New research that studied Google auto-correct terms has revealed exactly what our cousins in mainland Europe think of Great Britain.
Unsurprisingly, in this post-Brexit world, the majority of Europeans don’t seem that fond of us over here in Blighty, with the Germans asking why we’re so stupid while the Dutch want to know why we’re so ugly.
The study was conducted by SEO experts Search Laboratory using Google’s autocomplete feature and what they found was less than flattering, with the general consensus being that we were thick, ugly and dirty, The Sun reports.
Here’s a breakdown of the auto complete results, along with our best attempts at answering the curious Europeans.
Spain – Why are the English so strange? Blame the fact we’re an island, it’s the only excuse we’ve got.
Portugal – Why are the English crybabies? We have an unwarranted belief in our own self-importance, we used to rule 1/4 of the world don’t you know!
France – Why do we call the English ‘rosbif’? This comes from the French mistakenly believing we can’t cook.
Italy – Why are the English so dirty? I didn’t realise we’re dirty but it would explain the smell.
Greece – English is a Greek dialect? No?
Ireland – What do Scottish people look like? Normal people?
Netherlands – Why are the English so ugly? Inbreeding on a small island?
Germany – Why are the English so stupid? See above.
Denmark – Why do English judges wear wigs? It’s tradition to dress ridiculously when doing something important here.
Sweden – Why does England have two flags? England only has one flag.
Poland – Why is British Flour so strange? No idea.
Czech Republic – Englishmen are sailors? Some of us.
Austria – Is England a city or a country? Country.
Hungary – Why do the English put milk in their tea? It’s delicious.
Lithuania – Why do the English drive on the left side of the road? Stubbornness.
Finland – Why are they called Britain in the Olympics? To confuse Europeans.
Search Laboratory explained that search numbers peaked at almost 12.5 million searches around the time of the Brexit vote in June.
However, curious Europeans have continued to ask Google about our fair island in the months afterwards.
In a statement, Search Laboratory said:
The biggest search story of the year in the UK has undoubtedly been Brexit.
Users from all over the continent have been searching queries in the hundreds of thousands every month since February, regarding Britain’s now impending exit from the European Union.
Meanwhile, here in the UK if you type into Google ‘why is Europe’ autocomplete generates ‘so undemocratic’, ‘called Europe’ and ‘so divided’, so it seems we’ve all also been busy googling nonsense.
Learning what Europe thinks of us is actually quite depressing but it’s fine, we’re going to hang with our new best mate America, everyone know’s he’s cooler.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.