Not a justification, but part of the reason is that English is currently the world’s lingua franca.
I’m not sure if this is a bait or serious
We should fix that. Everyone start learning Esperanto.
Why are people from the USA always called Americans?
Same reason why people from the United Kingdom are called ‘British’, despite Northern Ireland not being in Britain.
There just aren’t better proper adjectives for these 2 countries.
While you can say ‘North American’ to mean anyone from North America and not specifically the US, I’m not sure there’s a fitting word that refers to anyone from North or South America. Although, at that point, the group of people you are talking about is perhaps too broad to be useful in most cases.
Same reason why people from the United Kingdom are called ‘British’, despite Northern Ireland not being in Britain.
Ireland is part of the British Isles, so you could even call people from the Republic of Ireland british (and then run away really fast).
I recommend not doing this 😂 I prefer to call the British isles “the European archipelago” :)
TEA
And saying North America includes Canada, and I think out of respect to the Canadians they don’t wanna be lumped together with us
Why does someone always smugly point this out in these threads?
US Americans are seen by basically everyone as the most obnoxious tourists on this planet. Their self importance and undeserved national pride is second to none and it shows in every thread like this. Its just fun to see them get defensive when anyone points it out.
This is literally what that sign is about and its odd that you are confused that people would point this out.
Speaking of obnoxious self importance
No youuu 😭
Is all i get from that.
Why are you assuming the sign is about Americans? There’s no reference to the US anywhere except OP’s title
Because there’s always got to be some young “boo America” edgelord contrarian that thinks they’re really doing something by saying it. But really they are just an idiot in a long line of idiots who isn’t saying anything at all.
Just what people commonly understand so people say it. I always read it in a disapproving Russian accent because of too much TV, the americans
Would you prefer “yanks”?
USAmerican, USAian, USAn, lUSA?
USAmerican is my go to yep.
Are you joking though? I’ve never heard this phrase uttered out loud except by that one miss America contestant who was derided for being stupid.
Judging by their instance they’re german where “US-Amerikaner” is a pretty common term, never heard it used in english though.
Found the lUSA
Unitedstatians. Thats how we call them here (estadounidense)
Because they’re the only country with America in their name whereas United States is shared by Mexico
Also in English there’s a distinction between North and South America, with the supercontinent being referred to as “The Americas”, so America isn’t really ambiguous, they’re also geologically and environmentally distinct enough that “The Americas” isn’t used so much and “New World” is often more relevant to include Australia as another somewhat culturally similar sparsely populated former colonial area.
So is someone from Brazil an “American”? Surprisingly yes, and straight to jail.
In Portuguese (as spoken in Portugal, Brazil, USA, Japan, Ghana, wherever) they’re an americano/a but in English (as spoken in USA, UK, Brazil, Portugal, Nepal, wherever) they’re South American but not American because it’s a linguistic difference rather than a geographical/cultural one
Because calling anyone else an American is insulting.
Because we have to if they don’t speak our language
Because gunpowder.
Gunpowder go in metal tube.
Projectile go in meral tube.
Ignite.
BOOM.
Death.
Human go new place.
Bring Boomsticks.
Native humans = Dead
Native humans = Surrender
World = Dominated
Language = Spread
Language = Become default
The End
Sadly Ever After
(Fun fact most pilots have to learn Aviation English in order to operate internationally. You can thank the gunpowder for that.
The End
Would have been really funny if you said
Thai End
there
Accurate af
I always hope that everyone speaks English and if they seem worried about how it sounds I remind them that their English is way better than my their language which usually breaks the ice.
Heard someone say this on reddit many years ago after someone was being a wise ass about their English which was obviously second or third language
You speak English because it’s the only language you know; I speak English because it’s the only language you know
Most people I’ve talked to who know English as a second language speak and read and understand it better than most American’s I’ve spoken to who know only English.
That’s pretty funny, but I’m years past accepting the “hurr durr ignorant american knows only one language” thing. Except as a response to someone harassing someone about their English capabilities, as seems to be the case in your example. 😁
The way I figure it, if the people two states away from me in every direction spoke a different language from me, and from each other, I’d probably be multilingual, too. (As would most of us)
I can restrict my bullying to those living near the Mexican border and the English
Is this not fairly likely in the US with Mexican Spanish or/and Canadian/Cajun French?
I’m sure there are people who go to Mexico/Canada as often as Europeans seem to be popping into other countries, but most of us very rarely do.
But most of us do have to visit other states often, which works out to a similar radius as hopping countries in Europe in many cases, that’s why I made the comparison I did.
Within the USA, the language enclaves aren’t strong enough. You might find people who can’t speak English, but there are enough people in their communities that can speak English that you can get along.
Of the countries I’ve visited so far, I find that Mexico has the strongest language barrier as Mexico is large enough to maintain an internal standard of Mexican Spanish. Outside of the northern border states, you can drive two states away in Mexico and still have people speak Spanish.
No, because these people are also highly likely to also know English and the vast, vast majority of people in any given location speak English as a default in public. Unless another language is being commonly spoken in public, it isn’t even close to having entire states speak a different language.
Not whole states, but Miami gets close.
Yeah I hung out with a bunch of Germans who were really good English speakers but constantly were self critical of their English skills. They were beating my German skills by a landslide even at their worst moments.
Implying the sign isn’t talking about Australians who visit in the same numbers
Wait, in that case maybe complaining is a bit justified? Different of course of it’s a place off the beaten path, but if it’s a hotbed of English-speaking tourists then having staff that speak their language seems pretty important.
Guess it’s really hard to say without more context (story of the internet).
And perhaps Brits and Canadians. I’m not sure about their visit numbers though.
But America dumbo!
Or anybody in europe who probably speaks english as thats the “world language”
Unless they’re from a primarily English speaking country, they’d be unlikely to complain though.
Yeah they wouldnt complain… except if theyre my grandfather who started complaining in vietnam to a hotel receptionist that they dont speak hungarian, a language about 14 million people speak in the world and the only language it has mutual intelligibility with is spoken by about 10000 people…
I’ve met lots of people who seem to hold the sentiment that if THEY managed to learn English, why can’t EVERYONE ELSE?
Sounds like they have something to compensate for. ┐( ∵ )┌
I’m not American but I also assume everyone speaks English. Other languages are cool but they’re just not very useful. I’ve almost forgotten my native language at this point.
Jesus Christ
No, I don’t think he spoke English.
Sumerian
I think OP means there aren’t a lot of use-cases where a non-english language is helpful in communicating more than english is. Like if you learn swahili, there aren’t a lot of people around the world who speak that language, and you’re unlikely to run into any of them. Millions of people speak swahili, and I’m sure that it has wonderful elements (as all languages do), but there are way more english speakers, and english is spoken in many more places around the world
With that mindset they probably live somewhere where English is the main language. I can’t imagine why a Swedish speaker for example would think “eh English is more important I’ll just use that instea” lmao.
Or they’re terminally online or work in an industry where English is the default language. I definitely use more English than Estonian throughout the day, but the English is nearly all written and the Estonian is mostly spoken.
What does that even matter anymore really? Only corpos worth slaving for are global, with a good WFH gig you’ll have colleagues from all over the globe and you ain’t gonna be speaking Swedish to 'em. Globalization means countries also want to be open to other nationalities. Sure it’s good to learn other languages, and I like it, but most everywhere knowing good English will open more doors than good of any other language, provided that you have at least a basic utilitarian grasp of the majority spoken language of where you live
I can’t anything more obnoxious than a native speaker switching to English when talking with other native speakers to be more ✨global✨ or whatever.
I always speak English with all my friends who also speak (and are by origin) Russian because we live in England and find it easier since it’s the language we use more. Plus everything else is in English so it’s just extra effort to find words to talk about it in Russian, like translating a movie quote instead of just quoting it.
It’s not there to upset you by being “global”, it’s a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
Kinda sad to forgo your own language like that but it is what it is and you do you.
I guess that really depends on your location
Because most people in the Western world do speak it proficiently. As well as the more urban populations of much of Asia.
I can’t wait for us to start exploring the galaxy and giving aliens shit for not speaking English lol
I’m sawwry, I don’t speak ‘at squeaky squacky, beep boop shit. Why don’t you try talking like an American?! You’re in American space space!
I’m an American living in Chicagoland, the 3rd largest metropolitan area in the country. I can drive for over 900 miles in any direction and everyone still speaks English, though some jerks Quebec wouldn’t admit it at gunpoint. Even foreign born immigrants who never took a class can usually manage enough pidgin English to get by, even if it’s just a hundred words or less.
America also has the largest English speaking pop globally. More than the next 3 countries combined. England is 5th on that list.
America had been the dominant global source of money, technology and education since WW2. Though it’s in it’s slow decline arc, good luck explaining that to uncritical people who were spoon fed the doctrine of American Exceptionalism since infancy.
Why do many, if not most Americans assume everybody else speaks English? Why the hell wouldn’t we?
Europeans and Brits go on vacation abroad and it’s usually elsewhere in Europe. Huge swathes of the world had to learn English when the British Empire was large and in charge. The US picked up where the Brits left off. It’s been that way for literally centuries.
There’s a dozen or two languages they might need to be at least passingly familiar with, on top of English which is needed for business, industry, education, flying/air traffic control, and gawd knows what else. It’s the lingua franca of the modern age, and if they have no other language in common, two people with a passing knowledge of English can communicate at a basic level.
Americans go on vacation and travel three time zones over without leaving the continental US. A small town is basically the same in New York and California. You can go anywhere in America or Canada (or most major foreign cities) and find at least a few things you know and are familiar with, from chains like Hilton and McDonald’s to independently owned clones like Motels and Diners. Our country, a third of the continent (more or less) is larger than all of continental Europe.
So yeah, that’s why. Don’t worry, the planet will probably kill us off within a generation or two, assuming the Orange Idiot or some foreign despot like Putin decides to end it all early with nuclear hellfire. So if it’s a problem for you, at least it’s a problem that will solve itself.
I was not suspecting this amount of cope. But here we are.
We know WHY you do it. We just aren’t very happy with it.
Also, I find it hilarious how US Americans can seamlessly switch between “we’re so very united, everywhere is the same, same food, same culture, same language” and “we’re really 50 separate countries that each do their own thing, don’t judge all of us for the bullshit legislation some of us choose to have”.
I’m American and I am continually shocked and grateful how commonly I’m catered to internationally. I mean it’s not fair in a sense but also there does need to be a global language and the English happened to be the right kind of assholes to win that honor.
It’s not necessarily just for Americans. English is the most spoken language in the world when you include people’s second language. That German tourist probably isn’t going to know Thai and that Thai cafe probably isn’t going to know German, but they can muddle though with English.
Right. I was addressing the title of the post. I am assuming Americans are among the worst among presuming English should be spoken everywhere, but I don’t fall into that category. I marvel at the fact that it’s so widely spoken.
It’s always so foreign to me that anglophones never need to switch to English to communicate internationally, that’s just their everyday language
Yeah, it’s pretty crazy to me and I’m an anglophone who barely knows other languages. It’s a marvel.
So here’s something wild I learned.
To Canadians, when I speak French, I have a very thick American accent. However, when I speak English to Canadians, they really can’t tell my accent (presumably because I live in a bordering state?).
I always respect anyone who knows just enough English to communicate something simple/frequent. Because there is no fucking way they’d understand what I was trying to say in their language.
Man that’s crazy, I speak French with an undertone of a Belgian accent, but pretty close to French general accent (I know every dept has their accent, chill!), but Canadians have an extremely heavy and weird non standard accent compared to other people.
Because western imperialism from English speaking countries has been around for at least 500 years and it’s given lots of countries time to learn it.
But also I make sure to know how to introduce myself and ask if they speak English in basically every language I interact with as to not start with it. And then I have conversational understanding of about 7 languages.
I would say the English language supremacy started around 300 years ago, before that the preferred language was french
I’m enjoying hearing the stories about African slag infiltrating France and how the olds there are freaking out.
Can only import so much of a workforce before they start becoming part of the culture.
Historical though, the French had many colonies in Africa. That’s why many parts of Africa already speak French, or at least their own dialectic of it.
Even if you speak Thai, complaining about someone’s foreign language abilities as a foreigner is rude.
PLEASE don’t COMPLAIN about my THAI at a TOURISM HOTSPOT
