# Culturally analagous devices? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506 "2012-02-21T06:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/1 "2012-02-21T06:27:40Z")
For lack of a better term, I’m thinking of devices whose primary purpose is similar across cultures, but whose implementation varies. Examples off the top of my head: [ul] [li]“Coffee maker” is to “Electric teapot” as “America” is to “Japan” (heating device for beverage of choice)[/li] [li]Toaster : Rice Cooker (cooking staple foods)[/li] [li]Toilet paper : Bidet (butt cleaners)[/li] [li]fork : chopsticks : hands (food holding)[/li] [li]washing machine: washboard : washing bat[/li] [li]corset : foot binding[/li][/ul] Does this comparison make sense? Can you think of other examples? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/2 "2012-02-21T06:39:44Z")
Well ‘fork’ and ‘chopsticks’ is the best example. They serve exactly the same purpose when eating food. ‘Toaster’ and ‘Rice Cooker’ are two different types of cooking devices, but their purposes are very different. I don’t think toast in America has much equivalence to rice in Japan. A potato cooker might be a close comparison, but those are uncommon. I’d say ‘fork’ and ‘chopsticks’ are highly analogous, and ‘Toaster’ and ‘Rice Cooker’ are only indirectly related through a single shared characteristic. So your example are highlighting both small and large differences in cultures. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/3 "2012-02-21T06:55:35Z")
An “electric teapot” is a default kitchen item called a kettle in most the rest of the world and its primary purpose is to boil water - usually, but not always, to make beverages. So really that would be: US : rest of world =\> Stovetop/microwave : kettle but Coffee maker : teapot My contribution would be: Alcohol : kava-kava : hashish : opium (primary intoxicants) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/4 "2012-02-21T11:27:34Z")
The bidet’s primary purpose with regards to butts in many of the countries in which it’s used (read: Europe) is not “to clean the butt”, but “to finish butt-cleaning when toilet paper is not enough”. It is complementary to TP, not its alternative. Other uses include footbaths (alternative would be a shallow, large plastic bowl) and genital douches (alternative is a wet cloth or towelette). ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/5 "2012-02-21T15:29:12Z")
[while scanning the thread page, I read the title of this one as “cunilingus advice”. Had to double-take to read it right.] ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/6 "2012-02-21T15:36:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The bidet’s primary purpose with regards to butts in many of the countries in which it’s used (read: Europe) is not “to clean the butt”, but “to finish butt-cleaning when toilet paper is not enough”. It is complementary to TP, not its alternative. > > Other uses include footbaths (alternative would be a shallow, large plastic bowl) and genital douches (alternative is a wet cloth or towelette). Actually, the American alternative to all of these is the shower. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culturally-analagous-devices/613506/7 "2012-02-21T16:15:03Z")
coffee : tea : yerba mate : hot chocolate – hot caffeinated beverages. I may be missing a few; most cultures have some beverage in this category. Much like Swedish meatballs 😉