Jarvik7 wrote:

I've also never heard of "sick as a parrot". It's not really much of an idiom though since the meaning is just "is sick".

It's not used for "is sick" like 病気, it's for being very unhappy / disappointed about something.

Last edited by vosmiura (2009 June 04, 2:21 pm)

blackmacros wrote:

Jarvik7 wrote:

boy she's a beut'.

Steve Irwin laid it on pretty thick

Oh god :-(

I've yet to meet a single Australian who did not hate that man

Uhh, you've met very few Australians then. Australians idolize Steve Irwin and rightly so. He was very passionate about animals and the environment. I've been to his zoo, I've seen the messages and gifts people have left for him. An Australian may roll their eyes when you try to do an impression of Steve Irwin, but they are very proud of what he accomplished, and how famous he became globally.

I know you're just joking, and I'm not even Australian, but it's pretty insulting if you truly know his background and what a great guy he was.

blackmacros wrote:

Having said that, most Australians I know (and being Australian I know a few ;-)

Remove foot from mouth... Haha, that's funny Sorry about that, but you said "every Australian I've met" like you weren't an Australian.

dislike him exactly because of the way he portrayed himself when he become famous. Imagine if a Japanese or Chinese person were to become globally famous like that and purposefully spoke like a stereotype as a part of his persona-"I rike flied lice" etc etc. Don't you think a lot of Asian people would find that insulting?

Don't you think that was just his personality? Did he really change much when he became famous worldwide from when he was just famous in Australia?

I never, ever had the feeling when I lived in Australia that people had anything but a lot of love and respect for Steve. So I was surprised to see someone write that every Australian they've met hated him. (I lived on the Gold Coast and Brisbane though, maybe Queenslanders have more love for the guy?)

Anyway, this is like a tangent on a tanget, sorry to derail for a few posts

blackmacros wrote:

Having said that, most Australians I know (and being Australian I know a few ;-) ) dislike him exactly because of the way he portrayed himself when he become famous. Imagine if a Japanese or Chinese person were to become globally famous like that and purposefully spoke like a stereotype as a part of his persona-"I rike flied lice" etc etc. Don't you think a lot of Asian people would find that insulting?

If the performance is good enough, they might give him an ovation. Especially if he's playing the dude who knows who the dude he's playing knows the dude you're playing does not really know who he is.

blackmacros wrote:

EDIT: And similarly, how I've heard that a lot of people dislike the Americans who become TV stars in Japan- because they purposefully speak Japanese with an American accent and emphasise stereotypical American attributes. People get annoyed because they generally dislike it when people perpetuate (untrue) stereotypes about their culture.

The funny thing is... those "American TV stars" are probably Australians.

The way I see it, if someone's dumb enough to believe that stereotypical characters on television are representative of an entire group of people, then that someone is a retard.

Last edited by kazelee (2009 June 05, 12:26 am)

kazelee wrote:

blackmacros wrote:

Having said that, most Australians I know (and being Australian I know a few ;-) ) dislike him exactly because of the way he portrayed himself when he become famous. Imagine if a Japanese or Chinese person were to become globally famous like that and purposefully spoke like a stereotype as a part of his persona-"I rike flied lice" etc etc. Don't you think a lot of Asian people would find that insulting?

If the performance is good enough, they might give him an ovation. Especially if he's playing the dude who knows who the dude he's playing knows the dude you're playing does not really know who he is.

I'm confused...

kazelee wrote:

blackmacros wrote:

EDIT: And similarly, how I've heard that a lot of people dislike the Americans who become TV stars in Japan- because they purposefully speak Japanese with an American accent and emphasise stereotypical American attributes. People get annoyed because they generally dislike it when people perpetuate (untrue) stereotypes about their culture.

The funny thing is... those "American TV stars" are probably Australians.

The way I see it, if someone's dumb enough to believe that stereotypical characters on television are representative of an entire group of people, then that someone is a retard.

And unfortunately the world is full of retards :-(

Its more like a feeling of 'blegh- I can't believe he is acting like that on TV, he's making us all look retarded.' type thing.

The TV star I was thinking about was described in gaijinsmash-from what I recall he dyes his hair blonde, speaks Japanese with an American accent (on purpose), emphasises his American attributes. I'm fairly sure he was American (and he sure as hell pissed off the guy who wrote gaijinsmash )

EDIT: Also, should I ever get the chance? I would whore the F*** out of my Australian accent for fame, wealth and beautiful women. I would debase myself and my country at the drop of a hat. I reserve the right to be a hypocrit

Last edited by blackmacros (2009 June 05, 12:45 am)

blackmacros wrote:

EDIT: Also, should I ever get the chance? I would whore the F*** out of my Australian accent for fame, wealth and beautiful women. I would debase myself and my country at the drop of a hat. I reserve the right to be a hypocrit

ROFL. At least you're honest.

Last edited by kazelee (2009 June 05, 1:51 am)

FWIW, I'm no fan of Mr. Irwin for what he did for stereotypes of Australians. His mission and accomplishments are another story of course.

Here's another Australian who had no time for Steve Irwin. I found him annoying and vulgar.

I support and admire the work he did, but could not stand his persona.

Most everyone I know shares this view. He was far more popular and famous in the US than in Australia.

Huh? I didn't say that...

EDIT: Oops. I see, its just the way it got quoted. Nevermind.

Last edited by blackmacros (2009 June 05, 2:39 am)

onafarm wrote:

Here's another Australian who had no time for Steve Irwin. I found him annoying and vulgar.

I support and admire the work he did, but could not stand his persona.

Most everyone I know shares this view. He was far more popular and famous in the US than in Australia.

I'm Australian too and feel exactly the same way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horticulture 

Whores, culture, and Steve Irwin are an improvement on the question of "Can I do JLPT 1 in 3 months"

Last edited by Aijin (2009 June 20, 1:38 pm)

More typical Australian? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mA3voZUZrk

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2009 June 23, 3:27 am)