Australia and NZ basically abandoned by the UK government. Did you know that the UK "used" to be one of the biggest buyers of Australian produce and commodities b4 it shit on us with the EU. But thanks anyways for recognizing the dopiest of dopey decisions on the UK joining the EU.

And for history, why not ask the folks from India, China, and even the Yanks about their past relationship with the UK... it hasn't always been a street paved with gold is all I am saying

another way of saying this, is "Pot calling the kettle black"

the only thing I see bad about the states recently in global terms is that they had to suffer under a "interesting" President for so long, and their government is so bloated that its hard to turn a ship that big in any direction. As I said earlier, the Chinese are coming and they can make huge changes very quickly.... I cannot see them not becoming the next empire, not matter what the anti Muslim racists exhort about Islam trying to take over the world by stealth through immigration (case in point Switzerland) also fyi - i am a white Darwinist, so don't start calling me a religious nut.. i just hate racism disguised as anti terrorism

you got the wrong map :winkwink:

http://home.arcor.de/xelnaga/america-sees-world.jpg

i like the US though, i just find it weird that it's one of the only countries left that has to do mostly everything in a different way while it's only like 4% of the world population

yeah, on the continent the decimal point is a comma. However, the OP was incorrect in suggesting the thousands delimiter was a comma - to specify thousands, a space is added.

So in US (but also format for UK) an i7 quad core iMac will cost you
$1,999.99 (a penny short of 2 grand), whereas in continental Europe it's
€1 999,99
(Apple, Inc currency converter applied)

Again, it's a matter of size. Americans should recognize all 50 states and be able to find them on a map with ease (sadly, not all of us can but still...). I'm trying to make the point that the size of the US is equal to many European countries combined. Europeans can recognize those neighboring countries in the same manner Americans recognize neighboring states.

This guy pretty much shuts up everyone. How do you call your independence day?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indepen...ited_States%29

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Independence_Day.shtml

So, in speaking or in writing .. dd/mm/yyyy makes most sense, or at worst yyyy/mm/dd. Most changing thing should be on one side, and least changing should be on other .. why fucking put most changing term in the middle?

What I believe is Americans ripped off English and British standards just to look different. No offense to anyone .. but if you want to be different, invent your own shit. Just like Arabs and Chinese did.

Or simply admit the fact that you have been a British colony and follow the standards they set. Only change the things that matter or makes difference, making such changes tells that you got a narrow and non-creative mind.

Just my :2 cents:

Dude, I usually agree with what you say .. but here I don't see why put date in the middle.

Plus, you used "how do we say?" as argument .. by same argument, i ask how do you call your independence day?

As it's taught here we entered the war when Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor. Germany declared war on the US right about the same time which is when we officially entered the European theater. We declared war on Germany in response to their declaration of war on us. Interesting footnote: I almost wasn't born because my Grandfather was a tailgunner on a bomber that was shot down over Austria. He spent 13 months in a Nazi prison camp.

Can I find East Sussex or Suffolk? Not without Googling it. Can you find Finney County, Kansas without looking it up? It's roughly the same size as Suffolk.

Oh I am late, Evil-Dan already posted it. lol

PS. you fast bastard.

I decided to build a blog instead of trying to figure out the date thing.

Some people are just too thick to spot an obvious wind up :1orglaugh

Surprisingly some intelligent debate in here amongst the normal troll nonsense.

Says the chucklehead who added me to ignore for "an obvious wind up."

Sorry, what?

This message is hidden because Babaganoosh is on your ignore list.

This is all I have to contribute:

Race:
"A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race."

http://www.answers.com/race

:error

You and I both know that isn't the definition that anyone actually uses.

"an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, esp. formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups."

Well, let's see.

For starter's, to understand America's history (why do Americans speak English? why do they celebrate the Fourth of July?), you'll need to know a little bit about the British Empire. That includes knowing where Britain is.

Or what about understanding how America became a superpower? That requires knowledge of WW 1 & 2, which requires knowing where the countries that were involved are.

Speaking of WW2, that involved the deaths of nearly half a million Americans. One might think that perhaps, knowing how, when and where they died might be worth knowing.

But let's assume for a moment that Americans have zero interest in the past, are perfectly content with not knowing the origins of the US, and don't give a damn about the world wars or the Americans who died in them.

Instead, let's look at the present.

Want to understand the world today? Then it might be interesting to know that the UK has a GDP that is twice that of the entire continent of Africa, and twice that of India. Knowing about how western countries compare to non-western countries is rather important if you want to understand the balance of power and wealth in the world.

And what about business? Knowing a bit about the biggest trade partners the US is helpful to just about anyone who does business on an international level, as well as anyone who wants to understand the economy of the US.

Or what about NATO? The US is a member of NATO, and all countries in NATO are obliged to help any of the others if it ever gets invaded. It might just be important for the US to know which countries in the world the US military is obliged to help defend, and just where those countries are.

Etc.

Not knowing the basics of the world means you won't understand most of what's going on even in your own country. Understanding basic things like immigration, outsourcing, world trade, terrorism and foreign policy requires knowing about the world around you.

haha all this from a simple question...

If we feel the definition isn't relevant to us why learn it? ;)

I know. Isn't GFY great? :thumbsup:1orglaugh

Seriously, it's the regular's ability to argue passionately about absolutely anything and everything that keeps me coming here. I love GFY. There's no place like it anywhere else on the internet. I fight incessantly with this bunch of idiots but I love almost all of them.

now that is nonsense - you know that most european countries have states too? Germany has 16 for example

or do you really want to tell me that it is not necessary for any american to know anything about the rest of the world cause the US already has 50 states? is that a kind of brain limitation? :upsidedow

Do you ever do paperwork that asks for your race? What are the options? In the US your choices are caucasian, black, asian, hispanic, native american, middle eastern, etc.

What's your race?
I'm from the UK.
*facepalm*

See my point?

So by your logic our side of the road is proper, as germany drives on the right side.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

I drew an arrow pointing at the UK.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2qavcqc.jpg

Damnit, I wondered who'd pick that up :1orglaugh

It may not be the most common definition for the word, but you stated that British is not a race followed by an insult. So I was just pointing out British is a Race.

If I am honest i just wanted to join in :) I can't see that it's really important.

Time to look up the definition of ' ;) '

Though..over here often they do have 'British' on under the race area because that area is often for nationality rather than race.

It's ok, I don't blame you, or the whole fail country of UK. I blame the tubes.

Interestingly, when I was in Japan, I was pleasantly surprised they drive on the correct (LEFT) side of the road.

Here's a history lesson, it's a blast....zzzzzzz

In days of old logic dictated that when people passed each other on the road they should be in the best possible position to use their sword to protect themselves. As most people are right handed they therefore keep to their left. This practice was formalised in a Papal Edict by Pope Benefice around 1300AD who told all his pilgrims to keep to the left.

Nothing much changed until 1773 when an increase in horse traffic forced the UK Government to introduce the General Highways Act of 1773 which contained a keep left recommendation. This became a law as part of the Highways Bill in 1835.

Reasons to travel on the right are less clear but the generally accepted version of history is as follows: The French, being Catholics, followed Pope Boneface's edict but in the build up to the French Revolution in 1790 the French Aristocracy drove their carriages at great speed on the left hand side of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right side for their own safety. Come the Revolution, instincts of self preservation resulted in the remains of the Aristocracy joining the peasants on the right hand side of the road. The first official record of this was a keep right rule introduced in Paris in 1794

OK, that explains the UK and France but what about the rest of the world ?

Britain's imperial expansion (all of the pink bits on old maps) spread the keep left rule far and wide. This included India, Australasia and much of Africa (Although many African countries changed to the right later when they became independent).

France also had quite an empire after the revolutionary wars and the keep right rule spread through much of modern day Europe and to colonies such as Egypt. The connection with the USA is thought to be General Lafayette who recommended a keep right rule as part of the help that he gave the Americans in the build up to the war of Independence. The first reference to keep right in USA law is in a rule covering the Lancaster to Philadelphia turnpike in 1792.

But what about Japan ? well in the 1850's Gunboat diplomacy forced the Japanese to open their ports to the British and Sir Rutherford Alcock, who was Queen Victoria's man in the Japanese court persuaded them to adopt the keep left rule.



Enter the MOTORCAR !

Very early motorcars followed the principle of a horse driven carriage and the chauffeur was seated in the middle. Once the owners of the vehicles realised what fun they were to drive they wanted their wife/companion to sit with them so the decision had to be made, which side !

The side of the steering wheel followed the tradition in the country so that the first cars (Benz in Germany) were left hand drive as they drive on the right. The major exception to this was that racing cars were almost always right hand drive because it was better suited to circuit racing. In the USA Pierce-Arrow were an example of this and in Europe, most pre 1950 Italian Sports cars are Right Hand Drive, including all pre 1956 Lancia's. Remember also that every Bugatti is Right Hand Drive.

I know of only 2 cars with a centre steering wheel. The prototype Amphicar and the current McLaren F1 (There are one or two other differences between these vehicles, I think top speed comes into it, but I would summarise by saying that the F1 is not best suited to use in a river !!)

And so to the future. Despite Euro-pressure the consensus is that Britain, or any other Drive on Left country, will never change. Two reasons, traffic density make the switch impractical (the last time it was successfully done was in the 1950's with less than 10% of current levels, and, probably the main reason, good old Sir Rutherford Alcock ! The Japanese are the worlds largest car producers, they need to produce vehicles for their own market and need to export so will always produce left and right hand drive vehicles thereby guaranteeing a supply for the rest of the world.

Why does everyone ignore the land mass issue? It's about knowing your region. The reason Europeans can identify more countries than Americans is because there are more of them in their area. Most Americans can find the major countries of the world.

Here's an example. I have a friend in Latvia. He can point out all of the countries that used to make up the Soviet Union. Can most Americans? Hell no. If we didn't spend a few weeks talking about the collapse of the USSR when I was in college I certainly wouldn't be able to either.

He can point out Texas, California, "Floria" and Kansas on a map.

I think it's been clearly established here in this thread that the UK does some funny shit. ';)'

Even the Brits refer to the terrorist attacks in 2001 as "nine/eleven"...

The problem is also the fact that a large portion of americans probably can't point out WV or Oregon on a map. :2 cents:

Someone read http://www.i18nguy.com/driver-side.html

The UK has far more people than any of those states, has a far higher GDP, and is the 6th biggest trade partner of the US - not to mention the obvious history the two countries have together.

Not being able to find countries like Lithuania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Albania, etc. on a map is understandable (if somewhat ignorant) for an American. Not being able to find the UK, France, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, etc. is not.

In St. Thomas USVI they drive on the left side of the road and from the left side of the car, at least all of the cars I saw there drove like that.

Again, land mass and proximity. I'll make sure to bring up GDP at the next What the Average American Knows committee meeting and see if I can get things changed so you'll feel validated. Keep your chin up, little guy.

Quite amusing derailment - always guaranteed on a US vs Them thread!

And fwiw, the OED says about race:

So the North American GFY race can just stfu and accept that it makes no sense to say MM/DD/YYYY

FWIW even the American code monkeys use YYYY-MM-DD. That's the only format that has ever made sense to me. I've actually written that on checks before after being stuck on a huge project. I'm sure you can relate. :1orglaugh

same reason we use pounds not kg

Actually it would be 1.895,00 in Europe. Using a , for both thousand seperator and decimal seperator would clearly leed to many errors in transactions :2 cents:

That's actually only used as a dialect - most people would say "Zwanzig nach Zwei" which would be "Twenty after 2" - but that's also only used on informal occassions and only for 5/10/15/20/etc.

14:23 would be like "Vierzehn Uhr dreiundzwanzig" "fourteen hours twentythree" ...

True, use it for all electronic data, allthough the "official" date format is dd.mn.yyyy here.

this is true...

also if the company is in Canada and they send me a check with just $
they think it's CAD and I need to bust my balls to assure them that its USD...

So what you're basically saying is that the average American is an ignorant fool who only knows things that are big and around the corner?

I suppose you might be right.