# What are some things about your own culture you understand "foreigners" would find weird? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906 "2009-06-25T03:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/101 "2009-06-29T04:20:08Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Would you believe that this is the first time I’ve ever heard that calling the little fuzzy brown fruit with the green insides just a “kiwi” was offensive to New Zealanders? Well, this Kiwi just finds it rather amusing, and it barely registers on my offend-o-meter at all. 🙂 > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Add butter burgers. > [@picker](#): > > and smelt frys. And what, if may I ask with some trepidation, are butter burgers and smelt frys? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/102 "2009-06-29T04:32:37Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > The Kiwi is a flightless bird unique and indigenous to New Zealand. That is why we refer to ourselves as Kiwis. To add to what \*\*bengangmo \*\*wrote: specifically it’s our national bird – so calling ourselves Kiwi’s is a bit like if USers called themselves “Eagles” I guess. (That said the US national bird isn’t flightless, nocturnal, nearly blind, and hairy) 😃 > [@](#): > > is it ok for me to call an African American a nigger and respond with - well that’s what we call them around here when called on it? No it’s not and I think you know that. I’m frankly quite surprised that you’d consider these even vaguely similar – I certainly know I can’t speak for all NZers in saying that kiwi/kiwifruit confusion is mostly amusing rather than offensive, but please understand that you don’t speak for all of us in asserting that it’s a big offensive deal. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/103 "2009-06-29T05:20:21Z")
Huh. I thought you guys were named after the shoe polish. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/104 "2009-06-29T05:57:50Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > No it’s not and I think you know that. I’m frankly quite surprised that you’d consider these even vaguely similar – I certainly know I can’t speak for all NZers in saying that kiwi/kiwifruit confusion is mostly amusing rather than offensive, but please understand that you don’t speak for all of us in asserting that it’s a big offensive deal. :rolleyes: I think it a better comparison would be calling a European New Zealander a “Pakeha” after being told the term is offensive to some people, FWIW. You can’t just say “Well, that’s what we call them” when told that’s not the “correct” term. I don’t think _anyone_ in NZ is offended by being compared to a small, tasty fruit- but it is both mildly amusing and irritating at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Poor\_College\_Student](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Poor\_College\_Student](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poor_College_Student)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/105 "2009-06-29T06:39:09Z")
From Arizona, USA: Going fine dining in a tshirt, shorts, and sandals. What choice do we have? Saying Hola and Como colloquially just like the illegals ;). I think this would seem stranger to other Americans than to people from, say, Europe. Absolutely no places of entertainment (bars, movies, etc.) for MILES. I blame the mormons. A few funny things from my foreign friends: Germany: apparently “Why does a dog lick his balls?” is a common saying. Russia: taking pride in being as ghetto as possible. lol. My friend boasted about getting the cheapest vodka and the dorkiest paper cups (I think they were ninja turtles) like other friends would brag about their new sound system. Vietnam: We were all sharing what we knew on the piano, and the exchange student said he’d never touched one, but his sister was being taught it. He said it was a very feminine thing to learn piano. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/106 "2009-06-29T11:22:38Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > And what, if may I ask with some trepidation, are butter burgers and smelt frys? Even though I’m American, I’m not sure what a butter burger is myself. Smelt frys, however - smelt are a type of small, fresh-water fish that school in massive numbers during the “smelt season”, which is their spawning time. During such times, smelt fishermen dip nets into the water, (theoretically) catching massive numbers of fish at a time. After which you dress and fry them in massive numbers and eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/107 "2009-06-29T12:59:18Z")
Butter burgers: Photo and recipe! > **[Roadfood: Discover Authentic Regional Dishes & Restaurants](https://roadfood.com/?RecipeID=462)** > > Roadfood is the best resource for affordable restaurant recommendations, recipes and guides to help you find where to eat. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/108 "2009-06-29T13:04:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Smelt frys, however - smelt are a type of small, fresh-water fish that school in massive numbers during the “smelt season”, which is their spawning time. During such times, smelt fishermen dip nets into the water, (theoretically) catching massive numbers of fish at a time. After which you dress and fry them in massive numbers and eat them. That sounds very much like [Whitebait](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitebait). ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/109 "2009-06-29T13:06:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Why are you so worked up about it? What difference does it make to you? It’s pretty obvious to me that kiwihumans are a very precise people and are not comfortable with non-kiwihuman people expecting each other to understand whether kiwihumans, kiwibirds, or kiwifruit are being discussed merely from context. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/110 "2009-06-29T13:18:14Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Ireland: treating drinking water like molten gold. Every time I go there I dehydrate at some point. Ask for a drink of water nad you’ll get what Americans used to call a “juice glass” a tiny four ounce serving of lukewarm water. > > Corollary: I’m sure that to outsiders the American “Big Gulp” (and equivalent self-service mega sodas) must seem ridiculous. Especially since the 30 oz. cup has only about 8 oz of soda in it due to all the ice, which the American customer has added themselves, and actually shaken the cup to pack the ice more tightly before adding the token drizzle of soda. > > Also Ireland: The utter terror, approaching phobia, that one’s dog will be “spoiled” by people petting it, or otherwise acknowledging it’s existence. Also the horror of actually feeding, washing, or allowing the dog into the house. I often wonder how Irish dogs know that they belong to a given owner at all. (Add on, speaking to the dog in English and the Cat in Gaeilge, though it makes sense in context.) > > Corollary: Americans having the mobile grooming van come to their house to wash and style their dogs. Even people who themselves go to Hair Cuttery. Having lived here for the entirety of my life I’ve never encountered any of the things you’re talking about. Maybe they’re rural things. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/111 "2009-06-29T16:24:28Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > Also the German thing about drafts (Es zieht!)… I think there was a thread on this being a wider central European thing too. Could you expand upon this? I really have no idea what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/112 "2009-06-29T16:27:54Z")
There was a thread a little while ago about a mainland-European belief that draughty/drafty houses would cause colds and the like. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/113 "2009-06-29T18:07:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There was a thread a little while ago about a mainland-European belief that draughty/drafty houses would cause colds and the like. which given that many of them also like to sleep with the windows slightly open in the bedroom in the winter is rather odd [hey, i admit i like to have the window cracked in the winter also, drives poor mrAru insane, he hates it] ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/114 "2009-06-29T19:02:49Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Not mentioned above, about the U.S.: > (Primarily from the perspective of Europeans) > –Musical theater (I’ve deleted the portions of the quote I didn’t address- this not a full quote.) Musical theatre is weird to Europeans? What about London’s West End (and the TV reality shows like “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?”) or the musicals of Boubil and Schoenberg (Les Miserables, Miss Saigon)? My theatre professors, one of whom is Roman, implied that opera is still a bigger deal in Europe than contemporary musical theatre (and the outrageously beautiful and strange sets they showed us would support that), but that’s not to say that musical theatre is unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/115 "2009-06-29T19:13:06Z")
Presumably it’s news to Andrew Lloyd-Webber. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/116 "2009-06-29T23:52:13Z")
One from England: Sweet popcorn in movie theaters. When to the movies while visiting London and was asked if I wanted my popcorn salty or sweet. Blasphemy! Popcorn is meant to be served one way and one way only: drowned in butter and smothered in salt. It is just a butter-and-salt delivery system in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/117 "2009-06-30T00:18:19Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I think it a better comparison would be calling a European New Zealander a “Pakeha” after being told the term is offensive to some people, FWIW. You can’t just say “Well, that’s what we call them” when told that’s not the “correct” term. That’s a pretty bad comparison, because the fruit isn’t offended by people calling it a “kiwi”. If the word “kiwi” were some kind of ethnic slur against New Zealanders then I could understand objecting to it being used casually to refer to a kind of fruit, but since that’s not the case I don’t see what the problem is. There’s a kind of German cookie they call the “Amerikaner” (“American”), and that doesn’t bother me. It’s not like the Germans think people from my country are actually cookies. Like it or not, “kiwi” IS what we call that kind of fruit in North America. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard anyone call it a “kiwifruit” in the US, although I’ve occasionally seen it written that way on signs in the grocery store. The use of “kiwi” to mean the fruit is included in both Merriam-Webster and the OED. The OED’s earliest cite is 1972, so this isn’t a recent fad. If people in New Zealand prefer to call it the “kiwifruit” then that’s their business, but in the US and Canada there’s nothing incorrect about calling it a “kiwi”. It’s just one of those funny little differences of dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Zhen\_ka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zhen\_ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zhen_ka)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/118 "2009-06-30T01:08:52Z")
> [@Poor\_College\_Student](#): > > From Arizona, USA: > > Going fine dining in a tshirt, shorts, and sandals. What choice do we have? > Saying Hola and Como colloquially just like the illegals ;). I think this would seem stranger to other Americans than to people from, say, Europe. > Absolutely no places of entertainment (bars, movies, etc.) for MILES. I blame the mormons. > > A few funny things from my foreign friends: > Germany: apparently “Why does a dog lick his balls?” is a common saying. > Russia: taking pride in being as ghetto as possible. lol. My friend boasted about getting the cheapest vodka and the dorkiest paper cups (I think they were ninja turtles) like other friends would brag about their new sound system. > Vietnam: We were all sharing what we knew on the piano, and the exchange student said he’d never touched one, but his sister was being taught it. He said it was a very feminine thing to learn piano. What part of Arizona are you from? Colorado City? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/119 "2009-06-30T01:11:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The Canadian Oxford Dictionary lists the fruit as being called either a “kiwi” or a “kiwifruit,” so either word is correct here. > > Why are you so worked up about it? What difference does it make to you? > Actually, it’s originally from China. The world’s largest producer is Italy. For a guy who accuses others of being too lazy to bother naming the fruit correctly, you don’t know much about it. 1. So what? The CANADIAN dictionary calls it something…there have been three kiwis here that have told you its offensive - are they all talking out their arseholes? 2. Actually yeah I do know a bit about the history - why do you think I put “invented” in inverted commas? It was originally called a Chinese Gooseberry. There was some sort of hybidisation / cross (or whatever the correct term is) done and a renaming to a kiwifruit, in a fantastic marketing ploy. Note back in the 80’s it was EXCLUSIVELY called a kwiwfruit. It was ONLY grown in New Zealand (there was a massive stink when some visiting horitcultural scientists tried to steal some seedlings or some such). Then TPTB in their infinite wisdom decided to sell the rights or whatever and it just proliferated everywhere and we got lazy arsed people starting to call it a kiwi because they didn’t know any better and were to damn lazy or busy to say the full word. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906/120 "2009-06-30T01:14:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Huh. > > I thought you guys were named after the shoe polish. :D:D:D Dude - you have a wicked sense of humour [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-things-about-your-own-culture-you-understand-foreigners-would-find-weird/500906.md?page=7)