They speak English in London?? WTF

Steyr

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20071026/tuk-nfl-star-they-speak-english-in-londo-45dbed5.html

By Sky News SkyNews - Friday, October 26 11:56 amMiami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder has admitted not knowing people speak English in London.

The NFL player might want to check a map before he gets on board a plane for Sunday's prestige game against the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium.

Crowder, who comes from Atlanta in Georgia, may be praised on the field, but confessed geography was not his strong point.

He admitted he did not know until now where London was - or that Londoners spoke English.

"I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries," he said.

"I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that."

Crowder added: "I know (Washington Redskins linebacker) London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him.

"That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name."

The Miami Dolphins are play the New York Giants at Wembley this Sunday in the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the United States.

AlmightyCushion

Steyr wrote: »

"I don't know what nothing is."

Might help explain it.

mikemac

Is this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

What does he have to care about geography for anyway?
He's a talented athlete, media celebrity, most likely rich and a physique most people would kill for.
Skill and dedication got him there.

Bash him all you want OP, I admire the guy!

aidan_walsh

s this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

Lets have a dumb, overpaid guy-who-runs-good-ma thread instead.

Steyr

micmclo wrote: »

Is this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

What does he have to care about geography for anyway?
He's a talented athlete, media celebrity, most likely rich and a physique most people would kill for.
Skill and dedication got him there.

Bash him all you want OP, I admire the guy!

It's truly pathetic....and this is the type of person that American society has glorified and made role models out of. Shameful.

Binomate

Generally, Americans are pretty retarded. Statistics have shown this. So I'm really not surprised when I hear all of these stories about Americans not knowing answers to very very simple questions.

Common questions that most Americans can't answer are:

Where is America on a map?
Is the earth flat?
Does the sun revolve around the earth?
How old is the earth?

rossie1977

its almost as bad as the time an american guy saw a picture of a london highstreet (probably oxford street) with varying nationalities and wrote "there are black people in england, well i never knew that"

Is this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

Their media rib on us every chance they get, so much so that when i was over there in 1999 and a girl asked me what i was doing in ireland and i said studying for a business degree, she laughed and said, "why would you need a business degree in ireland, there isn't even any towns, cities or roads there, just fields"

Dudess

micmclo wrote: »

Is this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

What does he have to care about geography for anyway?
He's a talented athlete, media celebrity, most likely rich and a physique most people would kill for.
Skill and dedication got him there.

Bash him all you want OP, I admire the guy!

Naw, he deserves a bashing for being THAT much of a dumbf*ck. A little idiocy I'd forget about, but that level of stupidity definitely warrants major abuse. There's really no justification for your thinking outside the box.
Thickest quote of all:

"I know (Washington Redskins linebacker) London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him.

"That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name."

rossie1977 wrote:

its almost as bad as the time an american guy saw a picture of a london highstreet (probably oxford street) with varying nationalities and wrote "there are black people in england, well i never knew that"

It's not "almost as bad", it's WAY worse. I'd forgive an American not knowing there were black people in England - it's dumb, but nowhere near as dumb as the footballer guy.

How old is the earth? I for one haven't a notion...

Earthhorse

Steyr wrote: »

The Miami Dolphins are play the New York Giants at Wembley this Sunday in the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the United States.

Apparently they don't.

rossie1977

Dudess wrote: »

How old is the earth? I for one haven't a notion...

about 4.5 billion years according to scientists or about 7,000 years old according to creationists :rolleyes:

DonJose

micmclo wrote: »

Bash him all you want OP, I admire the guy!

Get a hotel room LOL

GerryRyan

Ha, just reminded me of the clip a while back. Basically a TV crew was interviewing a load of passers by - handing them a map and asking where America should invade next. The majority of them just started pointed at random countrys in the southern hemisphere and asked where 'the Iraq' was ... all jokes aside, I really fear for the worlds future.

<edit - http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=4rEPWpv5m9I >

Dudess

It's often not stupidity, just ignorance due to not needing to look beyond America (similar to a lot of Cork people ).
However, this footballer clearly is an imbecile.

Erin Go Brath

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

GerryRyan

Dudess wrote: »

It's often not stupidity, just ignorance due to not needing to look beyond America (similar to a lot of Cork people ).

And there-in lies the problem. Not one person (in that clip) stopped to ask, "why should we 'invade' another country?". That should be a cause for concern in itself.
The trigger-happy, 'patriotic' mind-set over there goes beyond ignorance. And no I'm not making some grand generalisations, that's how it is.

Photi

ThatGuy wrote: »

Ha, just reminded me of the clip a while back. Basically a TV crew was interviewing a load of passers by - handing them a map and asking where America should invade next. The majority of them just started pointed at random countrys in the southern hemisphere and asked where 'the Iraq' was ... all jokes aside, I really fear for the worlds future.

<edit - http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=4rEPWpv5m9I >

Oh aye, pick a few randomers off the street in Dublin city centre on any given Saturday and I'm sure you'd be astounded by the level of intelligence that is shown.

metaoblivia

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7379630

That article includes more of Channing Crowder's "thoughts" on England.

I knew a girl in high school who, when I told her I was going to England, asked me if I was going to learn their language so I could talk to them. She wasn't joking. I told her, yes I'd been studying all year in preparation for my trip.
There were other great moments in high school too. I took a Marine Biology class once, and one of the cheerleaders stopped the class one day to announce that, "Oh my gawd - all the ocean of the world are, like, connected!"
You don't have to look hard to find uneducated people in the US. But there are smart people as well. I'm in grad school in Boston now, and I know many Americans who are cultured and well educated. They don't make for very entertaining headlines though.

Dudess

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

Are you serious??!! London is the capital of ENGLAND and he didn't know that people speak English there! The fact that London is multicultural isn't the point.

rossie1977

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

london is probably the most multicultural city in the world. Over 300 languages are spoken by london schoolchildren, that is far greater than the roughly 170 languages spoken in NY. But i am sure our american footballer friend knows all about these facts already

Erin Go Brath

Dudess wrote: »

Are you serious??!! London is the capital of ENGLAND and he didn't know that people speak English there! The fact that London is multicultural isn't the point.

Totally serious. Who knew they spoke English over there

I'm off to learn American for my trip to NewYork next year.

Dudess

Yeah, I'd love to learn a bit of Mexican at some stage...

Dave!

Stupid person in stupid statement shock-horror

Jesus Wept

micmclo wrote: »

Is this going to be yet another "dumb American" bashing thread?

What does he have to care about geography for anyway?
He's a talented athlete, media celebrity, most likely rich and a physique most people would kill for.
Skill and dedication got him there.

Bash him all you want OP, I admire the guy!

I admire him too, the thick ignorant fúcker.

uglyjohn

it had to be done....

AlmightyCushion

uglyjohn wrote: »

it had to be done....

Ha ha. I've never seen that one before.

Jesus Wept

He might of made it. Nice one John.

Thie reminds me of the story of an American sailor arriving in Naples, he rushes back to the ship and announces, "hey guys they sell Pizza here!"

Erin Go Brath

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

I know the feeling, a few years ago I returned from Islamabad, landed at Heathrow, went on the tube, then a train to Northampton, amazingly I was next to asians (Pakistanis & indians) for the entire journey, they were staff at the airport, working at Immigration, staff on the tube, staff at the railway stations, ticket collector and finally taxi driver. Not forgetting the passengers I was sharing the tube & train with.

Coincidence, yes! but strange all the same.

iguana

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

I guess you aren't aware that there is no such language as Indian. Indian people speak a variety of languages, Hindi and Urdu being the most common. With different regional languages such as as Gujerati and Punjabi.

mike65

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXCs0Wqs9Q

Mike.

Harpy

yea ok its ignorant not knowing that they speak...but the the links given for the videos on you tube are a total joke..have any of yee seen the other videos from that 'news' programme..its funny but they are all clearly bull if u even just look at the stories at the bottom of the video and what they say one says 'chicken dissapointed by the other side of the road' and another says 'red cross decide womens blood isn't good enough'...
although they are very amusing at the same time..

Pigman II

In fairness to the guy he's a professional RugbyforPussys player so he's probably taken a few hits to the head over the years.

Once he can remember to occasionally wash his jockstrap and stand in the right direction during the big game then he's fulfilling his obligation to the human race. Collection of trivia is not his responsibility.

The-Rigger

The-Rigger wrote: »

He might of made it. Nice one John.

Might have...
As for OP: that's very shocking...

RasTa

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Give the guy a break. I was in London recently and nearly everyone was speaking Indian. Very few people I saw around were speaking English.

Indian? Never heard of that language...

tampopo

Yeah,

back in the '80's, Walter Manley, a player with the Washington Redskins, graduated college, got drafted, played many years with the Redskins, late 20's, etc etc...couldn't read or write.

In 1994, I was living in San Francisco and at a party, a girl from San Luis Obispo, a town in southern California, commended me on my level of English. I just said 'thanks', but I heard her shreik with embarrassment a few mins later when it was explained to her we were native English speakers.

It's not just internal to America that yankees are naive. It's very much an introverted country as regards world news. Rare is the news report beyond the local tv network coverage area. Lots of 'Cat Stuck in Tree' news reports by the local news teams.

I'd love to learn Latin before I visit Latin America (with thanks to Dan Qualye)

Dudess

bluewolf wrote: »

Might have

What are you talking about? It's "might of went" - as in "they might of went home."
I used to do some work as a sub-editor - actual journalists submitted gems like the above.

Binomate

uglyjohn wrote: »

it had to be done....

Get out.

lawhec

Harpy wrote: »

yea ok its ignorant not knowing that they speak...but the the links given for the videos on you tube are a total joke..have any of yee seen the other videos from that 'news' programme..its funny but they are all clearly bull if u even just look at the stories at the bottom of the video and what they say one says 'chicken dissapointed by the other side of the road' and another says 'red cross decide womens blood isn't good enough'...
although they are very amusing at the same time..

The video clips are from a spoof news show that was produced by the "Chaser" comedy group in Australia. If their name sounds familiar, they managed to breach a huge ring of steel at a recent APEC Pacific conference by getting within a stonesthrow of the hotel Bush was staying in with one of them dressed up as Bin Laden!

There's a recent clip of them managing to convince some Americans that all the major landmarks of the world are in Australia - including Mount Rushmore! I'll see if I can track it down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEN46MgWuP0

I lol'd at the China bit

Erin Go Brath

iguana wrote: »

I guess you aren't aware that there is no such language as Indian. Indian people speak a variety of languages, Hindi and Urdu being the most common. With different regional languages such as as Gujerati and Punjabi.

Dammit and i've been learning Indian for months now, the same people are supposed to teach me American too. They really saw me coming........eh

Jackz

If you read between the lines it's as if he continues talking to prove he is really really stupid, what in fact he is really saying is I live in America and the rest of the world doesn't matter.

uglyjohn

Myth wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEN46MgWuP0

I lol'd at the China bit

thats great!

Red Hand

Doesn't know his ar*e from his elbow.;)

Erin Go Brath

Erin Go Brath wrote: »

Dammit and i've been learning Indian for months now, the same people are supposed to teach me American too. They really saw me coming........eh

I wouldn't worry about it, most people couldn't tell the difference between Urdu & bengalli anyway, pass the popadums le do thoil

johnnyskeleton

I think Americans are highly intelligent, more so, in fact, than us. They use a form of sarcasm so subtle that we don't even pick up on it. We then say "Are you being sarcastic or just stupid?" and they reply "What is sarcastic?" with a devillish glint in their eyes.

Not knowing what they speak in London - brilliant. It's some degenerate form of cockney, or so I believe.

johnnyskeleton

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I
Not knowing what they speak in London - brilliant. It's some degenerate form of cockney, or so I believe.

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/

Estuary English is a name given to the form(s) of English widely spoken in and around London and, more generally, in the southeast of England — along the river Thames and its estuary. On this website we hope to bring together as many documents as possible that relate to Estuary English, as a convenient resource for the many interested enquirers.

ya no' wo' a mean!

Pherekydes

metaoblivia wrote: »

That article includes more of Channing Crowder's "thoughts" on England.

I knew a girl in high school who, when I told her I was going to England, asked me if I was going to learn their language so I could talk to them. She wasn't joking. I told her, yes I'd been studying all year in preparation for my trip.

This doesn't really tally with the OP's post. What has he been learning all year if he only found out Tuesday that it's English?

Maybe the penny will drop now. :rolleyes:

Slow coach

Slow coach wrote: »

This doesn't really tally with the OP's post. What has he been learning all year if he only found out Tuesday that it's English?

Maybe the penny will drop now. :rolleyes:

Dropped ages ago, just 'aving a bit of fun wiv it, know wo' a mean

metaoblivia

Slow coach wrote: »

This doesn't really tally with the OP's post. What has he been learning all year if he only found out Tuesday that it's English?

Maybe the penny will drop now. :rolleyes:

I apologize, I didn't make my post clear enough. I posted a link to the article, explaining that it had even more quotes on the subject from Mr. Crowder.

Then I relayed a personal experience I had with a girl in high school who said something similar. Hope it makes sense now

MooseJam

londonistan ftw

Pherekydes

metaoblivia wrote: »

I apologize, I didn't make my post clear enough. I posted a link to the article, explaining that it had even more quotes on the subject from Mr. Crowder.

Then I relayed a personal experience I had with a girl in high school who said something similar. Hope it makes sense now

Ah, I see now. Yes, it's all your fault.

My point still stands; he graduated with a 3.5 GPA in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Some people think all Americans are retarded, and some (Miss Goody Two Shoes) think he's an imbecile.