# questions about other countries that you've never gotten a straight answer to **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 8, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834 "2003-03-08T02:03:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![scablet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@scablet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scablet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/61 "2003-03-09T09:21:09Z")
Yes, those are the Botched Italics Brackets of Pity! ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/62 "2003-03-09T11:20:06Z")
English dopers, I’m still waiting for the definitive answer as to why they’re called “_public_ schools”. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/63 "2003-03-09T11:25:09Z")
**ñañi** - Inland Northern California? I’ve lived in Sacramento for the past 15 years or so, barring a year in Montana. I think there may be one a year here, and it’s under cover of a “Model Search”. I think it’s more of a mid-west thing. Why can’t we get the nice Japanese and European cars here? It wouldn’t be hard to make them fit into our overly harsh (in most cases) smog laws. Aussies, is it true what I’ve heard, that Aussie chicks dig the US accent? Are people trained in Martial Arts more prevalent in Asia, or is that just a stereotype? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/64 "2003-03-09T11:48:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*English dopers, I’m still waiting for the definitive answer as to why they’re called “_public_ schools”. \*\* I’m as mystified as you, but according to [this](http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Medieval_Schools_and_Universities.htm): > [@](#): > > The term “public school” can be misleading. It refers to the fact that the school drew its students from all over the country rather than just the local area. In reality “public schools” are anything but public. They were, and still are, elite boarding schools for the rich or ambitious. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/65 "2003-03-09T11:49:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scablet \* > \*\*A Journey Through The US Educational System (for kambuckta): > > 1. **Pre-School** , c. age 4. Not really school, more like a day care where young children or kids not ready for kindergarten can (in theory) acquire some social skills and meet other kids. > 2. **Kindergarten** c. age 5. We learn ABC’s and use very fat pencils. > 3. **Grades 1-6** are “grade school.” > 4. **Grades 7 and 8** are “junior high.” > 5. **Grades 9-12** are “high school” or “senior high.” \*\* Not in Georgia: K - 5 are elementary school. 6 - 8 are middle school 9 - 12 are high school. After 6 years here I still can’t reliably get the names of 9 - 12 right. However, next year my son will be a sophomore, so maybe it will sink in then. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/66 "2003-03-09T11:52:45Z")
jjimm, that’s a new one. The most plausible answer I’d read (probably on the SDMB at some point) was that the term was coined when the alternative for the wealthy was one-on-one tutoring, and poor children just weren’t educated at all. But even that was only offered as a suggestion, I think. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/67 "2003-03-09T11:55:03Z")
To be honest, what you’ve just said was always my theory too. Will do some more research. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/68 "2003-03-09T12:01:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > \*\*I had KFC, including part of the biscuit, for lunch, about 5 hours ago. I’m still waiting for my stomach to settle. Which part of a KFC biscuit is it that you like? The leathery, burnt bottom; the soggy, undercooked middle; or the just-plain-dry-as-old-parchment top part? And, I _ **guarantee** _ that if you _asked_ them to cook you one that way, they’d tell you it couldn’t be done. Yet. that’s exactly what I get, every time. Other people have said, in this thread, that British cooking has improved but, if this is the level to which it’s improved…:shudder: 😛 > \*\* Please do not judge British cooking on the ability of an American fast food joint to cook American-style biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/69 "2003-03-09T12:16:49Z")
[Here’s another etymology](http://www.etymonline.com/p11etym.htm): > [@](#): > > Public school is from 1580, originally, in Britain, a grammar school endowed for the benefit of the public, which mostly have evolved into boarding-schools for the well-to-do. Guess we’ll never know the truth… BTW, **Davebear** , I recommend reading anything by the wonderful [Nigel Slater](http://www.4thestate.co.uk/books/book.aspx?id=19610&genre=cookery), who will give you more of an indication of the state of British cooking than fast food will. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/70 "2003-03-09T13:21:15Z")
Or you could try something by [Heston Blumenthal](http://www.fatduck.co.uk/menu.html), who proves that you don’t have to live in London to eat excellent food in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/71 "2003-03-09T13:43:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > \*\*Perverse, aren’t they? I can’t explain that phenomenon. I think they must have originated in…umm…Quick! What state doesn’t have any Dopers?..uh…Kansas? Yeah, that’s it. It’s all Kansas’s fault! \*\* ‘Foot’… meet ‘it’. Just kidding, that was funny ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/72 "2003-03-09T14:41:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scablet \* > \*\*… > 4. **Grades 7 and 8** are “junior high.” > 5. **Grades 9-12** are “high school” or “senior high.” … > \*\* Wait a minute. While I grew up with a system more like what **amarone** mentions (K-4 was Elementary, 5-8 was Middle School, and 9-12 was High School), the areas that I am familiar with that use the term “Junior High” use it to mean 7, 8, and 9th grades. So K-6 is Elementary, 7, 8, 9 is Junior High, and 10, 11, and 12 is Senior High. **Kantalooppi** I was also going to mention that the Child Beauty Contest must be a highly regional phenomenon. Other posts here seem to support that, although no region seems to be willing to own up to it yet! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/73 "2003-03-09T19:51:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* Finally, **elfkin477** , the Marie Antoinette who intoned “let them eat Bisquik” - if we can’t get American biscuits in UK supermarkets, we’re hardly likely to be able to get biscuit mix either, are we? 😛 But they’re not _biscuit_ mix. They’re biscuit/pancake/sugar cookies/coffee cake/short cake/cinnamon roll/meat roll/dumplings/waffle/banana-nut bread/cloverleaf roll/muffin/fruit cobbler mix. 😃 I freely admit I cheated and read the box, since I don’t make half of those things, and would never have thought of them. I’d also add that it’s good for making apple upside down cake, but they don’t have that on the box. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/74 "2003-03-09T20:03:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\*But they’re not _biscuit_ mix. They’re biscuit/pancake/sugar cookies/coffee cake/short cake/cinnamon roll/meat roll/dumplings/waffle/banana-nut bread/cloverleaf roll/muffin/fruit cobbler mix. 😃 \*\* Ah, but the clue is in the name… _Bis_quik. If they marketed it in the UK, it’d be “Generic batter mix” or something. So, can you really make biscuits out of pancake batter? I am hatching a cunning plan… ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/75 "2003-03-10T01:59:22Z")
So what’s up with British drinkers? It seems every young person from the UK who I meet is _seriously_ into getting drunk (and often, taking drugs too).\* Is the pubbing/clubbing culture really so strong over there? If so, why? Is it the weather? Is it the lack of outdoor activities? It’s it the strongly urban-based living? (I’m Australian, which should say something if I’m amazed at the capacity of British folk to have a good time. ;)) An alternative I’ve considered is that the sample of Poms that I meet are young travellers, who tend to be a hard-living bunch. On the other hand, I would’ve thought I’d have met as least ONE abstainer. - I don’t mean this as a criticism; I always loved the company of the guys and girls from the UK! ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/76 "2003-03-10T02:00:56Z")
And why do young Australians use “it’s” instead of “is”? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/77 "2003-03-10T02:27:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mmmiiikkkeee \* > \*\*I’ve lived in Canada my whole life and **never** heard **anyone** say “aboot” until I watched the Southpark movie and the various episodes with Terrance and Phillip. Sorta like asking “why do teenaged American boys have sex with apple pies?”… same origins as far as TV/movies go and has the same answer. \*\* Case in point. If the accent was invented by South Park, then why can I identify Canadians by the way they pronounce the word? ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/78 "2003-03-10T03:29:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tristan \* > **Aussies, is it true what I’ve heard, that Aussie chicks dig the US accent?** IANAAC, but from women I know (including a quick poll around the office), the overwhelming answer is no. Quite the reverse, in fact. That being said, I do know one Aussie chick that seems to almost exclusively go out with Seppos, so YMMV. If you’re planning a trip, she’s living in Melbourne at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![scablet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@scablet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scablet)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/79 "2003-03-10T03:51:23Z")
Okay… Does ANYONE dig the US accent(s)? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/80 "2003-03-10T04:46:28Z")
**chula** , Canada is a big place. Lots of space, not a lot of people, and regional accents flourish in that kind of an environment. You will not be able to identify every Canadian in the world by the way they pronounce a single specific word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=5)