# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/141 "2012-05-13T16:14:56Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > This is liable to vary from one country to another: > Are there countries that don’t bother to list eye and hair color on IDs? In countries where 99% of the population has brown eyes and black hair, it doesn’t seem very much use unless you’re dealing with the tiny minority. No hair/eye colour listed on my British driving licence. A picture is worth 1000 words. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/142 "2012-05-13T16:24:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You should check out the webcomic [Scandinavia and the World](http://satwcomic.com/). It’s done by a Dane, Humon, and it’s about the national stereotypes (which Humon annotates so the rest of us can get the jokes). Yes I had a look at it cheers. Must admit that the writer has some bizarre ideas about non Scandinavian countries, she went to England and found someone who confused Denmark with The Netherlands ? The Scots feel like they’re Scandinavians ! (Can see that for Shetland Islanders but the rest of the country NO WAY !) I’m hoping that the Nordic stuff is accurate because the non Nordic stuff certainly isn’t . Still its different ! ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/143 "2012-05-13T16:51:47Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Yes I had a look at it cheers. > > Must admit that the writer has some bizarre ideas about non Scandinavian countries, she went to England and found someone who confused Denmark with The Netherlands ? > > The Scots feel like they’re Scandinavians ! > (Can see that for Shetland Islanders but the rest of the country NO WAY !) > > I’m hoping that the Nordic stuff is accurate because the non Nordic stuff certainly isn’t . > > Still its different ! I’ve seen/heard people confuse Dutch/Danish a few times, but it was more a case of just using the wrong word by accident. Apparently Alex Salmond (First Minister of Scotland) wants to push links between Scotland and Scandinavia, so Scotland isn’t so tied to England. His logic is that Vikings invaded Scotland quite a bit, but I always thought that’s why he wanted to move away from England… ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/144 "2012-05-13T17:19:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > So… any dumb questions you want to ask an Israeli? Yes. Do the cities just basically _shut down_ between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday? Is Kosher (w/r/t food) the law of the land, or could I score some ham & beans somewhere in Israel if I tried hard enough? Are the religious differences more _political_ and less _personal_? Ferinstance, would it be unheard-of for a group of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish friends to all hang out and go out for coffee after work some night? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/145 "2012-05-13T17:36:18Z")
**Western Europe** _DISCLAIMER #1: The following questions accept the premise that Western Europe is, on the whole, significantly less “religious” than the U.S., and that your modern culture isn’t as shaped by religion as it is in the U.S._ Is a person of devout faith considered something of a pariah? If there was a Christian family on your block that believed in 6-day Creation, went to church every Sunday, etc., but was otherwise friendly and personable, would they be likely to have other friends outside of their church, or would they be seen with derision and/or mistrust? What do you guys teach your kids about sex? My sexual upbringing was: I was taught not to do it before I was married (for a variety of reasons, not the first of which was that it violates one of the Ten Commandments), but that if I _was_ going to do it (and I really _really_ shouldn’t do it) I should make damn-well sure I was using a condom. One night Mammahomie walked into my room without knocking and found me and a chick with our shirts off and she had a full-on fit. How would a culturally-Christian-but-not-religious Western European parent handle such a thing? DISCLAIMER #2: This next question accepts the stereotype that every last man, woman, and child in Western Europe is obsessively into [association] football. Is the stereotype in the disclaimer true? If a kid wasn’t into football, would other kids make fun of him? How do kids play competitive sports? Are there leagues formed by, say, the local YMCA and parents sign up their kids? Do the professional football clubs have junior leagues for the little ones to play in? Or do they just kick around the football at the park and try to make a game of it? **England** In [this movie from 2004](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366777/) a young lad of about 13 is trying to open a bank account. The teller asks for identification, and being 13, all he has is a “leisure pass,” which appears on the screen for a fraction of a second and, from what I can see by pausing the DVD, has his picture and some sort of writing that I can’t make out. What the heck is a “leisure pass”? Like an identification card to get into municipal parks? A season pass to a private leisure center (like a water park or something?)? – I might think of more later. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/146 "2012-05-13T17:40:09Z")
**Japan** What’s with all the smoking? Seriously. I don’t have sites to back it up, but based on what I can glean from media it looks like twice the adult population of Japan smokes, vs. the US. You’d think that with a national health care system the government would be interested in keeping people _off_ smokes, but either the Japanese people are totally ignoring their government on this, or the government just doesn’t care. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/147 "2012-05-13T17:44:29Z")
\*[Do the cities just basically _shut down_ between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday? \* Yes and no. Shops are mostly closed, as much due to Israel’s socialist roots as its religious one; the only place you can legally open a store on Staurday is in the suburban strip malls that have opened up in recent years. For other things, it depends on the place. Jerusalem, being a very religious place, pretty much shuts down on weekends. Tel Aviv, being a very non-religious place, keeps its restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs open. In other towns it depends on the population. \*Is Kosher (w/r/t food) the law of the land, or could I score some ham & beans somewhere in Israel if I tried hard enough? \* Kashrut is not the law of the land. However, most of the large supermarket chains are completely kosher, which means you ham and beans can be a bit hard to find if you don’t know where you’re looking. That said, there are non-kosher food retailers, and of course there are plenty of non-kosher delicatessens and specialty stores. As for restaurants, again, it depends on the town. In Jerusalem most restaurants are kosher; in Tel Aviv most of them aren’t. Rule of thumb: the more expensive a place is, the less likely it is to be kosher. _Are the religious differences more political and less personal? Ferinstance, would it be unheard-of for a group of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish friends to all hang out and go out for coffee after work some night?_ Jews and Arabs (be they Muslim or Christian) are separated not just by politics and religion but also by culture and language. after all, most Israeli Arabs live in Arabic-speaking towns and neighborhoods, go to Arabic-speaking schools and live Arabic-speaking lives. So no, there isn’t that much social overlap between Jews and Arabs, although it does happen. I’ve worked with Arabs before, and I suppose I socialized with them as much as I socialized with any other of my co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/148 "2012-05-13T18:32:19Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Is a person of devout faith considered something of a pariah? If there was a Christian family on your block that believed in 6-day Creation, went to church every Sunday, etc., but was otherwise friendly and personable, would they be likely to have other friends outside of their church, or would they be seen with derision and/or mistrust? Depends on how they act I suppose. If the religion is largely personal a lot of people might think they were a bit weird, but largely not care and treat them like anyone else. But if they were preachy or acted aloof in some respects then they probably wouldn’t have a lot of (non-Christian) friends. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > What do you guys teach your kids about sex? My sexual upbringing was: I was taught not to do it before I was married (for a variety of reasons, not the first of which was that it violates one of the Ten Commandments), but that if I _was_ going to do it (and I really _really_ shouldn’t do it) I should make damn-well sure I was using a condom. One night Mammahomie walked into my room without knocking and found me and a chick with our shirts off and she had a full-on fit. How would a culturally-Christian-but-not-religious Western European parent handle such a thing? Anything religious is very unlikely to come up, in my experience. Condoms, yes; not before marriage, no. I didn’t really have a conversation like that with my parents (it wasn’t especially necessary) but I’d think in place of “not before marriage” would be something along the lines of making sure you pick a good person, and at least wait till it’s legal/you feel ready etc. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > Is the stereotype in the disclaimer true? If a kid wasn’t into football, would other kids make fun of him? The majority of people, especially men, like football in some form. It’s just the most popular sport here, so I’d guess it’s just roughly equivalent to the popularity of (American) football and baseball put together. People in the UK, Ireland, France (especially the south) and (presumably) Italy also tend to like rugby. Many people dislike football, for one reason or another (there is a kind of backlash against football’s popularity) but prefer rugby. It certainly wouldn’t be unheard of for kids to make fun of another for not being into football, although in my experience that would just contribute to the general uncoolness of that kid (in many people’s eyes) rather than being a specific reason for teasing. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > How do kids play competitive sports? Are there leagues formed by, say, the local YMCA and parents sign up their kids? Do the professional football clubs have junior leagues for the little ones to play in? Or do they just kick around the football at the park and try to make a game of it? All of those, although I’d guess teams representing towns/cities/areas are more common than things organized by someone like the YMCA. I think most teams are run by people with no agenda beyond running a team, anyway. Kids also, of course, play for school teams, but in general I think sport for children (at least competitive sport) is not considered as important as it is in the US. Personally I think we need more of it here (the UK) although not so much with the emphasis on winning that seems to exist in the US. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > In [this movie from 2004](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366777/) a young lad of about 13 is trying to open a bank account. The teller asks for identification, and being 13, all he has is a “leisure pass,” which appears on the screen for a fraction of a second and, from what I can see by pausing the DVD, has his picture and some sort of writing that I can’t make out. What the heck is a “leisure pass”? Like an identification card to get into municipal parks? A season pass to a private leisure center (like a water park or something?)? I’d guess the latter, although “leisure centre” is more likely to mean somewhere with a swimming pool, maybe a gym, somewhere for kids to play with ball pits etc. rather than a water park. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/149 "2012-05-13T19:17:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > So… any dumb questions you want to ask an Israeli? At the risk of stereotyping/observation bias, why does it seem that many Israelis are rather rude? It doesn’t seem that all the Jewish people in Europe/the US who emigrated are that rude. It could be that the etiquette rules are completely different, but do we know why? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/150 "2012-05-13T19:44:23Z")
Israelis like to think of themselves as blunt, forthright and honest - so yeah, we’re rude. Kind of like New yorkers, only not as reserved and standoffish. The historical reasons for this are many: the conscious decision the original Zionists made to create a “new Jew”, the shared military experience, the heat. Israelis are in general more casual and informal than just about anyone other than the Australians (and only because the Australians drink more than we do), so I guess our speech habits go hand in hand with never wearing ties, addressing cops as “dude” and calling everyone by their first name. We’re also the least deferential, most argumentative people on the planet, which throws plenty of people off guard. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/151 "2012-05-13T21:04:11Z")
The leisure centre pass is probably a sports centre pass, they useually have a gymn, you can play 5 a side football, join a martial arts club there etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/152 "2012-05-13T22:52:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Israelis like to think of themselves as blunt, forthright and honest - so yeah, we’re rude. Kind of like New yorkers, only not as reserved and standoffish. > > The historical reasons for this are many: the conscious decision the original Zionists made to create a “new Jew”, the shared military experience, the heat. Israelis are in general more casual and informal than just about anyone other than the Australians (and only because the Australians drink more than we do), so I guess our speech habits go hand in hand with never wearing ties, addressing cops as “dude” and calling everyone by their first name. We’re also the least deferential, most argumentative people on the planet, which throws plenty of people off guard. Man!! That so fits.. I had a burglary investigation where the victim was an israeli national.. his personality.. was.. different LOL.. Any questions for an African-American cop in a big city?? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/153 "2012-05-13T22:55:43Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > Man!! That so fits.. I had a burglary investigation where the victim was an israeli national.. his personality.. was.. different LOL.. > > Any questions for an African-American cop in a big city?? How much better or worse do blacks in poor neighborhoods, black youth and black criminals react to you as opposed to white cops? I realize that those three groups could have different tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/154 "2012-05-13T23:43:31Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > How much better or worse do blacks in poor neighborhoods, black youth and black criminals react to you as opposed to white cops? I realize that those three groups could have different tendencies. Usually you get the very common Uncle Tom.. I can’t believe you’d do this to me shit.. then i gets nastier .. if you work with a white guy they’ll (black criminals generally from my experience) really focus on you.. Call you his N&^% and say you're the house N\*&^%.. You need to get over that pretty quick.. reaction with white criminals.. usual anger.. like who do you think you are.. that kind of business. if the white dude’s been drinking.. then its all bets are off.. They’ll hit you with every beef they ever had with a black dude LOL.. The thread is to look into their eyes.. you can sense the dangerous ones (any criminal) and if he has his hands in his pants pocket he’s just running his mouth.. As I train rookies.. people are free to run their mouths and act a fool.. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/155 "2012-05-14T05:53:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s kind of complicated, but basically what it comes down to is that the university considers the latter forms to be the “real” forms of those particular names and the former to be Anglicizations. Almost any serious literary form in Bengali, whether a literary magazine or a film, will often apply the same rule. For example, one of the most famous serious Bengali actors of the latter half of the 20th century is known in English as Soumitra Chatterjee, but in Satyajit Ray’s films he’s always credited (in Bengali) as Soumitra Chattopadhyay. > > In Bengali, with rare exceptions, there’s only one way to write a name. You can’t really invent new spellings, for example, or have variations on spelling. Interesting - thanks! There’s a relatively recent significant Supreme Court of Canada decision: [Chatterjee v. Ontario](http://scc.lexum.org/en/2009/2009scc19/2009scc19.html). I assume that the individual in question used the Anglicised version of the name. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/156 "2012-05-14T06:47:44Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > **Japan** > > What’s with all the smoking? Seriously. I don’t have sites to back it up, but based on what I can glean from media it looks like twice the adult population of Japan smokes, vs. the US. You’d think that with a national health care system the government would be interested in keeping people _off_ smokes, but either the Japanese people are totally ignoring their government on this, or the government just doesn’t care. The government is involved in the production of tobacco. It used to be a government monopoly, though I think that’s changed. Smoking rates have dropped a bit lately. I think only one in three men smokes now, and about 10–15% of women. Lung cancer rates are actually not particularly bad in comparison to the US if you compare like-to-like; smokers to smokers. It’s higher than non-smokers, but the Japanese cancer rates for smokers are something like 1/3 the rate for US smokers. There might be a genetic component, but my bet is on diet as the main factor. Places like Kitava, where 75% of the population smokes, but where they eat a mostly traditional diet, show that circulatory system diseases and cancer can be largely prevented through lifestyle. That may change as the diet becomes more Westernized and grain and other carbohydrate, and trans-fat intake increase. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/157 "2012-05-14T07:25:16Z")
Chinese Dopers: Is there any food taboo in Chinese culture, other than eating people? I’m assuming insects might be one. I live in Flushing, in New York City, which is a gigantic Chinatown, and god love 'em, they ain’t waste no part of an animal. India Dopers: I watched a program that went to Nagaland a while back. It struck me how different they were from what I guess you’d think of as “standard” Indians. Have you met any Naga people or people from a small or rareish minority in India? How are they integrated into Indian society? Russian Dopers: How come the Russian language has so few dialects? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/158 "2012-05-14T07:46:29Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > This is liable to vary from one country to another: > Are there countries that don’t bother to list eye and hair color on IDs? In countries where 99% of the population has brown eyes and black hair, it doesn’t seem very much use unless you’re dealing with the tiny minority. My Spanish national ID and driver’s license don’t list either; both have pics; the pic in the DNI is b/w and the one in the license is color. Don’t have my passport here. There isn’t much point in listing hair color anyway, at least for my age/gender cohort… most women my age should list their hair color as “dyed (and didn’t your mother teach you one does not ask a lady such questions?)” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/159 "2012-05-14T07:59:04Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Is a person of devout faith considered something of a pariah? If there was a Christian family on your block that believed in 6-day Creation, went to church every Sunday, etc., but was otherwise friendly and personable, would they be likely to have other friends outside of their church, or would they be seen with derision and/or mistrust? Well, most would be either gypsies or immigrants and have friends outside their church. JW’s and 7th-Day Adventists are a different beast altogether: it’s them who refuse to have contact with anybody else except for trying to convert us. > [@](#): > > What do you guys teach your kids about sex? Varies wildly by location, time period, school and parents. I’ve written about the sex-ed experience of my age cohort before and don’t feel like looking for it, but the TLDR version is: in my school, we got a very deep and comprehensive explanation of all pregnancy-prevention methods, pros and cons. in public schools, they were told “girls, take the pill”. :rolleyes: in the other nun’s school, apparently they were taught “you MUST get a man!” :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: > [@](#): > > Is the stereotype in the disclaimer true? If a kid wasn’t into football, would other kids make fun of him? No and no. > [@](#): > > How do kids play competitive sports? Are there leagues formed by, say, the local YMCA and parents sign up their kids? Do the professional football clubs have junior leagues for the little ones to play in? Or do they just kick around the football at the park and try to make a game of it? Leagues are usually organized by the appropriate federation (football isn’t the only sport we play, promise), with teams being a mixture of junior teams linked to a grown-ups’ club and of school teams. There are no schools-only leagues. For sports played more individually, people may belong to a related club or not. Competitions for sports which can be played both in teams and individually will indicate whether people must sign up individually or as a team. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427/160 "2012-05-14T08:05:43Z")
Missed a bit: Any sport accepts the street version, but we just don’t think of those as “competing” in the sport, and often not even of “playing” it - we call it “practicing” the sport, or we call the street version by different names. In a soccer field, _se juega al fútbol_ (you play soccer); on the street, _se juega a la pelota_ (you play ball). In a basketball court, _se juega al baloncesto_ (you play basket); in a driveway, _se practican tiros libres_ (you practice free shots) or _se pelotea_ (you give the ball a twirl). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-questions-you-have-about-other-nations-cultures/621427.md?page=9)