National character

[Morrus]

"Unamerican" is a word I see a lot on social media, at least weekly. How many countries have "un-[nationality]" as an insult? I've never heard anyone use the phrase "un-British", I don't think. Do the French say "un-French"? The Russians? The Japanese? Is a national character a common thing?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I haven't heard anyone use "un-British" per se, but I have seen numerous appeals to the British character in both fiction and politics. The "stiff upper lip", etc.

While the positive implies the negative, I can't really think of an example of someone formulating an appeal to avoid the negative as directly as we do when we say "un-American." I can only come up with persons defining the positive, with the dangers of the negative left implied.

 

[Morrus]

I haven't heard anyone use "un-British" per se, but I have seen numerous appeals to the British character in both fiction and politics. The "stiff upper lip", etc.

That's very old fashioned. I don't think I've ever heard the phrase used outside of a comedy sketch.

 

[Umbran]

I haven't heard anyone use "un-British" per se, but I have seen numerous appeals to the British character in both fiction and politics.

There is Mark Twain:

"I have no special regard for Satan; but I can at least claim that I have no prejudice against him. It may even be that I lean a little his way, on account of his not having a fair show. All religions issue bibles against him, and say the most injurious things about him, but we never hear his side. We have none but evidence for the prosecution and yet we have rendered the verdict. To my mind, this is irregular. It is un-English. It is un-American; it is French."

 

[Ryujin]

I've heard "un-Canadian" on rare occasions and it is generally used as an insult against someone who doesn't share the speaker's political views, rather than to describe someone who doesn't fit some vague national image.

 

[Morrus]

I've heard "un-Canadian" on rare occasions and it is generally used as an insult against someone who doesn't share the speaker's political views, rather than to describe someone who doesn't fit some vague national image.

What would you say constitutes the Canadian character if you had to?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That's very old fashioned. I don't think I've ever heard the phrase used outside of a comedy sketch.

What can I say? Much of what I watch & read from/about England is either Sci-Fi, history or period fiction! The rest regards music or modern global politics.

(But I was just using it as a well-known example.)

When the modern politicians I seen discuss it, they're circumspect. Like I said, they hold up an example of the proper British way of doing things, and leave the negative unsaid.

 

[Dioltach]

As an Englishman living abroad, the reserved English character is perhaps more visible to me. The English (and Scots of my acquaintance) just don't get as excited as other nationalities, either about good things or bad things. Do you remember the UK version of Pimp My Ride? You could always tell that the car owner had been primed by the producers to jump up and down and get excited when the new car was revealed -- reactions that always seemed to come very naturally to peope on the US version. But that would be it. The whole exposition of all the amazing features would be greeted by a slight nod and perhaps a bit of a smile. The more wonderful the gimmick, the less reaction there would be.

"And if you press this button, your car turns into a solid gold TARDIS with Shakira at the controls!"
"Hm. Nice."
"Your boot includes a fridge full of food by Heston Blumenthal that is restocked every morning!"
"Yeah, I can see where that would be useful."
Etc.

It might not be "stiff upper lip", exactly, but this is a very English thing.

 

[Ryujin]

What would you say constitutes the Canadian character if you had to?

A very good question that the answer to will, of course, be coloured by the background of the person who answers. To me our traditional character would be summed up by the following:

- a nation of consiliators born of diplomacy, not rebellion.
- who don't jump to rash conclusions, but rather think important things through
- who will stand with our friends
- who won't start a fight but, by God, will bloody well help finish one
- who won't stand idle while our neighbour suffers hunger or illness

Or you could say that we have a plodding nature that tends to be hidebound by tradition, over innovation. Not quite true given our technological contributions, but not necessarily too far off either.

 

[Rune]

You could always tell that the car owner had been primed by the producers to jump up and down and get excited when the new car was revealed -- reactions that always seemed to come very naturally to peope on the US version.

The reactions on US shows like that always seem pretty fake to me. Worst is/was probably Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, in which every response was exactly the same, right down to the phrasing. Children always said, "Oh my gosh!" And adults always said, "Oh my God!"

Every. Single. Time.