I kid you not. I found this attached to a jiffy bag ...

[XOIIO]

It's known just as well here in Canada, but applying that stereotype to people in Africa doesn't fit at all with what I have seen of that stereotype.

Ha ha...well that's another stereotype I guess.  I'm not out to condemn American education, because I think it's generally pretty good, but we're kind of stupid when it comes to understanding the rest of the world.  I'd be money that 90%of our population under 50 couldn't find Libya on a map.

A map? You mean like on a phone?

lol. There's my annoyance with the current generation for the day.

[Yago]

Ethnicity/race, just splitting hairs.

Everyone is racist in the holistic way the brain works, but you have to be your best.
Just because we have similar brain systems to our animal ancestry doesn't mean we should embrace that and laugh along, does it.

All that about PC and don't be offended, if it is your own ethnicity you are joking about then OK, but not crap childish jokes about others.
It is not for you to decide what another ethnicity should find offensive.

[janoc]

In the US, there's a stereotype that blacks eat a lot of watermelon.  Honestly, I can't really tell you why this is some sort of negative stereotype.  Yeah, there are negative stereotypes of every race and group out there, but what the hell is wrong with eating watermelon?  It's not even true, BTW...someone actually did a study, believe it or not, and blacks eat LESS watermelon than the rest of the population.  I can't believe someone wasted time and money studying that, but whatever.

FYI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_stereotype

Had to look that up myself because for people from outside of US this really isn't obvious reference.

[tszaboo]

[rolycat]

I'm not out to condemn American education, because I think it's generally pretty good, but we're kind of stupid when it comes to understanding the rest of the world.  I'd be money that 90%of our population under 50 couldn't find Libya on a map.

This piece about American ignorance of the world from the satirical Australian programme CNNN is entertaining:


Remarkably, the comments for this Youtube video are on the whole more intelligent than the participants.

The idea that we can't make fun of crappy Chinese manufacturing because it's "racist" is just kind of ridiculous, IMHO.

We're the ones dumb enough to keep buying it...

[zapta]

The idea that we can't make fun of crappy Chinese manufacturing because it's "racist" is just kind of ridiculous, IMHO.

... and it's often hypocritical. For example, a forum member that is easily offended by any Asian stereotypes and yet often posts himself American stereotypes.

[John Coloccia]

I'm not out to condemn American education, because I think it's generally pretty good, but we're kind of stupid when it comes to understanding the rest of the world.  I'd be money that 90%of our population under 50 couldn't find Libya on a map.

This piece about American ignorance of the world from the satirical Australian programme CNNN is entertaining:


Remarkably, the comments for this Youtube video are on the whole more intelligent than the participants.

The idea that we can't make fun of crappy Chinese manufacturing because it's "racist" is just kind of ridiculous, IMHO.

We're the ones dumb enough to keep buying it...

To be fair, I've done a lot of traveling for work.  I'm certain there are some true idiots living here, but I'm also certain I'd have no problem walking down a crowded street and finding as many idiots as I care to anywhere else in the world too.

[c4757p]

That illustrates the problem nicely. People think that these stereotypes are based on truths, but they very rarely are. For example, the British are supposed to drink a lot of tea, but actually the stats say that Ireland drinks more than we do.

Fifth per capita is a lot...

[timb]

@mojo-chan: Oh shut up, you carebear.


Sent from my Smartphone

[Mechanical Menace]

Consider a Chinese person trying to set up a business selling high quality products. There are plenty of them. Because "funny sounding" names are associated with the "one hung low" stereotype it's hard for them to sell to the west.

Which is a marketing problem based on the absurd amount of cheap crap with similar (to our ears) sounding names. That's not a case of casual racism even if the "One Hung Low" label is.

Some Japanese companies facing the same problem adopted western sounding names, like Technics or Sharp or Lexus. It's pretty screwed up when you have to change your name just to get by.

And some European companies do similar in other countries. My mothers specialist textile equipment engineering SME for example sell under different names in France than they do over here or in Germany, a different name in India and the rest of the subcontinent, and another name in China. That's not to do with racism but brand trust.

[helius]

It's pretty screwed up when you have to change your name just to get by.

Agreed, it is pretty screwed up when you have to change your name.

[rdl]

I thought the name, Ding Dong Feng, was funnier than the address - kind of makes me think they actually are in on the joke (unless Ding Dong is a common name over there).

And remember, at first "Made in Japan" was a bit of a joke and and considered an indicator of low quality.

[Mechanical Menace]

I thought the name, Ding Dong Feng, was funnier than the address - kind of makes me think they actually are in on the joke (unless Ding Dong is a common name over there).

Apparently it's something to do with Fedex's Chinese division.

And remember, at first "Made in Japan" was a bit of a joke and and considered an indicator of low quality.

And then the all American Atari purposely tried to sound Japanese, and the all American military contractor Service Games became the Japanese Sega lol

[elgonzo]

I thought the name, Ding Dong Feng, was funnier than the address - kind of makes me think they actually are in on the joke (unless Ding Dong is a common name over there).

Oh dear... 

In many east-asian cultures like China, Japan, Korea, etc... the surname is put before the given name.
Thus, you call this guy either Dong-Feng (his given name - yes, it's a male name) if you are on friendly terms with him, or you call him Mr. Ding (his surname).

[John Coloccia]

I thought the name, Ding Dong Feng, was funnier than the address - kind of makes me think they actually are in on the joke (unless Ding Dong is a common name over there).

Oh dear... 

In many east-asian cultures like China, Japan, Korea, etc... the surname is put before the given name.
Thus, you call this guy either Dong-Feng (his given name - yes, it's a male name) if you are on friendly terms with him, or you call him Mr. Ding (his surname).

In South Korea, they wouldn't even tell me their given names.  Everyone was Y P Kim, J D Kim, P J Dum, etc.  After a night out, filled with a LOT of drinks and games of billiards, I finally asked them, "Hey, YP....why won't you guys tell me your name??".  He said, "We don't like how you guys say it."  LOL.

[Richard Crowley]

And remember, at first "Made in Japan" was a bit of a joke and and considered an indicator of low quality.

And conversely:  http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/usa.asp

[elgonzo]

In South Korea, they wouldn't even tell me their given names.  Everyone was Y P Kim, J D Kim, P J Dum, etc.  After a night out, filled with a LOT of drinks and games of billiards, I finally asked them, "Hey, YP....why won't you guys tell me your name??".  He said, "We don't like how you guys say it."  LOL.

Well, they tell you their given name.... the English one.
But, with a few exceptions, i did not find Korean names hard to pronounce. The key for me was to not read the romanisation of their names (which can be confusing if you don't know the romanisation rules), but to learn the Korean alphabet and read the names in Hangul.
Btw, my given name is pronounced rather easily for a Korean, but it rhymes with/sounds similar to "big sister" (nuna) ... it was always good for a joke or two, especially when lot's of Soju was involved

[SeanB]

Pretty much every day I am behind a learner driver car. Generally it will be CK's driving school,Happiness's driving school or Last Born driving school. Yes, his first name, in his identity book, is Last Born.

[rdl]

Yes, I knew that. I'm in the middle of playing Deus Ex HR (yet again) and just spoke to Mr. Tong yesterday.

If they were making a bit of a joke then that's probably irrelevant, or maybe his name is Dingdong and the space is a typo.

...
In many east-asian cultures like China, Japan, Korea, etc... the surname is put before the given name.
...

[rolycat]

This piece about American ignorance of the world from the satirical Australian programme CNNN is entertaining:


Remarkably, the comments for this Youtube video are on the whole more intelligent than the participants.

To be fair, I've done a lot of traveling for work.  I'm certain there are some true idiots living here, but I'm also certain I'd have no problem walking down a crowded street and finding as many idiots as I care to anywhere else in the world too.

I'm sure Americans are just as intelligent as citizens of any other nation, but many of your countrymen are stunningly uninformed about anything going on outside the US, and that's not just a stereotype.

A recently published survey showed a quarter of Americans are convinced the Sun revolves around the Earth.

[zapta]

You are wasting your time. The tide has already turned. All you do is shame yourself at this point.

"The humor is settled!".

Anyway, OP, thanks for sharing. That's a funny label indeed.

[timb]

@mojo-chan: Oh shut up, you carebear.

Touché. Devastating argument you made there. Can't really argue with your logic. Well done for avoiding the ad-hominem as well.

You are wasting your time. The tide has already turned. All you do is shame yourself at this point.

Racial stereotypes are/were based on some grains of truth. The fact we joke about them means we remember them, which prevents us from repeating history.

Being ultra-PC is akin to sanitizing the past.

You know, I was born in the early 1980's in a ultra-diverse military area. I grew up with kids of every race and always just thought of them as people. I don't think one race is better than another, yet I still laugh at some "racist" jokes, because they highlight *cultural* differences that are amusing due to the juxtaposition of cultural norms. That doesn't mean I'm a racist or bring shame to my family.

FYI, calling you a carebear is a fact and not an ad hominem.


Sent from my Smartphone

[John Coloccia]

This piece about American ignorance of the world from the satirical Australian programme CNNN is entertaining:


Remarkably, the comments for this Youtube video are on the whole more intelligent than the participants.

To be fair, I've done a lot of traveling for work.  I'm certain there are some true idiots living here, but I'm also certain I'd have no problem walking down a crowded street and finding as many idiots as I care to anywhere else in the world too.

I'm sure Americans are just as intelligent as citizens of any other nation, but many of your countrymen are stunningly uninformed about anything going on outside the US, and that's not just a stereotype.

A recently published survey showed a quarter of Americans are convinced the Sun revolves around the Earth.

Still better than the EU on that question.    Thanks for pointing out that survey.  It exactly proves my point, even though I'm sure that's not what you intended.

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/append/c7/at07-10.pdf

Anyhow, as I'm sure you can see, western civilization is more or less equally informed (uninformed?).

[elgonzo]

Still better than the EU on that question.    Thanks for pointing out that survey.  It exactly proves my point, even though I'm sure that's not what you intended.
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/append/c7/at07-10.pdf

Wow. Really disappointing to see that only approx. 34% of the Europeans know that Europe is the center of the world and the universe is spinning around it 

[John Coloccia]

Incidentally, this should be a lesson for everyone, and I do it out of habit.  Anytime you read about some "study", make an effort to grab the raw data so you can draw the right conclusions, if any.

One of the questions isn't even right.  "The Universe began with an explosion."  No it didn't.  Even if the Big Bang theory in it's most childish form is correct, and that is most certainly not settled science by any stretch, it still doesn't resemble an "explosion" in any way, shape or form.

Stupid study = stupid results.