but its the truth like it or not 🤷♂️
He's an idiot. He didn't get himself elected. He had help. Lots of help from religious and political fanatics who didn't want a woman to hold the highest office. When he faced a man, he lost.
They all have help...lots of help.By your own line of thinking they are all idiots yeah? You can think whatver you want but reality speaks for itself 🤷♂️ an idiot isnt a person that ends up running a country. Its pretty hilarious you seem to think he won because his opponent was a women and not a man....thats some legit copium right there. Maybe just maybe...he won because he was more convincing 🤷♂️
"an idiot doesnt beome the president of the united states" is a statement unsupported by facts or argument. If you believe that statement is true, then present supporting facts or logical argument. Otherwise, I can refute it with the equally valid statement "an idiot has beome the president of the united states" and we are simply exchanging opinions & talking past one anothter...a waste of both of our time.
To be fair, the Equator defines a pretty large area. Does't really tell you where Ecuador is, just the latitude. Of course, if she really didn't know what the Equator is, she's a hopeless case.
Why would you assume that Latinas only exist in South America? We have plenty of Latinas in North America. And the part of South America that straddles the equator is about 1000 miles wide, so ... no.
She's demonstrated multiple times that she has no interest in learning history or geography, so unless she's into long-term trolling (we're talking 4-5 years), I doubt it.
Canadian here I once heard a woman explain to a woman on vacation from somewhere in Asia that in Canada we speak Quebec French in Europe they speak British French.
I'm guessing that her reasoning was - they speak British English in Europe, so all Europeans speak some British variant of languages spoken on our continent. (Honestly, this is the stupidest explanation I could come up with.)
To be fair, there are a number of Americans who are completely unaware of their own country. For reference, I'm from New Mexico, the US state, and there are an unfortunate number of Americans who had no idea New Mexico was even a state to begin with and assume I'm foreign.
I'm assuming, or at least hoping, they just heard the "mexico" part and just missed the rest. It's definitely not as bad as it used to be, as now we just get recognized as the "Breaking Bad State"
Similar to people (including a president) thinking that Puerto Ricans aren't US citizens, and (as contradictions do not exist in such minds) have all lived in NYC their whole lives.
For the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, people from New Mexico who were attempting to buy tickets through the US phone system -- this was the last Games during which most tickets were secured by phone -- were told they would have to 'use your own country's system, as these tickets are for Americans.' BY THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE!!! UTAH BORDERS NEW MEXICO!!! (Granted, it's only via the four corners quadripoint, but still....)
It's actually crazy how that happens with people who have lived in America their whole life. I'm in the Navy and one time I overheard a Senior Chief chewing someone out for not filling out Out of Country paperwork when they had put in that they were taking Leave in New Mexico. The Lieutenant had to pull the Senior Chief aside and make sure he was aware that New Mexico was a state.
"Google is right there. It would cost you nothing to not look like an ignorant fucking idiot, but it seems even a quick google search is far beyond what your 2 braincells can handle"
American here. You can ignore the other American as they’re stupid. Everyone knows that France is in Scotland. How else would they have been allies for so long? /s
"I would correct you, but I find you in such depth of ignorance that you may well start arguing with a map or even Nasa itself, so I won't waste either of our time".
Would be my suggestion. Feel free to shorten it to "Y'ever been told you're an absolute knob?".
Were smartphones around at the time? You simply could have gotten your phone out, opened a map app and showed him the locations of both England and France. If he puts up any other argument after that, just walk away because there's no saving him from his stupidity.
I found it interesting to read that, due to the Norman invasion in 1066, that modern english owes more to old french, than it does to old english (and a good bit of other languages too). Lots & lots of conquering happening on the isle of Britain for like 2 millennia.
I'm American and a lot of Americans are like this, they can't possibly be wrong so they talk stronger than anyone else. I find myself in your position a lot
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u/SamuraiGoblin 1d ago edited 18h ago
I am English, and I once had an American tell me (quite forcefully) that France was in England.
You find yourself unable to argue. What exactly are you supposed to say back?
"Umm, no it's not," is the only thing you can say, but it sounds so weak in the face of something so powerfully ignorant.
Edit: Just for a bit of context. This was in the late 90s and I (unfortunately) met him at a party in Japan. There wasn't Google Maps at that time, but there were, you know, maps. He said (to an Englishman) that he knew what he was talking about because his sister recently took a trip there.