Hi,
> Not always. I can't think of any nationality that would insult me if
someone made a mistake.
Hmmm, I may be taking a step on thin ice here, but perhaps some peoples are
more likely to take offence if "they" (that is: if somewhere in the history
their people) have been occupied by the other people in question, or if
there otherwise has been severe "border-conflicts"?!? A good example of this
would be the English occupation of Scotland and Ireland... Either way, I
don't think this always holds true.
Then: I do think that typically the closer someone lives to a border with a
different country, the more easily they will be a bit ticked off by such
mistakes, e.g. overall spoken, I noticed that if you would mistake someone
from Madrid with a Portuguese, they didn't really care too much, but if you
made the same mistake with someone from Galicia, they got highly offended.
Also, I noticed that some of the people I met in Barcelona particularly
dislike the French, whereas (again) in Madrid this didn't seem to be so much
the case...
Anyway, these are just some theories which are not based on any
scientific/statistic data.
> Europe, courtesy of Uncle Sam, was being mistaken on the Spanish Steps in
Rome for a Swede by a
> Swede.
I am very often mistaken for being German (especially in the USA), at times
for being Scandinavian (due to my first and last name) and when in Latin
America, they often think I'm from the USA. I don't care, I've grown used to
it and don't take any insult to it. :)
> Certainly it would not bother me to be taken for a Canadian which is next
door.
Hehehe, and vice versa? ;)))
> I do not think I am all that unusual. Is it just a result of American
isolation because of
> distance? I wonder.
I don't really know either. As far as I'm concerned these remarks are all
made in good spirit, and I don't care if anyone makes a mistake about my
nationality, but unfortunately I can't say the same for some other people I
have encountered both in Cyberspace and in real life. I will not tell which
nationalities were informed, but I have been "lectured" on more than one
occassion that I should NOT mistake a specific people with another people.
Very unpleasant, and I don't think I made any offensive comments, but it
seems some people have very long toes where this is concerned, whereas
others simply couldn't care less. Typical of human nature, perhaps? :)
Cheerz!
Olafo
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