Silly questions asked by yanks

Joe10000 · 12-05-2011 07:57AM

On a gaming site chat window

Where you from ?
Dublin,Ireland
Wow cool you must have loads of Irish bars there right ?

smegmar · 12-05-2011 09:21AM

While in America I was having a meal with some Americans in a restaurant, some generally misinformed statements and points of ignorance but then this happened.

"So....eh....do you guys.....<.< ...>> {looks around cautiously and lowers her head a little} .....do you guys have black people in Ireland?"

"eh yea we do."

{looks around again, and waits for the white waitress to get a little further away}
"But you guys didn't have slavery so...what are they doing there??"

"0_0.........eh living and working and being nice people."

it took a while to explain we have some black tourist, black immigrants and a little black culture here in Ireland.

Colonel_McCoy · 12-05-2011 09:26AM

on J1 in 2002

during work I was asked.........."do ye guys have cds in Ireland?"

Funglegunk · 12-05-2011 09:28AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Not everyone can tell an accent.. I can barely tell the difference between Canadians and Australians unless I really try. And maybe she just didn't care and was just making conversation.

Odd way to make conversation. Can you really not tell the difference between a Canadian and Austrailian accent?

giftgrub · 12-05-2011 09:31AM

I was asked if Ireland was near Amsterdam...

oompaloompa · 12-05-2011 09:32AM

American in hotel having their breakfast....

Them: Excuse me maaaam, this soda bread really isn't what I expected, could I get something else
Her: Emmmm Sir, that's a weetabix, you're supposed to put milk on it... it's not soda bread! :eek:

American client on phone:

I love Iyreland....my daughter and I would love to go there and tour the country on horseback :rolleyes: (and she did mean the whole country!)

Frank Black · 12-05-2011 09:32AM

I was in America when 13 visiting relatives, my cousin’s friends asked me if we had “central heating and stuff” in Ireland.
Now I know this was pre the whole Celtic Tiger – but central heating? – they were being quite serious btw.

krudler · 12-05-2011 09:38AM

I was over there back in October and was at the hotel pool chatting to one of the lads in our tour group, American history came up and there was two American guys who were absolutely flabbergasted we knew stuff about Gettysburg, Patton, America's involvement in WW2 and some other stuff thats kinda basic knowledge if you've ever done history. I had to laugh as we told them how hard it was to get a visa to live in the states and they said they'd much rather have people like us living there than all the Mexicans corssing the border (we were near the border at the time) as "at least you know English and probably know more about our history than we do!" We were like "isnt this stuff taught in schools? we learn about this as kids" and they couldnt believe it.

Big Nasty · 12-05-2011 09:50AM

giftgrub wrote: »

I was asked if Ireland was near Amsterdam...

Dublin > Amsterdam = 560 miles

LA > NY = 2800 miles

It's a matter of scale

sensibleken · 12-05-2011 10:21AM

Usually these 'stupid things sadi by americans' are completely made up. I cant waut until people start repeating the same stories as personal experiences

up for anything · 12-05-2011 10:23AM

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

and for the life of me I don't know the capital of Arkansas or even where in the US that state is.

Neither do a lot of Americans.

TheAnswer · 12-05-2011 10:23AM

I overheard two Americans outside Bruxelles ask "why have they got a statue of Michael Jackson here?"

Jesus Wept · 12-05-2011 10:24AM

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

When working in a hotel I was asked by an Irish woman: "Could you unlock the door to my room. My husband usually does it and I don't know how to".

Ignorance is universal, not just limited to Americans. For instance, how well do you know the geography of North America or Africa?

I wouldn't mistake it for Russia.

tippniall · 12-05-2011 10:28AM

Was asked once if I had ever seen a leprechaun, would like to think they were only joking but not so sure!

sbsquarepants · 12-05-2011 10:31AM

giftgrub wrote: »

I was asked if Ireland was near Amsterdam...

In the american scheme of things it is!

Once i was waiting for pints at the bar, watching the rugby on the telly when an american woman probably about 40 or so taps me on the shoulder and asks why the players weren't wearing pads and helmets. I told her this was rugby, not american football - she had never heard of it!

dancingqueen · 12-05-2011 10:34AM

I used to work in Cashel, Co Tipperary for the summers when I was in my late teens.

I was stopped one day, under a brown signpost stating "The Rock of Cashel" pointing you in it's direction.... now, if you are this close to it, you can't miss it. It's a big mountain of rock! A nice elderly American couple, complete with green anoraks and massive cameras and fannypacks. The man asked me
"Could you tell me where to find the Rock of Ca-shell" I proceeded in pointing and explaining that it was in fact, the huge mountain of tourist attraction he could see before him, 100m away in fact.

He looked at his wife and her at him.. they had been up there, and they thought it was just another Irish ruin, and that the "rock" was some sort of mystical, magical, rock in a box with neon lights.

Americans!

stovelid · 12-05-2011 10:34AM

Anybody would think the holiday resorts of Europe are teeming with Irish intellectuals or that no Irish person has ever made a grand tit of themselves in America.

dancingqueen · 12-05-2011 10:37AM

tippniall wrote: »

Was asked once if I had ever seen a leprechaun, would like to think they were only joking but not so sure!

Some believe they are real.
One couple I met where I used to work years ago asked a colleague of mine abuot them, and she had this made up story to tell them about mole holes and leprechauns living in them and only coming out at night. She warned them not to go into unknown fields after dark, because it was like the Bermuda Triangle, and they would never escape.

That was hilarious.

krudler · 12-05-2011 10:39AM

dancingqueen wrote: »

Some believe they are real.
One couple I met where I used to work years ago asked a colleague of mine abuot them, and she had this made up story to tell them about mole holes and leprechauns living in them and only coming out at night. She warned them not to go into unknown fields after dark, because it was like the Bermuda Triangle, and they would never escape.

That was hilarious.

If anyone asks if I've ever seen a leprechaun I just laugh and say of course not, they went extinct years ago :pac:

Elba101 · 12-05-2011 10:47AM

dancingqueen wrote: »

Some believe they are real.
One couple I met where I used to work years ago asked a colleague of mine abuot them, and she had this made up story to tell them about mole holes and leprechauns living in them and only coming out at night. She warned them not to go into unknown fields after dark, because it was like the Bermuda Triangle, and they would never escape.

That was hilarious.

I told a British girl that leprechauns were real. Went on about it for a good 10 minutes minutes making more elaborate lies up with each question she asked. It ain't just yanks!!

However, years ago my gran came over from the states and we all went up north for the day. Her comment: "There sure are a lot of people named Ira around here"

pickarooney · 12-05-2011 10:50AM

dancingqueen wrote: »

Some believe they are real.
One couple I met where I used to work years ago asked a colleague of mine abuot them, and she had this made up story to tell them about mole holes and leprechauns living in them and only coming out at night. She warned them not to go into unknown fields after dark, because it was like the Bermuda Triangle, and they would never escape.

That was hilarious.

Fun fact: there are an exactly equal number of moles and leprechauns in Ireland.

watna · 12-05-2011 11:01AM

Funglegunk wrote: »

"Are you guys Irish?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever been there?"

"Uhhh, yes."

I know America is a cultural melting pot and American-Irish often refer to themselves as just Irish, but we'd already been talking to this one for ten minutes. The accents should have tipped her off no?

I've been asked if I'm Irish, followed by "how many generations ago". Cue me explaining that I was ACTUALLY Irish.

A woman also told me her husband was from Cork, and then followed up with "but he's never been there". How does that even make sense?

"My husband's side of the family is originally from Cork" maybe, but just telling me he is from Cork - bizarre.

NoDice · 12-05-2011 11:01AM

When I was working in a bar in the city, we'd often get a few Americans in as it's close to a lot of hostels. They'd always ask for a guinness to try it out. I'd pop the guinness up on the tray to settle before topping it off - they nearly always take it away and drink it like that and then ask where the white part of the drink is.

I've also been asked how I got rid of my freckles, as all Irish have freckles.

jme2010 · 12-05-2011 11:03AM

"Does that come with cheese?"

irishejit · 12-05-2011 11:06AM

On holiday in Florida once a waitress remarked about my accent.

I told her I was on hols and lived in Ireland.

Queue an astonished look on her face. After about 10 secs she came out with the beaut, "well gee, you speak awful good English for someone from Ireland"

I quizzed her and she thought everyone in Ireland spoke Irish

watna · 12-05-2011 11:10AM

irishejit wrote: »

On holiday in Florida once a waitress remarked about my accent.

I told her I was on hols and lived in Ireland.

Queue an astonished look on her face. After about 10 secs she came out with the beaut, "well gee, you speak awful good English for someone from Ireland"

I quizzed her and she thought everyone in Ireland spoke Irish

I've had this too. "How do you speak such good English"? It was a said in a group of people and everyone else in the group laughed when she said it. They were all a bit embarassed for her.

In fairness, they don't learn about any other countries in school and things (so I've heard from American friends) and all the stuff they see on tv is an American idea of what Ireland is like so really, how are they supposed to know?

Archeron · 12-05-2011 11:24AM

I was taking photos once of Capitol Hill in Washington when a female copper came over to me to ask what I was doing. I told her I was on holidays from Ireland, and we spent a good 20 minutes talking about what we both thought of Washington DC. I was telling her how much I loved the architecture of the city, and she responded by saying she didnt feel it would be as impressive as that which we have in Ireland. She then went on to say how much she would love to see some Irish attractions and listed numerous buildings and sites and she knew a hell of a lot about them.
Turns out she was a history and architecture fan and loved to talk to foreign people about their countries and how the US compared, as she had never actually been outside the states but really hoped to see Ireland in person someday.

She was damn sexy too what with her shades and tight uniform. Like a really interesting and knowledgable strippogram with a gun.

martic · 12-05-2011 11:33AM

Are these the same dumb Americans that are proud of their ancestry that they make the big trip over here to see the country they still regard as home with the added bonus of when they are here asking their dumb questions they pump money into our economy and keep a lot of "real" Irish in work in the tourist industry. I've been in nearly every county in Ireland and by Jesus there is enough dumb fcks on our own door step never mind having to start threads about other nationalities

krudler · 12-05-2011 11:34AM

jme2010 wrote: »

"Does that come with cheese?"

Americans love their cheese alright, I asked how come they put it on everything and was told "cos its fcuking delicious" that shut me right up :pac:

Funglegunk · 12-05-2011 11:42AM

martic wrote: »

Are these the same dumb Americans that are proud of their ancestry that they make the big trip over here to see the country they still regard as home with the added bonus of when they are here asking their dumb questions they pump money into our economy and keep a lot of "real" Irish in work in the tourist industry. I've been in nearly every county in Ireland and by Jesus there is enough dumb fcks on our own door step never mind having to start threads about other nationalities

*Yawn*. Maybe you could start a thread on dumb things Irish people say?

Silly questions asked by yanks

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