30 Of The Funniest Stereotypes Locals Came Up With About Their Countries

We make jokes about cultural stereotypes all the time. Parisians are considered to be snobbish, Americans as dumb and the Irish have a reputation for their drinking abilities. None of these connotations are meant to insult anyone but merely enjoyed in a light-hearted spirit.

#1 Germany: “Our stereotype is best told with a joke: ‘How many Germans do you need to change a light bulb?’ One. We are very efficient and not funny.”

Image source: R3v1cu7, Ivan Radic/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#2 Australia: “That the whole country is dangerous. That spiders, drop bears, snakes, feral cats, and dogs will rip your heart out every time you step out the door.”

Image source: Cletus_Spooge_pants, Tom Woodward/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#3 Canada: “That we’re all really polite and we put maple syrup on everything. (At least the maple syrup stereotype is true, though.)”

Image source: TheBulldogIsHere, Pete Jelliffe/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#4 Egypt: “We all ride around on camels. I’m an Egyptian, and I have never seen a camel in real life.”

Image source: delpanto93, B Balaji/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#5 Germany: “That everyone wears lederhosen. As a German, I can tell you that no one walks around in lederhosen except in Munich on Oktoberfest…or tourists visiting the country.”

Image source: levelup_jar, urlesque/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#6 France: That we are unpleasant and we stink .. we always carry a baguette too.

Image source: Groumoum, Jeremy Keith/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#7 USA: Guns and fat people.

Image source: GatoThor, Tim Samuel/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#8 France: “Everyone is rude and unwelcoming. Most stereotypical ‘rude’ French people live in Paris. The rest of us are way more kind and polite.”

Image source: AtStitch, Diana Titenko/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#9 UK: We all speak with a posh accent, or say “its chewsday innit bruv”.

Image source: WhyAmIHereExactlyHM, Stig Andersen/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#10 Finland: That were only happy and social when drunk. And sadly there’s 100% truth to it too.

Image source: anon, Bernt Rostad/fFlikcr (not the actual photo)

#11 India: “That all we eat is curry. We have thousands of different dishes, and not everything is spicy.”

Image source: _negiboi, nakashi/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#12 New Zealand: “That we all say stuff like ‘put another shrimp on the barbie.’ Shrimp is not a thing here. We call them prawns.”

Image source: ChanceRegret2607, Jeremy Keith/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#13 Any country in Africa: “That Africa is one homogeneous country, not an entire continent made up of 50+ distinct countries.”

Image source: ta_ref, YoTuT/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#14 Spain: “So many tourists associate my whole country with bull fighting and the culture around it. In reality, most people I know hate or ignore this ‘tradition’ all together. In fact, parts of the country don’t even allow it anymore.”

Image source: dpacheco3, ainudil/Flickr (nott he actual photo)

#15 Lebanon: I would say one of the main stereotypes of my country(Lebanon) is that we come from a desert even though our country’s terrain has no desert within it whatsoever. Albeit, our neighboring countries do.

Image source: Jad-Ali-Dakroub, Giorgio Montersino/Flickr

#16 New Zealand: “That the only thing we care about is rugby and we all live in hobbit holes. I, for one, am absolutely terrified of rugby.”

Image source: GalactikNZ, Kerrie _/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#17 Colombia: “Colombian here. People immediately associate my country with c**aine and Pablo Escobar. Netflix’s Narcos sure didn’t help. The guy’s been dead for almost 30 years, and we still can’t seem to get rid of that monster.”

Image source: Timullin, jessicadally/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#18 Finland: “That we are quiet, introverted, and like our privacy. There are exceptions, especially among younger people, but most of us really don’t know how to speak to other people. If you want to start a random conversation on a bus or a train, you’d better be, like, 80 years old or drunk.”

Image source: anonymous, Basak Senova/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#19 Switzerland: “Everything is clean, and everything is wildly expensive. Yes, this is entirely true.”

Image source: TheHighFlyer, crash71100/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#20 Italy: “That we eat pasta six times per week at least. Honestly, it’s true for the vast majority of Italians.”

Image source: Doxep, Engin Akyurt/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#21 Ireland: Drink a lot of alcohol and our diet consists entirely of potatoes. The “Luck of the Irish” is also a load of nonsense. The phrase is laced with irony.

Image source: fedupofbrick, Henri Bergius/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#22 Sweden: “That all our women are really beautiful. Yes, it’s true, and it’s sad because I have zero chance with any of them.”

Image source: off-and-on, Yuli Como/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#23 Mexico: “The whole country is made up of deserts. It’s hot and sunny all the time. We wear sombreros all the time. We only drink tequila, and we can all dance salsa. None of these things are true about my country.”

Image source: mitzina

#24 Brazil: “That our biggest pastimes are samba and soccer, that we live in the middle of the jungle, and that Brazil is made up only of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.”

Image source: pao-de-mel, Vitorio Benedetti/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#25 Germany: We’re beer drinking sausage eaters with an addiction of starting World Wars.

Image source: anon, David Pursehouse/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#26 Poland: “That the whole country is a grey, depressing wasteland. In reality, it’s a very beautiful place with tons of gorgeous nature.”

Image source: Space_Codette, Andrew Milligan sumo/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#27 Scotland: “We all eat haggis, drink whisky, and wear skirts.”

Image source: crazyface81, John William Hammond/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#28 Australia: I have a couple: That we ride kangaroos, we always say “g’day”, “mate”, and “shrimp on the barby” (we call them prawns), that we’re some redneck backwards country, and that we don’t exist.

Image source: anon, John Vetterli/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#29 South Africa: “That we don’t have paved roads, cities, electricity, or any of the modern conveniences, it’s just jungle filled with animals where everyone lives in mud huts. I wouldn’t say these stereotypes annoy me, but they certainly amuse me.”

Image source: Reapr, Domenico Convertini/Flickr (not the actual photo)

#30 Canada: *Eh?*.

Image source: willpowerlifter, RichardBH/Flickr (not the actual photo)