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2 June 2025

Stuff Americans say
Ancestry part 1

Stuff Americans say

Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn with subtitle: 'You know, I'm something of an [insert nationality here] myself.'

Facebook post in "I Love My Polish Heritage Group" by Janet (Jun 26). Comment from Robert (8h): "I just returned from Krakow & found out that being a Polish American means nothing. I was so disappointed by the lack of interest or even respect I received from the Polish people about my Polish heritage- they didn't care. They were nice - a bit standoffish but eager to be nice enough to recognize that I was spending a ton of money in the country of my ancestors. Krakow was beautiful the food was great, the hospitality good - but it mattered very little that I was of Polish heritage - I was very disappointed in that aspect & probably will never visit Poland again."

YouTube comments section. First comment: "I was born and raised here in the us, in boston. My mother is native american and my father is one third irish (his father was from munster county in ireland). Im proud to be Irish." with heart and Irish flag emojis (actually Cote d'Ivoire flags). Reply: "1. Munster is a province, 2. That is the flag of Cote d'Ivoire and 3. You are not Irish you are Irish-American."

Reddit comment thread. NotClever (8h): "Yeah, I'm like... I don't even know how many generations removed from my European ancestors (5 or 6?) but I've been to Germany twice and had multiple instances of people engaging me in German because apparently I look super German." foundafreeusername (6h): "German is our only official language. We engage everyone in German no matter how you look like unless there is a specific reason to assume you might not speak German ..."

Facebook comment thread. First person (name redacted, 11m): "I'm literally viking/norse and am disgusted with the fact its their theme". Reply (6m): "that's so cool! Where are you from?" Reply (3m, 1 laugh react): "im from Texas but my fathers side are all Irish and scandinavian and 6ft 3 or more and red headed." Reply (1m): "ah ok"

Reddit comment thread. HyperboreanAnarch (2h): "Why not? As an Irishman and an American, I fully support this meme." ajockmacabre (2h): "Like, actually Irish or Irish in the sense that your great great great great great grandpappy from Waterford arrived at Ellis Island in eighteencanteen?" HyperboreanAnarch (2h, circled in yellow): "I usially put it as 'I'm an Irishman born in the county USA.'" ajockmacabre (2h): "Yeah. Figured as much."

Meme of Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) from Spider-Man, standing outside in a suit, smirking. Caption: "You know, I'm something of an [insert nationality here] myself." imgflip.com watermark

Reddit post from r/AncestryDNA by u/ieatlikesh1t (8h). Title: "Covered in tattoos of an ancestry my DNA doesn't align with". Tagged "Results - DNA Story". Text: "Made a post a couple days ago. Found out my dad's father isn't his biological father through my matches. With that, I'm not as Irish as I thought lol. Only 6%. I'm from an area where Irish heritage is apart of the culture. I'm covered in Irish flags, Celtic god of war, all sorts of stuff. Turns out I'm actually french and Ashkenazi Jewish. I'm excited to learn about these new to me cultures. Pretty cool but yeah... Don't get tattoos kids."

X/Twitter thread. @Human101N... (Human Nature, verified, 1d): "Locals in Ireland get upset at an American in their midst" with blurry video showing text "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". Reply from @TheShyRaven (TheRaven, verified, 23:23, 05/04/2025): "sad thing is Irish-Americans are more Irish than those living and born in Ireland currently lmao."

Mobile screenshot (Tele2 NL). Forum comment thread. First comment (8h ago): "You ever heard of Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa? Im Dutch but holy hell so much Dutch". Reply (7h ago): "Woon je in Iowa?" Reply (7h ago): "The fuck boi I'm from illinois not the Netherlands". Reply (7h ago): "But you said you were Dutch...." Reply (7h ago): "Well I go to school at Central and we are the Dutch and I'm of Dutch descent so does that count?" Reply (7h ago): "Not really."

Instagram comment thread. Interface in German ("Gefallt Mal", "Antworten", "Ubersetzung anzeigen"). First comment (6Wo.): "I'm Italian and this hurt me tbh". Reply in Italian (4Wo.): "fra purtroppo e un piatto tradizionale della Puglia, Bari se non vado errando". Reply (4Wo.): "do I look like I speak Mexican?"

iMessage text conversation. Grey bubble: "So you can't text a nigga back ok". Blue bubble: "Don't say that word to or around me". Grey bubble: "But I'm Italian we basically both black. I got my roots back in high school". Blue bubble: "No."

Reddit post from r/Italian by u/LWK10p (2d). Interface in Italian ("Traduci", "Vota"). Title: "Found out I'm 19% Italian!" with Italian flag emoji. Text: "I always knew I was mostly German but marrone everyone and their fuckin mudda is German in america so it's nice to be one of yall or should I say us. Sopranos was my favorite show so it makes sense marrone. Edit damn didn't realize yall would be so hostile"

Reddit post from r/Nordiccountries by u/jake_nokken03 (12 hours ago, 43% upvoted). Title: "Am I allowed to call my self Scandinavian even if I'm Dutch". Text: "I love Scandinavian culture and when asked I say I'm Norwegian (American). But my family are Dutch with scandinavian roots not for the past 400 years though. I prefer the culture and language is this wrong? I pass as Scandinavian for non Europeans (really tall blonde hair blue eyes)"

Reddit comment thread on post "Bun with raw pork and raw onions, my grandma loves it" by fsv1905 (12h ago). Thebubumc (6h ago): "Literally a super popular food in Germany, at least admit you don't know anything lol". Substantial_Ad9666 (-23 points, 6h ago, highlighted): "Define super popular. I'm mostly German and my family immigrated from Germany and i've never heard of eating this. If you're eating pork that wasn't raised on metal grates in a modern large scale hog confinement, there's a high probability you're going to contract trichinosis when consuming it." Hyz (5h ago): "So, have you ever been to germany or are you assuming you know whats popular here simply because of your heritage? rofl"

Facebook comment thread. First comment (18m): "I'm a Celt myself. Irish specifically. My ancestry is from Munster county." Reply (12m): "Munster isn't a county. Its a province." Reply (12m): "You're gonna mansplain Ireland to me when i'm Irish? A man with an unwashed ass has an opinion again". Reply (6m): "I'm Irish. You're American. I'm pretty confident I know my country better than you ya absolute gowl."

Reddit post from r/AskAGerman by u/Correct_Asparagu... Title: "how can I begin to introduce myself to my ancestry". Text: "I'm an American but my great grandparents came from Germany, therefore I'm German. How can I begin to introduce the culture to myself and my two teenage kids? I met a Mennonite the other day. We had a long conversation about his past, his family moved to Brazil first, then Canada. There's so much about Germany I'd like to know." Interface in German ("Teilen")

Reddit comment from whiskers165 (1h): "On the flip side there are more Irish people descended from 'Old Ireland' in America than there are in Ireland. You don't like the diaspora fine but you gotta realize you guys are in the minority when it comes to Irish culture. Don't matter how much you stomp your feet and tell us we aren't Irish, it is the truth and we are the majority Maybe you could call yourselves Irelanders to make a distinction?"

Forum comment thread. First comment (5 pts, 2 days): "Hey Scandies-I just discovered that I have 20% Scandinavian DNA. I am surprised because no family history. Which team am I supposed to pick?" Reply (7 pts, 2 days): "As a Swede, I'd pick Norway." Another comment (0 pts, 1 day): "Maybe the american one since that's probably where you are born?" Reply (1 pt, 7 hr): "I'm an American, yes, but discovered I am 20% Scandinavian DNA. No idea how or why. I'm just trying to pick a country & heritage to be from."

Reddit post from r/AskUK by u/hessxpress9408 (16m). Title: "Can I now use the 'C' word?" Text: "American here, recently found out most of my heritage is English/Irish/Welsh. (Ancestry is not all that specific). Mostly just wondering if I now have the right to use the 'C' word. Obviously this is mostly just a trolling post but curious to see what my brothers and sisters across the pond think." Reply: "Dude the whole ancestry thing is super cringe to us over here, no one gives a fuck, just say cunt if you want."

YouTube comment (username redacted, 1 month ago): "that's funny because most Irish people don't live in Ireland. I have an Irish last name I am Irish."

Facebook group post ("a group where you can ask any qu...") by Anonymous member (1h). Text: "How do I get Scottish citizenship from my DNA? I recently did a DNA test (I live in America) because I wanted to use it to move to Ireland. I was always told I was Irish, but was disappointed to learn that I'm not. I was even learning Gaelic online so I could know the language my people speak before I moved there. Based on the results, I'd like to use this to gain Scottish citizenship instead. English citizenship would be my second choice. I'd like to avoid immigrating to Germany bc I do not like or support their history, and I don't care at all about the other places as they look too boring for me. Thank you!" with partial DNA results map showing Scotland/Norway region

Reddit post from r/Showerthoughts by u/rosetoesnose (4h). Title: "There's no consensus on how many generations removed from an ancestor you can be and still claim to be Irish". Comment from Wallname_Liability (4h): "I mean the Irish constitution grants citizenship to anyone with at least one parent or grandparent born in Ireland. Given we have a constitutional referendum ever two or three years the whole document could be said to be a firm consensus of the irish people"

Tags:US ancestry·SAS·USA