More just “America odd”. From a British perspective Americans seem to be very obsessed with their ancestry and talk about it like it’s their nationality. Just a culture difference.
Also be careful about assuming a Northern Irish protestant identifies as Irish!
That’s what happens when almost everyone in the country had ancestors who only came here in the last 200 years. The “American identity” is founded in the idea that either we or our ancestors were born somewhere else and then came here. It’s much different than someplace like the UK where so many are probably within a days walk of where one of their 10th great grandparents lived.
No, thats not just a British protective, that all of the world.
It is well known how Americans use their ancestry, just as you described.
And yes, it’s just odd, perhaps irritating (for Europeans), but it’s just how they decided to (self-?) identity, let them express themselves. And it’s not like they are keeping it a secret :).
More just “America odd”. From a British perspective Americans seem to be very obsessed with their ancestry and talk about it like it’s their nationality. Just a culture difference.
Also be careful about assuming a Northern Irish protestant identifies as Irish!
That’s what happens when almost everyone in the country had ancestors who only came here in the last 200 years. The “American identity” is founded in the idea that either we or our ancestors were born somewhere else and then came here. It’s much different than someplace like the UK where so many are probably within a days walk of where one of their 10th great grandparents lived.
No, thats not just a British protective, that all of the world.
It is well known how Americans use their ancestry, just as you described.
And yes, it’s just odd, perhaps irritating (for Europeans), but it’s just how they decided to (self-?) identity, let them express themselves. And it’s not like they are keeping it a secret :).
Oh ok, well, in the mean time, say hi to your King and the Royal Family and your other nobility by ancestry for us.