# Non-US Dopers: Please Share Any US Culture References You Didn't \*Get\* from Exported American TV/Mov **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017 "2012-09-07T18:05:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/221 "2013-09-26T15:41:34Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I think it’s pretty weird that the British money system changed at some point. I remember watching an older Doctor Who where Ace had to have 1960s money explained to her, and I was baffled. pre-decimal, the basic unit of currency was the penny. Twelve pennies made a shilling and twenty shillings made a pound. Simple enough. > [@](#): > > What changed? Did certain coins get a different value? Were some coins and bills (or notes or whatever) abolished? Were new ones introduced? What they did was to introduce new coins that were the same as the old ones, but had a different design on the tails side. An old shilling coin was the same as a new 5p coin. An old 2 shilling coin was the same as a new 10p coin. They were both in circulation and interchangeable. Penny coins were replaced by a new design. 3p coins were abolished. Half shilling coins, six old pennies were worth two and a half new pence. But you hardly ever saw them. I think I only ever had a sixpence about twice in my life. > [@](#): > > When did they change it? _Why_ did they change it? 15 Feb 1971. Because it makes the maths easier. > [@](#): > > From what I’ve gathered off of BBC America, UK money works pretty much like American money, except you say “p” instead of “cents.” So “50p” would be “50 cents” or “half a pound” - worth more than an American 50 cents, but the same idea. Did it used to be something like “fourteen farthings to a half shilling” or something, and somebody in charge decided to put an end to that shit? 12 pennies to a shilling, four farthings to a penny. So half a shilling is 24 farthings. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/222 "2013-09-26T16:13:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > pre-decimal, the basic unit of currency was the penny. Twelve pennies made a shilling and twenty shillings made a pound. Simple enough. > > What they did was to introduce new coins that were the same as the old ones, but had a different design on the tails side. An old shilling coin was the same as a new 5p coin. An old 2 shilling coin was the same as a new 10p coin. They were both in circulation and interchangeable. > > Penny coins were replaced by a new design. 3p coins were abolished. > > Half shilling coins, six old pennies were worth two and a half new pence. But you hardly ever saw them. I think I only ever had a sixpence about twice in my life. > > 15 Feb 1971. Because it makes the maths easier. > > 12 pennies to a shilling, four farthings to a penny. So half a shilling is 24 farthings. I was born at the end of 1971 so the switch occurred a few months before I did. But the sixpence coin was still in circulation up until 1980 and although they weren’t common, they weren’t rare either. It was very confusing to have a coin called six pence that was only worth 2 and a half pence. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/223 "2013-09-26T16:19:14Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > pre-decimal, the basic unit of currency was the penny. Twelve pennies made a shilling and twenty shillings made a pound. Simple enough. Yes, but when it comes to reading things set in earlier english time periods, they don’t usually lay out the coinage system. It took quite a lot of reading as a child before I figured out the relationships between the coins, the difference between a sovereign, a guinea and a quid and so on. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/224 "2013-09-26T17:52:41Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > our coins are 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 50p, £1 and £2 (where 1p is 1/100 of £1, p is short for pence), and our notes are £5, £10, £20 etc, with an occasional rare £1 found lurking in Scotland. They’ve done away with the 20p? ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/225 "2013-09-26T17:53:37Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > They’ve done away with the 20p? Well done on catching the deliberate mistake! (does anyone believe me?) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/226 "2013-09-26T17:58:55Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > You have perfectly nice ordinary people who are named Fanny and Randy. > Kiwis, Brits, and Aussies cannot keep a straight face when introduced and have to walk away doubled with laughter. Our dream is to meet a couple called Fanny and Randy. 😃 So what nickname _do_ you use for people named Randolph or Randall? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/227 "2013-09-26T18:08:16Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I speak French, and I’ve never understood why “entrees” in the US and Canada are the main course. But I just go with the flow. [The master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2738/why-do-americans-refer-to-the-main-course-of-a-meal-as-the-entree). ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/228 "2013-09-26T18:16:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Come to Boston. We have a chain of clothing stores named **Frugal Fannies**. I think that will have some people doubled over in pain from laughter. Frugal Fannies = Cheap Asses? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/229 "2013-09-26T18:26:01Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yes exactly. Over easy is an egg turned over in an easy manner in order to cook both sides but not break the yolk. Over, easy, is the definition the rest is just more detail. It is literally the method you use to cook it. I can not think of a more straight forward expression. Its like saying how you want your steak “flip grilled.” “Over easy” is not the definition - it is the term to be defined. The part in red is the definition. You cannot use a term to define itself. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/230 "2013-09-26T22:04:24Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > So what nickname _do_ you use for people named Randolph or Randall? If I ever met one, I’ll let you know. … actually, now that I think about it, I have met a Randall. He goes by Randall. As Randy means “horny”, that wouldn’t be an ideal nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/231 "2013-09-26T22:27:49Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > TO some of us, the whole idea of a school cafeteria is alien full stop. I’ve never heard of a New Zealand school that had a cafeteria - a tuck shop, maybe - but that would be all. What do students do for lunch, then? Does everyone just bring their lunch from home? Plenty of American students do bring lunch from home, but there’s always or nearly always the option to buy a lunch at school. The quality and variety of the food available varies a lot from place to place, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/232 "2013-09-26T23:08:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > So, are Dopers from countries where baseball is not common confused by “Who’s on First?” The first (and as far as I can remember, more extensive) exposure I’ve had to this routine came from Dustin Hoffman in the movie _Rain Man_. Unlike other comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy or even Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Abbott and Costello are not particularly well known in Spain. The routine in the movie was dubbed in Spanish: “Quién está primero.” and so on. It was probably equally unfunny and made the same amount of sense. (well, except that I guess the translator mistook the base number for starting order, come to think about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/233 "2013-09-26T23:26:48Z")
I was well into my twenties when I found out that circumcision was a common practice in the US. Mostly because it’s not something usually discussed in mainstream media. I remember watching a Seinfeld episode in high school, where Jerry asked Elaine whether she’d ever seen a uncircumcised penis, and she replied that yes, once. That puzzled me for a while. At first I thought that it was a wrong translation, and that the original actually was asking the opposite, if she had ever seen a circumcised one, but that made no sense, since she had dated Seinfeld, and Seinfeld is Jewish, yet she seemed to be talking about somebody else’s genitalia. ‘Well’, I though. ‘Maybe she just dates a lot of Jewish guys’. I didn’t get it until some years later, when the girls in a group of friends started discussing an episode from _“Sex in the City”_. In that episode, apparently, the usually extremely experienced group of women claimed that not a single one amongst them had ever had sex with an uncircumcised member. And then somebody in the group explained that, yeah, everybody cuts their tips over there, even Christians. It blew my mind. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/234 "2013-09-26T23:45:54Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > What do students do for lunch, then? Does everyone just bring their lunch from home? When I was at school, yes. My primary school didn’t even have a tuck shop that I recall. In high school lots of people brought lunch from home or there was a tuck shop (selling things like pies, sausage rolls, hamburgers, drinks, etc) but there wasn’t a big hall in which everyone sat and ate their lunch the way you see in American TV shows/movies. So where did we eat our lunch? Outside, or if we were using one of the classrooms for a club or society meeting, then in there. If it was bucketing with rain they’d open the main assembly hall up for people to eat lunch in there but it was never a popular option among my friends; it was mildly uncool at best. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/235 "2013-09-27T00:48:40Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > If I ever met one, I’ll let you know. > > … actually, now that I think about it, I have met a Randall. He goes by Randall. As Randy means “horny”, that wouldn’t be an ideal nickname. I knew a couple who were Randy and Candy. Her real name was Candace but I have no idea what his name was. I had the hardest time keeping a straight face. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/236 "2013-09-27T03:03:02Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > What do students do for lunch, then? Does everyone just bring their lunch from home? Plenty of American students do bring lunch from home, but there’s always or nearly always the option to buy a lunch at school. The quality and variety of the food available varies a lot from place to place, though. Martini Enfield has already covered it - but the standard practise was to bring sandwiches from home. Much like him, NONE of the four primary schools I attended had a tuck shop. My secondary school was in a rural area (about 160 pupils from age 11 to 17), no tuck shop, you were allowed to “go downtown” to buy from the takeaway shop once a week. I seem to remember, one of my schools arranging delivery from the local bakery once a week - order taken in the morning, and then delivered just before lunch. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/237 "2013-09-27T03:05:26Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Frugal Fannies = Cheap Asses? Nope -Cheap Asses are cut price donkeys a “frugal fanny” would be a TIGHT Arse… Otherwise known as Scottish… For particularly tight arses we might say either Dutch or Fish (why fish? Well their arses are so tight even water can’t get in 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/238 "2013-09-27T03:09:47Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Yes, that observation was a head scratcher. I am a professor and researcher, and generally, Americans use college and university interchangeably. Meaning higher education. However, typically a college is an academic division of a university. So a college is typically smaller and more specialized, functioning in undergraduate studies. At my uni, f’rex, we have colleges of liberal arts, natural sciences, business, engineering, etc. > > In fact the college/university divide does exist: two year institutions are called community colleges, never universities. And people attend beauty colleges. The most rigorous and prestigious apex of American higher education is the research university. > > The majority of scientific research comes out of the large flagship universities: think Berkeley (California), Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois. These are huge institutions with prominent faculty, and they are public. There are a number of private universities of this caliber; Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT come to mind. All of which are universities. > > Now, the other side to this is that universities tend to focus on research first, undergraduate education second. A gross simplification, but this is where elite colleges fit in. Macalester, Colgate, and Oberlin make their reputation based on high quality, small classes taught by award winning faculty. One pays a premium for these services. > > While the private elite colleges are known to people in education and certain industries, most Americans probably couldn’t tell you where Middlebury or Colby is. But they know Ohio State and Michigan, both through athletics and their research scope. > > Last note: there is a Harvard University (dozen plus schools and units) and Harvard College (aforementioned unit that is the home of undergraduate education). People often conflate the two, but Harvard College is a relatively small but famous part of the university. What you are calling a college, I would term a Faculty (eg: Engineering Faculty) except of course, our university had a Teacher’s College - which was in some way affiliated, but also under different management on a different site than the “main” university ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/239 "2013-09-27T05:53:36Z")
Fanny is a nickname for Frances, which was a common name a century plus ago. Famous one was Fanny Crosby, blind hymnast who wrote hundreds of hymns, some of which are still sung. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017/240 "2013-09-27T06:15:52Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > So what nickname _do_ you use for people named Randolph or Randall? There was a Randall who was one of the parents, at my kids’preschool, an American guy. When he introduced himself, he would straight away comment about the obvious nickname. He was generally just called Randall. I wasn’t that close to him, but if he were a member of my family I might call him Ran, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-us-dopers-please-share-any-us-culture-references-you-didnt-get-from-exported-american-tv-mov/634017.md?page=13)