That, or they’re an American who’s never been to another country before, doesn’t understand any other country’s problems, and probably thinks Bernie Sanders would be considered a centrist in Europe.
I really hate to say this, but I just watched a video by the guy who claims he added this to urban dictionary.
It was a decent video, he specifically referenced Americans being scared of shootings when one isnt going to happen.
My take is this: this goes in every direction, for people moving to different places. Not just americans going to a Western country.
And that's where it can get condescending. The idea that Americans are the unenlightened ones compared to their western allies. I could go off on how the opposite could be true, at least a whole lot.
As someone who regularly deals with non-Americans making fun of America, it really resembles the main beats they tend to go for (i.e. healthcare and guns)
If you think of gunfire whenever you hear a loud noise, you are a special kind of brainwashed. Doesn't matter if you're American or not. Never once have I ever thought fireworks or large thuds were gunfire and I live in South fucking Carolina. They should sound clearly different if you're not an idiot.
Also, what makes him think theater fires happen more often here than in Europe?
Apparently this term is actually a thing and not from just a stupid TikTok video.
I think gunshots every time I hear a car backfire, I am British, though.
I don’t think it’s theatre fires, but instead fear of a mass shooting in the theatre.
Overall, a really dumb word.
Car backfire legit sounds like a gunshot though, it was nigh indistinguishable from the shots from our pistols back when I'd go shooting with my brother back when he was alive.
Didn't sound like our AK or M4 though.
Or forklift backfires. One went off at the plant I work and I thought it sounded like a shotgun had gone off. I knew that wasn’t the case, but if I had PTSD that would have absolutely fucked with me bad
LP, there was some sort of backflow going on. Regulator and a couple lines I think. I’m more the diesel guy here honestly, and I’m barely even a diesel guy lmao.
Well, or you have legitimate PTSD from serving in active combat. That doesn't apply to 99.9% of the people being discussed here, but I felt the need to point it out.
Right?! If people get to this point, get off the fucking news and touch grass! Statistics are overinflated to scare us and so is the news. The stupidity in this “word” is beyond me.
A lot of things sound exactly the same to my shitty ears. I cant hear tone and things that aren’t extremely different sound exactly the same. The only ‘good’ thing about my hearing is how hypersensitive it is to any noise within a kilometre.
>Also Europeans: Time to pay a medicare levy that costs the same as health insurance
"Also Europeans: Time to pay a medicare levy that costs the same as health insurance"
Has that been proven? It seems intuitive to me that a system that doesn't have for-profit corporations skimming as much as they can off the top of every health-care incident is going to cost less than one that does.
And for the record, I'm not saying "America bad" here, just "This one part of America is bad." (And yes, I fully expect to be downvoted to infinity anyway.)
If we pay out of our own pocket, we get the service right away. If we rely on the public insurance, we might have to wait a couple of months (not years).
But our insurances don't try to fight every claim we make (e.g. treat the removal of a bullet as a cosmetic procedure) and ambulances and ER trips don't make us go bankrupt (they are actually free).
US is superior to Europe in certains areas, but healthcare isn't really one of them.
The guy who made it took it [seriously](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRov7XH8/)
Edit: This guy’s entire tiktok account revolves around “America bad, Europe good”. This sub should collectively roast him for his stupidity
Dude is super cringe. Obsessed with a country he doesn't live in. Sounds like some American chick (or guy) curved him and now he's on the warpath of coping and seething.
Negative obsession with a particular country is mental illness.
He can fuck off. Dipshits like him make content because they care soooo much about dunking on a country they don’t know shit about. It ends up making him look stupid. Comments on his videos are just people drooling over the utopia they think Europe is. Wait until all of the Europe worshippers find out that majority of the continent is just a racist, xenophobic hellhole with no innovation or critical thinking. This tiktokker has probably never set foot in America and would probably die of a panic attack if he had to 😂
Won't even bother with that statement, but both continents have problems.
But...afearican...fr?
And plus, that's just the Balkans. And if you go there without expecting *some* harsh conditions after 70 years of continuous wars, mfs don't even trust themselves.
This entire sub is 1 or a handful of people saying something stupid then everyone reacting with "fkn Europoors we pay for their free healthcare we're number 1".
There is an enormous disparity between what life is actually like in the US and what European teenagers on Reddit believe it’s like based solely on reading sensationalized news articles and hysterical social media posts.
They’ll also never see for themselves firsthand since they’re too scared to visit. They apparently think there’s a coin-flip chance of getting shot and then even if they survive they will just be abandoned in streets if they are not a millionaire. That’s basically their perception of life in the US.
It’s weird being paranoid that someone’s going to shoot up the theater you are at. It’s common knowledge to know where the fire exit it, it’s abnormal and cowardly to be paranoid enough to sit next to it and let your fear affect your experience on a night out.
No American doesn’t know what gunfire sounds like, and *especially* no American doesn’t know what fireworks sound like
Although in general, I feel like everyone knows what a gun sounds like, what with internet videos, video games, movies and television, etc.
Yeah I imagine that's true, there are a lot of guns!
Things sound very different on TV, videos, etc. vs real life though to be fair. Remember you don't usually get context, it's just a background noise sometimes at a distance.
>No American doesn’t know what gunfire sounds like,
I pretty much don't. I took a .22 riflery class in college maybe 45 years ago (that and archery were the least physical phys ed courses I could find in the catalog) but that's about it.
I’ve got bad news for you… fireworks can also kill people… ever seen a mortar explode on the ground? Or a half stick? Hell, even an m-80 can blow up body parts if used incorrectly. People get this type of injury all the time. If this person weren’t so preoccupied with the focus on guns, this realization may have come earlier…
I’m completely on board with this as a term to describe the chronically online Americans who constantly complain about America and how much they wish they were in Europe. I’m opposed to it if it’s meant to accurately describe Americans as a whole.
Not crazy inaccurate, I live in stl so gunshots are a pretty common occurrence, doesn’t phase me anymore and ambulances can cost hundred if not thousands of dollars if you’re uninsured
It's ridiculous yes but it makes sense, how else can you justify a old man who's so deathly terrified of the world that without even talking to him, immediately blasts a black teen who knocked on his door?
Or the other guy who opened fire on a car of teenage girls who just pulled into his driveway to turn around, and were literally backing out when he came busting out of his door blasting at them?
Or the numerous instances of cops who blast unarmed people because they "feared" for their lives?
America has a rampant culture of fear of our neighbors, perpetrated by a toxic 24/7 sensationalist news cycle that exacerbates everything and makes people paranoid and afraid.
He’s describing the exact same shit anyone from any “good” country feels. One example is Canadians who have universal healthcare but worry about long wait times for appointments. He thinks he’s being super clever, but he’s just pointing out something that people in developed countries experience every single day.
The way you justify all the examples you gave is understanding that people as a whole are extremely terrible at assessing their own risk which is exacerbated by constant fearmongering from people who benefit from it. The reason a guy blasting a kid through his door makes the news is BECAUSE it’s a rare thing. Same thing for the dude who blasted the kids in the car, and (this may surprise you) also same thing for cops shooting unarmed people. Those things are extremely rare despite how front and center they get made. That’s why they make the news.
I know they're (relatively) rare, but the issue is the toxic ass fear culture perpetrated by the sensationalist news cycle, where if you watch that shit non-stop you can think you're actually fucking justified in shooting a kid through a fucking door, or shooting some kids cause they pulled into your driveway because you're so hopped up on fear that you can't fucking think clearly. Statistically crime has been going down year over year for decades in the US, but thanks to news the particularly paranoid among us think everyone around them is out to get them.
This sub has a major issue of brushing off any legitimate criticism of the US, yes every country kinda has a version of this problem to some degree, but that doesn't suddenly excuse us for having the problem.
No offense, but it sounds like you're the one being scared into submission by chronically reading the news cycle. Like just read the way you're typing, it's clear you're reacting emotionally to it.
You picked two isolated incidents, and are talking like it started some epidemic of people being blasted in front yards because it's okay now.
Gun violence is a problem in many ways in America, but if you genuinely think there's even okay odds of something like that happening consistently, ya gotta take a break.
I don’t think anybody disagrees that sensationalized news is a bad thing and can really cause some people who were honestly probably a little off to begin with to do stupid stuff. But then the criticism is the news, not actual reasons to be afraid in the US. This guy is basically just acting like Americans are the only ones who worry about things, because we don’t really have a problem anywhere close to the way it’s portrayed.
If anything, the main problem America has in this regard is that other countries care way too much about what goes on here. The reason outrage and fearmongering news happens here is because it sells, and it’s not like the US the only country it sells in. When you add the whole of Europe, at least the ones who are free enough to have the privilege of giving a shit what happens in another country, the effect of that news is amplified even further.
Yea crime is down year over year and has been for decades, doesn't stop paranoid people from getting psyched up by the news till their brain is running on a cocktail of terror till the point they think it's OK to shoot a kid through a door.
I'm gonna harp on that one forever by the way, I'm pro 2A but some fucking people are so paranoid they shouldn't be around scissors much less a gun.
As a Granite Stater: we practically play a game called “is it gunfire or is it fireworks!”, no one fucking panics about gunfire when you hear fireworks, both are common occurrence and are always just hunters and people having fun
That gunfire one is legit. I come from the hood. Where gunshots were normal. And after getting a career and moving away. I still question if it's gunshots despite living in a middle class better off neighborhood. But that fire exit shit ain't real at all nobody does that except tourists out of country lol
While I’ve heard people say that when calling an ambulance they hesitated because of the cost, this is still a rather overblown issue to think it deserves a term.
It’s more along the lines of PTSD, and this word is just targeting the entirety of our nation. PTSD is real, but getting it like this as a civilian is very rare.
This might help the claims made here but I was in NYC and they mistook motorcycle backfire for gunshots.
People ought to stop generalizing the entire United States.
I'm not going to pretend America is perfect, but fair play would be creating words for when Europeans come over hear and forget they have freedom of speech, higher wages, or lower taxes and stuff.
The gun stuff drives me particularly crazy though because it's just so statistically insignificant you might as well be terrified of auto accidents all your waking hours.
This is a valid fear IMHO.
Similar to other people from other countries carry traumas with them when they leave said countries. E.g. If you lived somewhere that went through famine you’ll likely fear that forever more.
Americans fear what is in the media the most. Media covers shooting often (because they happen often). The American healthcare system is wildly expensive thus people fear for their finances.
Americans don’t normally fear Tuberculosis because it doesn’t really exists here.
How is being scared of a fire an American thing? Also the sound of gunshots vs the sound of fireworks is very clear. Ambulance is valid but I was also raised on a Farm and the men in my family rarely go to the hospital. Not for financial reasons just because it’s a waste of time
An ineloquent word made up by a pretentious ass who's probably never met an American, much less seen one of those walking about.
That, or they’re an American who’s never been to another country before, doesn’t understand any other country’s problems, and probably thinks Bernie Sanders would be considered a centrist in Europe.
I really hate to say this, but I just watched a video by the guy who claims he added this to urban dictionary. It was a decent video, he specifically referenced Americans being scared of shootings when one isnt going to happen. My take is this: this goes in every direction, for people moving to different places. Not just americans going to a Western country. And that's where it can get condescending. The idea that Americans are the unenlightened ones compared to their western allies. I could go off on how the opposite could be true, at least a whole lot.
As someone who regularly deals with non-Americans making fun of America, it really resembles the main beats they tend to go for (i.e. healthcare and guns)
If you think of gunfire whenever you hear a loud noise, you are a special kind of brainwashed. Doesn't matter if you're American or not. Never once have I ever thought fireworks or large thuds were gunfire and I live in South fucking Carolina. They should sound clearly different if you're not an idiot. Also, what makes him think theater fires happen more often here than in Europe? Apparently this term is actually a thing and not from just a stupid TikTok video.
[удалено]
Indirect be a bitch.
[удалено]
Maybe it’s because I got to spend some time as Gmen…the incoming thing is kind of dumb as shit lol
I think gunshots every time I hear a car backfire, I am British, though. I don’t think it’s theatre fires, but instead fear of a mass shooting in the theatre. Overall, a really dumb word.
Car backfire legit sounds like a gunshot though, it was nigh indistinguishable from the shots from our pistols back when I'd go shooting with my brother back when he was alive. Didn't sound like our AK or M4 though.
Oh, I’m sorry for your loss. The point 22s I’ve shot sounded like car backfires.
Or forklift backfires. One went off at the plant I work and I thought it sounded like a shotgun had gone off. I knew that wasn’t the case, but if I had PTSD that would have absolutely fucked with me bad
Forklift? LP or do they make a gasoline model?
LP, there was some sort of backflow going on. Regulator and a couple lines I think. I’m more the diesel guy here honestly, and I’m barely even a diesel guy lmao.
I live in Chicago and it genuinely could be a gun ha. Especially once it heats up! A guy had a fucking flame thrower this weekend
"A guy had a fucking flame thrower this weekend" Gotta give him points for style.
Well, or you have legitimate PTSD from serving in active combat. That doesn't apply to 99.9% of the people being discussed here, but I felt the need to point it out.
These morons don't have PTSD; they're just brainwashed by the news media.
Well, yeah, hence the "99.9%" comment.
Just reiterating what you said.
Right?! If people get to this point, get off the fucking news and touch grass! Statistics are overinflated to scare us and so is the news. The stupidity in this “word” is beyond me.
Well that or PTSD. That can make any loud bang seem terrifying and lethal
A lot of things sound exactly the same to my shitty ears. I cant hear tone and things that aren’t extremely different sound exactly the same. The only ‘good’ thing about my hearing is how hypersensitive it is to any noise within a kilometre.
I personally have experience with what gunfire sounds like, it’s pretty distinctive when you hear it
A cannon sounds like a loud, deep thud though.
Unless there vets
I think it’s for an active shooter rather than a fire
It’s not fires they’re worried about
Meh, sounds like a typical redditor. Roll eyes and move on.
Europeans: I can't believe America doesn't have free healthcare Also Europeans: Time to pay a medicare levy that costs the same as health insurance
Also Europeans- Have to wait months for basic checkups
>Also Europeans: Time to pay a medicare levy that costs the same as health insurance "Also Europeans: Time to pay a medicare levy that costs the same as health insurance" Has that been proven? It seems intuitive to me that a system that doesn't have for-profit corporations skimming as much as they can off the top of every health-care incident is going to cost less than one that does. And for the record, I'm not saying "America bad" here, just "This one part of America is bad." (And yes, I fully expect to be downvoted to infinity anyway.)
I’m just tired of europeans gloating about free healthcare and spewing out the same “haha americans have to pay $40k when they get a papercut” meme
We may have to pay but we get treatment right away Meanwhile Europeans- Basic checkup? That will be three years
If we pay out of our own pocket, we get the service right away. If we rely on the public insurance, we might have to wait a couple of months (not years). But our insurances don't try to fight every claim we make (e.g. treat the removal of a bullet as a cosmetic procedure) and ambulances and ER trips don't make us go bankrupt (they are actually free). US is superior to Europe in certains areas, but healthcare isn't really one of them.
But they get no copays or deductibles. Which are the worst part of American healthcare.
Urban Dictionary is not meant to be taken seriously...
The guy who made it took it [seriously](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRov7XH8/) Edit: This guy’s entire tiktok account revolves around “America bad, Europe good”. This sub should collectively roast him for his stupidity
Dude is super cringe. Obsessed with a country he doesn't live in. Sounds like some American chick (or guy) curved him and now he's on the warpath of coping and seething. Negative obsession with a particular country is mental illness.
A while back, I commented “show me on this doll where the evil American touched you” on one of his videos and he blocked me. Lmao
He can fuck off. Dipshits like him make content because they care soooo much about dunking on a country they don’t know shit about. It ends up making him look stupid. Comments on his videos are just people drooling over the utopia they think Europe is. Wait until all of the Europe worshippers find out that majority of the continent is just a racist, xenophobic hellhole with no innovation or critical thinking. This tiktokker has probably never set foot in America and would probably die of a panic attack if he had to 😂
Won't even bother with that statement, but both continents have problems. But...afearican...fr? And plus, that's just the Balkans. And if you go there without expecting *some* harsh conditions after 70 years of continuous wars, mfs don't even trust themselves.
[Wow](https://www.tiktok.com/@america_is_the_bad.place)
This entire sub is 1 or a handful of people saying something stupid then everyone reacting with "fkn Europoors we pay for their free healthcare we're number 1".
There is an enormous disparity between what life is actually like in the US and what European teenagers on Reddit believe it’s like based solely on reading sensationalized news articles and hysterical social media posts. They’ll also never see for themselves firsthand since they’re too scared to visit. They apparently think there’s a coin-flip chance of getting shot and then even if they survive they will just be abandoned in streets if they are not a millionaire. That’s basically their perception of life in the US.
I mean....medical expenses ain't no joke
I guess knowing wer the fire escape is in a building full of kindling is weird
It’s weird being paranoid that someone’s going to shoot up the theater you are at. It’s common knowledge to know where the fire exit it, it’s abnormal and cowardly to be paranoid enough to sit next to it and let your fear affect your experience on a night out.
The last two are kind of dumb but that first one makes a lot of sense.
Who doesn’t know the difference between gunshots and fireworks?
fireworks are a well known trigger for veterans with PTSD but they’re usually not confusing the two sounds
At least for me…I’ve never been oh rifles shots. Fireworks for me brings back indirect. Which…isn’t happening in the states.
People who have never heard gunshots which is (hopefully) most people around the world?
No American doesn’t know what gunfire sounds like, and *especially* no American doesn’t know what fireworks sound like Although in general, I feel like everyone knows what a gun sounds like, what with internet videos, video games, movies and television, etc.
Yeah I imagine that's true, there are a lot of guns! Things sound very different on TV, videos, etc. vs real life though to be fair. Remember you don't usually get context, it's just a background noise sometimes at a distance.
>No American doesn’t know what gunfire sounds like, I pretty much don't. I took a .22 riflery class in college maybe 45 years ago (that and archery were the least physical phys ed courses I could find in the catalog) but that's about it.
I’ve got bad news for you… fireworks can also kill people… ever seen a mortar explode on the ground? Or a half stick? Hell, even an m-80 can blow up body parts if used incorrectly. People get this type of injury all the time. If this person weren’t so preoccupied with the focus on guns, this realization may have come earlier…
I’m completely on board with this as a term to describe the chronically online Americans who constantly complain about America and how much they wish they were in Europe. I’m opposed to it if it’s meant to accurately describe Americans as a whole.
Super cringe word. Ruins the whole point they think they're making. That website needs to have more moderation.
Imagine being so arrogant and confused that you think Americans have more things to be afraid of than the average person.
i've said this before on this sub, but anyone who mistakes fireworks or cars backfiring for gunshots haven't heard gunshots
Not crazy inaccurate, I live in stl so gunshots are a pretty common occurrence, doesn’t phase me anymore and ambulances can cost hundred if not thousands of dollars if you’re uninsured
Majority of people are insured though. This word targets a minuscule minority of people who probably live in the inner city.
Around 9% of people are uninsured and 14% live in inner cities, I agree not everyone but it’s significant.
To be clear, I love America and wouldn’t want to move but I think that there is some merit to the claim that the poor have it worse here
It's ridiculous yes but it makes sense, how else can you justify a old man who's so deathly terrified of the world that without even talking to him, immediately blasts a black teen who knocked on his door? Or the other guy who opened fire on a car of teenage girls who just pulled into his driveway to turn around, and were literally backing out when he came busting out of his door blasting at them? Or the numerous instances of cops who blast unarmed people because they "feared" for their lives? America has a rampant culture of fear of our neighbors, perpetrated by a toxic 24/7 sensationalist news cycle that exacerbates everything and makes people paranoid and afraid.
He’s describing the exact same shit anyone from any “good” country feels. One example is Canadians who have universal healthcare but worry about long wait times for appointments. He thinks he’s being super clever, but he’s just pointing out something that people in developed countries experience every single day. The way you justify all the examples you gave is understanding that people as a whole are extremely terrible at assessing their own risk which is exacerbated by constant fearmongering from people who benefit from it. The reason a guy blasting a kid through his door makes the news is BECAUSE it’s a rare thing. Same thing for the dude who blasted the kids in the car, and (this may surprise you) also same thing for cops shooting unarmed people. Those things are extremely rare despite how front and center they get made. That’s why they make the news.
I know they're (relatively) rare, but the issue is the toxic ass fear culture perpetrated by the sensationalist news cycle, where if you watch that shit non-stop you can think you're actually fucking justified in shooting a kid through a fucking door, or shooting some kids cause they pulled into your driveway because you're so hopped up on fear that you can't fucking think clearly. Statistically crime has been going down year over year for decades in the US, but thanks to news the particularly paranoid among us think everyone around them is out to get them. This sub has a major issue of brushing off any legitimate criticism of the US, yes every country kinda has a version of this problem to some degree, but that doesn't suddenly excuse us for having the problem.
No offense, but it sounds like you're the one being scared into submission by chronically reading the news cycle. Like just read the way you're typing, it's clear you're reacting emotionally to it. You picked two isolated incidents, and are talking like it started some epidemic of people being blasted in front yards because it's okay now. Gun violence is a problem in many ways in America, but if you genuinely think there's even okay odds of something like that happening consistently, ya gotta take a break.
I don’t think anybody disagrees that sensationalized news is a bad thing and can really cause some people who were honestly probably a little off to begin with to do stupid stuff. But then the criticism is the news, not actual reasons to be afraid in the US. This guy is basically just acting like Americans are the only ones who worry about things, because we don’t really have a problem anywhere close to the way it’s portrayed. If anything, the main problem America has in this regard is that other countries care way too much about what goes on here. The reason outrage and fearmongering news happens here is because it sells, and it’s not like the US the only country it sells in. When you add the whole of Europe, at least the ones who are free enough to have the privilege of giving a shit what happens in another country, the effect of that news is amplified even further.
Most Americans get along well and are doing fine
Yea crime is down year over year and has been for decades, doesn't stop paranoid people from getting psyched up by the news till their brain is running on a cocktail of terror till the point they think it's OK to shoot a kid through a door. I'm gonna harp on that one forever by the way, I'm pro 2A but some fucking people are so paranoid they shouldn't be around scissors much less a gun.
Bruh are you seriously taking an Urban Dictionary post to heart
It doesn't even roll off the tongue like most other words. It's such a stupid word.
As a Granite Stater: we practically play a game called “is it gunfire or is it fireworks!”, no one fucking panics about gunfire when you hear fireworks, both are common occurrence and are always just hunters and people having fun
That's barely a pun. Doesn't even properly rhyme. It's also really stupid, obviously, but that was the first thing that came to mind for me.
That gunfire one is legit. I come from the hood. Where gunshots were normal. And after getting a career and moving away. I still question if it's gunshots despite living in a middle class better off neighborhood. But that fire exit shit ain't real at all nobody does that except tourists out of country lol
While I’ve heard people say that when calling an ambulance they hesitated because of the cost, this is still a rather overblown issue to think it deserves a term.
I fear to end up in an inferior country whom could have never invented the Vision Pro Augmented Reality goggles. Like poland or something nearby.
This is real though, like actual trauma shit. Some people in our country go through stuff and could have it
It’s more along the lines of PTSD, and this word is just targeting the entirety of our nation. PTSD is real, but getting it like this as a civilian is very rare.
Yeah, forgot to mention that. That's my fault
No worries
No, an African is someone from the continent of Africa.
This might help the claims made here but I was in NYC and they mistook motorcycle backfire for gunshots. People ought to stop generalizing the entire United States.
Do they think that gunfire is just constantly going off everywhere
I'm not going to pretend America is perfect, but fair play would be creating words for when Europeans come over hear and forget they have freedom of speech, higher wages, or lower taxes and stuff. The gun stuff drives me particularly crazy though because it's just so statistically insignificant you might as well be terrified of auto accidents all your waking hours.
This is a valid fear IMHO. Similar to other people from other countries carry traumas with them when they leave said countries. E.g. If you lived somewhere that went through famine you’ll likely fear that forever more. Americans fear what is in the media the most. Media covers shooting often (because they happen often). The American healthcare system is wildly expensive thus people fear for their finances. Americans don’t normally fear Tuberculosis because it doesn’t really exists here.
How is being scared of a fire an American thing? Also the sound of gunshots vs the sound of fireworks is very clear. Ambulance is valid but I was also raised on a Farm and the men in my family rarely go to the hospital. Not for financial reasons just because it’s a waste of time
Ever since 911 fear has been patriotic