Interesting cultural habits from your country/state/area!

[leverhelven]

So, I just LOVE getting to know interesting habits from different areas of the world and I thought we could share them here! :)

 

As there are many Americans, you can also talk about something more regional, like from your State or county or whatever! It just has to be something curious and interesting :D

 

I'm gonna start:

 

• Some of you will probably know that us Brazilians are very warm and love hugging and stuff, even when meeting strangers. But the amount of pecks on the cheeks varies from area to area. Here in Rio, where I live, it's two pecks (one on each cheek). In São Paulo, however, it's just one. There are also other areas of the country where they give you three pecks!
• Also, some elderly people (mostly women) will give you three pecks on the cheek, regardless of the State you're in, saying that "the third peck is for you to marry" [as in, get a nice husband and marriage :laughingsmiley: ]

[.Brianna.]

I grew up in Pittsburgh and we're kind of known for speaking "Pittsburghese" - words like yinz (you guys) and phrases like red up (clean/tidy up) are some of the worst offenders. I'm not as bad as my mom with using it, but in college I realized that there were things I say that people from other parts of the country and even the state have never heard before haha. I guess when you grow up with it you don't realize that it's uncommon.

[Nubisbully]

I grew up in the south eastern US (born in North Carolina, grew up in Orlando Florida, school in West Virginia (by Pittsburgh), college in South Carolina) so I classify any southern behavior as "normal" and everything else is "unique." More recently I lived in Vermont for several years and am now around Philadelphia so I"m learning how different these areas really are.

 

In Vermont they say "wicked" a lot in regards to things being "awesome." In the south "wicked" would be a naughty or sinful thing.

 

In Philadelphia they have an odd accent which I don't really like and they are very particular about how you call a sandwich. I am use to saying "sub" for a long piece of bread which is cut and has cheese, veggies etc but here it's a "grinder" or "hoagie" but they mean specific things. I still get confused after 5 years of living here.

 

Cooking methods is also very different. In the south we used a lot of Pecans (pronounced PEE-CON not PEE-CAN in Florida but reverse in NC) sweet potatoes and butter/lard. Here it's more pumpkin pie and walnuts and olive oil (from the large Italian population.) Vermont is all maple syrup and local eggs, raw milk, raw cheeses and overall yummy but expensive.

 

The biggest irk to me was an ex-bf who called "soda" , "pop". This is an Ohio/West Virginia thing that drives me NUTS!!! In some southern states it's all "Coke." No matter the brand or flavor sometimes.

 

Sooo.. that was all food related, I think it's time to eat!

[Lady Lyuba]

Huh....Not sure what to say about Oregon...aside from the constant rain...But the people here can be as weird as we claim to be. Hm...well for one thing we have unique doughnut shops, so be sure to stop by and get one should you visit here! Also we have an affinity for roses - I'm from the big Rose City itself, so if you visit, visit in June when the Rose Festival is going on!

 

I know little about my own state's habits, because I thought we were relatively boring. We just didn't seem to have any unique trait...My family and upbringing is different however. On my mom's side, it's half Ozark, half English...bordering more on the English side. I use words like "bloody", that you wouldn't expect most Americans to use, again, it runs in the family.

[hanalways]

Pacific Northwest represent!

 

I'm from Seattle, WA and we're really well known for our "Seattle freeze". We're very polite and gracious, but we're known as a flaky city. We tend to make random plans like "Oh yeah we should totally get together for coffee sometime..." and then we leave it like that. A lot of out of state transplants really don't like that.

 

Lesee, we're known for coffee, technology, and liberalism in general. One of the best things about Seattle in my opinion is how diverse we are. We have one of the largest international ports, so we get to interact with people all over the world - which makes our food INCREDIBLE. Well, once you get over the fact that we're closer to Asia then we are to Mexico (we're not great in the Mexican food department). But sushi, thai, pho, french-vietnamese, korean, ethiopian, indian, pakistani - I've been in a really huge mediterranean kick lately.

 

The biggest "downside" to a lot of people is the weather though. It doesn't rain a lot - it's just always grey. Depression is pretty rampant up here. Personally, I LOVE the weather, and hate it when it gets all hot and sticky/icky. It snows maybe for a week(ish?) in winter, but rather than that it's just varying states of grey and drizzly. Definitely makes the cup of coffee, a hot bowl of pho, and a really great book go by better :D

[herrashmoo]

There's not a lot of super interesting cultural stuff in my area (other than my alma mater's city, Columbus, Ohio, being considered on of the US's smartest cities, which is neat), but there's a lot of weird linguistic tics -- as mentioned above, the pop/soda debate runs rampant around here, but there's also weird issues regarding the way some consonants are pronounced in certain words, to the point that people will be quick to determine who's from the area and who isn't -- for instance, if you pronounce the "t" in Dayton, you aren't from Dayton.

 

This actually leads to a neat thing though -- all this talk of linguistic differences reminded me of this thing from a while back where North Carolina State did a quiz that asked you a whole bunch of questions about word choice and pronunciation, then determined how far away, geographically, your personal dialect was from your zip code -- for instance, it told me that I was ~80 miles away from my actual destination, as it thought I lived in Indiana rather than Ohio. The original site is here, though the quiz is currently down, but you can still check the maps they made with it, it's really neat stuff!

 

EDIT: Yooooo I found out that the New york Times did a version of it using the same data! It's only 25 questions, check it out: {link}

[Hert123]

Somebody from Europe here! I'm from the Netherlands and we do have some things that are considered different by outsiders!

 

To begin with, every area has a slight difference in speaking. We all speak Dutch, but all slightly different. In the south we say: our mom (translated) while in the north people say: My mom (translated). If you're from one area, you'll know whether the person who you're talking to is also from that area or somewhere else, just by listening to how they pronounce certain words.

 

Let's talk about celebrations! We recently had a huge, national celebration: Kingsday! This year was the first Kingsday, it was previously called Queensday. Kingsday is a holiday to celebrate the birthday of our King (or Queen). Kingsday is on the 26th of April, unless it falls on a Sunday, which means it will be moved. Queensday used to be on the 30th of April. When it is Kingsday, our king and queen will visit two cities. The cities then have an opportunity to show the royal family their specialities. Every where in the country you are allowed to set up a stall where you can sell your stuff. There are designated area's for markets like that. You can play games everywhere an everywhere you look you see people dressed in orange, because that is our nation colour. It's really fun!

 

The second holiday we have and the rest of the world is unfamiliar with, is Sinterklaas. You may see the similarity to the word Santa Claus. We celebrate Sinterklaas in the first week of December. Sinterklaas is a tall, slim, old man with a long white beard. He's always dressed in red, with a sort of hat and a golden staff. He rides a white horse and is helped by dark people in colourful clothes called Pieten. Together they bring presents through the chimney for good kids. That is how the story goes. Sinterklaas is actually called Sint Nicolas and lived in Turkey. He's already dead for a couple hundred years now. So the parents are the one who buy their kids presents and when they're old enough, kids will realise Sinterklaas isn't real. Then we'll just start giving each other presents. We call it surprises. You write your name on a paper, it all goes into one bowl and then you have to pick a piece of paper with a name on it. Then you have the person who you need to buy presents for. And it's most fun when you make a whole package around it. For example, when somebody likes horses, you can make a little horse and put the presents inside it. Not all people do these presents, as they may choose to do it at Christmas, or both, or none at all.

 

About food.. Yes we do have some typically Dutch food! We have something called 'drop' and I think it's called 'black liquorice' in English. We also have stroopwafels, which are cookie like waffles with syrup like thing. It's yummy. We also tend to eat a lot of milk and cheese. Real cheese, not plastic cheese from a fabric.

 

Kids learn to swim here at a young age, I think around 4 or 5 years old. Swimming is a very important part of our culture and we go swimming for fun all the times. Same goes for ice skating. Look at our success at the Olympic Winter Games! When born in the Netherlands, you learn swimming and ice skating!

 

Last of all: no, we're not all on drugs, we don't walk on wooden shoes and we don't smoke weed everywhere.

 

Pfew, that's a long post! Enjoyed writing it though :)

[leverhelven]

 

I'm from Seattle, WA and we're really well known for our "Seattle freeze". We're very polite and gracious, but we're known as a flaky city. We tend to make random plans like "Oh yeah we should totally get together for coffee sometime..." and then we leave it like that. A lot of out of state transplants really don't like that.

 

 

Gash, that's SO Brazilian!!! We do that all the time, it's even considered impolite not to do it :P

[.Brianna.]

kodylaurentia, this is a perfect example of Pittsburghese lol. I don't say it like that but I definitely know people who do.

[deboratibi]

• Some of you will probably know that us Brazilians are very warm and love hugging and stuff, even when meeting strangers. But the amount of pecks on the cheeks varies from area to area. Here in Rio, where I live, it's two pecks (one on each cheek). In São Paulo, however, it's just one. There are also other areas of the country where they give you three pecks!
• Also, some elderly people (mostly women) will give you three pecks on the cheek, regardless of the State you're in, saying that "the third peck is for you to marry" [as in, get a nice husband and marriage :laughingsmiley: ]

 

I actually didn't know that... I feel kinda stupid :worried:

Being from São Paulo, I thought everyone did just the one peck!

 

I never thought too much about my own cultural habits... I only started noticing them a bit when I visited the US. Apparently Americans think it's weird that we eat pizza with a fork and knife. I remember going to Pizza Hut in the US and telling the waitress she forgot to give me a fork and knife... She wasn't very happy about that (she probably thought I was being fussy or something, haha).

 

I also thought it was weird that in the US they won't let you order from the kids menu if you aren't a kid (I don't know if it's just Miami or everywhere). In Brazil, I order kids stuff all the time when I don't want to eat too much.

 

On a positive note, I was very impressed with how trusting Americans are. I've had problems with vending machines taking my money and not giving me the product, and the employees responsible for the machines would always pay me back, even though they didn't witness me putting my money in the machine. They didn't question me at all. I could be lying! (I wasn't though hehe)

[Shelley]

I lie in a really tiny town in NY the vermont border (^lol I got picked on all the time for saying wicked when I went to college XD) and growing up "guilder" was a term thrown around all the time. It's a really offensive word used to describe people of a certain...social status? I had NO IDEA that it was only a word used in our town until recently. I thought the whole US used it XD ...anyways the word originates from this tiny dirt road right off the road I live on called "Guilder Hollow" where many poor people lived in shacks and supposedly inbred o.O

 

Seriously, even the adults in our town say it and it's thrown around more than any other offensive word you could possibly call a person

 

hahha this is what urban dictionary says.. XP

 

Guilder is a term for a lower class person used in a small region on the New York/Vermont border. It originated in the town of Granville, after the inhabitants of a nearby hamlet (Guilder Hollow) which is now a part of the greater Granville township. This hamlet was settled by families from Holland lead by a charismatic leader. Eventually, the people who settled in Guilder Hollow ran out of money (Dutch money at the time was the "Guilder") and these people became dependant on charities and later state aide. The term "Guilder" used the settler's former wealth ironically. It also implies slovenly habits.

The use of the word has broadened over the years to be applied to anyone of little means and culture. It has also spread to the surrounding communities who have their own take on the insult.

[.Brianna.]

I never thought too much about my own cultural habits... I only started noticing them a bit when I visited the US. Apparently Americans think it's weird that we eat pizza with a fork and knife. I remember going to Pizza Hut in the US and I telling the waitress she forgot to give me a fork and knife... She wasn't very happy about that (she probably thought I was being fussy or something, haha).

 

I've noticed that a lot of times this seems to depend on the type of pizza. If us Americans are eating normal pizza I think people tend to eat with their hands, but if it's a gourmet or specialty pizza then it seems that people go the knife and fork route...strange I know.

[blueberrykiwi141]

It has been a lot of fun reading all of these!!!

 

So I am from Wisconsin (in the USA). I know we call a water fountain a bubbler. I know there are a few places that say this also, but not very many. I visited New York a while back and no one knew what a bubbler was!! It was so funny to me!

 

Also, as stated already before, we call it soda here for the most part, but if you live closer to the boards of other states you might say pop, or if your parents grew up elsewhere. We have A LOT of festivals here during the summer time. We have one of the largest music festivals, which is called SummerFest. We also have festivals for a lot of different cultures. Mexican Fiesta, Polish Fest, German Fest/October Fest, Irish Fest...ect. We have a TON more! Every weekend during the summer time there is a festival usually going on.

 

We are also know for our cheese and beer!

 

That is all I can think of for now, maybe I will think of more later!

[officialsarahjay]

Pacific Northwest represent!

 

I'm from Seattle, WA and we're really well known for our "Seattle freeze". We're very polite and gracious, but we're known as a flaky city. We tend to make random plans like "Oh yeah we should totally get together for coffee sometime..." and then we leave it like that. A lot of out of state transplants really don't like that.

 

Lesee, we're known for coffee, technology, and liberalism in general. One of the best things about Seattle in my opinion is how diverse we are. We have one of the largest international ports, so we get to interact with people all over the world - which makes our food INCREDIBLE. Well, once you get over the fact that we're closer to Asia then we are to Mexico (we're not great in the Mexican food department). But sushi, thai, pho, french-vietnamese, korean, ethiopian, indian, pakistani - I've been in a really huge mediterranean kick lately.

 

The biggest "downside" to a lot of people is the weather though. It doesn't rain a lot - it's just always grey. Depression is pretty rampant up here. Personally, I LOVE the weather, and hate it when it gets all hot and sticky/icky. It snows maybe for a week(ish?) in winter, but rather than that it's just varying states of grey and drizzly. Definitely makes the cup of coffee, a hot bowl of pho, and a really great book go by better :D

 

This post has literally made me want to drop everything and move to Seattle. I've wanted to move to Washington or Oregon for about 10 years now, since at least my senior year of high school. It's just an environment that fits me and that personally I'd enjoy. ESPECIALLY the weather.

 

But I'm from Kansas, represent midwest. Yay. Boo. Boring. We have no culture. And to add insult to injury Wichitans are not exactly the best people, in my opinion. Driving is always terrible and the people of my town aren't warm nor friendly. In fact, they're borderline rude and they don't care. They're rather self-absorbed and Wichita as a city is very dog-eat-dog. Most of the population only looks out for themselves.

 

Which is exactly why I want to bail. Haven't yet. Oh well.

 

One thing midwesterns do that raise the eyebrows of others - that I've found - is that we put ranch dressing on everything, especially pizza. I'm guilty of putting ranch on pizza, dipping my crusts in it, and if you dip your fries in it? Shut the front door. So good.

 

So not only are the people in my part of the world kind of frigid but we also have weird tastes in terrible cuisine as well.

 

Kansas is also considered flyover country by pretty much every part of the US, but we're actually quite important in terms of wheat and corn. We grow the wheat for the breads and pastas you eat, so it gives me a little Kansas pride to know our farmers work hard to help feed America. But we're flat as a pancake, kind of boring, and not super polite and inviting. So...yeah.

 

I have probably painted the worst portrait of my part of the world but I have nothing kind to say about it. Oops.

[Nubisbully]

^--Me too! That area of the country has always had my heart, especially since I visited Seattle about 15 years ago. We put it off due to the radiation fears but recently have thought about it again since Arizona has let me down and North Carolina might be a little "too country" for my boyfriend.

 

I eat ranch with everything as well, I think I got that from West Virginia but I also put ketchup and mustard on everything (grosses my bf out when I put it on eggs so I've become "civilized" and put salsa on them instead)

 

Like deboratibi, I eat pizza with a fork and knife if possible but that's thanks to my British roommate in college, who made me feel like a Neanderthal when I picked it up with my hands.

[leverhelven]

 

I also thought it was weird that in the US they won't let you order from the kids menu if you aren't a kid (I don't know if it's just Miami or everywhere). In Brazil, I order kids stuff all the time when I don't want to eat too much.

 

 

Heeey, that sucks! What if I'm a kid at heart? -_-

 

Anyways, something very simple that has always made me wonder: what kind of shoes do you guys from other countries wear at home? We Brazilians walk on flip-flops while at home, but I know flip-flops are not very common in many other countries. So what do you wear? Socks? Nothing? :D

[muertadivina]

Hello there! Well, here in San Antonio, we have a lot of Mexican traditions. One of these is the pinata b-day party. We like to blindfold our children, then twirl them in circles until they are dizzy, and then give them a large stick and let them loose. They attempt to hit a paper mache figure that is hanging from a tree by a rope and is filled with sweets. Adults attempt to deny the child from actually whacking the pinata by pulling it out of the way by the rope. If the pinata it hit enough times it rains candy, which the children run and try to collect.

 

A superstition i grew up around here is "the ojo," which translates in English as 'the eye.' I have also heard it referred to as "el mal ojo," 'the evil eye.' Well, if you find someone attractive, or like something something someone is wearing, or just are mesmerized by something on someone; you have to go touch the person/thing. If you do not touch the person/thing you are fond of, you give them a headache or cause them to fall, spill something on the item, or some kind of inconvenience.

[leverhelven]

A superstition i grew up around here is "the ojo," which translates in English as 'the eye.' I have also heard it referred to as "el mal ojo," 'the evil eye.' Well, if you find someone attractive, or like something something someone is wearing, or just are mesmerized by something on someone; you have to go touch the person/thing. If you do not touch the person/thing you are fond of, you give them a headache or cause them to fall, spill something on the item, or some kind of inconvenience.

 

Now THAT is frightening!! What if I like something a complete stranger is wearing? Can I just come up to them and touch their clothes?! I mean, at least it sounds better than having a headache or falling down... :P

[Nubisbully]

In Florida we had pinata birthdays a lot as well. Possibly from the large Hispanic population, although not hugely Mexican.

 

Also in Florida we never wore shoes casually. If going out usually sneakers or flip flops but I liked closed shoes because the tops of my feet got sun burned.

 

In Vermont it's hiking boots year round' for the most part.

[siniri]

My parents grew up in New York City; my dad in a mostly Irish neighborhood with his French-Canadian father (who grew up speaking French) and Irish-born mother, my mother in a mostly Jewish neighborhood with her Polish-American mother (who was also raised in New York, but in a Polish neighborhood by monolingual Polish-speaking parents) and German-American father. And I was raised in Virginia (mostly in areas with a lot of military families, since my dad worked for the Navy), then moved to North Carolina and Georgia. So I've got quite an eclectic mix of cultures!

 

Some interesting things, in random order:

• My mom is superstitious about putting shoes on a table -- even if the shoes are inside a bag, or brand new, inside their box. She says this is a Polish superstition.
• People put different things on their hot dogs. My dad will only put black pepper on his; my mom thinks mustard is acceptable (and sometimes sauerkraut). In Virginia, people often put catsup, sometimes mustard, and sometimes pickle relish. In North Carolina, they put chili, cole slaw, mustard, and onions on their hot dogs.
• Barbecue also varies considerably based on where you go. To my New York relatives, a "barbecue" is what we would call a "cookout" in the South (hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. on a grill). In Virginia, we usually ate East Caroline style barbecue, which is pulled pork with a vinegar-based sauce (not too sweet), and served on a bun with hot sauce and cole slaw on the sandwich (not on the side). Putting the slaw on the sandwich gets me funny looks in Georgia.
• My dad would tell us ghost stories about the Loup-Garou, which bears some similarities to the werewolf.
• My dad cooks the best breakfasts: scrambled eggs, fried eggs (though not my thing), omelets, and French toast. Our family's French toast recipe is very different than any other I've had, so I never ever order it out (it's milk, eggs, and lots of sugar mixed together; soak the bread really well in it, and fry it in a pan on low heat in a ton of butter until both sides are golden; then serve with more butter -- don't add cinnamon or syrup).
• In New York, you don't put ranch dressing (or garlic-butter) on your pizza, and you eat it with your hands (you can fold it in half longways). My parents being from New York has made me a bit of a food snob regarding pizza, bagels, and various ethnic foods. In the South, most people seem to prefer fluffy, bread-like bagels, but there's a Jewish deli near me whose owners moved here from NY City, and that's where I get my bagels (except I usually get a knish, because those are impossible to get anywhere else). They also make amazing rugelach. Some of my other favorite foods from childhood include pierogi, halvah, and latkes.
• My mom used a Polish word for "rear end" when we were little. Apparently in modern-day Polish it is now considered a mildly offensive word, but I've met several other Polish-Americans whose family used that word, so I suspect its meaning was less offensive when our forefathers immigrated.
• When I moved to North Carolina, I was always getting caught at doors and elevators. In Virginia, whoever gets there first goes through. In NC, if a man gets there slightly ahead of a woman, he'll stop and let her through first (even if he's carrying something and she's not) -- and by stop, I mean literally, all he does is stop walking and wait, usually with just enough room for her to squeeze in front of him. It took me several years, but I eventually adapted to that, and now I look rude when I go up north and "push" my way through the door before a man who doesn't stop (sometimes they will, but they usually stop further back and accompany it with a gesture, an "After you," and/or a smile). Where I live in Georgia, most men follow the Southern custom, but it's not quite as ingrained since I'm in a metro area with people from all over the world. Men in the South tend to get really confused when I try to be nice by letting them through first when I open a door; some will completely refuse to go through before me.
• My Irish dance class has "hoolies" or "sessions" a few times a year, with music, dancing, singing, story-telling, food, and drink -- mighty craic. The merriment unfolds organically, as the mood strikes. It's so cool to see a musician pick up a new tune right as they're playing it, and anyone interested is encouraged to try, whatever their age or skill level (be it in dancing, singing, or playing).

[leverhelven]

Also in Florida we never wore shoes casually. If going out usually sneakers or flip flops but I liked closed shoes because the tops of my feet got sun burned.

 

In Vermont it's hiking boots year round' for the most part.

No no, I meant at home! :D

 

MODS, if you could please merge this post with the one below... It was meant to be only one, but I accidentaly double-posted, I'm sorry!

 

 

• My mom is superstitious about putting shoes on a table -- even if the shoes are inside a bag, or brand new, inside their box. She says this is a Polish superstition.

My Mom has the same issue, but with shoes on a bed. She says it brings death... But then again, LOTS of things bring death, according to my Mom's superstitions :D

• Shoes on a bed bring death;
• A dragonfly that enters your house? Death!
• An owl that makes a nest on your roof? OMG DEATH

And so on... :P

 

 

This topic has been edited by a member of staff (Rune Valentine).

The mods have helped. :)

[siniri]

 

My Mom has the same issue, but with shoes on a bed. She says it brings death... But then again, LOTS of things bring death, according to my Mom's superstitions :D

 

• Shoes on a bed bring death;
• A dragonfly that enters your house? Death!
• An owl that makes a nest on your roof? OMG DEATH

And so on... :P

Oh, dreaming about teeth supposedly means that someone close to you will die. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing or just a general superstition. I started getting a recurrent stress dream about my teeth falling out, so I'm glad that's not true.

 

The shoes on the table just bring bad luck. It's weird because my mom turns her nose up at pretty much every other superstition, but you have to be really careful about shoes on any type of table around her.

 

In my family, we usually go barefoot or sock-footed in the house. I had a Japanese-American housemate, and I really like the idea of leaving the outside shoes right by the door so you're not tracking all the dirt and germs into the house, so I do that now. She would wear slippers indoors.

[leverhelven]

Oh, dreaming about teeth supposedly means that someone close to you will die. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing or just a general superstition. I started getting a recurrent stress dream about my teeth falling out, so I'm glad that's not true.

 

 

OH YEAH! How could I forget! Dreaming of teeth means death, And also dreaming of shoes. At least according to my Mom. What it is with shoes and bad luck/death anyway? :D

[Randiriel]

Well I am from Hong Kong. And expletives here are pretty weird.

Almost every expression ranging from a simple "oh no" to "oh my god!!!" Or even "ah crap." Can be expressed within a single word: die

It's pronounced as "say" and pretty much appears in everything we say. And if coupled with the word "gwai" (which means ghost), if you hear something along the lines of "gum gwai say...(adjective)" It means "wow that is so...(adjective).."

And then, it's funny if you translate the words we use to yell at people if we get mad back into English.

"Ding nei goh fai." Means "push your lungs". "Sao pei" is like "take back your skin": synonymous to shut up. And of course, the ever present "say hoi" which means "go away and die"

[.Brianna.]

Oh, dreaming about teeth supposedly means that someone close to you will die. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing or just a general superstition. I started getting a recurrent stress dream about my teeth falling out, so I'm glad that's not true.

 

 

My mom SWEARS by this - she said she had tooth dreams before her grandparents died as well as my one uncle. I always thought she was nuts but maybe that really is a thing...