# Your stupid questions about other countries and cultures **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161 "2013-02-23T13:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/301 "2013-03-19T08:05:24Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Accents? Probably as many as there are villages and towns. Dialects can more easily be distinguished. [Here is a list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_the_English_language#United_Kingdom). wow more than I would have thought! thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/302 "2013-03-19T08:41:22Z")
> [@sidhechaos](#): > > wow more than I would have thought! thanks for the link! There’s no real dividing line for accents, but my Dad swears blind that growing up, in a very poor area of the North where people still didn’t travel, he could not only tell which of the surrounding towns a stranger came from, he could tell which side of the small town he lived in someone was from, purely from accent. You wouldn’t be able to do that now though, there really aren’t enough static groups, even in the areas with their own strong dialect, it’s fairly common for only a small number of people to really speak it and the numbers are shrinking fast in a lot of places. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/303 "2013-03-19T08:41:50Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/304 "2013-03-19T08:57:28Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > There’s no real dividing line for accents, but my Dad swears blind that growing up, in a very poor area of the North where people still didn’t travel, he could not only tell which of the surrounding towns a stranger came from, he could tell which side of the small town he lived in someone was from, purely from accent. I’ve witnessed conversations between Catalans and Andalusians on “pronunciation lines”: “no, no, there it’s an S but here it’s a Z and then in this other town it would be a J…” “the open E doesn’t begin until well past thistown, I’d say thisothertown; further west they’re always pronounced closed”. Most of it went way over my head while making me wish for a recorder, but then, for Southern Navarre and surroundings I can tell which village someone is from, based on how they say “hi” - word and intonation (\*quio \*is not the same as _quió_ is not the same as _quiuuuu_, and of course _eu_ is a completely different word which must not be confused with _eú_ or _euuuu_). I almost fell off the chair when my Colombian coworker who’d never been to Spain greeted his cousin on the phone with a perfect Valtierra _quió_. He already knew his area had been settled by a lot of people from my province and neighboring ones, but I could pinpoint which synagogue had his ancestors attended: the one in the town where I grew up. We had a lot of fun looking for words which were common to both our dialects. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2013, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/305 "2013-03-19T09:20:04Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > There’s no real dividing line for accents, but my Dad swears blind that growing up, in a very poor area of the North where people still didn’t travel, he could not only tell which of the surrounding towns a stranger came from, he could tell which side of the small town he lived in someone was from, purely from accent. > > You wouldn’t be able to do that now though, there really aren’t enough static groups, even in the areas with their own strong dialect, it’s fairly common for only a small number of people to really speak it and the numbers are shrinking fast in a lot of places. Growing up in '50s rural Northern Ireland my dad said it was very easy to discern the accent of each little village in his area. Nowadays there are still big noticeable differences in accent between relatively short geographic spaces but it’s all a bit more muddied by social and geographical mobility, television/cinema/radio. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/306 "2013-03-19T12:53:14Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Oh! And this American eats bean sometimes with breakfast; blackeye peas, anyway: [Our brunch Saturday](http://i.imgur.com/nNtvjvj.jpg). 🙂 Wow, beautiful pic! I’m coming over next Saturday. How’s 10am work for you? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/307 "2013-03-19T13:16:00Z")
I’d be pleased to have you, **Athena** but I’d be nervous cooking for you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/308 "2013-03-19T13:16:49Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I\ > > I almost fell off the chair when my Colombian coworker who’d never been to Spain greeted his cousin on the phone with a perfect Valtierra _quió_. He already knew his area had been settled by a lot of people from my province and neighboring ones, but I could pinpoint which synagogue had his ancestors attended: the one in the town where I grew up. We had a lot of fun looking for words which were common to both our dialects. There was a joke in the movie “Snatch” that no one could understand the Pikeys" - when my husband and I watched the movie, we kind of looked at each other and said, “They sound just like Newfies!” (People from the province Newfoundland.) We didn’t need the captions. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/309 "2013-03-24T08:54:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The advent of television, universal schooling, etc. are having a sort of “flattening” effect on accents TV? The USA was multi-lingual until the introduction of RADIO. Which was syndicated, covered much larger individual broadcast areas than TV did, and more ubiquitous than TV ever was. That and of course, the influence to two wars, which mixed up the population a bit and also discouraged people from speaking languages other than English. I guess I dunno to what extent there were language radio broadcasters like there is Spanish cable TV, but my dad never mentioned being able to pick up any. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/310 "2013-03-24T12:29:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Growing up in '50s rural Northern Ireland my dad said it was very easy to discern the accent of each little village in his area. Nowadays there are still big noticeable differences in accent between relatively short geographic spaces but it’s all a bit more muddied by social and geographical mobility, television/cinema/radio. At one point I was going to Sligo. I heard sly go Slee go Schlee go Schlee gah Schlay gah Or variations thereof. Seriously, I thought the Irish were fucking with me. I found it fascinating. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/311 "2013-03-24T12:54:38Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > At one point I was going to Sligo. I heard > > sly go > > Slee go > > Schlee go > > Schlee gah > > Schlay gah > > Or variations thereof. Seriously, I thought the Irish were fucking with me. I found it fascinating. Yeah the first one is the most common but does vary, especially I’ve noticed the Shligo. Some will even just use the Irish form Sligeach without really thinking about it. Dublin is either two or three syllables depending on accent too. I notice most North Americans sound like they’re saying Dobblin when they say it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/312 "2013-03-24T18:23:37Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > \ > Or variations thereof. Seriously, I thought the Irish were fucking with me. I found it fascinating. Well, I wouldn’t rule that out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/313 "2013-03-24T20:51:21Z")
Regarding TV reducing regional accents, I’m not sure it has all that much. I’m always amazed when hearing, say, kids from Liverpool how strong their accents are, despite how many “standard” British accents they must hear all the time on TV. I think in some ways regional accents become more of a “badge of honour”, especially in areas with lots of incomers. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/314 "2013-03-24T21:02:56Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Regarding TV reducing regional accents, I’m not sure it has all that much. I’m always amazed when hearing, say, kids from Liverpool how strong their accents are, despite how many “standard” British accents they must hear all the time on TV. I think in some ways regional accents become more of a “badge of honour”, especially in areas with lots of incomers. It might not be TV at all. I think TV does help people in different regions understand others from other regions. I have very little trouble with most British accents as I’m exposed to British accents on telly every day. Similar thing with American accents although I’m aware that some huge swathes of accents in both countries probably don’t get that much of an airing the TV at least gives me a grounding I wouldn’t otherwise have. The phenomenon you describe seems most prevalent in Glasgow and other parts of the Scottish Lowlands where people seem to take pride in being incomprehensible to outsiders. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/315 "2013-03-25T04:04:12Z")
Regarding “play dates”. A play date is when the parents have to transport the kids from one place to another, and then show up to haul the kids back home. Back when I was a kid I could walk or bike to most of my friend’s houses, except a few that were way out. But now I live in a more rural area, and my kids don’t have any friends or neighbors in walking distance. So if my seven year old wants to play with her friends, the adults have to be involved in pickup and dropoff and so on. So that’s the connotation of a “play date” as opposed to a kid going to play at a friend’s house. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/316 "2013-03-25T04:44:43Z")
Do most Americans really live on the streets and make coffee by melting snow? I mean during summer. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/317 "2013-03-25T08:26:48Z")
Not unless their streets are air conditioned. Live at the mall could be a believable option - on the streets, definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/318 "2013-03-25T09:57:44Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Do most Americans really live on the streets and make coffee by melting snow? I mean during summer. But I was interested to see, one hot August night, that it was warm enough that you really could sleep on a park bench in New York, as pictured in iconic B&W Silent Movies. and documented in American Literature over the last 200 years. Acccording to the same sources, the indigent use to try and get locked up for 3 months in winter, to avoid death by exposure. I don’t know if that is still an option at all, or if they mostly just die now if they can’t find shelter. In my present home town, you never see people sleeping out in the open, even in summer. Partly because temperature is unpredictable, mostly because rain is unpredictable. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/319 "2013-03-25T11:19:57Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Regarding TV reducing regional accents, I’m not sure it has all that much. I’m always amazed when hearing, say, kids from Liverpool how strong their accents are, despite how many “standard” British accents they must hear all the time on TV. I think in some ways regional accents become more of a “badge of honour”, especially in areas with lots of incomers. There was a project some years ago to record various Swedish dialects. In each place visited they chose two males and two females, two old and two young. Many of the people involved thought they had no specific accent, but the outcome of it all was that regional varieties were very much alive and kicking. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161/320 "2013-03-25T12:27:52Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Acccording to the same sources, the indigent use to try and get locked up for 3 months in winter, to avoid death by exposure. I don’t know if that is still an option at all, or if they mostly just die now if they can’t find shelter. Couple options for the homeless in urban America these days (not all legal, I hasten to add) 1. Get locked up. Several downsides to that, of course. 2. Get “crazy” and live in a psychiatric ward for a winter (I personally know someone who did that). 3. City shelters, at least for severely cold night when extra capacity is opened up. 4. Rides buses/trains all night. Hanging out in bus terminals and airport waiting areas also used to be popular, although since 9/11 the airport options are lessened. 5. Camp out next to the outlet vents of skyscraper HVAC systems, which blow above-freezing air out into the neighborhood. Sewer gratings, subway vents, and the like also work. 6. Hang out inside tunnels - subway, old coal/supply tunnels, sewers, etc. That’s for the truly nowhere else to go homeless. Lots of homeless people couch-surf with friends or relatives as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-stupid-questions-about-other-countries-and-cultures/651161.md?page=17)