Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 12:38:29 PM

Login with username, password and session length

"And here we see the mysterious hooligan in his natural state"

Started by The Fanciful Norwegian, November 23, 2004, 05:54:38 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

The Fanciful Norwegian

W

T

F


QuoteThe typical Briton is polite, witty and phlegmatic, but lacks a certain style and has a dental hygiene issue while having an occasional drinking problem.

Mr Flunchy



Pinball

What's a typical Briton anyway? Does a typical Briton have a penis or vagina? Or white or brown skin? Generalisation can be ridiculous sometimes. Like saying the typical American is a gun-toting fat fascist, ignorant of other countries. Shurely not? ;-)

dan p

I saw a pre-US election conversation on another board that quickly turned into a US vs UK slanging match. Dental hygiene and National Health seemed to be the US's two recurring themes when attempting to insult the Brits (even The Simpsons does it).

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Cue "Thosch Crazchy Dutch Baschtards!" from Clarkson.

If you want a proper insight into another culture- go there. Or if you can't afford that, wait until the appropriate show on BBC Learning Zone. Otherwise, shut up.

thisissi

Quote from: "dan p"I saw a pre-US election conversation on another board that quickly turned into a US vs UK slanging match. Dental hygiene and National Health seemed to be the US's two recurring themes when attempting to insult the Brits (even The Simpsons does it).

What's insulting about the NHS?  The fact that we have one, and they only allow the rich winners to survive, whilst the poor weak losers perish?

Jemble Fred

Quote from: "thisissi"
Quote from: "dan p"I saw a pre-US election conversation on another board that quickly turned into a US vs UK slanging match. Dental hygiene and National Health seemed to be the US's two recurring themes when attempting to insult the Brits (even The Simpsons does it).

What's insulting about the NHS?  The fact that we have one, and they only allow the rich winners to survive, whilst the poor weak losers perish?

In The Simpsons, Homer says that the British have a better Health Service than the US.

Ambient Sheep

Quote from: "thisissi"What's insulting about the NHS?  The fact that we have one, and they only allow the rich winners to survive, whilst the poor weak losers perish?
Yes.  It's dangerously communist, y'see.

Quite honestly though, that's how some right-wing Americans see it.  However most/all of the Americans I know think it's a wonderful idea.

Smackhead Kangaroo

I'm more interested in the side story that half of all Britons lose things when they're in a hurry

El Unicornio, mang

I think it comes from the fact that they have it in Canada and they've had all sorts of problems with it. I'm not sure what exactly.
Americans do seem to assume that our hospitals are all grotty old shitholes with no decent equipment or staff, though. Same with our dental.

Still, given that I was recently given a bill for $1,800 for dental work, I'm going to say that the UK system is better.

The Fanciful Norwegian

The Canadian system doesn't allow private clinics to offer any service covered under the government plan, so the private health sector is basically nonexistent. That's probably the biggest difference. But there's absolutely no reason an American NHS would go that far (there is no American equivalent of the NDP), so those who point to the Canadian system as a reason a national health service could never work in America are basically full of shit.

Neil

Quote from: "Ambient Sheep"
Quote from: "thisissi"What's insulting about the NHS?  The fact that we have one, and they only allow the rich winners to survive, whilst the poor weak losers perish?
Yes.  It's dangerously communist, y'see.

Quite honestly though, that's how some right-wing Americans see it.  However most/all of the Americans I know think it's a wonderful idea.

I seem to remember this being covered in the fabulous "Rich Hall's Election Special" (which should be on uknova, download it do).  There were a few people in the bar chatting about the possibility of American having such a system, and the only guy who oppsosed it was the dick-brained right-winger.  He started whining on about not wanting to pay good money to look after other (sick) people.

PyramidHead

Quote from: "Neil"There were a few people in the bar chatting about the possibility of American having such a system, and the only guy who oppsosed it was the dick-brained right-winger.  He started whining on about not wanting to pay good money to look after other (sick) people.

I don't think you'd have to look that far to find the same views in the UK though, would you?

If the NHS didn't already exist, I doubt that it could be created here and now, except maybe in an extremely limited form.

Mildly Diverting

Quote from: "The Unicorn"Still, given that I was recently given a bill for $1,800 for dental work, I'm going to say that the UK system is better.

If you can find the one dentist in the UK accepting NHS patients, yes, I suppose it is.

Pinball

So, um, what's the evidence that Britons have worse teeth than Americans? Given that many millions of Americans have no health insurance and, no doubt, couldn't afford a dentist (who are far more expensive than the largely-non-NHS dentists here), plus the fact that the US has a fast food/fizzy drink issue, surely it's probable that their teeth are worse than ours? Or do they believe that US TV offers a fair reflection of reality, with all the bleached tooth augmented pretty people?

More broadly, many Americans still think Britain is "a socialist fucking nightmare", to paraphrase Bill Hicks's "orange drink" tirade, and you can understand that to a degree. Certainly, culture as expressed in movies doesn't help us, as in American Werewolf in London where the yanks comment on the UK just having 3 TV channels. Also, UK soap operas and other output often concentrates on seediness and the working class, whereas US TV concentrates on rich people and glamorisation. So the resultant perceptions are sorta unsurprising.

PyramidHead

Quote from: "Pinball"So, um, what's the evidence that Britons have worse teeth than Americans? Given that many millions of Americans have no health insurance and, no doubt, couldn't afford a dentist (who are far more expensive than the largely-non-NHS dentists here), plus the fact that the US has a fast food/fizzy drink issue, surely it's probable that their teeth are worse than ours?

Well, it's really about the cosmetic appearance of the teeth isn't it?

We consider functional, clean teeth to be OK, while Americans think teeth are faulty if they're not in perfect alignment and bright white.

A quick Google search for "British Teeth" reveals this:
http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/wonmedders.htm

Quote from: "That website, there"Americans have long wondered why our English friends have such horrible teeth. Even the likes of Tony Blair and Prince Charles have choppers worthy of a Detroit crack addict or San Francisco vagrant.

So I guess that answers your question, Pinball... Yes, poor Americans have British Teeth™.

Edit to add, this link may also be of interest: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=563003&lastnode_id=124

Quote from: "An American college booklet for international students""Americans have a saying, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Most Americans are very conscious of body odors and may seem fanatic about taking showers, brushing their teeth, washing their hair, and using many types of toiletries - such as deodorant, perfume and after-shave lotion - in excess. Most Americans shower, use deodorant, and change clothes daily. Americans are also very particular about the cleanliness of their homes, especially the bathroom

I guess the "shiny white teeth thing" is connected to that, too.

zozman

Crikey! I have a shower every day, use deoderant and change my clothes - please tell me that doesn't make me American?  Do they really believe everyone else in the world stinks? (don't answer that.)

Again, this all-pervasive generalisation is proven to be a big pile of shite.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote"Americans have a saying, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Most Americans are very conscious of body odors and may seem fanatic about taking showers, brushing their teeth, washing their hair, and using many types of toiletries - such as deodorant, perfume and after-shave lotion - in excess. Most Americans shower, use deodorant, and change clothes daily. Americans are also very particular about the cleanliness of their homes, especially the bathroom

Wow. Is that quote the most unintentionally patronising passage of text ever constructed? Could be!

I very much doubt that Americans in general have significantly better standards of hygeine than most other countries. Though I'm sure it helps to point out to poor-African students the hygeine advantage of changing clothes everyday, and taking showers everyday. It's not because they don't have enough clothes or washing facilities to enable them to do that- it's because they're deliberately smelly and horrible.

I love brochures and travel guides about places- particularly when they start describing what the people are like.
"The residents of Paris may seem brisque, aloof, and impolite. But most are helpful, considerate and understanding- particularly when they've just scoffed down a bagel, which they do."

Neil

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"Though I'm sure it helps to point out to poor-African students the hygeine advantage of changing clothes everyday, and taking showers everyday. It's not because they don't have enough clothes or washing facilities to enable them to do that- it's because they're deliberately smelly and horrible.

What the fuck?!?

QuoteI love brochures and travel guides about places- particularly when they start describing what the people are like.
"The residents of Paris may seem brisque, aloof, and impolite. But most are helpful, considerate and understanding- particularly when they've just scoffed down a bagel, which they do."

"If you want a proper insight into another culture- go there. Or if you can't afford that, wait until the appropriate show on BBC Learning Zone. Otherwise, shut up."

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteWhat the fuck?!?

The quote was taken from 'An American college booklet for international students'. I was being sarcastic (because I'm sure any international student would find that very patronising).


Quote"If you want a proper insight into another culture- go there. Or if you can't afford that, wait until the appropriate show on BBC Learning Zone. Otherwise, shut up."

Well precisely. What point are you trying to make?

The Fanciful Norwegian

Regarding the teeth thing, one difference between the U.S. and the UK is that we (Americans) fluoridate our water. There's a lot of debate on whether that does more harm than good (fluoride in large doses has been linked to Alzheimer's, fetal damage, hypothyroidism) and then there are the General Ripper types who claim it's all just a plot to sterilize our population and whither our genitals. It's generally conceded that fluoridation will at the very least cut the risk of cavities, but most of Western Europe doesn't fluoridate their water either and there's no American stereotype about Europeans having bad teeth. One story I've heard is that British teeth are so uniquely horrible because orthodontic treatment didn't take off in the UK until fairly recently -- at least, that's what a Google search turns up. It also turns up a lot of nutjobs claiming that British dental hygiene proves the failure of socialized medicine, not bothering to note that orthodontic care is heavily rationed under the NHS. (In other words, the problem isn't that the government provides dental care, it's that the government doesn't provide enough.)

slim

Quote from: "The Fanciful Norwegian"Regarding the teeth thing, one difference between the U.S. and the UK is that we (Americans) fluoridate our water.
I thought England had fluoridated water too.

falafel


Beagle 2

Yeah we definitely do, have done for years.

QuoteBritish teeth are so uniquely horrible

They're no more so than any other country I'm sure, it's just a tedious stereotype. The royal family/Keith Richards don't equal Britons.

The Fanciful Norwegian

Quote from: "Beagle 2"Yeah we definitely do, have done for years.

Oops :((((((

Quote
QuoteBritish teeth are so uniquely horrible

They're no more so than any other country I'm sure, it's just a tedious stereotype. The royal family/Keith Richards don't equal Britons.

Fair enough, but the impression I get even from reading British sources is that dental hygiene in Britain does lag somewhat behind general Western standards. "Uniquely horrible" was almost definitely over-the-top -- I'm sure they're not uniquely horrible compared to, say, India -- and I am somewhat leery of such testimony, since much of it seems to come from dentists and dental socieities, i.e. people who have a financial stake in convincing Britons that they don't take enough care with their teeth. That and the fact that, if it really is an issue with orthodontics, that's not something you could really objectively measure -- you can probably come up with a fairly good reading of the number of cavities per capita a particular country might have, but coming up with a figure for how many people have "misaligned teeth" or something similar is going to be trickier, since you're going to have to come to a consensus on what constitutes "misaligned."

fanny splendid

I don't think it's a question of bad teeth, though. It's just that they don't look perfect. They might not be perfectly white, or straight, or of even size.

This is changing now. As more people opt for private dental care, they are choosing to go after an adopted ideal of what good teeth should look like. Just like in the US. I find it amusing that all of these perfectly toothed American, and now British, adults are giving birth to snaggle toothed babies. Their money has no effect on inherited genes, yet.

people, people, people.

the fact is, if  you have bad teeth in america, the chances of you getting on the television are remarkably lesser than in britian.

thank your god things are slightly behind in britian on the whole totalitarian consumerist hell-hole front.

shane mcgowan would not have his photo taken so regularly if he was not so endowed with talent.

i gaurantee America has more plaque per capita than most of europe. that's not based on any actual fact but surely you can't let that take away from the strenght of the argument.

i say fuck the pearly bastards. shallow, fickle, bad breath and towel head fearing plookers.

but let them have something to sneer others about. it's good for moral.