# Dumb questions you have about other nations/cultures. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427 "2012-05-09T21:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/21 "2012-05-10T06:34:42Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > If you’re a Muslim woman, and you go fully covered, do you wear makeup regularly and “do” your hair? I have seen pictures of Iranian women with jeans poking out or makeup. Decently hidden, but it’s probably a little subversive. > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Japan: Why so hyper for some media yet so reserved otherwise? Duh. It’s Japan. Japan is weird. > [@](#): > > US: Other first world countries have rising obesity rates too but nowhere near as much as you. Why? Have you ever heard of Scotland? Number two behind the US, according to the [Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-483997/Scotland-second-fattest-nation-world.html) (I know, I know). Home of the Deep-Fried Mars Bar. Or places like Samoa? I have heard the latter is because they have a gene that helps store fat during lean times. In the time of McDonald’s, it’s not so helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/22 "2012-05-10T07:54:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why are Canadians? Because Stephen Harper’s sellout to the United States is only one-quarter complete. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/23 "2012-05-10T07:59:55Z")
Americans - why put the name of the month before the day of the month? Don’t you realise things normally go in ascending order? Or maybe in descending order. But at least in some consistent fashion, rather than Medium, Small, Large! Canadians, do you do this too? I’ve never noticed, sorry 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/24 "2012-05-10T08:37:01Z")
2012-5-10 is common in many places. Parts of Asia, and US servicemen tend to write it out that way. Canada uses a mix I believe. Dates are put in a specific order because a) they’ve always done it that way and b) because it really doesn’t matter, except for the ambiguity. I don’t believe any is conceptually easier to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/25 "2012-05-10T09:42:23Z")
Why do Americans complain so severely about spoilers, when in other cultures it is customary for official reviews of movies and books to contain open spoilers and no-one thinks twice about telling each other that they just _loved_ the part where John dies in the end ? Funny enough, the exact same indignant petulant tone of voice in which US people complain about spoilers, is used in the Netherlands to complain about draft. You know, gusts of cold wind that might occur locally whenever somebody opens the wrong combination of windows/doors is opened against each other. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/26 "2012-05-10T09:56:06Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > In totally other curiousity, in places where tight underwear isn’t worn, what do women do about their periods? Pads only really work if they’re tight to the body, and I’m presuming that tampons aren’t really universal here either. Well, I can’t speak specifically since you didn’t give a specific location, but here in the US it used to be _very_ common for women to use an elastic belt to which you could fasten pads with extensions on either end to make a sort of loincloth arrangement which did not require underwear to keep in place. These were around from (I think) the late 1940’s/50’s through the early 80’s. Presumably, women in such places would use something like that. Either than, or in areas where pre-made menstrual products aren’t available, they probably use what our grandmothers did: rags made into homemade pads, which are quite bulky and require loose underwear. Tampons aren’t as new as people think, though - in Ancient Greece and Rome women would sometimes use sea sponges cut into tampon-like shapes and used as tampons. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/27 "2012-05-10T11:28:24Z")
Is anyone else imagining a “Y U No…?” format for these questions? 😃 I want to know why it’s easier for me to get alcohol in Muslim countries (Malaysia and Indonesia) than it is in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/28 "2012-05-10T13:24:42Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Why do Americans complain so severely about spoilers, when in other cultures it is customary for official reviews of movies and books to contain open spoilers and no-one thinks twice about telling each other that they just _loved_ the part where John dies in the end ? > > Funny enough, the exact same indignant petulant tone of voice in which US people complain about spoilers, is used in the Netherlands to complain about draft. You know, gusts of cold wind that might occur locally whenever somebody opens the wrong combination of windows/doors is opened against each other. **Maastricht** , can we please keep the cultural swipes at a minimum in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/29 "2012-05-10T14:25:15Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Is anyone else imagining a “Y U No…?” format for these questions? 😃 A lot of them, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/30 "2012-05-10T14:25:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Why are Canadians? I pulled a joke thread here a few years back where by the 1939 Treazty of Ogdensburg, Canadians agreed to stop insisting that they were not British and start insisting they were not (US) American. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/31 "2012-05-10T14:36:58Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > **Maastricht** , can we please keep the cultural swipes at a minimum in this thread? Yeah, why issue frank, harsh, and severe comments and criticism to educate, encourage, or admonish someone? Maybe **Maastricht** is a dutch uncle! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/32 "2012-05-10T15:36:55Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > **Maastricht** , can we please keep the cultural swipes at a minimum in this thread? Sure, but I was thinking I was an equal opportunity swiper there. I have always thougt the Dutch obsession with drafts in any public space to be ridiculous, an outlet for a particular type of petulant character, and I was strengthened in that idea when I found whining about drafts completely absent in US conversations. And I looked up Dutch uncle and everything that [Wiki entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_uncle)says about the Dutch is true ! ::eek:: ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/33 "2012-05-10T15:59:55Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > If you’re a Muslim woman, and you go fully covered, do you wear makeup regularly and “do” your hair? > > If you’re visiting your women friends at their homes, or in places where just women are (like hair salons or … ? ) , do you take off your covering while you’re visiting them? > > What about when you’re at home? > > What do you do when someone drops by to visit? Do you keep one handy so you can fling it over yourself if it’s a man visiting unannounced? > > Do people simply NOT visit unannounced? > . 1. It depends on the woman in question. SOme women do so others don’t. I have a very good friend who does not normally cover up and she tells me that this is one of the reasons she likes large chadors is that is she has an errand to run, she can just quickly put it on and run without getting dressed. Also I have known women who treat it almost like an overcoat, I have one colleague who wears it when she is going outdoors but not otherwise. 2. Do you wear an overcoat at home? 3. If someone comes unannounced at least in Pakistan, s/he is likely to be on good enough terms with the family for it not to be an issue. I am a muslim…man. Shoot me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/34 "2012-05-10T16:10:03Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > The stubble on my head is enough to keep a pretty good grip on it. > As Lisa Simpson once wondered about the red dot on the forehead of Hindu(?) women, “what’s the deal with that dot?” Traditionally it meant “married woman” but now even little girls wear it. It just means “female” now, and it’s just another decoration. Also I am Hindu and can most definitely understand Urdu, and my own language is scattered with Urdu words. Being from the extreme Northwest of India, the languages mingle more. My family was from what is now Pakistan - Lahore. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/35 "2012-05-10T16:14:22Z")
Why do some Brits seem to prefer fighting over sex ? The few times that I have visited Thailand the bars are full of drunken British men and Thai women. The Brits seem to prefer ignoring the women and picking fights with other men. Why ? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/36 "2012-05-10T16:25:35Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Traditionally it meant “married woman” but now even little girls wear it. It just means “female” now, and it’s just another decoration. > > Also I am Hindu and can most definitely understand Urdu, and my own language is scattered with Urdu words. Being from the extreme Northwest of India, the languages mingle more. My family was from what is now Pakistan - Lahore. And Lahore is a Punjabi area not a Hindi one like Uttar Pardesh. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/37 "2012-05-10T16:34:43Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > UK: Why can’t/won’t you drink in moderation? My theory is that pubs all used to close at 11pm; so you had a finite time to drink in. Nowadays that’s no longer the case, but old habits die hard. Perhaps the next generation will act differently. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/38 "2012-05-10T17:16:52Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I want to know why it’s easier for me to get alcohol in Muslim countries (Malaysia and Indonesia) than it is in Australia. It’s difficult to get alcohol in Australia? From the stereotypes in American media, I always sort of pictured Australia as having beer in the drinking fountains. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/39 "2012-05-10T17:23:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It’s difficult to get alcohol in Australia? From the stereotypes in American media, I always sort of pictured Australia as having beer in the drinking fountains. Beer is too expensive to put into drinking fountains (it costs about twice as much in Australia compared with beer in the U.S.), but if you’re 18 you can go to a bar and buy alcohol in Australia. I don’t see how it can be much easier to buy a drink in Muslim countries. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/40 "2012-05-10T17:23:55Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It’s difficult to get alcohol in Australia? From the stereotypes in American media, I always sort of pictured Australia as having beer in the drinking fountains. When I was there in 2004, it didn’t seem difficult. They sold wine at Woolworth’s, at least in Sydney. Maybe it’s different in some other Australian states- the difficulty of buying alcohol certainly varies from state to state in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=3)