:: gia’s blog ::

24 Responses

1. Mark says:

   February 11, 2008 at 4:05 pm

   I’m not going to pretend I never correct people when they say or do something wrong – I see it as educating – but as a general rule of not coming across as a total twit I make sure I’m actually right before I open my mouth or start typing. All he had to do was visit

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_flush

   Of course, if he’d done that then we wouldn’t have seen your video with its lovely little harumphy sigh at the end.
2. giagia says:

   February 11, 2008 at 4:29 pm

   I think it’s more the attitude that I find annoying. Americans *don’t* know how to pronounce Leicester and if an American says, ‘Do you know where Lie-sester Square is?’ I think it’s perfectly acceptable to say, ‘Just so you know, it’s pronounced Lester and it’s just over there.’… Same with Tottenham, Magdelen College Oxford and Menzies Campbell. But only because those are the NAMES of places or people. It’s like if people call me Ghia instead of Gia, I correct them.

   Equally a Brit should be corrected when they say Hooston, DezMoinez or Roooosevelt. But should they be corrected by an American or a Northerner if they say the word baaahhhth instead of (the proper pronunciation) bath? Of course not. Should they be corrected if they use the word courgette instead of the (correct) word zucchini? Nope. So why do these people feel they need to correct others?!

   What irks me most is things like the stuff in the video – an American just uses a word that they’ve used their whole life and then a Brit acts like a cock and says that the British word is the correct word to use. Well, it isn’t.

   And the whole ‘football’ thing twats me off so much… cos most British people don’t seem to know about football, yet act like they have the final answer when it comes to what can and can’t be called ‘football’.

   Well, poppycock.

   All Brits should read Made In America, then maybe these people will be quiet.
3. ~Dilberta says:

   February 11, 2008 at 4:55 pm

   What’s truly sad about it all is the amount of energy “these people” who by the way are found on both sides of the pond, . .

   . . . the amount of energy they’re willing to expend to disrupt the momentum of another yet wouldn’t put half the same amount of energy into perpentuating another’s momentum with a compliment or kind word/deed.

   That’s what’s sad. “They” have the time, they have the energy, but how they choose to use it is downright scary.
4. giagia says:

   February 11, 2008 at 5:05 pm

   ~Dilberta!!!!! Yayayay! Hello!

   Well, to be fair the guy in that video was the inspiration for some of my previous posts – like Apocalympics 2012 and Honest of Cluelessness- and I suspect there will be many more.

   I’ve found a new Dumbgirl. Heh.
5. ~Dilberta says:

   February 11, 2008 at 6:04 pm

   So let me ask your readers, if I may. . . who do you want to see as the next figurehead of the U.S. Hillary or Barack.

   Bear in mind, Hillary has some serious needs to be accepted by the men in her life starting with her late father.

   Barack has some serious socialist leanings, which wouldn’t be a bad thing in a world where people are willing to be held accountable. However, this increasingly is no longer the case. As it is, we have the work of a small percentage subsidizing a much larger percentage.

   Good Gawd and Good Riddens to BushCo. but now which way do we go?

   Your input is highly valued as it is so very difficult to be objective from this vantage.
6. Andy says:

   February 11, 2008 at 7:20 pm

   This is quite a bug bear for me, not because I’m American, but because I work in the UK but my boss and colleagues are based in Dublin, Ohio. Of course the pedants around me like to take the rise, saying I’m a token American etc, and inevitably the conversation about language crops up at least once a week.

   So out of curiosity I started to investigate why the differences were there and now I’m on crusade to enlighten the idiots in my office as to why, among other things, ‘Fall’ was in fact used as much as the word ‘Autumn’ in England back in the 17th century and while it’s fallen from use here, it doesn’t mean it’s a less valid word.

   The Association Football explanation is an excellent addition to my arsenal.
7. giagia says:

   February 11, 2008 at 8:06 pm

   Dilberta-

   That’s a tough one. When I’ve taken those tests online to find out which candidate most closely represents what you stand for, I always end up with Obama….

   One thing that’s slightly bugging me is how everyone says, ‘Hey do you support the woman or the black guy?’ and it doesn’t seem to be about the ‘issues’…

   But ultimately I just want BushCo out the fricken door… and a Democrat in office. If nothing else, the economy should be strengthened again by that.
8. giagia says:

   February 11, 2008 at 8:07 pm

   Andy-

   You’ve GOT to get ‘Made in America’ by Bill Bryson… You will LOVE it.
9. henriette weber andersen says:

   February 11, 2008 at 10:42 pm

   Lovely video – made my day – sorry that you have to live with it =)
10. Taragh says:

    February 11, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    Gia. I so enjoyed this video. You had me laughing – great characters. AND I learnt something about football. Thank you.
11. Christian X Burnham says:

    February 11, 2008 at 11:19 pm

    It’s parochiasm, pure and simple. Both the Americans and British suffer from it. A lot of them are absolutely convinced that their culture and way of doing things is correct and that people in other countries are ‘doing it wrong’. Sad really.

    I think I’ll subscribe to this blog. I hopped on over from one of the Bad Astronomer’s links and from what I’ve seen so far, I think Gia’s brilliant. Is she famous in Britain? She should be.
12. Christian X Burnham says:

    February 11, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    Uh, that should be ‘parochialism’ above. I never paid attention at the Center For Children Who Can’t Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too. .
13. John Pedant. says:

    February 12, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    I think it says more about Seesmic users myself ;O)
14. giagia says:

    February 12, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    *^_^* Now, that’s not entirely fair, John… Though last night I said that Seesmic needs to split into different sections before I can handle it. There just seems to be waaaaay too many flakes there. There are also interesting and brilliant people, too, but if Seesmic doesn’t cordon off the flakes to their won sections then they are going to have a hard time creating a credible community.

    If normals turn up and they just find threads of people talking about horoscopes or herbal therapy or how the medical establishment are purposely trying to make us ill OR are involved in a deep mutual masturbatory discussion about ‘social media experts’, then I’m afraid they won’t want to join… and they’ll be stuck with a community entirely made up of flakes… who don’t have the money to attract huge advertisers etc

    If they had topic heading sections, then I wouldn’t ahve to trawl through the bullshit to find the – rare – interesting conversations.
15. John Pedant. says:

    February 12, 2008 at 1:18 pm

    I’m a pedant ergo equity escapes me and having just spent two idyllic weeks in california I was on the end of a fair bit of abuse for my usage. But I enjoyed it.
16. Joe Strummer says:

    February 12, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    “I’ve lived in the UK for 20 years so I know the British language”>

    What British language would that be then, Welsh?
17. giagia says:

    February 12, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    Bah! Pedant! ;) See, if I talk about living in England all the Scottish and Welsh people get all upset about it being the UK (I’m going to just *avoid* Northern Ireland here). If I try to be ‘all inclusive’ and use the word Britain inappropriately they get all shirty about that.

    Stop yer beefing, ya bawbag. Oh and: twll dîn pob Sais!

    :)
18. John Pedant. says:

    February 12, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    And that proves your point.
19. Ermiyas says:

    February 12, 2008 at 9:00 pm

    Thank you for the education especially the “Soccer” I never knew it was called soccer here in the UK.
20. regularjen says:

    February 12, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    Excellent video. As an American in England, I too get the language discussions. Most are amusing and I enjoy the playful banter, but there is always the odd twat who believes his way is superior. * sigh * I do my best to use the pronunciations that are appropriate for the person I’m speaking to, but I default to British spelling. It’s a middle ground that takes some work, but it usually saves me from being * cough * ‘corrected.’
21. Mena says:

    February 14, 2008 at 7:43 am

    Gia, I’m married to a Canadian and they do it too. A good friend of mine is a Brit and we have had a discussion like this. I ended up telling him that I speak American, he speaks Old American. It worked.
22. Nick says:

    February 21, 2008 at 4:15 pm

    Subject aside I’d just like to complement you on the way you use video. Simple setting, non fussy visual aides, an argument, conviction and talking to us rather than at us. Thank you.
23. giagia says:

    February 21, 2008 at 8:06 pm

    Why thank you, Nick!
24. dazza says:

    February 22, 2008 at 11:48 pm

    I got very confused in an american restaurant the other day.
    The conversation went something like this:
    ‘what can I get you sir?’
    ‘I’ll have the beef please’
    ‘Excellent entree sir’
    ‘oh, is it an appetiser? I’m sorry’
    ‘no no, that’s fine sir’
    ‘Can have it as a main course?’
    ‘It’s an entree sir’
    ‘Yes, that’s what I mean. Did you say I could have it as a main course’
    ‘It is an entree sir.’
    At this point Phil decides to help me out
    ‘I think entree must mean main course in America’

    He’s right
    Entree [Europe] = Appetiser
    Entree {america] = Main

    How did that happen?

    Dza
    x
    PS America is fucking cool by the way.