# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/101 "2012-09-12T10:37:45Z")
> [@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. 🙂 ROTFLMAO You obviously haven’t been in the right houses … we have farting contests around here 😃 God save you if we make bean burritos … 😛 ---
**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 12, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/102 "2012-09-12T11:50:14Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I can remember Democrats bashing Reagan pretty much from day one. It’s been going on ever since John Adams. “Bashing” is qualitatively different from perpetual campaigning and what’s going on now. A lot of Democrats voted in favor of bills supported by Reagan. There’s nothing wrong with criticism and disagreement, but there was a point at which parties did work together. You could feel the change happening with people like Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove coming into prominence in the 1990s. During the last couple of years of Clinton’s term, Orrin Hatch, who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, basically said that no judicial appointees would get through, no matter what, until there was a new president. As soon as Obama took office, McConnell said that his primary goal was to ensure that Obama wouldn’t get re-elected. Since that time, Republicans have voted in lock-step against any Obama initiative and the Senate Republicans have basically made the filibuster the status quo for everything. Things were not like that during Reagan’s administration, not by a long shot. ---
**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 13, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/103 "2012-09-13T18:21:10Z")
A new thing that I’ve learned from this thread - US Americans are kind of touchy about how other people see their country. 🙂 ---
**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 13, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/104 "2012-09-13T18:45:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > A new thing that I’ve learned from this thread - US Americans are kind of touchy about how other people see their country. 🙂 No we’re not! You take that back! ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/105 "2012-09-13T21:31:13Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I can remember Democrats bashing Reagan pretty much from day one. It’s been going on ever since John Adams. I just learned that Reagan was a contemporary of John Adams. Which explains a lot. ---
**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 14, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/106 "2012-09-14T04:09:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > No we’re not! You take that back! Sorry! Sorry! Sheesh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/107 "2012-09-14T05:05:10Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > A few things I guess > > 1. The depth of biblical literalism and the denial of reality > 2. The depth of people’s feeling of _needing_ a gun > 3. The continued existence of American Exceptionalism and the desire to ignore the rest of the western world for ideas. I seriously doubt this is what you learned from the SDMB. I can fathom how you may use what you read on the SDMB to reinforce these stereotypes (as a form of cognitive dissonance advoidance) , but these are stereotypes about Americans learned elsewhere. I am American and I do not think or feel any of those things. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/108 "2012-09-14T05:33:28Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > 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. I almost peed my pants, hahaha. That is exactly what I think too! ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/109 "2012-09-14T06:58:03Z")
1. That americans have to pay to receive messages and calls on their mobiles 2. That americans are still dispensed medicines in bottles by pharmacists. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/110 "2012-09-14T07:01:46Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > 1. > 2. That americans are still dispensed medicines in bottles by pharmacists. As an american seriously this is nothing but make work, get on the blister card bandwagon america! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/111 "2012-09-14T08:13:29Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I seriously doubt this is what you learned from the SDMB. I can fathom how you may use what you read on the SDMB to reinforce these stereotypes (as a form of cognitive dissonance advoidance) , but these are stereotypes about Americans learned elsewhere. I am American and I do not think or feel any of those things. Nope, see post 36. We know there’s a lot of guns in America, but neither your media nor the news give any hindsight in how American society feels about them; the SDMB does. As for the fundies, we’ve heard of them, but we think they’re about as “normal”\* as an Almodóvar character… turns out they really, actually, are normal (I learned it by living in the US, but for people who haven’t, I can see learning it here rather than from media - again, media doesn’t show this). I’ve never met someone outside the US who believed the Earth is flat “because the Bible tells me so”, and who felt the need to instruct others in this belief: in the US it really is a measurable fraction of the population. - hereby defined as “representative of a segment of their society measurable in percentiles”. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/112 "2012-09-14T08:41:43Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > The fact that there are some places that pronounce “merry”, “marry”, and “Mary” differently. The fact that some people pronounce those words the same. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/113 "2012-09-14T11:28:55Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > 1. That americans are still dispensed medicines in bottles by pharmacists. Only 1 med I take comes blister pack - [frova](http://drugline.org/drug/medicament/10296/). Everything else is counted out and in bottles because the dose I take is customized to me, so I get a specific number of doses per 3 months. Someone else might get a different dose and number of doses [frex my clonidine comes in 2 different pills because they don’t have a pill in the specific dose I need] Though to be honest, if I had the money I would have a compounding pharmacy custom make my meds so I only have to hork down 1 large capsule every morning instead of a handfull of pills. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/114 "2012-09-14T12:28:44Z")
I’ve learned a lot of mundane things, like: ADSL router-modem combos aren’t ubiquitous, and that Americans get charged to receive calls on their cell phones. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/115 "2012-09-14T12:35:06Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > 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. Same same in Canada. We don’t have any issues with the word “toilet,” but it just doesn’t mean the room; it means the fixture. There’s nothing at all rude with saying “He left the toilet seat up” or “I was cleaning the toilet” or “Our landlord installed a new low-flow toilet,” but it just isn’t the word for bathroom. If someone says “Where’s the toilet?” it’s not, like, shocking, it just sounds odd (like the response should be “In the bathroom, where did you expect?”) ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/116 "2012-09-14T12:46:54Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I seriously doubt this is what you learned from the SDMB. I can fathom how you may use what you read on the SDMB to reinforce these stereotypes (as a form of cognitive dissonance advoidance) , but these are stereotypes about Americans learned elsewhere. I am American and I do not think or feel any of those things. Oh well then thank you princess for being good enough to straighten me out. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/117 "2012-09-14T17:02:03Z")
> [@grude](#): > > As an american seriously this is nothing but make work, get on the blister card bandwagon america! It’s a child safety issue. It is required by law that any medication dispensed via prescription be provided in a child proof top bottle or child safe blister pack unless otherwise requested by the customer. (my husband is a pharmacy student 🙂 ) Here is a little background on it [http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/384.pdf](http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/384.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/118 "2012-09-14T17:04:41Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Oh well then thank you princess for being good enough to straighten me out. :rolleyes: **sarcasm meter off the charts** \* 😉 ---
**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 14, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/119 "2012-09-14T22:35:29Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Same same in Canada. We don’t have any issues with the word “toilet,” but it just doesn’t mean the room; it means the fixture. There’s nothing at all rude with saying “He left the toilet seat up” or “I was cleaning the toilet” or “Our landlord installed a new low-flow toilet,” but it just isn’t the word for bathroom. If someone says “Where’s the toilet?” it’s not, like, shocking, it just sounds odd (like the response should be “In the bathroom, where did you expect?”) I have noticed that in the US it’s usually called a Restroom, whereas in Canada it’s usually called a Washroom. That’s a little off-topic, sure, but what the hey! ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-name-a-thing-you-know-about-the-us-you-got-from-the-sdmb/633930/120 "2012-09-14T23:00:16Z")
That the level of rancour in US politics isn’t just ideological, it’s sectarian. [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=5) [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=7)