• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

YouGov survey: British sarcasm 'lost on Americans'

fluffydelusions

fluffydelusions

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,456
Britons like to think they have a "special relationship" with the US, based on a common language and cultural, historical and political ties.

But, according to one of the UK's most respected polling companies, there's one chasm the English language can't always bridge - the British love of passive-aggressive statements.

In the words of YouGov, "half of Americans wouldn't be able to tell that a Briton is calling them an idiot".

YouGov showed a number of common British phrases, including "with the greatest respect", "I'll bear it in mind" and "you must come for dinner", to Britons and Americans.

"While not all the phrases show a difference in transatlantic understanding, there are some statements where many Yanks are in danger of missing the serious passive aggression we Brits employ," YouGov said.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46846467
 
Drensch

Drensch

Member
Oct 27, 2017
742
It's almost as if local slang is local and that there is more to language than just words.
 
DrewFu

DrewFu

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Apr 19, 2018
10,360
So some Americans don't know some British slang - who knew?
 
Last edited:
hydrophilic attack

hydrophilic attack

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,426
Sweden
i came into this thread fully prepared to make fun of americans for being idiots but then
YouGov showed a number of common British phrases, including "with the greatest respect", "I'll bear it in mind" and "you must come for dinner", to Britons and Americans.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
yeah i'd miss some of those too, lol and i'm a big fan of passive-aggressiveness and sarcasm
 
Jintor

Jintor

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,361
I've always heard the American South is kind of broadly similar where you say nice things but what you actually mean is "i'm going to murder you and eat your heart"
 
chromatic9

chromatic9

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,003
I've noticed in the last 15 years, Americans usage of sarcasm has grown enormously. It's become a thing on the internet and spread into normal life for a long time now, it's universal.

There was a time when they would mostly take anything you said as literal when there wasn't much contact between us. You could probably map out the progression from TV radio to early internet forums and podcasts where you'd get Americans misunderstanding and not even acknowledging an obvious sarcastic tone to where we are today.
 
Pooh

Pooh

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,849
The Hundred Acre Wood
Guess I'll just post what I said in the other thread:

----

I would imagine intonation has a lot to do with it-- I mean it seems weird to say "here's some text, is the person outright lying to you or not?" But hearing the intonation can change a lot of the meaning.

It's also cultural to certain locations. In LA for instance "we should get lunch sometime" means "it was nice seeing you briefly but I wouldn't be too bothered if we never crossed paths again"

That said Americans being exceedingly "direct" is both a blessing and a curse I suppose


Jintor said:
I've always heard the American South is kind of broadly similar where you say nice things but what you actually mean is "i'm going to murder you and eat your heart"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah that's kind of the secret about "southern hospitality"
For instance "Bless your heart" -> "You are an absolute fool"
 
Firefoxprime

Firefoxprime

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
520
Yup. America's comedic chops have grown considerably over the last decade as one previous poster has stated.

After 9/11, the "war" in Iraq, and the recession (basically the 2000's)....the country really became skeptical, pessimistic, and jaded. It's a perfect receipe for sarcasm.

If you're born from Caribbean parents (like me) or grew up in a city (nyc for example), then sarcasm is a very very very familiar aspect of your upbringing.

Especially if your parents nation was linked to the UK (Jamaica).
 
Jedeye Sniv

Jedeye Sniv

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,327
The funny thing about the relationship between the UK and US is that we in the UK can understand pretty much everything an American is saying. Idioms, context etc. But Americans get so lost between turns of phrase and accents and general awareness of another culture beyond the broadest stereotypes.
 
.exe

.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,205
351.gif
 
Alucrid

Alucrid

Chicken Photographer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,404
it's really too bad that the best of english witticism, piers morgan, had to move back to britain
 
Shyotl

Shyotl

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,272
British humor/sarcasm is boring.

That's all there is to it, really (as an American).
 
Dalek

Dalek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,878
What a bizarre article.

"We showed these foreigners some of our inside jokes and they didn't know any of them!!"
 
RestEerie

RestEerie

Banned
Aug 20, 2018
13,618
Brit: Mate
Yankee: Dude

Brit: Bollocks
Yankee: Bullshit

Brit: Chips
Yankee: Fries

Brit: Muppet
Yankee: Idiot

Brit: Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
Yankee: Fuck that game last night!

Brit: Football
Yankee: Soccer

Brit: God save the queen!
Yankee: Fuck Trump!

:P
 
Colonel Getafe

Colonel Getafe

Banned
Nov 20, 2017
793
I quite like talking to Americans. Makes me feel like a celebrity. Amazingly they're bang into the Geordie accent too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.