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<p>The UKIP does seem to have substantial support in many parts of the UK:
<a href=“BBC News - Mapping UKIP's polling strength”>http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29568123</a></p>
<p>I’ve lived in England and sadly, many English people feel that they know a great deal about the US because of what they see and hear in British media. The fact that what is shown and read there is so bizarrely skewed sometimes is utterly lost on the British. What seemed like wildly overblown stereotyping, bordering on parody is accepted as truth by young British people. Once someone has these ideas, it’s very hard to dislodge them.</p>
<p>I will say that foul, sexist language (ie, “twat”) and what an American would consider downright rudeness are quite acceptable in a wide swath of the British population and media. In spite of the fact that I’m frequently offended and sometimes shocked by what I hear there, I still enjoy visiting Britain and the people who live there.</p>
<p>Scottishbritish, you are far too young to be so narrow-minded and fragile. Why don’t you actually experience life at an American university and take off your sensitivity goggles for a few years? You may actually learn something and enjoy the experience, even if sometimes you hear something you don’t agree with. That’s what mature adults do.</p>
<p>I’ve honestly never heard of anyone being legitimately offended by the word ‘twat.’ I only brought it up as a comparison to show that just about anything can be considered offensive if one tries to make it offensive. </p>
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<p>Unfortunately, the US media also has over-sensationalism that can give people (in the US or internationally) a sometimes skewed viewpoint of what the US is like. Also, there has been more of a tendency for media outlets in the US to become more politically partisan, so one has to be careful about noting the political alignment of the media outlet in context with what it is talking about.</p>
<p>Back to the original question (and I knew that this is where this thread was going to go…) </p>
<p>I legitimately don’t think I’ve heard anyone over the age of like 15 say that phrase since I was in high school. People are generally able to expand their vocabularies once they go through high school 
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<p>@Coriander23 You don’t know anything about me so you can’t make judgements on what I’m like. I’m not a militant gay person. I wasn’t even out until a few months ago and I have never actually announced my sexuality, only inferred it. It’s quite clear that people in the United States still do those phrases, since a previous poster just said she hears it at Duke frequently, and with no intention to offend you, whilst the US is a lovely place and most Americans I’ve met have been very kind, your country does have a disproportionate number of homophobes considering how developed it is - my concerns are not misplaced by all means. It’s not that I’m sensitive or fragile, rather, I don’t want to go somewhere where I have to tolerate bigots. For example, here: <a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube; and <em>especially</em> here: <a href=“Gay PDA Experiment - YouTube”>Gay PDA Experiment - YouTube; Even though I have met lovely people from the south, I do, unfortunately, reserve the right to write it off to avoid these types. If a man can’t sit on a bench with his arm around another men without getting looks (never mind a phone call to the policeman to report him - who was nearly about to tell them to stop) then that’s not an environment I want to be in. They would have had more respect doing that in the Vatican City than in Alabama. </p>
<p>@teenbodybuilder One thing in life you should never do is make assumptions. I never said I wouldn’t attend anywhere where “That’s so gay” had been uttered once, but I wanted to gain a perception of its usage in the Ivies. :)</p>
<p>@jimmyboy23 To clarify, I’m not a wet lettuce; I don’t find the usage of “That’s so gay” hurtful or upsetting, it just makes me cringe and wonder what I’m doing surrounded by ignoramuses. Cheers for the advice though :)</p>
<p>I havent’ heard the phrase in a while. Seemed to be something middle schoolers were using a few years ago. The only ones I’ve heard say are those who are gay. </p>
<p>@Coriander23 You’re making me blush :"> I feel quite privileged to be given such a title!</p>
<p>@comfortablycurt I don’t care if there’s people who are religious, atheists or whatever, I’m a practising Catholic but I simply do not want to end up anywhere where I’d have to find a “niche” in order to fit in. I won’t be going anywhere where there’s a significant number (never mind the majority) of racists, homophobes, sexists or islamophobes. My ideal university is one where everyone is accommodated regardless of their religion, gender, sexuality or whatever.</p>
<p>@Joblue That is true to some extent, but there is no smoke without fire. For example: <a href=“37 percent of Americans say homosexuality is wrong. What about the rest of the world? - Vox”>37 percent of Americans say homosexuality is wrong. What about the rest of the world? - Vox;
<p>People still say this? I am middle-aged and live in the Deep South. I haven’t used that phrase since I was ten and even then got in trouble with an adult for using it. I don’t think I’ve heard it in over 30 years.</p>
<p>This thread is going downhill. I am closing it.</p>