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Comment by peacemaker | Hacker News Reader

As a Brit living in the US I'm getting a bit tired of the strange fascination you guys have with everything British.

Yes, it was fun at first being asked to say all sorts of words which sound so funny to you guys. Convincing the more provincial of Americans that yes, we do in fact get to meet the Queen for a cup of tea on occasion and yes, she is a very nice lady.

But when I see posts like this I can't help but be reminded of a tired old joke that no-one thinks is funny anymore but they keep on telling it anyway because they don't know how to stop.

Or perhaps I'm just being a grumpy old sod. We're famous for that too.

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I'm also a Brit living in the US, and honestly, I'd say just have fun with it in return. I have, variously:

- Told people my name is Rupert, Tarquin, or Archibald (no-one will question it for fear of sounding rude- doubly so because they think we're very particular about manners)

- "Where are you from?" "Iowa." "Oh..."

- "Harry? Oh yeah, good lad. Bit racist but what are you going to do"

And so on, so forth. I certainly don't begrudge an interest in all things British, because it's preferable to the situation Americans often find themselves in when abroad, where they're considered cheeseburger eating morons.

Just think- they could all be asking you when your last football riot was.

I've done similar to your suggestions, all good fun! I also agree with your point about what they could be asking instead. I shall try to be less grumpy about it all.

> Harry? Oh yeah, good lad.

Surely, that should be "good old chap", if P.G. Wodehouse taught us anything ;-)

Told people my name is Rupert, Tarquin, or Archibald (no-one will question it for fear of sounding rude- doubly so because they think we're very particular about manners)

I hope you used Nigel too!

"Told people my name is Rupert, Tarquin, or Archibald"

Hey now, some of us resemble that remark.

Multiple middle names are good, especially if one of them is St. John. Now that I think about it, that's going to be my go-to first name. "How do you spell that?"

No, it's not just you. My heart sinks every time I see this type of pompous self-regarding wankery.

I suppose some people must like it, because here it is getting voted to the #2 spot. Dear upvoters, that's your prerogative, and even if I could stop you, I'd have no right to. But I must insist on publicly voicing my disapproval.

I don't think the OP was talking about the article, rather, being asked similar questions about 'being British' over and over again.

I'm not really how you could regard this article as pompus self-regarding wankery, but I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.

I find it pompous because

1. there is opportunity for genuine discussion here (why can't I write my programs in my native tongue? is it an insurmountable problem to let me type 'colour' and for you to see 'color'?) but that opportunity is never taken up

2. It's wrong. If you're going to make a joke at least get it right - this isn't British English, this is "I looked up some random stuff online" English

3. It's not funny. It can be if done well but this post, like many others, takes a "throw everything I found at the wall and see what sticks" approach. Some of them are great - the switch/case statement is a genuine improvement, in my eyes. Some of them are just pompous wankery, as you so elegantly put it.

Just because you don't find it funny does not mean it is not. English is my second language and I had to learn about many intricacies of both American and British English. I personally find this article absolutely hilarious, but it might be because I understand a concept that is quite foreign to Americans - sarcasm. I can clearly see that this article is meant to be a mockery of old, stereotypically British way of speaking, which contrasted with clean and technical American English is amusing - in a sarcastic way. If you can't see it for what it is, but instead see it as being or trying to be pompous,then yes, it is quite hard to see the humour.

Maybe it's hard to hear the humour when the joke's played out - I confess I have heard variants of it a little too frequently.

> I can clearly see that this article is meant to be a mockery of old, stereotypically British way of speaking

I am insisting that it should be a mockery of old, stereotypically British way of speaking - as it stands, it isn't, it's a mockery of what the author and several other people (yourself included) consider to be a stereotypically British way of speaking. I guess what I'm saying is, if you're gonna take the piss out of me, please do me the honour of doing it well.

I'd like to see an Estuary English/Londoner/Cockney version. "Alert" could become "Oy_Wanker", "Try..Catch" could be "Do it!" and "Bollocks" etc etc.

I don't see how any of the points you raised are related to it being pompous or not.

Funny is personal. I found it very funny. And in what way is it wrong? Because British people don't actually speak like that? That's part of the joke. Someone could make an American version with alert("howdy pardner") and I don't think anyone would take it seriously.

I agree about switch/case/break, in all semi-seriousness. what_about/perhaps/splendid is actually more readable.

Yeah, for some reason I seem to stumble over switch/case statements no matter which language I'm in. What_about / perhaps actually makes more sense to me.

I think what the world really needs right now is a dapper programming language.

"British English" is a very political issue. It's not all RP/Standard Southern or Cockney.

insert jokes about forking England's repo and the chaos that ensues

> this isn't British English, this is "I looked up some random stuff online" English

The author is a Brit. I know, for I am he. You're welcome to dislike it, of course. My humour isn't the same as everyone else's. But "pompous" is a bit much. Except for the bits where I was aiming for pompous.

Although I want to agree, that post was written by a Brit.

Haha yeah I know :) My point still stands about all the rest of it though

The post was written by a Brit: https://twitter.com/Dave_Child

Absolutely old chap. For some reason lots of people seem to think that I'm American and complain that my representation of British people is inaccurate. I think they miss the joke.

As an American it's pretty stale to me as well. I feel like there's enough cross-pollination of our cultures that it shouldn't be that novel anymore.

I'm a brit, living in, er, England, and I'm not sure what you find so objectionable. It just looks like gentle transatlantic banter to me.

Absolutely, old chap.

More over, its not like we Brits don't hold dear all the American stereotypes. IMHO, it would be nice with we Brits and Yanks could banter back and forth like we do with the Aussies. I mean, how boring would live be with out the Aussies ribbing us?

IMHO, there is something a bit too serious about the British relationship with the US, that doesn't exist with, say, the Aussies. Or, is it that the US is very serious with every one? While the US has some great comedians, there does seem to be a huge lack of a national sense of humour. Very serious country the US.

Im British, and I have voted you up for being a proper British grumpy of sod!!!!!

Well I'm happy, and apologetic at the same time, that I'm just not into you Brits. I find you comical, as a people not as individuals, and some of your cultural quirks are interesting. I found the OP humorous and wondered for a brief second if that would have been like the Victorian Era in the USA, but it didn't survive my attention span.

Maybe I'd be more interested in the British people if they used the correct words and proper pronunciation. ;-)

I'll look for ways we can improve as a people, with haste.

Hmm, looks like the tongue-in-cheek was missed by a few people. I wasn't nearly serious enough for a reaction like that.

Maybe that reply was simply toooooooo sarcastic for you (and many many others) to detect?

One thing I have learned about forums etc on the net is that humour written down can be so very badly misunderstood. Particularly dry, witty, sarcastic humour. I used to fall in to all sorts of trouble when I thought I was being oh so funny. I now try to be very careful when I want to be funny.

Dunno if this will mean much to you, but have you ever seen the UK comedy Blackadder? If you have, imagine it written down. It just reads as plain rude. But with Rowan Atkinson performing the lines, it becomes funny. If you haven't seen it, and like oldish Brit comedy, see it. Im sure there must be US shows that work like that too. I suppose reading a script of "Louie" might well seem very unfunny? Perhaps?

I shall now posh mumble and apologise a lot, and go!!!

I didn't down vote you. Congrats to alan_cx for correctly detecting dry British humour in the wild.

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