No, because in Brit school we learn the words "hyperbole" and "sarcasm".

The colonial rebellion happened 240 years ago.  None of the British people alive today were at all involved.  Neither were our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents or anyone we've ever met.  Why would we care the slightest about remarks that have nothing to do with us and are obviously in jest and are technically true?

And when we watch your "Jersey Shore", "Fox News", "MSNBC", and "Honey BooBoo" we realize the good decision we made by leaving the colonies.

Besides, it would be extremely hypocritical for us to be offended by that when we are laughing our arses off watching this:

It's not offensive. 

It's also not even slightly funny.  What is it that you think is funny about it?  There's no punchline, no subversion of an initial idea, no play on words, nothing.

That's probably what the stares were about.  They were thinking, is that supposed to be a joke?  Shit, what do we do now?  Pretend to laugh? 

Most American's ideas of what the UK, and British people, are like are so wildly, utterly wrong that bemused embarrassment is the main response to attempts at humour based on what you imagine us to be like.

I don't even find that remotely offensive. We're glad to be rid of you. lol jk

No but seriously, I don't find that offensive. Maybe they feel alienated? I was in LA last year for July 4th and I had a great time.

No.

A substantial proportion of the world's countries were part of the British Empire at some stage and we'd be taking a lot of offence if we were upset about every one of their independence celebrations.

Relations with most former colonies are good. We even formed a club for them called the Commonwealth of Nations, a key purpose of which seems to be to preserve a group of nations for us to play cricket against.

The blank stares are probably from people who never realised the US was one of our colonies in the first place. We're really not bothered.

Not at all.  Many nations have made poor choices at points in their history.  It would be ignorant prejudice to consider contemporary Americans to be in any sense responsible for the errors of their forefathers.

No, British don't care about that 'cause they're the USA's reliable ally

get a room

What the British have in common with Americans is that they're both disliked by continental Europeans that view them as fat warmongers with bad food. As much resentment Britain gets from Europeans, they alway have the USA as their reliable ally. This creates a lot of trust between the two governments.

A bit, but only because your average brit was never anyone's overlord.

Americans won their freedom from the British Crown and aristocracy. The average british person was twice as oppressed as anyone in the colonies which enjoyed much lower taxes and much more freedoms than in Britain itself (despite a democratic disadvantage in the colonies, although I think only the landed aristocracy could vote then, so it was the same for most people). It's not like you could work your way up and aspire to be King, Prime Minister, or city trader; Britain had (and still has) a very strict class system, and well over 99% of the population were condemned to toil in mines, fields, factories or in the street, no matter how hard they worked or how clever they were.

If anything, an educated working class Brit should feel disappointed that the liberation stopped at the coast. It's taken 300 years for the British system to evolve towards a more meritocratic free market democratic system where everyone is created equal, and even now, politics, law, medicine, and finance are pretty much reserved for the middle classes, through cost of entry, and blatant nepotism (the old school tie system - basically the top jobs in these fields are reserved for people who went to Eton (i.e. a few hundred children a year at most), and the next tier is for West Minster School and other second tier establishments, the next tier to those privately educated at less exclusive schools (and with good money), and the rest go on merit). Even today, the 7% of the population who go to private schools (known as public schools in the UK, as opposed to state schools), occupy over 30% of political seats, 60% of journalist posts, 80% of senior banking roles,and 90% of legal roles, which leaves very few opportunities for people who are not in the top 7% of wealth distribution, no matter how hard they work and how qualified they are. Fees for private schools is in the same ball park as the average annual income in the UK.

The other aspect of why the quote is offensive, is that it mocks the relative fortune of Britain compared to the US at a time when the US is at the top of it's influence and economic power, and the UK has had to accept it's status as a small country. It was a hard transition to accept, after being the worlds pre-eminent power and trader for hundreds of years, and people who remember that time probably feel the fall more than those of us who grew up after the 60s.

And finally I would like to wish 'Gung Hay Fat Choy' to our new Chinese Overlords!

I've often wondered why black Americans celebrate this date, after all if the US had remained as a British colony the forefathers and mothers of many black Americans would have been freed from slavery a generation earlier.  Slavery was abolished in 1807 in Britain and in 1833 in British colonies while it continued until 1863 in the United States.

4th of July is my birthday so, personally, I think it extremely hospitable to have all these parties and fireworks just for ME!!

More seriously, nope, not at all.     Even in a country that thinks of history, 240 years is considered a long time ago, and with many more recent colonial divestments it is not something people think about.

No, not at all.

Some might think it amusing, some might find it irritating, though, to be asked if July 4th is a holiday in the UK. (It isn't).

No! I find it really amusing!

For a start, it was so long before me that I don't particularly care about it. You don't find me gloating that we tagteamed you with the Canadians in 1812 and burned the White House down either. It's all so long ago!

Also, it's so funny at how proud you are that you are independent of us, and yet how proud those of you who are descended from Brits are. All the eamericans I've met who have the slightest bit of British blood in them will never shut up about it, and how that means they're part british

It's just so amusing! You are the number one group of tourists in our country, and you go completely crazy for the queen, the changing of the guards etc

But I'm not offended about it at all! Nor am I offended at the Indians, Kenyans, Nigerians, people from Barbados or whoever else who has got independence from the UK!

No.

UK people just don't give a crap. Unless Americans specifically go out to mention it, they won't even know it was such a big deal.

Most history lessons (at GCSE level, at least) usually revolves around:

• The industrial revolution
• WW2
• Tsarist Russia and the Russian revolution
• Communist China and the Great Leap Forward.

I might be missing things out here, but I've never known any one of my friends who studied the American revolution.

Not at all.

We used to say about the 'Yanks' during WWII that they were: 'Overpaid, over sexed and over here!' do you find that offensive?

We have too many ties to take offence at 'family jokes' from the cousins

We are probably just staring at you whilst we think about how things could have been if we'd taxed tobacco instead of tea.

I have lived in the US for almost 70 years and have never heard anyone say that.

I know I'm simplifying this :- The British themselves are celebrating independence from their British overlords

A lot of the British history over the past 70 years has been the quite dismantling of the old power structures to create a more egalitarian society. If you want a good representation of this, watch the Olympics opening ceremony. It's a good celebration of how England has changed.


For the most part British do not get offended when Americans make fun of British colonialism is because they kind of agree with the Americans.

None whatsoever. Best way to annoy a British person? Start a sentence with "In Europe do you..." or generally just calling a British person European.

Nah, why would we?  America is just another in a long list of countries that we no longer 'own'. I mean, small change compared to India, right?
It's kind of funny to see how Brits (and other nations) are reduced to a handful of stereotypes in the American media - you know, "the bumbling, eccentric librarian professor type" or "the sarcastic but ultimately stupid evil villain" etc.
But then, Americans are often portrayed here as brash, self-involved bigots with little knowledge or interest in other parts of the world that aren't bombing them.  I'm quite sure that's an over-simplification too.
Anyway, I think we come off quite lightly compared to Canadians.

No not in the slightest. most wouldn't even know we used to run the place or if they were aware then they would know we used to run vast swathes of the globe. It's all in the distant past.

Not really. If we did, we'd just revoke it ;)

No I don't find it offensive. They're just joking :)

Ummmm...No. It happened 240 years ago.

It has been my observation, as a Brit, that older people get offended, or maybe just feel vaguely threatened, by far more things, whereas if young people do feel that way, they tend not to show it as much. I don't know to what extent this is specific to our particular generations and to what extent it is a timeless phenomenon.

Of course this is a big generalisation with lots of holes in it.

I don't find this particular example at all offensive, but maybe that's coloured by the fact that I understand that "overlords" is a meme, and many older people don't (and don't even know what a meme is).

No I don't find it offensive. Its just on independence day everyone's American on st.Pats day everyone's irish and on st Andrews day everyone's Scottish but if you celebrate Georges day your a racists