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 kronk wrote:
I've only met one Scottish person, a former boss, and he was pretty liberal with most of his views but very homophobic.

Maybe you guys know him? There's not that many people in/from Scotland, right?

/Dumb American

Don't worry mate, BBC Scotland recently done a survey and were surprissed to discover people outside Edinburgh

I actually got that joke!

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:

 purplefood wrote:
Yes. I regularly get confused when I visit Scotland.
The sheer power of the left wing community there is enough to overwhelm strong minds and destroy weaker ones.

/sarcasm much



You know what i mean, it can't be good for the UK when 2 countries (Scotland and Wales) vote for one side and yet there is still a centre-right coalition.


Try to be serious here.

It's not quite as bad as that.

To be fair, Welsh and Scottish residents have their own assemblies and also get to vote on stuff that affects only England.

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
I'd say Scotland (and Wales) share with Ireland a certain obsession with "the Bloody English" which we could all do with forgetting about.

Not sure if Scotland is xenophobic against anyone other than the English though. Haven't been there enough to notice.

Edit: It's quite interesting that none of the main UK parties have a foothold in Northern Ireland, too.

You'r right there is a bit of the "wee man" complex going on, less so in Wales IMHO, but it's just interesting to notice the diffrence between the mostly rich south of England and the not so rich Scotland and the North of England, perhaps it has something to do with past industries or relatives or experiences by people throughout the country, i just don't know, perhaps it's the stereotype that is making people act this way.

You've clearly never been to some places in North Wales...
There are some very unfriendly places if you don't speak Welsh...

 purplefood wrote:

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
I'd say Scotland (and Wales) share with Ireland a certain obsession with "the Bloody English" which we could all do with forgetting about.

Not sure if Scotland is xenophobic against anyone other than the English though. Haven't been there enough to notice.

Edit: It's quite interesting that none of the main UK parties have a foothold in Northern Ireland, too.

You'r right there is a bit of the "wee man" complex going on, less so in Wales IMHO, but it's just interesting to notice the diffrence between the mostly rich south of England and the not so rich Scotland and the North of England, perhaps it has something to do with past industries or relatives or experiences by people throughout the country, i just don't know, perhaps it's the stereotype that is making people act this way.

You've clearly never been to some places in North Wales...
There are some very unfriendly places if you don't speak Welsh...

nope i have only been in Cardiff, never been to the north of Wales.


Just say "Arab" (a-rab) in welsh it means stop (i think) so when they starting hating you for not knowing Welsh just say "Arab" and walk away.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 kronk wrote:
I actually got that joke!

It would have been awkward if you your reply was


?

On the Welsh thing, when I visited the UK about 6 years ago, I stayed at a small manor house (they called it a castle) for a few nights. When I was out and about, looking at old castles, we stopped at a small pub/diner for dinner. I went in speaking English (well, Texas English), asking if they were serving dinner yet and the lady just looked at me and spoke to her friend in Welsh (I'm assuming). After a bit of awkwardness, I just left. We came back by the next evening, a little later, and there were more cars, so we stopped. Others were being served food, so we gave it a shot.

She took our orders just fine in English that day. Odd. :-)

 kronk wrote:
On the Welsh thing, when I visited the UK about 6 years ago, I stayed at a small manor house (they called it a castle) for a few nights. When I was out and about, looking at old castles, we stopped at a small pub/diner for dinner. I went in speaking English (well, Texas English), asking if they were serving dinner yet and the lady just looked at me and spoke to her friend in Welsh (I'm assuming). After a bit of awkwardness, I just left. We came back by the next evening, a little later, and there were more cars, so we stopped. Others were being served food, so we gave it a shot.

She took our orders just fine in English that day. Odd. :-)

As i said i can't speak for the Welsh, but they are very proud of their native tounge.

We had a pleasant time, though. But then, I am devilishly handsome.

Wow, that's rude.
In Ireland, we call someone like that a Gaelgóire Mór (probably mispelled that). Translates roughly as Big Irish Speaker, and it's sarcastic and derogatory.

Although, I am happy that the Welsh have preserved their language. Good for them.

You run into it some here in Houston. Some of the mom and pop Mexican places where a waitress will act like she can't speak English, even though I've been in that restaurant before and heard her speak English!

Very rare, though.

I had it a lot when I was in France, even when I was making the effort to speak french! Totally put me off France. Dislike visiting there now.

 Da Boss wrote:
I had it a lot when I was in France, even when I was making the effort to speak french! Totally put me off France. Dislike visiting there now.

I had the opposite experience. I was in rural France for 2 weeks (for work) and in Paris for a week (on vacation), and I didn't meet anyone there that I'd call rude except at the Eifle Tower.

But then, I'm devilishly handsome (as we've established) and have a thick Texas/Louisiana accent.

Edit: I think we may be drifting far from topic, though...

 kronk wrote:

There's not that many people in/from Scotland, right?

Grounds keeper Willie went to my school.

 Frazzled wrote:

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:
Hay forum, me and some people were discussing wheather or not the fact that Scotland is alot more left-wing than the UK as a whole and that actually confuses people who come to visit.

The reason i am asking this is that it would be good to have feedback from general people in the UK, but i belive people in the US will also have an important role in this discussion by giving us what they think of Britains political attitudes compared to there own, and if the attitudes make a diffrence to how people percieve diffrent countries in the UK.

You're all a bunch of socialist pinkoes to me...
I agree in that it probably started when you started driving on the wrong side of the road. Plus all the extra "u"s in your words. Sure signs of commie pinkoism right there.

Oh great god of weiners, do inform me...

Where does the term "pinko" originate from?

 kronk wrote:
I've only met one Scottish person, a former boss, and he was pretty liberal with most of his views but very homophobic.

Maybe you guys know him? There's not that many people in/from Scotland, right?

/Dumb American

I knew one Scot. He would babble gaelic at me and I'd tell him to shut and learn Texan you dernferenner. Ironically we were in the same German class.

While they vote left wing and are left wing in many ways regarding things like public services and unions, there tends to be a lot of backward attitudes more in fitting with the right wing. The deeper you go into Wales and Scotland, the more narrow minded religious people are found, the more casual bigotry and opposition to anything different like gay or black people. They might vote left wing, but they aren't terribly liberal.

When I went to school there was one black kid in the school out of around 800 pupils. Parts of North Wales are even less diverse. I could go on for ages about the various things I've seen or known. Once example of 'tolerance' for someone different was someone I knew who was half Mauritian, but when visiting a village in Wales was actually asked in the street 'What are you?' as though she was an alien. Around the same time her boyfriend was beaten up for 'dating a black' as they put it.

It's not as bad as that probably sounds, that's fairly extreme. But it is distinctly noticeable how parochial the attitudes are once you get out of the cities and into the countryside, however left wing they vote. I lived in Wales most of my life, I've seen a fair bit of it. I've lived in the middle of nowhere in Wales, and lived in the centre of London.

I've had a similar encounter in Wales, until I said loudly to my mates about going back to Cornwall as these celts had forgotten their hospitality. They suddenly all started speaking english and we got on fine.

There's no real excuse for it, it's rude and gakky.

Also, had some Irish in my local pub late one night, bunch of youngsters, they started going on about supporting the IRA and our Irish landlord turfed them out of the pub at once, shouting something in Gaelic, I asked him what it was he called them and he said 'bog irish, scum of the earth'. He wouldn't tolerate any talk of the IRA or anti english talk.

 Squigsquasher wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:
Hay forum, me and some people were discussing wheather or not the fact that Scotland is alot more left-wing than the UK as a whole and that actually confuses people who come to visit.

The reason i am asking this is that it would be good to have feedback from general people in the UK, but i belive people in the US will also have an important role in this discussion by giving us what they think of Britains political attitudes compared to there own, and if the attitudes make a diffrence to how people percieve diffrent countries in the UK.

You're all a bunch of socialist pinkoes to me...
I agree in that it probably started when you started driving on the wrong side of the road. Plus all the extra "u"s in your words. Sure signs of commie pinkoism right there.

Oh great god of weiners, do inform me...

Where does the term "pinko" originate from?

Well all you pinkoes started out red, but you're just not good with laundry...
Not like us Amuricaans. Our colors never run. Because we're Americans, and we use Tide, not commie soap.

I have to use Tide Free because of my allergies.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

Also, had some Irish in my local pub late one night, bunch of youngsters, they started going on about supporting the IRA and our Irish landlord turfed them out of the pub at once, shouting something in Gaelic, I asked him what it was he called them and he said 'bog irish, scum of the earth'. He wouldn't tolerate any talk of the IRA or anti english talk.

Was that here or back in the land of haggis?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 kronk wrote:
I have to use Tide Free because of my allergies.

Thats like Tide X2, because its Free. Sweet sweet freedom, not bottled up like Euro soaps.

I've found living here my entire life, that in the rural areas and small to large towns, people who are "different" are a rarity.

When I was in school, there were only white kids in 500 or so students.

In our local town we had one black couple running a cafe (who live 2 doors down from me, and I remember with amusement the night my sister used their hot tub outside with them, forgot her clothes and ran back home with a towel and nothing else) and we used to have around 4 chaps from Pakistan running a decent chip shop (the owner sold it and it's run by a white chap now), and another 2 running a newsagent that's out of the way and rarely visited.

Working in the town for 6 years straight in a retail job with a huge store front window that I stared out of all the time, I've seen one more black couple, a few asian teens and that's about it. Current population is around 3600ish in the town itself, and the surrounding area that the town serves contains a further 110,000 or so.

Now, personally, I've found those living in my village, there's a set of people who disapprove of the black couple who live here, simply because of their skin colour, which is sad. I've also had many uncomfortable conversations with customers that were quite racist whilst working. I think my "favourite" was "Did you hear about that Tesco thing? Where a roof caved in and killed a paki? Well, as they say, Every Little Helps!" followed by a hearty chuckle. It did cheer me up somewhat when he left and the guy behind him said "fething prick".

Politics wise, the well, only one house had a sign different to everyone elses, which was routinely cut down by some unpleasant people. The local area is now represented by a Conservative MP. Who to my shame voted against marriage equality.

Now, going into Cardiff, it's completely different. People of all walks of life there. I have no idea of attitudes as I don't live there/go there often.

 Da Boss wrote:

Edit: It's quite interesting that none of the main UK parties have a foothold in Northern Ireland, too.

I believe the three main UK parties don't actually contest in NI at all - there traditional religious / nationalistic rivalries over-ride domestic politics. However the main NI nationalist party has traditionally sided with the Tories.

Pff, you wouldn't know left if you saw it.

 Frazzled wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

Also, had some Irish in my local pub late one night, bunch of youngsters, they started going on about supporting the IRA and our Irish landlord turfed them out of the pub at once, shouting something in Gaelic, I asked him what it was he called them and he said 'bog irish, scum of the earth'. He wouldn't tolerate any talk of the IRA or anti english talk.

Was that here or back in the land of haggis?

That was in Cornwall, Land of the Pasty.

We don't cotton to none of your fancypant Northern haggis down here son. This is the South, South West that is.

strybjorn Grimskull wrote:

 purplefood wrote:

 strybjorn Grimskull wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:
I'd say Scotland (and Wales) share with Ireland a certain obsession with "the Bloody English" which we could all do with forgetting about.

Not sure if Scotland is xenophobic against anyone other than the English though. Haven't been there enough to notice.

Edit: It's quite interesting that none of the main UK parties have a foothold in Northern Ireland, too.

You'r right there is a bit of the "wee man" complex going on, less so in Wales IMHO, but it's just interesting to notice the diffrence between the mostly rich south of England and the not so rich Scotland and the North of England, perhaps it has something to do with past industries or relatives or experiences by people throughout the country, i just don't know, perhaps it's the stereotype that is making people act this way.

You've clearly never been to some places in North Wales...
There are some very unfriendly places if you don't speak Welsh...

nope i have only been in Cardiff, never been to the north of Wales.


Just say "Arab" (a-rab) in welsh it means stop (i think) so when they starting hating you for not knowing Welsh just say "Arab" and walk away.

It's araf. And it doesn't matter. The north of Wales is not a particularly pleasant place for a non-welsh person to be in my brief experience.

kronk wrote:On the Welsh thing, when I visited the UK about 6 years ago, I stayed at a small manor house (they called it a castle) for a few nights. When I was out and about, looking at old castles, we stopped at a small pub/diner for dinner. I went in speaking English (well, Texas English), asking if they were serving dinner yet and the lady just looked at me and spoke to her friend in Welsh (I'm assuming). After a bit of awkwardness, I just left. We came back by the next evening, a little later, and there were more cars, so we stopped. Others were being served food, so we gave it a shot.

She took our orders just fine in English that day. Odd. :-)

Do you know where in Wales?

It's worth pointing out that social liberalism isn't the exclusive preserve of the left-wing. It's something they've co-opted in an effort to secure the youth vote.

 kronk wrote:
She took our orders just fine in English that day. Odd. :-)

Did you happen to be wearing a WRU jersey or t-shirt that day? Or perhaps just about anything to identify you as a "fan" of Welsh rugby?




Also, I have been wondering, what are the "official" names for y'alls political parties, and where do these other names (like tories, etc.) come from?

 Hedgehog wrote:

 Da Boss wrote:

Edit: It's quite interesting that none of the main UK parties have a foothold in Northern Ireland, too.

I believe the three main UK parties don't actually contest in NI at all - there traditional religious / nationalistic rivalries over-ride domestic politics. However the main NI nationalist party has traditionally sided with the Tories.

The word you're looking for is 'Unionist'. The full name of the Conservative Party is the 'Conservative and Unionist Party'.

Quite right, I forgot that 'nationalist' means something different in NI

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Also, I have been wondering, what are the "official" names for y'alls political parties, and where do these other names (like tories, etc.) come from?

The offical names are obvious. The name Tory dates to the 17th century (it means an Irish cattlethief/bandit) and was used to describe the political partty who supported absolute monarchy (very broadly speaking the right of todays politics) and who were the forerunners of the conservative party. Their opponents were Whigs (a Scottish cattle thief) who favoured a constitutionla monarchy. Labour and the Lid Dems don't exist that early so the name hasn't passed on.