Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Capital, Country.

I've noticed something lately, something that you might be able to help me with.

It's about septics, or Americans as you might prefer to call them. On TV, when you see the fellows talking and they refer to a city or town in another country, they almost always say "Paris, France" or "Colombo, Sri Lanka", "London, England" or "Sydney, Australia".

Why is this?

Is it because they have such a poor knowledge of international geography that, when talking to each other, they need to do this in order to explain where the hell each city is?

Is it because Paris, as an example, also exists in Texas, as is the case with many city or town names, and they therefore feel the need to clarify which one they're referring to?

Maybe it's something that happens on TV but that real life Americans don't actually do. Or do other nationalities do it as well and it's just that I haven't noticed this? I suspect not though, as I think most of us assume people are aware enough to know where most cities are and, if they're not, then we clarify.

Was thinkest du? As they'd say in Munch, Germany, assuming that you were a close friend, not someone who deserved a "sie". And I'm not sure if "thinkest" is a proper German word. But, you get my drift.

2 comments:

Closed said...

Well once one my friends said that he was leaving for Georgia and we thought Georgia, USA. It turned out be European Georgia. :(
Maybe it's because of the confusion.

I'm pretty sure it's coz of the confusion and it seems that it has turned into a habit now.

Anonymous said...

I think its because the Americans are so obsessed with where they come from, and not at all interested in where they are going (which is usually the local 7/11)