North and South Korea, of course, probably followed by the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Somebody mentioned Finland in the same breath with Norway and Sweden. A Finn couldn’t be understood in either of the other two countries, believe me.
If all we’re talking about is languages then the Korean example may work, but I think the question is broader: it’s can the citizen of country A pass for a citizen of country B. I don’t think that is possible for the Koreas.
I we picked up your average North Korean, who knows nothing but the Kims and juche, and plunked him/her down in South Korea, could the North Korean pass for a South Korean? Similarly, could a South Korean, raised on democracy and capitalism, pass for a North Korean in North Korea?
I have my doubts.
Indeed. It goes beyond just general outlook. I’ve read sources that, because of malnutrition, North Koreans are actually physically smaller than their southern counterparts. (Sorry, I’m too lazy to come up with a cite right now.)
That one’s probably a gimme anyway.
No way, he wouldn’t last a minute.
The stupid mick would enter the nearest pub, an’ innocently order a bottle of whiskey… and he’d stand out like a duck in a henhouse compared to the whisky drinking Scots around him.
(^_^)
I think the answer, as boring as it may be, really is Canadians and Americans. Each of them has groups that are easy to differentiate but the vast majority of both countries produce people that are indistinguishable even to natives. I have stayed in Ottawa for days at a time and the only difference between it and somewhere in the Midwest is the money and the large Canadian Tire stores. It throws you into the uncanny valley. Everything is so similar yet slightly different that you don’t know what to make of it.
The same is true for Canadians on American soil. How are you supposed to know unless they slip up royally like mentioning Tim Horton’s? There are Canadian celebrities that could have remained in the closet forever if they weren’t exposed by the media and no one would be any wiser. That is why I always say that Canadians are the most dangerous foreigners of all. You could be surrounded by them and have no idea. They could quietly buy up all the houses on your street just waiting to burn yours down War of 1812 style and you would have no idea until you suddenly found yourself on fire.
Canadians would apologize for it profusely, thus giving themselves away…
Among the Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden are certainly the most similar. (Finns speak funny, and Danes are… They’re… Well, it’s just that… They’re different, is all.)
Other than that, Belarus and Russia sounds about right, but I don’t know enough about Belarus to be sure.
Did you feel the same way when you crossed the river from Ottawa to Gatineau, from Ontario to Québec?
Bolding mine.
Huh?
They speak different languages, for goodness sake!
Bosnia (again).
The internal political divisions in that country are evidence that old grudges still linger and that the efforts to repatriate people to the homes and lands that were stripped from them in the Bosnian civil war in the 1990s will open up those festering wounds. (Go to Wikipedia and look up Republic of Serbia, or Republika Srpska.)
All that’s needed is another hyper-nationalist leader in the mold of Slobodan Milosevic to emerge to fan the flames of ethnic hatred (again), and the place will erupt.
For example, when I was in the Serbian areas of Bosnia, I saw posters glorifying Serbian military leaders from the 1990s civil war who are considered war criminals by The Hague.
We all know there are many differences between Canada and the United STates, but even so…
If I met a guy my age from the suburbs of Toronto and he told he me was from Chicago (or CIncinnati or Indianapolis or St. Paul), well… I’d probably have no reason to disbelieve him. He’d speak English, he’d dress like any ordinary American from the Midwest, he’d have grown up watching all the same TV shows I did, listening to all the same musical acts I did.
So, could he pass for a Yank? Sure, he could.
Indeed. I’ve met many Canadians over here whom I took to be American until they said otherwise.
How about China and Taiwan? Of course, China disagrees that Taiwan’s even a separate country, but fuck them.
As a Canadian I’m not supposed to say this but you’d have trouble finding people as similar as us and Americans.
Australia and New Zealand as well, for similar reasons.
I’ve been around quite a few Aussies and Kiwis over the years, and I still have trouble telling their accents apart. The vast majority of the world can’t tell them apart at all.
I can often tell a Canadian by accent, but a lot of Canadians in the United States have lost the distinguishing features of their accents.
Kuwait and Qatar come to mind.