http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/a...tries-on-a-map
:stareup:
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This might be a "ha ha ha lol" thread but really, the same thin could be said for Europeans trying to label US states.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/its-t ... he-us-stat
Or people trying to name the elements:
http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/elements
Are tests like this even fair? How many people for instance would know who Heinz Fischer is? Or for that matter Jean-Marc Ayrault?
Granted that there are people like me who can name all of the US Presidents, F1 World Champions or British Prime Ministers but the point is that it's just not relevant to peoples' lives.
Of course not but they're definitely funny. I'm not sure if I'm able to place correctly the states of former Yugoslavia despite living in the neighbourhood. In my case it's relevant for my life cos it increases my feeling of uselessness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
Sadly I'll bet it's not as funny as watching Americans trying to label US States.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
Heh heh.
I'm, also kind of sure that most Australians wouldn't be able to name the eight states and territories on the Australian mainland either.
And can any of us identify African countries? :crazy:
What are states? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Gregor-y
I can. South Africa, because it's at the bottom.Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
With them changing their territorial boundaries and names so often (measurable with a wristwatch) why would we even want to bother with those designations? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
This is a conversation I had with an American from Florida when I was in Dubai a few years back:Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
Yank: "Hey there. Noticed your accent. You from Australia?"
Me: "No boet, I'm from sunny South Africa."
Yank: "Oh ok." <blank stare for a few moments> "Where's South Africa?" <he asks with a serious face>
Me: "Erm, at the bottom, you know, southern part of Africa."
Yank: <another blank stare for a few seconds> "Oh yeah, yeah, ok. I think I got it."
Me: Turned and walked away before I burst out laughing in his face. Idiot.
About 30 years ago in Texas:
Texan: "where do you come from?"
Me: "Madrid, Spain"
Texan: "is that in Mexico?" :arrows:
Since then I always answer "Europe" :p
I remember when I was in school a friend of mine's grandmother who lived in Toronto was flying to South Africa for the first time. This was in mid 1993. She had a connecting flight landing in Johannesburg then a 1 hour local flight down to Durban. When the pilot said ladies and gentleman we are starting our final approach to JHB International Airport she looked out the window and saw concrete jungle everywhere. She told Donovan and his family, and I quote, "I thought I was going to see a small air strip with bush around it and lions roaming around."
Really, how doff can one be?! I nearly fell over!
[quote="Rollo"]This might be a "ha ha ha lol" thread but really, the same thin could be said for Europeans trying to label US states.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/its-t ... he-us-stat
[quote]
Surely the same would be trying to name Country's in North, Central & Caribbean America?
States of the US are just like trying to name the states of Germany or County's of the UK. Why do people equate the USA to a continent?
I can name all countries in Europe on a map. I can name almost all countries in the "Americas" on a Map and Asia, Africa and Oceania, however I have no clue on states of the US because that's internal geography of a Country.
Its a different type of geography.
no, because they are meaningless, unlike the countries on the old continent.Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
once I tried to label the american states in an online flash app. bullseye on 1/3 of them and quite close on another 1/3.
Some of us should be able to identify a whole bunch of African countries on the west coast because that's where the Dakar used to run. Across the north of the continent was where various battles in WW2 were held; the horn of Africa is 'interesting' because of political instability and famines and what not...Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Type
which leaves those countries like Benin, Ghana, Togo etc. and I've got no idea about those.
Fortunately some of us know the rest because they spent a part of their life under a dictatorship where the leader was best friends with the leaders of those countries and they kept visiting each other. :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
Then we had a lot of students from these countries who benefited of scholarships.
I am proud to say I can name most (most) countries on a blank map in the world and all there flags. Give or take a few of the Red Yellow Green African Flags and Black, White and Red Arabic flags.
Anyway I can do all this. However would be rubbish at naming US states.
I do international geography rather than internal geography.
Because the US is a significant part of a continent and much of Europe would easily fit inside it? Europe at 10,180,000 sq km with the continental US at 7,663,941. Throw in Alaska and Hawaii and you get 9,410,108.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
You would be one of the few who can.Quote:
I can name all countries in Europe on a map. I can name almost all countries in the "Americas" on a Map and Asia, Africa and Oceania, however I have no clue on states of the US because that's internal geography of a Country.
I was told that size doesn't always matter..... :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Starter
Whoever told you that.............................................. .....................lied! :p: ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo
You don't know a lot about the States Steve. Alaska is like a different country than Oklahoma. Maine and Louisiana have very little in common. West Virginia is a different world than Hawaii, and how many counties in GB is there the size of California?Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
You make some valid points about geography in general, but States are very meaningful in this country, and this thread started out about how many Americans can't tell which states are which, and that is a shame.
There are well less than 100 counties in the UK, the US has roughly 3,150.Quote:
States of the US are just like trying to name the states of Germany or County's of the UK
FYI San Diego County is 4/5 the size of Northern Ireland
It certainly is a different type of geography ;)
The boundaries and names of the US states have been stable/the same for longer than those of most European countries, so should be easier to name. :D
You crazy militant Europeans. Always fighting over land and changing locations of borders and names of countries, or splitting countries up. If only you could be as peaceful and content as my American neighbors, the world would be a much better place. :p
I'm good with the states, but all those pesky commonwealths make me scratch my head :confused: ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregor-y
It doesn't matter the size of the place. The USA is still only a country like any other.
Doc, I already admitted I don't know anything about states or regions in the US. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Alca-Tazizzle
I thought the topic was Americans not knowing country's in Europe. In reverse how many Europeans could name the country's in North, Central, Caribbean and South America which is about the same amount of names.
I didn't think we were talking about internal geography.
:stareup: Sorry Steve my misunderstanding! :dork:
South America is easy because CONMEBOL only has 10 nations; CONCACAF has 41 members though. Mind you, there are 16 countries in the West Indies Cricket Board; so that helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveaki13
Okay, I'm sad. I only know a lot of geography because sport happens there.
Sports help in that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
My love of World Football helped me learn.
:)
It's also relatively easy to find Iceland on a map too. All you need to do is look for a trail of charred mess and destruction wrought by Kerry Katona:
http://www.hellomagazine.com/imagene.../18/katona.jpg
Fun fact: Eyjafjallajökull was what Kerry Katona actually said when she left a pack of Chicken Kievs in the oven for too long. That trail of smoke in 2010... yeah, that's why mums go to Iceland.
[quote=555-04Q2]This is a conversation I had with an American from Florida when I was in Dubai a few years back:Quote:
Originally Posted by "D-Type":1hzprw7f
Yank: "Hey there. Noticed your accent. You from Australia?"
Me: "No boet, I'm from sunny South Africa."
Yank: "Oh ok." <blank stare for a few moments> "Where's South Africa?" <he asks with a serious face>
Me: "Erm, at the bottom, you know, southern part of Africa."
Yank: <another blank stare for a few seconds> "Oh yeah, yeah, ok. I think I got it."
Me: Turned and walked away before I burst out laughing in his face. Idiot.[/quote:1hzprw7f]
As an American, thank god I am not this dumb.
I can imagine my face if an american would say "I'm from North, South Carolina".......
How about 'northern lower Michigan?'
As someone stated there's a big difference between states, and the further south you go you start running into county loyalties as well. I was at a rally in Tennessee with some local rescue workers complaining about saving 'idiots that float down from Hickman County.' That said one of them had been tanker in the Army and lived a number of years in Germany.
Which is actually a good description of parts of Michigan. If you're from Traverse City, Alpena or Mackinaw City I'm not sure how else you'd describe it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregor-y
That's how I try to explain where the Sno*Drift rally is located, near Atlanta, MI.
[quote=555-04Q2]This is a conversation I had with an American from Florida when I was in Dubai a few years back:Quote:
Originally Posted by "D-Type":1mebznv0
Yank: "Hey there. Noticed your accent. You from Australia?"
Me: "No boet, I'm from sunny South Africa."
Yank: "Oh ok." <blank stare for a few moments> "Where's South Africa?" <he asks with a serious face>
Me: "Erm, at the bottom, you know, southern part of Africa."
Yank: <another blank stare for a few seconds> "Oh yeah, yeah, ok. I think I got it."
Me: Turned and walked away before I burst out laughing in his face. Idiot.[/quote:1mebznv0]
So you chose one American to bash the whole country. Amusing to see this as South Africa, the country ranks way down in knowledge of Math, Sciences and Reading.
I find it difficult to believe what you are telling us. It's one thing talking about Southern Africa. Another to locate and know about South Africa. Like NI and ROI.
I wonder what you would do in the Bayou to get yourself out? Would you be in Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas? Where. Maybe in Biafra, Zaire,Tanganyika and Zanzibar,Abyssinia. How many variations of Congo are there and how many of your citizens of South Africa could place and name without using Google where in the continent they are or even what they were formally known as.
We found how to get to the moon. Did you? Oh yes, you hosted the World Cup, but, we did that before you in '94. :D
Don't expect much from a country who elected Obama.
Or, for that matter, one that contains you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roamy
Merry Christmas.
It was a great help for me too. A cousin in Bristol sent magazines on soccer I think they were called Shoot and Goal. They had articles on the UEFA cup which I believe was the 'Fairs cup" and others. Then the World cup.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rollo
I would just draw a big circle around most of Europe and write "former Roman Empire" at the top. :laugh:
Or "Germany."Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
(I'll just let myself out...)