# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/121 "2003-03-11T07:36:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > \*\*hurley’s an Irish game that resembles a combination of lacrosse and assault with intent \*\* The intent being?..oh yeah the point scoring bit I spose. Big Burly blokes in cutsey slippers ahhhhhh 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/122 "2003-03-11T07:38:48Z")
I missed one. When I started school, grades 1 - 6 were in the same building and called elementary and 7 - 8 was high school. In the early '70’s bussing began, so to use all available classroom space they split everything up: 1 - 4 Elementary School 5 - 6 Middle School 7 - 8 Junior High School 9 - 10 High School 11 - 12 Senior High School I don’t know how it’s broken down back home now but I do know it’s not the five divisions I went through. As someone else said, how the schools are broken down depends on where you are. Someone said 12 years of school is mandatory, I always thought 10 years was the mandatory, 12 years was aggressively encouraged. I think I got everything this time. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/123 "2003-03-11T08:15:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catnoe \* > **England has what we call cookies (saw them in the food court at Harrods) but I can’t remember what they are called.** We call them cookies. I mentioned this in an earlier post. To us cookies aer a specific sort of biscuit. To us calling all biscuits cookies is like calling all cheese cheddar. > [@](#): > > **Football is american, futbol or soccer is european soccer. (Europeans playing football, EFL, just seems wrong, stick to the original)** “European soccer”? As opposed to which other form of soccer? God knows where people getting away with calling it “futbol” when the rules were created in the UK. To me football is whatever you locality thinks it is. Just next tiem I go to the US I am going to insist on talking about “Association Football” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/124 "2003-03-11T08:29:00Z")
My mistake, I meant to say european football. ( Am I forgiven my mistake if I tell you I prefer european football to american football?) Also, I remember another I missed. Why do the french stink/smell? Don’t know about the french but when we got to Italy alot of our fellow americans were complaining about the italians stinking, and yes there was a smell. After about a week you didn’t notice it though. When we came back to the states after three years my girlfriend picked us up at the airport. She recently informed me that when we got back WE stank. I guess three years of olive oil and garlic will have that effect. It wore off after about a week. So my guess is that the french smell as they do not from bad hygiene but from something in their diet. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/125 "2003-03-11T08:31:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catnoe \* > \*\* > Also, I remember another I missed. Why do the french stink/smell? > \*\* I don’t know. Why are all Americans fat? ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/126 "2003-03-11T08:43:42Z")
Hey! I gave my reasoning for the french question. As to why americans are so fat, mind you not all, we’ve forgotten how to cook with fresh ingredients, everything has to come out of a can or box or a drive thru window at the local fast-food joint. Three years of pasta in Italy and I gained no weight, within the first year of being back in the states I gained 20 pounds. My exercize regime didn’t change, I didn’t have one to change (another reason americans are a bit heavy these days.) Americans are lazy, they’d rather drive the quarter mile to the grocery or where ever than walk. There are many reasons, those are my major gripes, unfortunately they also apply to me. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/127 "2003-03-11T08:46:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catnoe \* > \*\*Hey! I gave my reasoning for the french question. > \*\* It was still a gross generalisation, as was mine. It also fitted in neatly with the anti-French thing that is all over these boards at the minute. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/128 "2003-03-11T09:23:08Z")
I agree, it was a 'gross generalization, but I didn’t make it. And I’m getting punchy, Good night. Does Sweden have any negative sterotypes? Come on, every country does, right? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/129 "2003-03-11T09:28:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catnoe \* > \*\*I agree, it was a 'gross generalization, but I didn’t make it. And I’m getting punchy, Good night. > \*\* Sorry, I thought you did. When you said “one I missed” I thought you just meant one from your list, hence it appearing in your next post. I guess it was too early for me to appear on a forum today. \*\* > [@](#): > > Does Sweden have any negative sterotypes? Come on, every country does, right? \*\* It is probably best that you ask a Swede that. I don’t think I have been here long enough. They seem to think all Finns carry knives though, for some bizarre reason. Here they just go for the out-and-out racism approach that sees highly qualified foreigners sweeping streets, foreigners changing their names to sound more Swedish so they can at least get an interview and next to no ethnic minorities in any position of power. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/130 "2003-03-11T11:29:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by calm kiwi \* > \*\*Americans…What on earth is a grit and why would you want to eat it ? \*\* Americans don’t eat grits. Americans from the **south** eat grits. Population-wise, more Americans have never seen grits than those who eat them. Why can’t people grasp this concept? It’s as though someone in one part of your country ate something strange (seal, maybe) and everyone from elsewhere assumes it’s something that the entire country eats. It’s more puzzling than upsetting, though, since grits don’t sound like something too terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/131 "2003-03-11T12:14:43Z")
Pumpkin pie is a sweet dish. It’s served for dessert. It has some spices in it, but that doesn’t make it a savory dish. It’s one of the standard things that Americans have for dessert for Thanksgiving and maybe for Christmas dinner. I was surprised in the opposite way when I visited Australia and discovered that they have pumpkin soup but not pumpkin pie. I’m not sure whether more or less than half of all Americans have tried grits. It is served sometimes outside of the South. It’s a regional dish, but that doesn’t mean that it’s unknown outside of the South. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/132 "2003-03-11T12:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*Sorry to post three in a row, but I forgot to add this: > > Have any of you non-Americans had cornbread? It is a staple in the South. \*\* Yep. Don’t like it much - it’s not horrible, but I’d rather have regular bread. Well, as long as it is proper bread and not that nasty sweet stuff that they serve in some restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/133 "2003-03-11T12:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*English dopers, I’m still waiting for the definitive answer as to why they’re called “_public_ schools”. \*\* That’s Easy! When the Public Schools were founded it was really only the clergy that could read and write, so the only education available required that you take Holy Orders. This obviously wasn’t ideal, so schools were set up, often linked to Cathedrals, Abbeys etc (Winchester, westminster, charterhouse etc) that provided an education to those not in orders - ie the public. So they’re public schools as opposed to clerical schools or seminaries. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/134 "2003-03-11T12:35:46Z")
Basically, **matt\_mcl** doesn’t have the cojones to just come out and admit that Canadians talk funny, so he hids it in some linguistic gobledy-gook (sp?), and then throws in something about how some Southerners talk funny too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/135 "2003-03-11T12:37:28Z")
A question for the Americans: You have sports that no one in their right mind would watch (yankee football, indy car, baseball etc). Doesn’t it strike you as odd that only you like them? Do you feel that it’s a shame you can’t compete against other countries in world cups etc? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/136 "2003-03-11T12:40:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*Do you feel that it’s a shame you can’t compete against other countries in world cups etc? \*\* I think the US football team might take issue with that statement, given their success in Japan and South Korea. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/137 "2003-03-11T12:48:58Z")
Ah you know what I mean. There are no world cups in US football, the US motor racing circuit is pretty isolated, eg no Grand Prix, and so on. And you’re pants at football - sorry but it’s true. You’re good at ladies football, but that really doesn’t count - sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/138 "2003-03-11T12:53:14Z")
Danger! Danger! There is more than a little irony in an England fan (and I am one too) claiming that the US doesn’t have a world-class football team, don’t you think? I wouldn’t fancy playing the US at the moment, and I don’t remember the last truly decent England performance. ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/139 "2003-03-11T13:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Does Sweden have any negative sterotypes? Come on, every country does, right? Does that mean ‘are there any negative stereotypes of Swedes’? Because here in Finland, we’ve got a handful - “Swedes are stupid”, “Swedes are homosexual”, “Swedes are otherwise effeminate” and “Swedes are elitist” being the most notable. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834/140 "2003-03-11T15:03:06Z")
Has anyone else noticed the irony? Countries all over the world share the same or similar prejudices and sterotypes of people foreign and native within their borders? It goes beyond nationalistic pride. There is always a group that is considered untrustworthy, a group, usually immigrants, that are the cause of job loss because they take the low-paying jobs no one wanted anyway. Another nationality is considered stupid. Homosexuals are bad. “My country is better than your country.” The government isn’t doing it’s job. The press is too liberal. The press is too conservative (usually a minority opinion but everyone has that minority). People everywhere are more alike than they think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-other-countries-that-youve-never-gotten-a-straight-answer-to/159834.md?page=8)