who says americans dont have a sense of irony?

giftgrub

had to laugh when i saw this

the governor of new jersey... democrat james mcgreevy, who in the last year publicly stated he was against gay marraiges.....comes out of the closet!

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040813_471.html

dublinario

All joking aside, I think Americans are probably the least funny people on Earth, and Irony does indeed go way, way over their heads. I spent a year away travelling, and everytime I had to socialise with an American I was reduced to tears of boredom. They are prolix without actually saying anything. They are content to just spew politically correct, banal, contrived nonsense for hours on end. And if you try to lighten the mood by cracking a joke, if said joke has even a hint of sarcasm or irony, get read to have to explain it to Senor Yank. And we all know how jokes tend to lose a little bit of the funnyness in the explanation.

And just in case any Canadian is reading this thinking 'go on mate, give em hell', you guys are probably the second least funny people on Earth. You are almost carbon copies of the yanks, just without the same fetish for guns and breaking into chants of 'U.S.A' at the drop of a hat.

MadsL

dublinario wrote:

All joking aside, I think Americans are probably the least funny people on Earth, and Irony does indeed go way, way over their heads. I spent a year away travelling, and everytime I had to socialise with an American I was reduced to tears of boredom. They are prolix without actually saying anything. They are content to just spew politically correct, banal, contrived nonsense for hours on end. And if you try to lighten the mood by cracking a joke, if said joke has even a hint of sarcasm or irony, get read to have to explain it to Senor Yank. And we all know how jokes tend to lose a little bit of the funnyness in the explanation.

And just in case any Canadian is reading this thinking 'go on mate, give em hell', you guys are probably the second least funny people on Earth. You are almost carbon copies of the yanks, just without the same fetish for guns and breaking into chants of 'U.S.A' at the drop of a hat.

:rolleyes: the least funny people on Earth...Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby....need I go on.

Of course the Irish are all bogtrotting cute hoors with no sense of decency or moral turpitude...

Why I am dignifying this post with an answer beats me, but crawl back in your hole, bogboy.

dublinario

dublinario wrote:

All joking aside, I think Americans are probably the least funny people on Earth, and Irony does indeed go way, way over their heads. I spent a year away travelling, and everytime I had to socialise with an American I was reduced to tears of boredom. They are prolix without actually saying anything. They are content to just spew politically correct, banal, contrived nonsense for hours on end. And if you try to lighten the mood by cracking a joke, if said joke has even a hint of sarcasm or irony, get read to have to explain it to Senor Yank. And we all know how jokes tend to lose a little bit of the funnyness in the explanation.

And just in case any Canadian is reading this thinking 'go on mate, give em hell', you guys are probably the second least funny people on Earth. You are almost carbon copies of the yanks, just without the same fetish for guns and breaking into chants of 'U.S.A' at the drop of a hat.

There are of course exceptions to the rule, but overall I'd agree with you, on both counts

dublinario

MadsL wrote:

:rolleyes: the least funny people on Earth...Bill Hicks, Robin Williams, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby....need I go on.

Of course the Irish are all bogtrotting cute hoors with no sense of decency or moral turpitude...

Why I am dignifying this post with an answer beats me, but crawl back in your hole, bogboy.

Jesus MadsL, there are 250 million Americans. They are obviously going to produce a few comedians along the way. Are you suggesting that the existence of a band of professional comedians absolves the general population from their obligation not to bore anybody in their presence to the point of suicide? So if one of the 249.9 million odd boring Americans happen to be in the company of a non-American, do they compensate for their total and utter lack of humour by handing out DVD's of Robin Williams, Woody Allen et al?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

that's interesting, because most of the americans I know are smart, very intelligent, well informed (politically, geographically, socially), and generally "better people" all round than any pint skulling, bog brained thick as ****e irish man I know.

all this anti american nonsense is really getting a bit old, how on earth do you think you can judge an entire nation on the few people you have met. idiocy.

Armen Tanzerian

Having lived in the States for quite a while now I don't find that stereotype to be completely true. True, a certain percentage of the population goes for very bland humour but America is the home of ironic humour. The Simpsons, Family Guy, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry Sanders prove just that. You say you met so many bland Americans, I have to say sometimes they can be a refreshing change from a certain type of Irish person who is supposed to be a 'gas character' but is in reality a crushing bore.

keu

all this anti american nonsense is really getting a bit old, how on earth do you think you can judge an entire nation on the few people you have met. idiocy.

www.yahoo.com

MadsL

Perhaps if you weren't such an ignorant bigot yourself you might be able to have some interesting conversations with people without judging them first by their nationality. It takes two to make a interesting conversation - from the intelligence you have shown in that post, I wouldn't be making any effort to entertain you. The Americans you met probably thought you were a dumb idiot anyway, and were just waiting for you to go away.

Just how much time have you spent in America anyway? Or have you formed this opinion by watching TV. :rolleyes:

And can you name one world-class Irish comedian.

dublinario

Mordeth wrote:

that's interesting, because most of the americans I know are smart, very intelligent, well informed (politically, geographically, socially), and generally "better people" all round than any pint skulling, bog brained thick as ****e irish man I know.

all this anti american nonsense is really getting a bit old, how on earth do you think you can judge an entire nation on the few people you have met. idiocy.

Mordeth, I'm genuinely not being unduly anti-American, insomuch as this really is my opinion, based upon meeting a considerable amount of Americans. I'm interested to see if other people find Americans as boring as I do, which is the reason for my posting. I have no particular agenda, or prejudice against Americans. My opinion is genuinely based upon the many times I have had to endure the trauma that is sharing a conversation with an American.

You may also notice that I haven't risen to the bait of yours and other posts in relation to your rebuttal stereotypical slurs against the Irish. This is because I am perfectly secure in my belief that Irish people are the funnest, and funniest people in the world, closely followed by English and Scottish people. We are perceived as great fun the world over, and it is deserved. You may call this arrogance, but I don't feel that it is.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

tommy tiernan...

bertie ahern

(edit)

the funnest people?

the irish are a nation of alcaholics, we're not fun.. you go to any irish social event and there's beer there, nothing happens without the irish being intoxicated. we are not fun, we're addicts.

Meh

dublinario wrote:

All joking aside, I think Americans are probably the least funny people on Earth, and Irony does indeed go way, way over their heads. I spent a year away travelling, and everytime I had to socialise with an American I was reduced to tears of boredom. They are prolix without actually saying anything. They are content to just spew politically correct, banal, contrived nonsense for hours on end. And if you try to lighten the mood by cracking a joke, if said joke has even a hint of sarcasm or irony, get read to have to explain it to Senor Yank. And we all know how jokes tend to lose a little bit of the funnyness in the explanation.

You know, there's a word for people who ascribe negative characteristics to an entire nationality or ethnic group. And it's not a very nice word, either.

MadsL

dublinario wrote:

This is because I am perfectly secure in my belief that Irish people are the funnest, and funniest people in the world, closely followed by English and Scottish people. We are perceived as great fun the world over, and it is deserved. You may call this arrogance, but I don't feel that it is.

errr...Hate to burst your bubble, but....

The Irish are often perceived as stupid, feckless and often drunk. Oh, and aggressive. (and terrorists)

Now I know that is not true, but don't be telling me that the Irish have this wonderful world-wide reputation.

keu

awww...sure I love Americans, I just can't stand the way they have no respect for any other country on the planet. (half of them don't know where Ireland is)

"The Irish are often perceived as stupid, feckless and often drunk. Oh, and aggressive. (and terrorists)"
Is it true?
The Americans who do know where Ireland is have that stereotypical perception of Irish people, therefore, in the vein of good stereotyping, Americans are arrogant, fat stupid trigger happy people.

MadsL

keu wrote:

awww...sure I love Americans, I just can't stand the way they have no respect for any other country on the planet. (half of them don't know where Ireland is)

"The Irish are often perceived as stupid, feckless and often drunk. Oh, and aggressive. (and terrorists)"
Is it true?
The Americans who do know where Ireland is have that stereotypical perception of Irish people, therefore, in the vein of good stereotyping, Americans are arrogant, fat stupid trigger happy people.

No, it is just that half of them just don't care....

Armen Tanzerian

dublinario wrote:

I am perfectly secure in my belief that Irish people are the funnest, and funniest people in the world, closely followed by English and Scottish people. We are perceived as great fun the world over, and it is deserved. You may call this arrogance, but I don't feel that it is.

Irish people are far from the funnest people in the world, although many Irish seem to share your belief (a trait shared by a lot of Aussies. Is it a post-colonial thing?). Can you imagine a Rio type carnival in Ireland? The world is full of cultures that know the real meaning of fun and to most of them it doesn't mean sitting in polish-shined Oirish bars drinking over-priced slop, talking (or roaring) at ignorantly high levels and having the mobile out in front of you, as your text from another friend is more important than having a conversation with the friend that is actually there in your company. Irish people have a unique sense of humour and I personally hang around with nothing but Irish people (almost exclusively from the west to narrow it down even further). SOME Irish people are the best company in the world. Judging by the ignorance displayed in your post I doubt that you would count as such.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

MadsL wrote:

No, it is just that half of them just don't care....

in fairness... why should they?

how many pissant countries are there all over the world that they have to pay attention to?

swiss

The next off topic post will earn the poster a ban.

LegacyUser

Mordeth wrote:

the irish are a nation of alcaholics,

could you please appologise and withdraw this blatantly racist comment

MadsL

bananayoghurt wrote:

could you please appologise and withdraw this blatantly racist comment

And they say Americans have no sense of irony... :rolleyes:

Sand

Im going to go totally crazy here and be the first person on this thread to make an on topic reply, just so you have an example to follow. Ready? Here we go:

From the poster

the governor of new jersey... democrat james mcgreevy, who in the last year publicly stated he was against gay marraiges.....comes out of the closet!

From the article?

A former altar boy, he proudly discussed his Roman Catholic faith but publicly disagreed with church leaders over his support for abortion rights and same-sex partnerships. He pushed for the state's domestic-partnership law, which went into effect this year.

Wheres the irony? Irony would be if he was against same sex partnerships, and yet gay? Hes apparently pushed laws through that support same sex partnerships - Ive not read the laws, Im just guessing from the articles summary of his position?

Its great we Irish have such a great sense of irony that we can find it even when its not present in any detectable form?

adjodlo

Mordeth wrote:

tommy tiernan...

bertie ahern

(edit)

the funnest people?

the irish are a nation of alcaholics, we're not fun.. you go to any irish social event and there's beer there, nothing happens without the irish being intoxicated. we are not fun, we're addicts.

Bravo!

Hobbes

bananayoghurt wrote:

could you please appologise and withdraw this blatantly racist comment

Yea the comment was well out of order, he should of said wife beating drunks.

giftgrub

beginning to wish i hadnt posted this.....

mrhappy42

Remember Alanis Morissette on the album 'jagged little pill'...she had a song 'Ironic'...not a single one of the lyrics had any irony...I take that as good proof that Americans dont understand irony

Armen Tanzerian

mrhappy42 wrote:

Remember Alanis Morissette on the album 'jagged little pill'...she had a song 'Ironic'...not a single one of the lyrics had any irony...I take that as good proof that Americans dont understand irony

Except she's Canadian.

keu

Except she's Canadian.
thats ironic


oh and I love you too.

stereo_steve

I'm living in the stats at the moment and I'd just like to share to experiences that I'm witnessed here.

1. My friend is working in bike rental shop. People must leave their passport or credit card as a deposite for the bikes, except Americans who can only leave their credit card. Why is this? Because loads of Americans were keeping the bikes because to them it is more valuable than a passport!
Anyway one day a lady was renting a bike and she was asked to fill out a form beforehand. One of the questions was, "How did you here of us?" . She reads in a thick yank accent, "How did I hear of US" and writes citizen. No joke!

2. We were a pub and an american sat down with us. One of the girls pretended that her friend was german and that she would have to translate what he was saying. So my friend starts goin "ya ya bla ya etc" Obviously the girl who was pretending to be German burst out laughing. The American says, " What did you say about me?"


While I have met some great Americans here, I really think that the majority of them just have no cop on. They may be intelligent in what they have learned but general cop on, humour and irony are lost on alot of them.

Also the Americans that people have met here or in countries other than the US are the good Americans. Only something like 30% of them have passports. The ones that leave America are the ones that are interested in the world and whats around them.

Armen Tanzerian

stereo_steve wrote:

2. We were a pub and an american sat down with us. One of the girls pretended that her friend was german and that she would have to translate what he was saying. So my friend starts goin "ya ya bla ya etc" Obviously the girl who was pretending to be German burst out laughing. The American says, " What did you say about me?"

No offsense but I think this story says more about your mates than it does Americans.

keu

in all fairness and on topic, I don't think the issue is exlusivley an American one.

Off topic, with Americans, it's their way of the highway and George Bush is the concrete symbol of such a mentality.
(images of the infamous G.Bush interview come to mind)
the rest of us inferior beings should bow and honour the supremecy of this nation under the righteousness of God and his holiness the President of the United States of America.

(americans would call that jealousy)

Armen Tanzerian

keu, talk about generalising the attitude of an entire population. Americans with that mentality make up maybe 20% of the population. Say 10% of Irish people (may be an exaggeration, but not much) would have preferred the Catholic child-abuse scandal had not come to light because it has damaged the Church's name. Are Americans free to call all Irish paedo protectors?

keu

just my experience armen.
But if I were being honest ( and not feeding the stereotype) I usually take people as I find them.
People tend to generalise when talking about the collective.

keu

"Say 10% of Irish people (may be an exaggeration, but not much) would have preferred the Catholic child-abuse scandal had not come to light because it has damaged the Church's name."
If those ten percent were priests I might agree.
"Are Americans free to call all Irish paedo protectors?"
why not...it would be enough of an incentive to declare war on a backwardly religious country under the dictatorship of the church, and after they liberated us we could worship them as our saviours.

gs39t

Ireland, America - two TOTALLY different cultures. In my opinion, its the irish ourselves who are narrow minded, dull, un-interesting alcoholics. Americans may have a different sense of humour and such, but you would swear 99% of irish people are all the exact same. Every male 18-25 is the same, same goes for every other age bracket - being unique and different than the norm is frowned upon in this country :rolleyes:

Youll find a lot more diversity in american culture, the stereotypes dont hold true from person to person as much as they do here.

keu

"its the irish ourselves who are narrow minded, dull, un-interesting alcoholics."
just as well really, otherwise we might take over the world.

dahamsta

Mordeth wrote:

pint skulling, bog brained thick as ****e irish man

all this anti american nonsense is really getting a bit old

Irony rocks.

elivsvonchiaing

Armen Tanzerian wrote:

Are Americans free to call all Irish paedo protectors?

Since the Arch-Diocese of just about everywhere in the US that Catholics are to be found in large numbers is filing for bankrupcy due to this. I would not think so.

Back to topic: I've met maybe 200 Americans in my time, maybe 50 on US soil. Of this I really don't think more than 10 really understood irony or had an unfettered sense of humour - but these belonged to the other 150. The rest can't find certain things funny because they are too christian, patriotic or politically correct because they are fettered by these things. Of this 200 only 1 strikes me as a free-thinking American, with a sense of humour. I worked with the guy so I can state this is as fact. The 10 others I worked with and knew well I cannot say the same - reckon only 3 belong to the 10.

MadsL

Oh look, an entire academic course devoted to irony in American Literature.

http://www.englit.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergrd/honours/4year/2004-2005/kh4spr.htm

Oh the Irony...

not to mention the old chestnuts and sawhorses...

shotamoose

Sand wrote:

Its great we Irish have such a great sense of irony that we can find it even when its not present in any detectable form?

Indeed. I'm not even sure the first post makes any sense. I find it slightly annoying when people accuse politicians of doing one thing and saying another, when it really isn't relevant what they do out of public life. There's not necessarily any contradiction between McGreevey's sexuality and his policy on marriage.

keu

I just think it was an appropriate time for the monthly anti-american vent.
All that love floating round the boards was making people feel dizzy, we needed some of that begrudging Irish perspective for balance.

MadsL

"All that love floating round the boards was making people feel dizzy, we needed some of that begrudging Irish perspective for balance."

...and some ketchup for the chip on the shoulder...

Raskolnikov

It's remarkable that having DVD players and dishwashers all of a sudden makes us superior and enlightened on all these important matters . . .

swiss

http://members.boards.ie/swiss/notclever.jpg

bananayoghurt picks up a ban for being the next poster who went off topic. However he wasn't the only one. Perhaps it was partially my fault for not being more clear. The thread discussed the outing of a democratic senator after his outspoken opposition to gay marraige, and the irony that presented. It was not so that people could post inflammatory rhetoric about different cultures.

Thread locked.