View Full Version : A special relationship?
Eichhörnchen
02-27-25, 05:05 PM
I hate the craven way in which UK journalists bang on about our "Special Relationship" with the US after each high profile meeting between our respective high-ups. It would be nice if it were true that we are 'special' to them but as I understand it very many Americans below a certain age have no idea where we are in the world or even what language we speak. I can in part vouch for this since my American nephew once told me that when he mentioned his forthcoming visit to England one of his young friends asked him what language we speak
Skybird
02-27-25, 05:57 PM
I can in part vouch for this since my American nephew once told me that when he mentioned his forthcoming visit to England one of his young friends asked him what language we speak You know, since I heard Northumbrian English first time ever I am asking myself this queston, too. :haha: I assume young kids get parts of their upper tongue surgically removed in Northumbria as part of a culturally specific welcoming ceremony celebrating the onset of teething. ;)
Eichhörnchen
02-27-25, 06:00 PM
^ :har::har::har: Don't let Jim hear you say that :haha:
Eichhörnchen
02-27-25, 06:18 PM
The above is copied from a post I made today on Facebook - and just now I was sent this by a US friend of ours -
(Quote)
"Know this; I personally think of all of you as a treasure to have as friends. A strength. Like your precious poet has penned, not a clod of dirt falls into the ocean without the whole of England [insert "everyone", as we are actually talking about humanity] suffering. You are extremely precious to me and my friends"
Commander Wallace
02-27-25, 06:58 PM
I hate the craven way in which UK journalists bang on about our "Special Relationship" with the US after each high profile meeting between our respective high-ups. It would be nice if it were true that we are 'special' to them but as I understand it very many Americans below a certain age have no idea where we are in the world or even what language we speak. I can in part vouch for this since my American nephew once told me that when he mentioned his forthcoming visit to England one of his young friends asked him what language we speak
I can certainly understand that. I'm not in that category as I learned all about England when I was young. This doesn't include the map I have of England and Dragons. :)
https://i.imgur.com/itLaOg9.png
See ? We all know about England. :D With regards to the English Language, I have tried to teach you all I know which took me all of about five minutes. No worries, we'll work on it. :03:
Eichhörnchen
02-27-25, 07:04 PM
^ That's more like it! :Kaleun_Cheers:
Platapus
02-28-25, 07:13 AM
If you really want to confuse a lot of Americans, start speaking as if England, Great Britain, and The United Kingdom are different designations. :o
Best to just call all of them English. They will understand,
(ducking)
Eichhörnchen
02-28-25, 07:45 AM
^ :haha: And never ever call a Scotsman a "Scotchman"
Jimbuna
02-28-25, 07:48 AM
You know, since I heard Northumbrian English first time ever I am asking myself this queston, too. :haha: I assume young kids get parts of their upper tongue surgically removed in Northumbria as part of a culturally specific welcoming ceremony celebrating the onset of teething. ;)
^ :har::har::har: Don't let Jim hear you say that :haha:
I know whose upper tongue I'd be surgically removing :shifty:
:03:
Jimbuna
02-28-25, 07:50 AM
I can certainly understand that. I'm not in that category as I learned all about England when I was young. This doesn't include the map I have of England and Dragons. :)
https://i.imgur.com/itLaOg9.png
See ? We all know about England. :D With regards to the English Language, I have tried to teach you all I know which took me all of about five minutes. No worries, we'll work on it. :03:
^ That's more like it! :Kaleun_Cheers:
Never had you down as an inbred Glynn :haha:
Commander Wallace
02-28-25, 07:51 AM
^ :haha: And never ever call a Scotsman a "Scotchman"
For you Big E. The drunk Scotsman Song. :03: :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ35SOU9HTM
Jimbuna
02-28-25, 07:55 AM
^ :yeah:
Commander Wallace
02-28-25, 08:00 AM
^ :yeah:
Oh' Lad I don't know where ya' been but I see you won first prize. :haha: :haha:
Skybird
02-28-25, 09:29 AM
^ :haha: And never ever call a Scotsman a "Scotchman"
Or a Scotch a Brandy. You may end up as a Single Melt.
Eichhörnchen
02-28-25, 09:45 AM
Never had you down as an inbred Glynn :haha:
I'm not, mate - I'm safely in the blue zone - "Apparently not the north" :Kaleun_Salute:
https://i.imgur.com/MjOBwln.jpeg X marks the squirrel
Aktungbby
02-28-25, 10:26 AM
...a little Polynesian Samoan from the Y chromosome side stymies alleged 'inbredness'!?? Then again ,considering the massive global Y Chromosome bottleneck 7000 years ago during the Neolithic period with womens' mitochondrial DNA remaining unabated; we're all a little inbred these daze!:O::yeah:
Eichhörnchen
02-28-25, 11:00 AM
https://i.imgur.com/YRYjoXI.jpeg Well... in fact... my great grandfather was American Samoan. True
Aktungbby
02-28-25, 11:12 AM
...so you've said...a few times; and I actually pay attention...enroute to Davie Jones Locker!!:O:
as I understand it very many Americans below a certain age have no idea where [the U.K. is] in the world or even what language we speak. I can in part vouch for this since my American nephew once told me that when he mentioned his forthcoming visit to England one of his young friends asked him what language we speak
Don't feel too bad. Many Americans below a certain age also have no idea where any country is on a map ... even the U.S.
I wish I was joking. :nope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRh1zXFKC_o
Ostfriese
03-01-25, 01:03 AM
Don't feel too bad. Many Americans below a certain age also have no idea where any country is on a map ... even the U.S.
I wish I was joking. :nope:
It seems many Americans don't even know that there are other countries than the US, Mexico and Canada. Many Americans don't seem to know that the English speak English.
Commander Wallace
03-01-25, 02:27 AM
It seems many Americans don't even know that there are other countries than the US, Mexico and Canada. Many Americans don't seem to know that the English speak English.
Where do you come up with your stupid Bs ?
Yeh!! The English speak American! :yeah:
The above is copied from a post I made today on Facebook - and just now I was sent this by a US friend of ours -
(Quote)
"Know this; I personally think of all of you as a treasure to have as friends. A strength. Like your precious poet has penned, not a clod of dirt falls into the
ocean without the whole of England [insert "everyone", as we are actually talking about humanity] suffering. You are extremely precious to me and my
friends"
Geez, were they trying to sell you an insurance policy or an extended warranty for the car? :haha::haha::haha:
I'm not, mate - I'm safely in the blue zone - "Apparently not the north" :Kaleun_Salute:
https://i.imgur.com/MjOBwln.jpeg X marks the squirrel
BTW, just in case- WHACK!
:Kaleun_Smile:
Ostfriese
03-01-25, 02:58 AM
Where do you come up with your stupid Bs ?
Experience. Met more than enough of those.
Commander Wallace
03-01-25, 04:10 AM
Experience. Met more than enough of those.
I would put what I know and the understanding of Geography and History by the kids I grew up with against you any day.
And your experience tells you that no one knows Geography like perhaps-you ? A number of us spent time in Germany protecting you. Remember that. We know where Germany is, that's for sure.
Eichhörnchen
03-01-25, 05:23 AM
Hey, guys - please! My fault all this - the tenor of my OP was meant to question whether GB is quite as prominent or important as our press seem so needy to hear about in dealings with the US. Perhaps clumsy of me to attempt to illustrate this with the anecdote as I did :timeout:
Platapus
03-01-25, 06:54 AM
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
― George Carlin
We have to go back to the beginning of the 80's where the Swedish King and Queen was on an official visit in USA.
Each day there were news report from this visit. One day(I'll never forget it)the reporter was visiting a bar/pub and there he asked the quest if they knew Sweden and where it could be found on the map.
Those he asked didn't know there was a country named Sweden...Until he came to this man who was pretty sure Sweden was an island and it could be found north of Japan
Markus
Platapus
03-01-25, 09:54 AM
Until he came to this man who was pretty sure Sweden was an island and it could be found north of Japan
Markus
Well... if you go enough North from Japan....:D
Catfish
03-01-25, 11:27 AM
Well... if you go enough North from Japan....:D
Not true, you will fall off the map. Also the map in the video further north in this thread is unfair, everyone knows that America is left on the map, and Asia is right. Strict geographically of(f) course.
Commander Wallace
03-01-25, 11:34 AM
Hey, guys - please! My fault all this - the tenor of my OP was meant to question whether GB is quite as prominent or important as our press seem so needy to hear about in dealings with the US. Perhaps clumsy of me to attempt to illustrate this with the anecdote as I did :timeout:
You have nothing to apologize for, Eichhörnchen. :) I was being facetious when I posted the funny map of England. Of course, you, Jim and others took it as the joke it was meant to be. I know you, Jim and others have a sense of humor here in the Forum's. Some decided to highjack the thread in pursuit of their own agenda. As far as England being Important, rest assured, it is. :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:
You understand the Importance of having a sense of humor in these difficult and uncertain times. Unfortunately, some people don't. It's all good, Eichhörnchen. :)
Aktungbby
03-01-25, 12:20 PM
.../\ let's be honest here CW :D your's and my knowledge of geography does not extend much beyond a hockey rink or a Rugby pitch:shucks:....and, this being a :subsim: forum based on WWII, the only geographical primary factotum is: "the Atlantic is an English speaking Lake;" as Donitiz conceded in May of 1943 when he withdrew his lost-cause submersibles from action! That said, my favorite places on the spinning mudball are Moorea, (CubMed-French), Bonaire,(SKUBA-Dutch), and Islay(peat-fired Scotch whisky-Gaelic)! :yeah::arrgh!:
Commander Wallace
03-01-25, 12:33 PM
.../\ let's be honest here CW :D your's and my knowledge of geography does not extend much beyond a hockey rink or a Rugby pitch:shucks:....and, this being a :subsim: forum based on WWII, the only geographical primary factotum is: "the Atlantic is an English speaking Lake;" as Donitiz conceded in May of 1943 when he withdrew his lost-cause submersibles from action! That said, my favorite places on the spinning mudball are Moorea, (CubMed), Bonaire,(SKUBA), and Islay(peat-fired Scotch whisky) :yeah::arrgh!:
I must disagree. I barely knew my way around the Hockey rink either. :haha: Although, I knew the way to the Penalty box. :D :yep: I suspect, you may well have been the same. :D That being said, Geography and History was a big deal in my Primary School. The other kids and I learned well. I used to help an older family friend with his oversized Garden. He had served in WW2 and unbeknownst to me at the time, taught me Geography and History as well. He was a good man. :yep:
Aktungbby
03-01-25, 12:53 PM
That shines. My sixth-grade teacher, and TBD aerial rear-gunner on was on the USS Lexington in WWII when she was sunk at Coral Sea; and my drafting instructor was captured on the beach at Dieppe on the practice raid for D-day! Their war-stories and Homer's Illiad/Odessey probably prompted my interest enroute to a '73 History degree BA. :timeout:
Commander Wallace
03-01-25, 01:07 PM
That shines. My sixth-grade teacher, and TBD aerial rear-gunner on was on the USS Lexington in WWII when she was sunk at Coral Sea; and my drafting instructor was captured on the beach at Dieppe on the practice raid for D-day! Their war-stories and Homer's Illiad/Odessey probably prompted my interest in history and a '73 History degree BA. :timeout:
They were called the Greatest Generation for good reason. :Kaleun_Salute:
I'm sure the men you knew were exceptional men of character in their own right. :yep: Good on you for not only following their exemplary examples but also for being a font of knowledge regarding treatises and other subjects of a Historical nature here.
I knew we had a bit in Common other than being a couple of Scots Miscreants and Scamps. :yep: :haha:
Jimbuna
03-01-25, 01:43 PM
You have nothing to apologize for, Eichhörnchen. :) I was being facetious when I posted the funny map of England. Of course, you, Jim and others took it as the joke it was meant to be. I know you, Jim and others have a sense of humor here in the Forum's. Some decided to highjack the thread in pursuit of their own agenda. As far as England being Important, rest assured, it is. :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:
You understand the Importance of having a sense of humor in these difficult and uncertain times. Unfortunately, some people don't. It's all good, Eichhörnchen. :)
Top man :salute:
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.