# Non-Americans - name a thing you know about the US you got from the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930 "2012-09-07T00:30:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/81 "2012-09-10T23:42:24Z")
That a gun could be won at a raffle, treated in such a cavalier fashion to me, but here it was quite mundane. “Intact” for a penis was a real shocker for me here and that people could feel “ew” at the idea of an “uncut” (oh my god does this description really exist?) penis. I’ve lived in the States a couple of times and traveled a little there, so many of the other things mentioned in the thread I learned by visiting. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/82 "2012-09-11T03:44:52Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > I just remembered one! > > Toilet. Americans refer to the bathroom because the word toilet freaks them out. They like to pretend people are just going to wash their hands and maybe fix their makeup when they ask to use the bathroom. If their guests ask to use the toilet, they are assailed by mental images of that person actually using the toilet, which they find unbearable. > > Maybe there was some hyperbole happening in that thread, but the mental image of Americans running away screaming because someone has used the word “toilet” is one that will always stay with me. 🙂 And now you’ve reminded me of another one - that couples in the US never, ever fart around each other. They hold it and run off to the bathroom every time they have to pass gas. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/83 "2012-09-11T05:53:47Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And now you’ve reminded me of another one - that couples in the US never, ever fart around each other. They hold it and run off to the bathroom every time they have to pass gas. 🙂 Oh, no. Only when courting will a man avoid farting. Once they’re hitched, it’s bombs away. And women, of course, never fart at all. It must have been the dog. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/84 "2012-09-11T07:41:16Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > What do you mean? Well, for example, there have been threads about whether someone who doesn’t live in the house has keys to it and the divide between “of course!” and “never!” had mostly non-US in the first camp, mostly US in the second; for those of us in the first half, visits from key-holders are a matter of “dropping by”, while those in the second include people who do not open their door unless they’re expecting someone. Serving your in-house relatives is perceived as “servile” (in Mediterranean countries it’s basic manners, our meal logistics are very different from yours), but much fuss is made over who serves during a meal with guests. Many threads over what to bring over to a house you’ve been invited to for a meal, what to wear, over whether to say grace or not, what to do if someone says grace and you usually don’t… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/85 "2012-09-11T12:23:05Z")
That fire-at-will is an honest-to-gods actual labour system. The idea that someone can just be fired without very good reason, as long as they’re not a “protected class”. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/86 "2012-09-11T14:09:41Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > Among other things, the role of the defendant in US criminal trials, who, if I understand correctly, (1) usually does not take the stand, (2) if he choses to testify, cannot selectively stay silent, and (3) can be prosecuted for perjury. > > I am used (having been a lay associate judge here in Germany) to a defendant (1) usually choosing to testify, (2) having the right to answer some questions and refuse to answer others, and (3) having the right to lie with impunity. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > **(1) usually does not take the stand** > > I think it’s pretty close to 50-50 myself, though I couldn’t find much in the way of a formal study. > > **(2) if he choses to testify, cannot selectively stay silent** > > Untrue, the 5th Amendment allows the defendant to stay silent on anything that would make him/her look guilty. > > **(3) can be prosecuted for perjury.** > > Why wouldn’t they be able to be? Once you choose to testify in open court, anything you say is supposed to be “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Justin Bailey is correct and Mops is incorrect on number two. As for number one, most defendants do not take the stand. The most common reason for this is that if the defendant testifies the prosecutor can make it known to the jury if the defendant has a previous criminal record. The prosecutor is generally not allowed to bring up the prior criminal record of the defendant. He can’t say, “Of course the defendant is guilty of stealing this car, he has three prior convictions for car theft.” But if the defendant is acting as a witness, the prosecutor can ask if he’s ever been convicted of a crime to establish that the defendant/witness has a history of dishonesty, therefore his testimony should be treated less credibly. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/87 "2012-09-11T14:28:05Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > I just remembered one! > > Toilet. Americans refer to the bathroom because the word toilet freaks them out. They like to pretend people are just going to wash their hands and maybe fix their makeup when they ask to use the bathroom. If their guests ask to use the toilet, they are assailed by mental images of that person actually using the toilet, which they find unbearable. > > Maybe there was some hyperbole happening in that thread, but the mental image of Americans running away screaming because someone has used the word “toilet” is one that will always stay with me. 🙂 That sounds like a lot of hyperbole. For one its not like the US is the only place to use euphemisms. WC or water closet comes from England. The word toilet comes from toilette which does not mean the place you shit, it means to prepare or groom yourself. So the word toilet itself comes from a euphemism. In American English the actual plumbing fixture you sit on is the toilet. The room its in is not. There is nothing scary about the plumbing fixture. Its just more common to say you are going to the room not the fixture. You go to the bathroom. You use the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/88 "2012-09-11T14:37:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > In American English the actual plumbing fixture you sit on is the toilet. The room its in is not. There is nothing scary about the plumbing fixture. Its just more common to say you are going to the room not the fixture. You go to the bathroom. You use the toilet. Yeah. We had a thread on this: [whats the big deal with the word “toilet” in the US?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522728) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/89 "2012-09-11T14:46:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That sounds like a lot of hyperbole. Much like the rest of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/90 "2012-09-11T15:08:31Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > I just remembered one! > > Toilet. Americans refer to the bathroom because the word toilet freaks them out. They like to pretend people are just going to wash their hands and maybe fix their makeup when they ask to use the bathroom. If their guests ask to use the toilet, they are assailed by mental images of that person actually using the toilet, which they find unbearable. > > Maybe there was some hyperbole happening in that thread, but the mental image of Americans running away screaming because someone has used the word “toilet” is one that will always stay with me. 🙂 To continue beating a dead horse, the toilet thing is about terminology, not politeness. In America toilet only refers to the plumbing fixture, not the room the fixture is in. The vulgar way to say one is going to the bathroom in America still doesn’t use the term toilet. One would say something like “I’m going to take a leak,” or “I have to take a dump.” The phrase “I’m going to the toilet,” while perfectly comprehensible, just isn’t used much in our vernacular. When I hear a non-American use a phrase like “Harry and Ron were talking in the toilet,” I get the mental image of Harry and Ron conversing while sitting in some giant crapper jacuzzi style. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/91 "2012-09-11T15:15:29Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > That’s depressing. Not because I really have a problem with either one, but the idea that when people think of the U.S., that’s what they think about. Not Ellis Island or great universities or The American Dream… or even cars, burgers and Hollywood. Guns and religion. Lovely. Well, since the thread is about what people got from the SDMB, I just assumed there were a lot of things that had already been picked up elsewhere. It’s not like the US has no other PR. > [@MildlyObsessed](#): > > That you actually have to pay for receiving a text message! I know that’s from a pretty new topic, but that does sound ridiculous. If money’s that tight, just charge double from the person who sends it. I thought that depended on the plan. My kids mock my phone because it has no internet access or voice mail, but within a certain amount per month, texting is free. > [@Mops](#): > > . . . (3) can be prosecuted for perjury. . . . But they usually aren’t. I haven’t studied it, but my general feeling is that perjury charges are for people who can’t be convicted of other suspected things. > [@Punoqllads](#): > > Oh, no. Only when courting will a man avoid farting. Once they’re hitched, it’s bombs away. And women, of course, never fart at all. It must have been the dog. Not to mention barking crickets. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/92 "2012-09-11T15:32:48Z")
> [@nicole1912](#): > > I can’t tell if this is meant seriously. Assuming for a second that it is, why on earth would one’s lack of religious beliefs make one a target for blackmail or an additional national security risk? (I assume you meant that being open about not having religious beliefs would mean you weren’t able to be blackmailed about being an atheist - perhaps I misunderstood?) If someone has a secret they want to keep and you find it out, you can blackmail them. Whatever their reasons, they want to keep that thing secret, and they might want to keep it secret more than they want whatever you’re asking for. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/93 "2012-09-11T17:01:19Z")
I’m American and I didn’t know a lot of the things in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/94 "2012-09-11T17:28:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’m American and I didn’t know a lot of the things in this thread. I’m an American feeling the same way… and thinking of moving \*(Canada’s a whole different country, right?)\*\*. I’m getting really creeped out by the America I’m reading about here. If you’re getting scared by “Amurrikka”, please stop by our house. You can walk in, most of the neighbors don’t even know where their house keys are (Seriously. One lady says she doesn’t think the house came with them!). No formality, just lots of homemade food from our garden, and good wine (but no hard alcohol, guess we’d rather drink grapes). Oh, but I might not be there-- getting surgery on Friday. All covered by great insurance, with minimal paperwork, that we pay a pittance for through the school I teach at. Oh, and no guns in the house. In fact, I think I’ve seen a gun once, at a Scout Camp firing range. Where my kids and I had fun blasting targets, so we’re not scared of them… I just believe that if I owned one, and confronted a burglar with it, there’s a real good chance I’d be the one getting shot with it. And I’m an Asst. Minister at a Lutheran church, but I couldn’t tell you what the rest of the neighbors believe, because… it’s none of my business (sounds like that’s different from the Bible Belt). We’re pro-Choice, pro-Science, anti-Ignorance. But I’d say the default around here is Agnostic, and in a bar discussion both Atheist and Fundie would be interesting positions worthy of self-identifying as, with no judgement involved. Oh, and feel free to go discuss things in our toilet. I’ll leave the seat up. \* _A friend’s dad is Canadian, and she’s always leading the charge as we make fun of the land of his birth. My favorite was when he said something in defense, and she turned to him: “Canada… oh, yeah. Wouldn’t that be like living upstairs from a cool, loud party?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/95 "2012-09-11T17:55:56Z")
I want to hang out with you **digs**. Things are considerably different here in Eastern Tennessee. We ALL own guns. I think some people’s dogs own guns. Health care is almost nonexistent unless you pay for it yourself since nobody around here works for a corporation or has full-time work. Religion is a default of ‘what church do you belong to’. It is a very different way of life than other places here in the vast expanse of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/96 "2012-09-11T18:03:22Z")
From what I see guns are common in rural areas all over the USA, except maybe the West coast. Urban areas in the South/Southeast also have plenty of guns. In Atlanta a jewelery store ran an ad promising a free hunting rifle when you purchased an engagement ring worth $2500 or more. Here in rural Virginia hunting is a big reason to own guns. Deer, turkey, squirrel, ducks, etc. are hunted during various times of the year, governed by state regulations on when, where, and how many you can shoot. It’s not unusual at all for people to drive around with guns on a rack in the [back window of their pickup truck](http://www.ski-epic.com/2007_mini_ski_epic/pe9s_utah_pickup_gun_rack.jpg). In fact the first day of deer hunting season always had large absenteeism at school because everyone was out hunting. Some schools just don’t have school that day. It’s really no big deal, I have less fear of a hunter than I do a random shady-looking character walking down the road. Unless I’ve been sleeping with the hunters wife or something. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/97 "2012-09-11T18:26:20Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Seems to be theme here, because I too would add two major things that I have come to appreciate about Americans, > > - the deeply ingrained gun culture, and > - the almost ubiquitous nature of religion. This can be a somewhat exaggerated impression. While I know that guns and god are out there, I don’t live my day-to-day life with them in my face, for the most part. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That too. I don’t know the religion of my politicians In the past year, I have discovered to my dismay that all my doctors are Republicans. I wish they had kept that to themselves, at least in the office. > [@](#): > > What he said. How does any governing get done when all your politicians are ever doing is getting elected? Oh, wait…🙂 Yep, you got it. > [@Leaffan](#): > > OK, here’s another thing: the amount of time devoted to electing a president. Holy fucking shit. > > You guys are in perpetual election mode. So far as my memory goes, it really only has gotten bad since Clinton’s election. Within days of his inauguration in 1993, Republicans were going on television declaring him a failed president, and then Rush Limbaugh hit some kind of peak. That’s when I really felt like there was a perpetual campaign. > [@](#): > > I think the last Canadian federal election campaign lasted 6 weeks. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > But you hold them, like, twice a year, don’t you? > > 😉 (kidding) It’s not that they have too many elections in Canada and the United Kingdom. It’s that no party can manage to win any of them. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/98 "2012-09-11T21:41:36Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’m an American feeling the same way… and thinking of moving \*(Canada’s a whole different country, right?)\*\*. I’m getting really creeped out by the America I’m reading about here. > > If you’re getting scared by “Amurrikka”, please stop by our house. You can walk in, most of the neighbors don’t even know where their house keys are (Seriously. One lady says she doesn’t think the house came with them!). No formality, just lots of homemade food from our garden, and good wine (but no hard alcohol, guess we’d rather drink grapes). > Oh, but I might not be there-- getting surgery on Friday. All covered by great insurance, with minimal paperwork, that we pay a pittance for through the school I teach at. > > Oh, and no guns in the house. In fact, I think I’ve seen a gun once, at a Scout Camp firing range. Where my kids and I had fun blasting targets, so we’re not scared of them… I just believe that if I owned one, and confronted a burglar with it, there’s a real good chance I’d be the one getting shot with it. > > And I’m an Asst. Minister at a Lutheran church, but I couldn’t tell you what the rest of the neighbors believe, because… it’s none of my business (sounds like that’s different from the Bible Belt). We’re pro-Choice, pro-Science, anti-Ignorance. But I’d say the default around here is Agnostic, and in a bar discussion both Atheist and Fundie would be interesting positions worthy of self-identifying as, with no judgement involved. > > Oh, and feel free to go discuss things in our toilet. I’ll leave the seat up. You’re actually getting it the wrong way round. The idea I got from media, film etc was there are some people with lots of guns and some religious crazies, but most people are just…regular people _exactly_ the same as people around here. The SDMB gives further cultural insight with the opportunity to ask questions and discuss reasons for and against, and to talk about the way people experience these things. This made clear to me that the _approach_ to guns and religion is fundamentally different. Even if they don’t own guns, even if they aren’t surrounded by religious crazies, Americans realise that many Americans have guns, intelligent people too, they likely don’t vehemently oppose gun ownership, they have thought about etc etc. Same with religion: the general approach is different, and that I learned from SMDB. I realised here that on these issues European and the US culture differ more than I thought. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/99 "2012-09-11T22:01:34Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Do you go to church services every week? > > Does Christianity really only require that you not denounce it, rather than actively participate in its trappings? > > I think that depends a lot on individual perception, but the impact on any given nonbeliever seems likely to be small if there’s not even the expectation that someone attend services or donate time and money to the church. A lot of ‘religion’ in the US is lip service. Some outspoken morality-types themselves have not been seen darkening a church’s door. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/100 "2012-09-12T08:19:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So far as my memory goes, it really only has gotten bad since Clinton’s election. Within days of his inauguration in 1993, Republicans were going on television declaring him a failed president, and then Rush Limbaugh hit some kind of peak. That’s when I really felt like there was a perpetual campaign. I can remember Democrats bashing Reagan pretty much from day one. It’s been going on ever since John Adams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930.md?page=6)