View Full Version : Uniquely American
Just a thread to talk about what American culture has given to the rest of the world. Or, the rest of the world has adopted and appreciated.
It occurred to me this morning that the baseball cap is uniquely American and on the heads of people in just about every country in the world.
Olanan
09-24-2006, 12:46 PM
Pr0n
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 12:47 PM
Porn is as old as any civilisation on Earth.
Pr0n
Pr0n is as old as Adam and Eve, man. Its not unique to America. I will say that I do prefer American Pr0n to Japanese Pr0n however.
Olanan
09-24-2006, 12:51 PM
Porn is as old as any civilisation on Earth.
Yeah, but America made it a much bigger, more common thing.
Kainen
09-24-2006, 12:52 PM
Yeah, but America made it a much bigger, more common thing.
Actually I think the internet did a better job of that.
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 12:53 PM
No, glossy magazines, and the invention of the VCR did.
Bobmuhthol
09-24-2006, 12:53 PM
The internet was created in America.
The internet was created in America.
Good one! Close to being evolutionary like the light bulb, another American contribution.
I always take pride in knowing Jazz is distinctly American.
Daniel
09-24-2006, 01:13 PM
The Airplane
HarmNone
09-24-2006, 01:29 PM
Heh. Chop suey. ;)
Skirmisher
09-24-2006, 01:42 PM
Manned Lunar Landings.
I was going to say Hot Dogs (I know the ladies love this) but they came from sausages, which are probably German.
Andy Warhol.
Olanan
09-24-2006, 01:54 PM
Manned Lunar Landings.
Russia?
Skirmisher
09-24-2006, 01:57 PM
It's the "manned" portion of that which makes it unique to the USA.
Artha
09-24-2006, 01:58 PM
Naked Iraqi pyramids.
Cop car chases.
Waa-waa pedal music.
Fast food.
Guns, explosions and slow motion.
Jazz.
Big everything.
Just the first things that came into my head as all American.
Naked Iraqi pyramids.
JFC, you’re getting cynical.
What about Jack Kerouac?
Cop car chases.
Waa-waa pedal music.
Fast food.
Guns, explosions and slow motion.
Jazz.
Big everything.
Just the first things that came into my head as all American.
Jimi Hendrix.
Like you don’t have chip shops?
Edgar Allen Poe.
Mighty Nikkisaurus
09-24-2006, 02:10 PM
Waffle cones, definitely.
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 02:12 PM
Rap.
No, I'm just joking.
I'll admit, probably the best films are American.
lol Backlash..
Ok I'll revise.
McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!
FUCK YEAH!
Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)
Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Demarcates, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 02:16 PM
Books
??
I know, I didn't make it up. I wouldn't have included it.
HarmNone
09-24-2006, 02:19 PM
barbed wire
HarmNone
09-24-2006, 02:22 PM
Ack! I forgot all about the brassiere!
Hulkein
09-24-2006, 02:24 PM
Yeah, but America made it a much bigger, more common thing.
I'd have to say it was probably just a matter of technology growing, having no unique American-ness.
Hulkein
09-24-2006, 02:25 PM
Baseball.
---> click (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo2and8Js8A&mode=related&search=)
Bobmuhthol
09-24-2006, 02:32 PM
<<barbed wire>>
Joseph Glidden ftw!
Jorddyn
09-24-2006, 02:36 PM
Ridiculous shots of alcohol - who else would mix strawberry pucker and tequila?
Artha
09-24-2006, 02:55 PM
Mormons.
Hulkein
09-24-2006, 03:11 PM
Saving Europe.
The 'liberation' of other countries.
Artha
09-24-2006, 03:26 PM
That's hardly uniquely American.
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 03:26 PM
Massive, massive debt.
Artha
09-24-2006, 03:31 PM
Pre-WWII Germany much?
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 03:33 PM
What about the internet then?
Bobmuhthol
09-24-2006, 03:34 PM
What about the internet? It was made in America, and now the entire world uses it.
Artha
09-24-2006, 03:34 PM
I don't think the computers back then could display porn very well.
Mighty Nikkisaurus
09-24-2006, 03:35 PM
Hollywood.
Commercial Shaving Products.
StrayRogue
09-24-2006, 03:35 PM
What about the internet? It was made in America, and now the entire world uses it.
I was responding to Artha. Just because it was invented post or pre WW2 doesn't dilute its validicity.
The American debt is very unique simply because it's so friggin large.
Skirmisher
09-24-2006, 03:36 PM
Lets try to not have another us VS them thread please.
They really do get so boring after the first hundred or so times we have gone through it.
Mighty Nikkisaurus
09-24-2006, 03:37 PM
The widely-owned Automobile (Ford)
And Credit/Credit Cards.
HarmNone
09-24-2006, 03:39 PM
Saving Europe.
Heh. I don't think we did this all alone, and I don't see it as anything uniquely American to give aid to allies when aid is needed. I see that as uniquely human, in the best sense of the word "humanity".
I must ask: Why is it that when a thread like this comes up, it always seems to develop into a battle between "them" and "us"? I, personally, would rather have seen the title of the thread as: "What's Unique to Your Country of Origin?", since many countries have contributed to world culture, and the way we live today. Is it really necessary for some countries to be painted as the epitome while others are degraded?
:break:
HarmNone
09-24-2006, 03:40 PM
Heh. Great minds, eh, Skirmisher? :rofl:
Hulkein
09-24-2006, 04:05 PM
Stupid cliches.
Shari
09-24-2006, 04:27 PM
Fortune Cookies.
No joke, either.
Stanley Burrell
09-24-2006, 05:14 PM
Just a thread to talk about what American culture has given to the rest of the world. Or, the rest of the world has adopted and appreciated.
It occurred to me this morning that the baseball cap is uniquely American and on the heads of people in just about every country in the world.
I am proud to be an American by a standard of not excercising ~90% of what Bush supposedly represents me as; as an American citizen, coincided by the word "patriotism," and what it encompasses.
Soulpieced
09-24-2006, 05:31 PM
Gemstone?
Stanley Burrell
09-24-2006, 05:57 PM
If George Bush plays a text-based game I chop my own head off and sew it back.
And leave it like that.
Latrinsorm
09-24-2006, 06:19 PM
Saving Europe.
Pro wrestling.
Sean of the Thread
09-24-2006, 06:19 PM
Saving Europe.
Forget saving Europe.. we saved the world. (US included.)
Artha
09-24-2006, 06:24 PM
Scientology.
Jazuela
09-24-2006, 06:48 PM
An incomplete list of American inventions that ended up changing "life as we know it"
The Submarine and later, the nuclear submarine (and in its honor, the Submarine Sandwich :) )
The Steamboat
The Sewing Machine
White-Out (invented by the mother of Michael Nesmith, of the Monkees)
The Revolver
The Telegraph and the first Telephone Company in the world
False Teeth
Offset Printing and Cylinder Printing press (offset is what newspaper companies use to print long rolls of paper, on both sides, at the same time)
Dishwasher
Zipper
Air Conditioning
The Safety Razor
The Cotton Gin
Television
Frozen Food
Defibrillator
Nylon!
The A-Bomb
Electric Guitar
Operating System, minicomputer, supercomputer, the PC, the internet, the WWW, video games, and GUIs
Fiber optics
Artificial heart
Apathy
09-24-2006, 07:02 PM
Bourbon - The most delicious of all hard liquors baby.
Fear of nuclear weapons is another (sarcasm) one.
Tisket
09-24-2006, 07:04 PM
The vibrator.
Bobmuhthol
09-24-2006, 07:08 PM
<<The Submarine>>
The military submarine.
<<The Sewing Machine>>
More than one sewing machine was patented in England before any were made in America.
<<The Revolver>>
Originally made in London.
<<The Telegraph>>
The telegraph has existed for thousands of years. A semaphore network first existed in France.
<<False Teeth>>
False teeth were made as early as the 15th century, before the United States was a country.
<<Zipper>>
The zipper of today was invented in Canada. Earlier versions were not true zippers; they used hooks.
I'm not going to go over the other ones.
RichardCranium
09-24-2006, 07:10 PM
Drive-thru daiquiri shops.
Bobmuhthol
09-24-2006, 07:11 PM
Oh, the World Wide Web was invented in England.
Artha
09-24-2006, 07:11 PM
Freedom.
Kriztian
09-24-2006, 07:21 PM
I believe the modern toilet is 100% American.
I've heard velcro - but have not had that one verified.
Mighty Nikkisaurus
09-24-2006, 08:19 PM
NASCAR, OMG
Jazuela
09-24-2006, 10:54 PM
<<The Submarine>>
The military submarine.
I stand corrected.
<<The Sewing Machine>>
More than one sewing machine was patented in England before any were made in America.
The first *successful sewing machine that actually worked* was invented in the USA.
<<The Revolver>>
Originally made in London.
The first revolver that was actually called a revolver, and made the term "six-shooter" a common term, was invented in the USA. Previous guns had flint-lock or other various features, but the Colt Revolver was the first of its kind.
<<The Telegraph>>
The telegraph has existed for thousands of years. A semaphore network first existed in France.
Morse invented the electrical Telegraph. The semaphore network relied on weather, like smoke signals. The thing people call a Telegraph, which gives us things called Telegrams, were originated by Morse, who also invented - tada - the Morse Code, which was used with his invention.
<<False Teeth>>
False teeth were made as early as the 15th century, before the United States was a country.
I stand corrected.
<<Zipper>>
The zipper of today was invented in Canada. Earlier versions were not true zippers; they used hooks.
The original inventions used hooks, you're right. Those were invented in the USA. The Canadian invention was made by a guy from Sweden. The term "Zipper" didn't exist until BF Goodrich created the word. So a few countries can take credit for it.
Sean of the Thread
09-24-2006, 10:55 PM
Burger King
Apathy
09-25-2006, 12:02 AM
Real football.
Artha
09-25-2006, 12:06 AM
Nancy Grace.
Stanley Burrell
09-25-2006, 01:23 AM
Those chairs that you sit in and they massage your back.
That shit rocks.
Stanley Burrell
09-25-2006, 11:14 AM
Noise-cancelling headphones.
.
Bah (the idea of personal noise protection by actively controlled headphones was originally documented in a 1960 Russian patent application) D'oh :(
It was Soviet.. U.S.A., for the convenience of this thread.
Goretawn
09-25-2006, 12:01 PM
I can't believe has yet to say:
PIZZA
I believe it was in Montana. Not sure, but the current form of pizza was originally invented in the US.
It is not italian.
Skeeter
09-25-2006, 12:57 PM
bikinis
Atlanteax
09-25-2006, 01:06 PM
False teeth were made as early as the 15th century, before the United States was a country.I stand corrected.
Actually, False Teeth existed as far back as Classical Roman times, often using animal teeth. Cataract surgery also existed then. The History Channel also did a documentary were professional Roman doctors had a prepared tool-set of metal that are *extremely* similiar to the prepared set that you'd find in the modern ER room (like that set of 7-10 tools that you'd see pushed up to a cart on one of those Medical TV Drama shows).
Just a random informative post.
Pizza goes as far back as ancient Greece. Modern pizza as it's made today originated somewhere in the Midwest.
Atlanteax
09-25-2006, 01:12 PM
bikinis
Unfortunately, I think we have to credit the French for this.
Skeeter
09-25-2006, 01:21 PM
damn
FinallyDomesticated
09-25-2006, 01:32 PM
What have we brought to the rest of the world?
The idea that a land of dreams and opportunity does exist
Convenience - instant this, microwavable popcorn, fast food, 24 hour WalMarts, coffee on every corner, etc.
Overall, I think America takes what others have and we biggie size it. We fluff it up and throw alot of money into it and then call it our own. I think of so many things and realize that they aren't really ours. They are just Americanized.
AnticorRifling
09-25-2006, 01:44 PM
Barbershop quartet music.
Apathy
09-25-2006, 07:25 PM
Ebonics.
Tisket
09-25-2006, 07:45 PM
Karaoke
Viagra
(disclaimer: actually not sure if they are really american inventions but no time to google history on them)
thornhappy
09-25-2006, 08:01 PM
If George Bush plays a text-based game I chop my own head off and sew it back.
And leave it like that.
And after doing so, your intellectual level would be right on par with our 'fine' president!
Daniel
09-25-2006, 08:03 PM
Lol. Would be funny if Bush played GS and got outed.
thornhappy
09-25-2006, 08:10 PM
Yeah, but America made it a much bigger, more common thing.
Probably the phrase, "Yeah, but"... Which I both loathe and love.. How else can you acquiese and acknowledge in the same breath as you completely dismiss someone else's arguement?
Trailer Parks.
And in the same neighborhood.. the glorious programs known as "Cops" And Jerry Springer.
Mighty Nikkisaurus
09-25-2006, 08:32 PM
And Jerry Springer.
If only I had chosen Jerry Springer rather than Electricity for my SAT Paper on which innovation/invention has had the most influence on our society and lives today.
T_T
Lol. Would be funny if Bush played GS and got outed.
You know, I always did wonder who the person behind Candor was...
Latrinsorm
09-25-2006, 08:34 PM
THE SUPERDOME
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