I have no doubt, none at all, that this is a notion fairly widespread in Switzerland. I am just astonished to hear it from a US-American, a country where the same notion is as widespread as it is in Switzerland. When seeing such things in the USA I always thought "well here you get it, still "the sister republics"
I disagree.
As an American*, I am very surprised. That's definitely not how it's done in the South (for all intents and purposes, I've only lived in Southern states, though Maryland is admittedly a "brackish water" area, culturally). Maybe Yankees are ruder (I wouldn't really know), but honestly, I feel that people here resort to ad hominem attacks with far less hesitation.
*As someone born in Guatemala but grew up in USA and has both citizenships due to having one parent from each country, "American" is definitely the correct term for me!
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As an American*, I am very surprised. That's definitely not how it's done in the South (for all intents and purposes, I've only lived in Southern states, though Maryland is admittedly a "brackish water" area, culturally). Maybe Yankees are ruder (I wouldn't really know), but honestly, I feel that people here resort to ad hominem attacks with far less hesitation.
Oh, yeah, I think I can vouch for the idea that Yankees ARE ruder in the sense that they're different and less friendly than those west of the Smokies and North of the Mason-Dixon. But, the internet is mostly to blame for bad behaviour, really, not actual physical geography. On the internet, noone knows you're a dog....
Quod erat demonstrandum - bad joke about shooting dogs goes horribly awry and isn't derailed by cheeky Yankee making a sly joke about shooting Jack Russells for the sake of the planet. I blame the Internet. (and Jack Russell luvrs)
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As an American*, I am very surprised. That's definitely not how it's done in the South (for all intents and purposes, I've only lived in Southern states, though Maryland is admittedly a "brackish water" area, culturally). Maybe Yankees are ruder (I wouldn't really know), but honestly, I feel that people here resort to ad hominem attacks with far less hesitation.
*As someone born in Guatemala but grew up in USA and has both citizenships due to having one parent from each country, "American" is definitely the correct term for me!
In short, I when talking about "Americans" admittedly had TEXANS in my mind
Oh, yeah, I think I can vouch for the idea that Yankees ARE ruder in the sense that they're different and less friendly than those west of the Smokies and North of the Mason-Dixon. But, the internet is mostly to blame for bad behaviour, really, not actual physical geography. On the internet, noone knows you're a dog....
Quod erat demonstrandum - bad joke about shooting dogs goes horribly awry and isn't derailed by cheeky Yankee making a sly joke about shooting Jack Russells for the sake of the planet. I blame the Internet. (and Jack Russell luvrs)
Yankees ? The cousin in Houston, when asked whether he preferred Yankees or Mexicans said "I prefer the Mexicans, if they MISbehave we can throw them out, the Yankees we canNOT" and the cousin in Shreveport dryly commented "we do not want to have anything to do with those Yankees" and rather showed us the Memorial of the "unknown Confederate fallen soldier"
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Doubtful, all the hard-core Yankees I know have guns. My brother in law has at least four, my nephew a couple, my former house-mate 5 or 6, the list goes on. If I still lived there, I'd have some as well, and in fact my girlfriend and I are thinking of taking up hunting here (and she has had guns here in the past)
Tom
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Yankees ? The cousin in Houston, when asked whether he preferred Yankees or Mexicans said "I prefer the Mexicans, if they MISbehave we can throw them out, the Yankees we canNOT" and the cousin in Shreveport dryly commented "we do not want to have anything to do with those Yankees" and rather showed us the Memorial of the "unknown Confederate fallen soldier"
Kind of the way Ticinese feel about those from "Svizzera Interna"!
I'm getting confused......or has the Angry Swiss dude now moved to Texas and is toting a gun with which he shoots Jack Russells?
At least that has to be better than shouting at little children........unless you're a Jack Russell of course
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In Holland we had a similar type of neighbor. Screaming and scaring little kids. Nobody did anything for years. Everybody was scared. Until we moved in. First year we tried the ignoring and staying friendly. Did not work. After another episode, my hubbie once picked him on butt and neck and tossed him back into his front garden, a week later when he started ranting to me, I just stood before him hissing him for every word, and finalizing staying almost nose to nose (luckily I am tall) that he should sod off and never say a word to me or my family again. This walking him all the way back to his front garden.
He never really yelled at kids anymore. Just the sight of us was enough for him to shut up and get inside.
In general these people are mentally not ok. They will bully and be nasty because they scare normal people. As soon as you stand up for yourself and give them a good scare. It's over. Maybe not polite, but for some people you need to be. Just like back in elementary school. Just with the lawyer wife you might want to be careful not to actually touch him.
(and a little stick - toothpick- in the bell will keep it ringing for a long time...)
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hey OP, first, how do you know he's swiss? you speak german well enough to decipher the differences between the different german accents?
second, you witness a man acting like this and suggest it may be dependent on his nationality, do you realize how foolish you sound? I'd say your reaction is as ill-founded as his.
think before you post, please.
third, i'll gladly come round to your place, and f'kin CUCKOO your new friend: just give me the address. I hate bullies and they must be punished, severely.
hey OP, first, how do you know he's swiss? you speak german well enough to decipher the differences between the different german accents?
second, you witness a man acting like this and suggest it may be dependent on his nationality, do you realize how foolish you sound? I'd say your reaction is as ill-founded as his.
think before you post, please.
third, i'll gladly come round to your place, and f'kin CUCKOO your new friend: just give me the address. I hate bullies and they must be punished, severely.
The grumpy man can in fact be of quite many nations. That he speaks some sort of German is no hint. His behaviours however apparently are clearly unacceptable and possibly a real problem
I indeed am wondering about his nationality or if CH about his home Canton, even if this aspect may be of minor relevance
Kind of the way Ticinese feel about those from "Svizzera Interna"!
Tom
Texas was a fully independent Republic with embassies in London and Paris between 1836 and 1845, and TX + LA were OUTside the USA memberstates of the Confederacy in the early 1860ies, but Ticino never was either a member state of anything or fully independent outside the Swiss Confederacy. In WWII, Mr Mussolini wanted to get the Ticino, but the Germans did not exactly love the idea as he also wanted, besided Savoie and Nizza, the Cantons of Geneva and Vaud. So that things are a bit different
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This is so not true anywhere in the states. I was born and lived in Georgia for decades and never owned a gun nor did my parents nor did most of the people that I knew. This is an ignorant comment, I'm sorry.
That's your experience, and that's great. It is not ignorant to say that something is true in a part of a place. There are parts of Brooklyn that are extremely dangerous. The guns carried, illegally owned. But I never had a bad experience there. Does that mean because I never encountered a gun, they didn't exist?
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Oh, yeah, I think I can vouch for the idea that Yankees ARE ruder in the sense that they're different and less friendly than those west of the Smokies and North of the Mason-Dixon. But, the internet is mostly to blame for bad behaviour, really, not actual physical geography. On the internet, noone knows you're a dog....
Quod erat demonstrandum - bad joke about shooting dogs goes horribly awry and isn't derailed by cheeky Yankee making a sly joke about shooting Jack Russells for the sake of the planet. I blame the Internet. (and Jack Russell luvrs)
Seriously? Now who is generalizing?????? Yankees ARE ruder? Come on.
Have I met some rude Yanks? Sure. Just like I've met some gun totin southerners. Can we please move on???
I think Herr Angry across the hall and his Frau are going camping this weekend (car in the garage is all packed up). I pity the owl who disturbs his sleep.
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Doubtful, all the hard-core Yankees I know have guns. My brother in law has at least four, my nephew a couple, my former house-mate 5 or 6, the list goes on. If I still lived there, I'd have some as well, and in fact my girlfriend and I are thinking of taking up hunting here (and she has had guns here in the past)
Tom
First of all, I never said Yankees didn't own guns. I just said that never knew any (unless they were cops), nor would I associate with gun owners. I have a friend (in Boston- where apparently everyone is rude) whose father owns a rifle for hunting up in Buffalo, NY. I found that out when my friend called me in a panic that one of her 3 year old twin boys found the rifle in a closet. That sounds safe.
Where does your family live, I wonder?
hey OP, first, how do you know he's swiss? you speak german well enough to decipher the differences between the different german accents?
second, you witness a man acting like this and suggest it may be dependent on his nationality, do you realize how foolish you sound? I'd say your reaction is as ill-founded as his.
think before you post, please.
third, i'll gladly come round to your place, and f'kin CUCKOO your new friend: just give me the address. I hate bullies and they must be punished, severely.
Yes- Swiss German is very distinctive compared to high German. Secondly, I NEVER said his anger was due to his being Swiss or that all Swiss are angry. I asked if his annoyance with the buzzer was a Swiss thing. I guess I did not state that clearly. Mea culpa on that aspect. And thank you for offering to cuckoo the guy. I have never heard the word cuckoo used as a verb before.
Yes- Swiss German is very distinctive compared to high German. Secondly, I NEVER said his anger was due to his being Swiss or that all Swiss are angry. I asked if his annoyance with the buzzer was a Swiss thing. I guess I did not state that clearly. Mea culpa on that aspect. And thank you for offering to cuckoo the guy. I have never heard the word cuckoo used as a verb before.
In reply to the original post. Your neighbours reaction is pure terror! I dare to suggest that this is a bit of a Swiss thing. The Swiss (my neighbours and friends) are by in large a very friendly bunch. Many I know would help me through thick and thin. Then suddenly, out of the blue, you get someone who thinks they have the right to scream at you in public for some minor 'offence' you might have commited. Like OldHand I am usually so shocked by such outbursts that I have no idea how to react. Having someone like this as a neighbour is so upsetting and can get you quite depressed. We have also experienced scenes like this and managed to move to our small terraced house in Winterthur with fantastic neighbours. Good luck, Robert
Yes- Swiss German is very distinctive compared to high German. Secondly, I NEVER said his anger was due to his being Swiss or that all Swiss are angry. I asked if his annoyance with the buzzer was a Swiss thing. I guess I did not state that clearly. Mea culpa on that aspect. And thank you for offering to cuckoo the guy. I have never heard the word cuckoo used as a verb before.
A) his anger about the buzzer MAY BE a Swiss thing just as it also is an Austrian, a German and a French thing (NOT exclusively Swiss)
B) I know many French, German, Austrian (etc) people who speak Swiss-German perfectly well
Neither can be an excuse for his grumpy and extreme ways, and his origins in fact are irrelevant.
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