Не проходит и месяца без того, чтобы кто-нибудь не спутал Швецию/Швейцарию и Данию/Нидерланды. Что касается пары Швеция/Швейцария, то вся путаница происходит от схожих названий стран, что же до Дании/Нидерланд, то вся соль шутки в том, что датчане [на английском] именуются «Danish», а нидерландцы — «Dutch».
Обычное, пальма первенства в таких нелепостях остаётся за жителями США, но в реальной жизни я в первый раз столкнулась с такой путаницей когда была в Англии. Чтобы попасть в страну, нужно встать в определённую очередь. Я должна была встать в очередь для граждан Европы, но почему-то встала в очередь для «Других стран». Одна из женщин, которая предположительно могла решить проблему, спросила меня: «Вы нидерландка?». Я ответила, что «Нет, я не нидерландка» и протянула ей свой паспорт, в котором говорится, что я датчанка, на что женщина ответила: «Вот, здесь говорится: нидерландка. Зачем же Вы врали о том, откуда приехали?»
Im a Dane that recently moved to USA for 2 years. And when they asked "where are you from?" I of course said Denmark. Every time after I told them that I came from Denmark they asked me questions about my country: " Do you eat a lot of fish in Norway?" , "Is it cold in Sweden?", "Do you ever miss your Dutch friends?", "What kind of sports do you play in... where did you say you came from?".
And once a guy thought he was smart because he knew that Danes is NOT called Dutch, but "Denmarkeans".
@ThatDenmarkKid We had an exchange student in junior high who was from the Ukraine and everyone would ask him what Russia was like, or refer to the Russian kid. I'm also very sorry that we're idiots.
@OneSwissMore I actually know someone, who was asked how the kangaroos are doing when he said that he is from Austria... That happened a few times and then he made himself a "No kangaroos in Austria"-T-Shirt. But then some people still asked him about the kangaroos! Of course in America....
@IsaIna Oh help... XD While I lived in Austria, we once visited a popular lake for tourists. I don't know why, but we started to talk to an American family. And they really asked us if we ever had kangaroo meat, why it wasn't as hot as they thought and why we had such a bad accent. They really booked a flight to the wrong country and didn't notice it! >.>
In the end, we clarified everything and they just laughed. Well then.
A good deal of people also mix up the Germans and the Dutch because the Germans call themselves Deutsche, which sounds similar to Dutch. That's why some things that are German in origin are referred to as Dutch.
So, I'm currently learning German on Duolingo, and the hardest sentence I ever had to learn to pronounce so far is "Schweden ist nicht die Schweiz", which means "Sweden is not Switzerland", and this comic reminded me of it
So recently, while visiting the U.S, this happened:
"Where do you come from?"
"Sénégal"
"What?"
"Sénégal"
"What?"
"I come from Africa"
"Ohh, why didn't you say so sooner"
At this point, I was already sick of it, so I got ready to leave when:
"So that 'Senegal' you're talking about (yes she put Senegal in quotations as if it didn't exist) it's a city in Africa right, since Africa is the biggest country in the world"
Too tired and annoyed to come up with an elaborate response to explain that Africa isn't a country I just answered yes to everything she said.
"Is it next to Egypt?"
"Yes"
"Oh, so it's next to Cairo"
"Yes"
"And the Mediterranean Ocean"
"Yes"
"How cool, you must be a surfer then"
"Yup"
If I can name every single one of your states, the only thing I ask for in return is for you not to think Africa is a country.
@Ziebenhaub_the_Texan It's true, MOST OF US are not as stupid as others describe. Yes, I've gotten angry plenty of times because some Americans think Africa is a country and places like Egypt and South Africa are states. On the other hand, there people like that in other countries as well.
@MissSmartface and @Bhekizwe From an American, I apologize for how insanely idiotic some of my fellow citizens can be. I assure you both that not all of us are like that. I also apologize for not knowing all of the countries in Africa as it's quite large. I also couldn't tell you all of the countries in Europe and Asia (I could say what countries are in what continent though). Thank you for knowing the US states though MissSmartFace, it's not required of you.
When looking at a map, I can identify where almost every African country is, except for a few small ones. Senegal is on the Atlantic coast, and the capital is Dakar, not Cairo.
@MissSmartface If you can name all 50 US states, you're ahead of a good number of Americans. It's a lot of raw trivia to recall. I'm familiar with a fair amount of African geography but I certainly couldn't name all of them (I mostly get all the little countries in West Africa confused).
Interesting sidenote: The initial settlers to Pennsylvania in the early 1800s were called the "Pennsylvania Dutch." In reality, there were all Germans, and "Deutsch" had been mistranslated.
An elder Norwegian man said to me: "So you're Dutch? I so appreciate how you apologized for the war, unlike the Japanese. German people are good people!"
@Koshee Yes indeed, but also because in German the language they speak is "Deutch". In the Netherlands we call the German laguage "Duits". So it all sounds and looks so similar to the word Dutch...
none of your stories are as bad as one I experienced with my best friend. I was telling her about Russia and all she was saying was 'what the hell are you talking about' and 'Russia sounds stupid'. I showed her Russia on a world map and she still didn't believe it existed
And once a guy thought he was smart because he knew that Danes is NOT called Dutch, but "Denmarkeans".
GETTING REALLY TIRED OF YOUR SHIT AMERICA.