# Misconceptions about YOUR country **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807 "2003-09-30T23:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/41 "2003-10-01T21:05:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*the TV series _Due South_ but the archetypical Mountie character felt comically exaggerated to us. \*\* The character was supposed to be comically exaggerated. That was part of the show’s schtick. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/42 "2003-10-01T21:07:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cowgirl \* > \*\*But for some reason it annoys me when people accuse Toronto of being inhumanly cold all year - they ignore the fact that it’s inhumanely hot and smoggy for at least half of it ! \*\* Of course it is! How else could you folks breed your Provincial Bird–the mosquito? ---
**Author:** ![that.sound.again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@that.sound.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that.sound.again)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/43 "2003-10-01T21:43:13Z")
Heh. Some funny misconceptions listed here (to me; wouldn’t want to have to listen to some of them over and over). CNN once did a special on Denmark. Though they did get the fact right that polar bears are not at all common in the streets of Copenhagen, they also reported that it is common practice here never to lock your bike. Then they had a lot of people lined up to demonstrate their skill in opening beerbottles. With cigarette lighters, other bottles, assorted tools and tightly rolled newspapers. Though not everyone can do that it is pretty common. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/44 "2003-10-01T21:55:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Of course it is! How else could you folks breed your Provincial Bird–the mosquito? \*\* With West Nile, that’s not even funny! Luckily, the province is a million square kilometres and Toronto’s only 641 square kilometres, so there’s lots of breeding area outside the city. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/45 "2003-10-02T00:38:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GingerOfTheNorth \* > When I moved to Maryland, it was from Canmore, Alberta. Wow!! Do you know Mike? 😃 Sorry, I’m sure Canmorians think that joke is really old, but the rest of the country is still vastly amused. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/46 "2003-10-02T01:16:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spiff \* > **green-bladder help fight some ignorance here, please. It’s unclear (at least to me) from the way you’ve constructed your list … is your fourth point (about English usage) true or false?** 😃 Sorry about that, **Spiff** , I was rushing and that list was poorly constructed. Regarding the point that you brought up, yes the statement is true. I hardly speak much Hindi myself, yet whenever I go to India (say, the big cities: Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore) I’m confident that I can get by without speaking a word of Hindi. The fact is, English is pretty much the first language of many educated Indians and indian families, or the second language if they speak more than one. You’ll also find that there are loads of English words interwoven into regular Hindi sentences. Try watching a Bollywood film and see how regularly that’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/47 "2003-10-02T01:19:07Z")
The obverse of the lack of awareness of the size of the U.S. in Europe is that many of my fellow Americans do not know how small European countries are in relation to the U.S. They are unaware that most European countries would be average-sized states at best west of the mississippi, and small ones east of the Mississippi. they hear the talk about France, Germany and England on the news and figure that they’re almost as large as the U.S. because they’re almost as important. Not to mention that a lot of us can’t locate … anything … on a map. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/48 "2003-10-02T01:41:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*"Oh, you’re English… > > Poor you!, I mean, ewwwww! - the food! - all that kidney pie\*, haggis and bangers and mash!" > \*[sup]THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS KIDNEY PIE![/SUP] \*\* (or blood pie, for that matter) There’s steak and kidney pie. I am glad there is no [just] kidney pie because kidney is the most disgustingly evil tasting thing in the whole multi-verse **Mangetout** are you English? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/49 "2003-10-02T02:05:16Z")
Fighting ignorance: [ul] [li]“Umm… no, New Zealand isn’t a scandinavian country”. (me in the US)[/li][li]“No, it’s not off the coast of Maine either”. (also in the US)[/li][li]“Thank you, your English is very good too”. (a co-worker in the US)[/li][li]"No, the _All Blacks_ on my hat is not a racist slogan – they’re our national rugby team. (another co-worker in US).[/li][li]“It is very unlikely that your tour bus will be attacked by Maori in the Waikato”. (to some young Ozzie lasses touring some years back).[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/50 "2003-10-02T02:08:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gorsnak \* > \*\*Wow!! Do you know Mike? 😃 > > Sorry, I’m sure Canmorians think that joke is really old, but the rest of the country is still vastly amused. \*\* Yes, you bastid. Got twenny bucks? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/51 "2003-10-02T04:11:43Z")
Couple of years ago we were visiting a small Caribbean island – Anguilla. A youngster, on hearing we were from the US, asked us if we knew Michael Jordan. No. But he’s in America, too. Everybody in Anguilla apparently knows everyone else, so the child assumed the same was true for the U.S. Of course, she was about 10 years old, so I guess that’s o.k.! ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/52 "2003-10-02T05:51:09Z")
I had a similar experience in Belfast last year. A ten year old girl, learning I live in Dublin, jumped up and said (in a really urgent voice): “Really? Do you know Ronan Keating?”\* [sub]\*crap boy band singer[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/53 "2003-10-02T08:14:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by universe.zip \* > **OTOH, when Austrians hear I´ve lived in Finland, they´ll ask how I could stand living in perpetual darkness and snow all year round. And whether there were any polar bears in Helsinki. Or penguins. :rolleyes: > Well, yeah. I guess they have a few at the zoo.** Ohhh yess. It’s such a hassle parking your dog-sled, too. Because you can’t see where you are, because it’s so dark. And you have to push all the snow out of the way. And you gotta watch out for the polar bears, 'cause they’re pretty hungry most of the time. And man, those penguins really cause a mess on the streets… 🙂 I don’t think Helsinki Zoo has any penguins. They used to have a polar bear, though, but I think they got rid of it sometime in the 70’s because they didn’t have an enclosure big enough. Incidentally, not all Finns wear traditional Lappish costumes, and we don’t all own reindeer. Occasionally, we also smile. Some of us have even been known to possess a sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/54 "2003-10-02T08:28:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fretful Porpentine \* > \*\*“Why do Americans like peanut butter so much?” \*\* May I respectfully suggest that this one isn’t a misconception. That you don’t like PB makes you an exception in a tiny minority. Peanut butter is ubiquitous in the US, and I’ll betcha the majority of people like it. Whereas in other countries, including Ireland, there are still some stores you can’t even buy the stuff. (and we only have two brands). This is, of course, because peanut butter is an American invention. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/55 "2003-10-02T09:02:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\*The obverse of the lack of awareness of the size of the U.S. in Europe is that many of my fellow Americans do not know how small European countries are in relation to the U.S. They are unaware that most European countries would be average-sized states at best west of the mississippi, and small ones east of the Mississippi. they hear the talk about France, Germany and England on the news and figure that they’re almost as large as the U.S. because they’re almost as important. > > Not to mention that a lot of us can’t locate … anything … on a map. \*\* This is probably true, although I think you’ve got east and west mixed up there, mate. However I would venture that a similar misconception on both sides of the Atlantic with regard to population. A lot of Europeans are surprised to learn that wherever you draw the boundaries, there are _hundreds_ of millions more people in Europe. The European Union (only 15 states out of about 50) has a much larger population than the USA. THe population of California is surpassed by that of at least 7 European countries, not including the vastness of Russia. You demonstrated a misconception I mentioned earlier in this thread; it is never acceptable to say “England” when, as in this case, you mean “The UK” (England does not have any foreign policy of its own). ---
**Author:** ![universe.zip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@universe.zip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/universe.zip)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/56 "2003-10-02T09:23:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by auRa \* > \*\*Incidentally, not all Finns wear traditional Lappish costumes, and we don’t all own reindeer. Occasionally, we also smile. Some of us have even been known to possess a sense of humor. \*\* And quite a fine sense of humour, too, if I my say so. I´ve never heard Finns aren´t supposed to have a sense of humour - just that it´s rather weird (Leningrad Cowboys, Eläkeläiset,…). But it really is true about Finns and the sauna 😉 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/57 "2003-10-02T09:59:07Z")
Hmm, misconceptions about my adoptive country… First come the usual Frozen North misconceptions, of course. There have been no polar bears on the Norwegian mainland for all of recorded history. Norway owns or administers several Arctic islands, and polar bears live there, but to the average Norwegian those places are as exotic as the Spice Islands, y’know? We’re about as far away from the penguins as it’s possible to be on this planet, but we do have lots of _puffins_, which confuses some people. And even up above the Arctic Circle you will find houses with telephones, running water, and electricity; paved roads (though some are in a bad state); gas stations, schools, booze shops, you know, all the usual trappings of civilization. There’s even a university up there. And yes, even the Sami - who have asked not to be called “Lapps”, not that the English-speaking world has noticed - mostly live in houses; those who still live a nomadic lifestyle have a proper house where they spend most of the year. Lutefisk is not a major part of the Norwegian diet, matter of fact many people don’t even like it. Those who do eat it only a few times a year, as it’s associated with parties and Christmastime. Nor do we live on fish; the health authorities are always trying to encourage people to eat more. Most of what we eat would be familiar to the average European or North American. Younger Norwegians have even been known to eat curry 😉 We’re not all blonde, not even close. Ethnic Norwegians are more blue-eyed than most white folks, but dark hair is common. Kids tend to be blonde, even tow-headed, but their hair generally darkens as they grow. It isn’t cold and snowy here all of the time, and - this one has been vectored by tour books, for jah’s sake - we do **not** “lose all track of time” during the parts of the year when it is very light or very dark. People do tend to stay up later in the summer, but you cannot “buy groceries at 2 a.m.”, as one book asserted, unless you’re near a 7-Eleven type shop. When it is cold and snowy, Norskies do tend to like their outdoor sports. Not much ice hockey, that would be Sweden, other side of the mountains. Downhill skiing is popular, yes, but the one that’s part of the national psyche is cross-country skiing, which is quite different. So, no, the country is not covered by ski lifts. The most eager x-c skiers regard ski lifts as an abomination before the ski gods. The belief among tourists that Norway is an incredibly safe place has had one pleasant side-effect: pickpockets in Oslo leave the locals alone all summer 😛 I’m sure I’ll think of more… ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/58 "2003-10-02T11:28:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*May I respectfully suggest that this one isn’t a misconception. That you don’t like PB makes you an exception in a tiny minority. Peanut butter is ubiquitous in the US, and I’ll betcha the majority of people like it. Whereas in other countries, including Ireland, there are still some stores you can’t even buy the stuff. (and we only have two brands). This is, of course, because peanut butter is an American invention. \*\* I would posit that peanut butter is pretty common in Ireland if it cannot be found only in **some** stores. Here in Sweden, I’ve only seen it once. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/59 "2003-10-02T11:37:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G. Odoreida \* > \*\*This is probably true, although I think you’ve got east and west mixed up there, mate. \*\* Well, DUH! I’m from, like, America! ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807/60 "2003-10-02T11:41:19Z")
For India. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > [ul] > [li]We aren’t Hindi and we don’t speak Hindu ;)[/li]\ > [li]There are loads of Indians who have naturally green eyes (it runs in my family), so don’t keep asking why so many Indians want to change the colour of their eyes.[/li][/ul] Some additions. Dowry is not pervasive. Neither is bride-burning. Neither is _sati_ (also called _suttee_). They’re bad things, they do happen, but they are the rare exception, not, not, NOT the rule! Just because someone is Indian, that does not mean they consider cows holy. Cows are sacred only for Hindus. There are lots of Muslims, Christians and other assorted religious groups who have absolutely no qualms about chomping down on bovine organisms. Indians are not “all, like, spiritual and deep, maaaan”. We do not all have gurus. We do not spend all day discussing reincarnation and “_prana_” and “_karma_” and “_dharma_”. However, if you think we’re all brilliant people, superb at math and the sciences, you’re very correct. 😉 I’m one of those guilty of harbouring the blonde-blue-eyed-perennially-snowy stereotype, **flodnak**. _blush_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misconceptions-about-your-country/204807.md?page=4)