50% of Britons are actually German

[WildCat]

Paris? You're French? You refer perchance to 1066? It's hard to dig up examples where the French won.

But weren't the Normans Vikings?

eta: the French did win the French Revolution...

 

[PogoPedant]

eta: the French did win the French Revolution...

That's debatable.

 

[bjornart]

Obviously, not all the Viking invaders/settlers in the British Isles were Danish (though the English tended to call them all Danes), and the Normans were Norwegian. Oh, wait, Wikipedia says Hrolf/Rollo was "Norwegian or Danish."

They're digging up Rollo's grandson and great-grandson this year to do DNA testing to see if it'll shed some more light on his actual orgins.

 

[GlennB]

The Daily Mash offers a simple questionnaire to calculate just how German you are (contains expletives).

 

[philkensebben]

But we still won in 66 right?

2 world wars and 1 world cup!
2 world wars and 1 world cup!
2 world wars and 1 world cup!
2 world wars and 1 world cup!
2 world wars and 1 world cup!
2 world wars and 1 world cup!

 

[Architect]

Aye, but they've kicked your ar*es on just about everything since then.

 

[philkensebben]

Aye, but they've kicked your ar*es on just about everything since then.

I'm neither English or German, I just think its a hilarious chant. Its like a national shifting of the goalposts: the chant is usually taken up while the German national football team is making the English team look silly: so what do they English fans do ? YEAH! But we won the war!!!

 

[commandlinegamer]

It should be noted in '67 the Scots' national squad beat the so-called world cup winners of the previous year.

 

[Lamuella]

*gasp* it's almost like the anglosaxons were a germanic people and we've had waves of immigration from all dorts of European countries for thousands of years! Unpossible!

 

[Aitch]

If you have to go that far back to claim 50% Germanic, why not go the whole hog and go right back and claim 100% African?

 

[philkensebben]

"I'm as British as Queen Victoria!"

Captain Blackadder: "So your father's German, you're half German and you married a German?".

 

[EHocking]

...How many people are direct descendants of Genghis Khan again?

Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese^[1]. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Chan-Chu. But I think it's Colin.


[1] yes, I know Khan was not Chinese...

 

[Oliver]

Even worse. I hear that there is a German Family, the Saxe-Coburgs, who have designs on ruling the country.

Actually I thought that was the only reason why half of the Brits have German roots by now.

 

[Oliver]

Why is this news? English is a Germanic language, I always thought it was accepted that the people had Germanic origins.

Quite frankly, (while not researching how English evolved in the first place) I simply used to think that "Germanen" simply were the very first settlers on the isle.

 

[tobermoryphil]

50% of Britons German? I think I must be German from the waist down.

 

[Oliver]

50% of Britons German? I think I must be German from the waist down.

You're wearing sandals?

 

[Eddie Dane]

You're wearing sandals?

I could have sworn it was the top 50%.
With the red chequered shirt, beige jacket and polyether neck tie.

 

[Skwinty]

You're wearing sandals?

The socks are a dead giveaway.

 

[Damien Evans]

Quite frankly, (while not researching how English evolved in the first place) I simply used to think that "Germanen" simply were the very first settlers on the isle.

That would be Homo Antecesser, around 950,000 years ago.

 

[Oliver]

That would be Homo Antecesser, around 950,000 years ago.

So what language did Homo Antecesser speak then?