I dunno - we call it American MUSTARD but I much prefer to eat my hotdogs with RELISH
I just reread the thread.
Not speaking for everyone else, but I don’t much care what you call the fruit formerly known as a Chinese Gooseberry :D, just please don’t call it a Kiwi. If you want to call it a Kiwifruit that’s cool. If you prefer Zespri - even better actually. If you wanna call it a furry kiwi egg, meh - I don’t much care. I, and every other Kiwi I have spoken to that lives internationally gets a littled vexed when they hear that Kiwis are being sold in the supermarket and eaten.
…please everyone note: bengangmo is speaking not speaking on behalf of all New Zealanders and I have never met a NZ’er that has been vexed or offended that the Kiwifruit is called a Kiwi. As far as this Kiwi is concerned, feel free to call it what ever you like!
awww. Now I hope you and your people all know I was only joking when I said I think each and every one of you is an asshole for stealing your name from that little bird.
“Are they made from real Girl Scouts?”
We’ll get over it. 
And, bengangmo, please stop… I’ve been reading the posts to the thread since I was here last and having trouble breathing for laughter. 
Phew… <breathe> I’m sorry this is something you feel strongly about, but let it go man… I’ve had Americans tell me that NZ is a Scandinavian country, and off the coast of Maine… the fruit… it really doesn’t matter.
Actually not so much. I am just trying to look (as opposed to actually be) busy in the office. Its a minor annoyance but not enough to engage in five pages of debate absent other motivations.
And now everyone is looking at me for laughing in the middle of the office you bugger 
I’m glad you got a laugh out of it. 
Yeah…so this thread turned out different than I intended. Having said that, I had no idea the whole Kiwifruit/Kiwi thing could be so offensive to someone. I have certainly learned something.
The…people? Wow! That’s cold, restaurant people. That’s cold!
I don’t know why I have come back to this thread! I must be bonkers!
The point is that the term Kiwi is not at all, even slighty, even remotely, not even a teensy bit (not even when Australians say it) offensive.
I can’t think of a comparison with another country. I know Australian’s don’t call themselves Kangaroos. American’s don’t call themselves Eagles. The French don’t call themselves esgargot (well I couldn’t think of a French bird/animal!). The British call themselves Lions for rugby sometimes.
The South African rugby team is called the Spring Bok though I have never met a South African who called themself a Bok.
The point is Kiwi is not an offensive term. It’s the completely the opposite of offensive.
Why we started calling ourselves Kiwi’s is a mystery to me. But we do. It is what we call ourselves. It is a name we wear with pride.
A couple of Kiwis in this have said that they take no offence in calling a kiwifruit a kiwi and to be honest I don’t either. It’s not a big deal UNTIL you know the difference.
But perhaps our name exists just in our country, Australia and the UK and some of us have to get used to that (I might change my name…calm some-fruit is kind of ???) but please don’t think any New Zealanders who had their knickers in a knot were offended because they believed KIWI was an offensive term, rather it is because it a name we love and feel a great deal of pride in…since way back when the fruit was still a Chinese Gooseberry.
ANYTHING BUT WETAS!!! As a kid, I put my foot in a weta containing gumboot and never got over the trauma!
Kakapo are awesome. The only flightless parrot in the world. Lonely bastards though, I saw a doco of a Kakapo humping a dead seagull because he was that short of mating material.
Hey maybe we are Kakapo!
Damn my luck I only ever find live seagulls!
Two things:
-American Weddings: you pay thousands of to get married, then thousands of to get divorced
-Cheese in spray cans (“Cheezewizz”): any connection between this stuff and actual cheese is purely coincidence
Details? I’m having a hard time thinking of examples, except for the aforementioned ‘plugging the car in’ (actually, the block heater).
Nitpicks: escargot.
The Lions are a rugby team selected from the British Isles, but they do not represent Britain or even Britain and Ireland - they aren’t really sanctioned by the English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or Irish rugby boards and they don’t play the national anthems before matches. The last time there was a British rugby team (the 1908 Olympics) they were a separate entity from the Lions.
The South African team are the Springboks, not the Spring Bok.
I’m American, but of Taiwanese/Chinese descent. My parents are from Taiwan. I fly back to the country every once in awhile to visit relatives and friends. I’ll talk about what I find weird about Taiwanese culture, and what they find weird about American culture.
Some things I can’t get used to about Taiwanese culture:
Fighting over the bill: They will literally fight tooth and nail over who gets to pay the bill. Even if it has already been established beforehand who will pay, everyone will at least go through the motions. It becomes pretty hilarious for me to see otherwise poised adults clamoring over each other, pushing each other, engaging in a tug-of-war, and resorting to sneaky and innovative methods to get their hands on the check.
**Deflecting compliments:**In America, if someone compliments you, you’d usually just thank them. In Taiwan, they would deny it to deflect the praise. Sometimes this would involve criticizing themselves. For example, once, my mother complimented her friend’s daughter for her good complexion. Her friend was like “No, no, my daughter is quite ugly compared to yours. Her face is too bony.” LOL. They don’t mean it, of course. It’s just their way of showing modesty.
Greeting each other by commenting on weight gain/loss: In America, weight is kind of a sensitive topic. In Taiwan, they are very blasé about it. If you haven’t seen each other for awhile, you will greet each other and tell them if you think they had gotten fatter or skinnier. I am constantly greeted with news that I “became fatter”. I am 5’4” and 100 lbs. This would never happen in America.
On the flip side, here’s what they find weird about America:
Ordering food at restaurants: In America (and I guess Western countries in general), whenever you are out with a large group, you usually order your own dish. In Taiwan, you order a bunch of dishes and share them, communal-style.
Food, in general: This is changing a bit because of globalization, but generally, the high-fat, high-sugar, high-caloric, super-size eating culture of America puzzles them.
Sun worshipping: The Taiwanese don’t get the sun worshipping (tanning) culture of the US. Why drown yourself in lethal UV-rays that are responsible for premature aging? They avoid the sun like the plague. Out on the streets in Taiwan, you’ll see people using parasols, wearing wide brimmed hats and gloves, visors, etc. This is partly why so many Asians there don’t look their age.
Nudity and sexual content in media: Ok, I know most Europeans think that Americans are prudes when it comes to censoring nudity and stuff, among other things. But Asians are even more uptight. My friends and relatives think that American culture is really sexually permissive. They get kind of weirded out by seeing “so much” sexuality going on in American movies; the scenes shown in Taiwan mainstream media are positively demure in comparison. In most Taiwanese dramas and mainstream movies, you get two people, fully clothed, on a bed. Cut to another scene where they are, again, fully clothed and on the bed. The sexual content is only implied. Movies and such that show more than that are known more for their “explicit content” (as opposed to the overarching thematic content, etc). Movies such as Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution are considered practically scandalous; to take it to another level, in China, the lead actress of that movie was BANNED from entering the mainland… for reals.
PDA: Other than holding hands, acts of PDA are considered quite out of place. The Taiwanese find it vulgar that public make out sessions are so commonplace in America (and most Western cultures, it seems).
But is it negative to be fat there, or positive (i.e., you’re well-fed, hence prosperous and healthy)?
My Italian aunt and uncle would always complain that I looked too skinny, even though there ain’t no such thing (too skinny, like too rich) in the USA.
There is no connection made between being fat and being prosperous and healthy. After all, Taiwan is not a third world country… although maybe 100 years ago, that sort of connection was made. I would say the issue isn’t whether it’s positive or negative to be fat (the negative aspect of it would mostly be due to the fact that you would be really conspicuous in a country where not many people are overweight… and it’s a culture about fitting in rather than about the sort of individualism that pervades Western cultures). Rather, commenting on weight is not a particularly offensive issue like it is in the US - they’ll say it like it is, without any sort of mean spirited intention. And in turn, the receiver of such comments would not be offended at all. So saying “you got fatter” or “you got skinnier” is sort of like a normal part of your greeting… just as you would say “how are you?”. Haha.
Sort of like “Wow, your beard’s grown” or “Hey, you shaved your beard.” No positive or negative connotations, just a comment on the person to show you’re paying attention. Or something.
Yes, this is a better and more succinct way of explaining it.