Most Americans will never...

shroomhead77

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We should have bidets here!!!!! Most of my friends who've never used one think they are "gross"....:confused: um, not using one is grosser! And it would save $$$ over so many baby wipes!
 

Catharsis

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I think people refer to the united states as "the" america because the people who live there are referred to as Americans. I mean really, what else do you call them since they came from all over the world?

Perhaps in PC context, Americans should refer to everyone who lives in the American continents and related countries, but this is obviously not the case.
 

LaFemme

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Yeah I know the other day a guy asked what my background was cuz he thought I looked Asian
I told him my parents were from El Salvador and, he says where in Mexico is that
All I could think to myself was face palm moment

El Salvador? Can you make pupusa? I can only get it twice a year here :frown1:. It's my favourite latin snack.

Edit: Actually, I do know a couple of guys who might qualify as a favourite Latin snacks as well....but if they brought pupusas - heaven!
 
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_yayme

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El Salvador? Can you make pupusa? I can only get it twice a year here :frown1:. It's my favourite latin snack.

Hell yeah can I try to make those every chance I get well my training and diet is flawless I reward myself with pupusas
 

gymfresh

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Everyone I know has taken a train. That includes all of my HS classmates, and I grew up in the most rural of rural settings. I don't know how you manage to know so few people who have taken a train.

Well, here's my thinking with these.

Regarding trains, I'm not counting subways. I mean intercity trains, the kind where you make a reservation and may check luggage. When I'm in the UK, I'm on trains all the time, zipping from London to Manchester or London to Edinburgh. Knowing how to read the boards and take a train out of Victoria Station is a skill most Americans simply do not possess. I would expect rural dwellers to be more familiar with trains than suburban or city dwellers (the majority of Americans), since most rural areas don't have handy airports.

Again, i grew up in quite the idyllic setting - EVERYONE drove a manual transmission. ... But then, most city dwellers have ridden on a train... so... you have me colored confused.

Well, I grew up in the suburbs of DC, and only one family I knew had a stick car, and it was because the dad was a motoring enthusiast. Manual shift was plainly a hobby, not a normal skill to be learned to get from A to B. Most people I've spoken to who grew up in cities and suburbs, even exurbs, have never been behind the wheel of a stick. I'm constantly amazed and the numbers of people I meet who have just had no experience at all with a gearbox. I knew it was a lot, but I've come to think it's a majority of Americans.

I realize that the sophisticated lot that reads LPSG is not necessarily a cross-section of America -- we relish experimentation more than the average Joe or Jane, have members in many countries and often interact in person with people from other countries -- so I rarely use the gang here as a yardstick. Something will sooner play here than in Peoria.

you got me on this one. I've tried to find marmite - nobody seems to sell it. Hmmm... my friend from the UK is coming to visit in 2 months. I'll ask him to bring some.

Most Americans don't even know that marmite is more of a UK item and vegemite is more of an Australian/NZ item. Or that Aussie and Kiwi vegemite taste somewhat different to each other.

True. Our country is stuck in the dark ages, using the Imperial system. I, however, am a scientist - SI all the way baby! Hopefully one day we'll crawl into the 21st century and prove you wrong.

Weirdly, the USA is resolutely "US customary" (differs somewhat from Imperial units), but SI is all around us. We buy soft drinks in 2-liter bottles. The US automobile industry has been largely metric since the 1970s, and is in the process of going full metric. Most people have been exposed to SI weights and measures in school (as a novelty of what foreigners use) and indirectly in our daily lives, yet weather (temperature) is the one that is least intuitive and most ignored. Mainly, I guess, because there's not one simple multiplier.

why would you assume this? Circumcision is becoming less common, and "never" is a very long time.

I assume it because I meant adult Americans living today, or our 18+ demographic. Infant circumcision has been well up over 80% since Eisenhower was president (100% in some communities), and while stats indicate it's coming down, those stats don't capture new trends to circumcise in the doctor's office outside the maternity period. I'd put it at 75% today.

But more importantly, most Americans are straight. Guys will handle only their own penis, and most women will handle a very limited cross-section before getting married -- statistically, to a circumcised guy. The odds are quite high that very few men or women will make contact with a foreskin. I even know a few folks who have never even seen one, let alone touched one. And in the US, many uncut guys are self-conscious about encounters (thankfully this is changing). As I've mentioned before, my former roommate from Columbia, SC, a gay man, moved to SF at the age of 25 without ever having seen an intact penis. He had gym showers every day from 7th grade through 12th, played sports, and later belonged to a gym. He looked for uncut guys and never saw one, till he got to the West coast. I hear stories like that all the time. The largest situation I hear and read is that people have seen intact guys here and there but not touched an uncut penis. And I long ago lost track of the number of guys who've told me that mine was the first one they'd ever gotten up close and personal with.

They're not that hard to figure out.... Are you implying that Americans are stupid?

Not stupid, but bidets are not necessarily intuitive to use. First timers don't know whether to sit forward or backward on them, or how much water pressure to use. It feels wrong to sit on porcelain. Where's the soap holder? Did you bring a handtowel? A bit embarrassing to use one for the first time and realize you have nothing to dry off with. I'd even wager more Americans ignore them, or use them in hotels abroad to wash their socks & underwear than their asses, scrotums or vulvas.

I don't know if you've been to an Arbys, or McDonalds, or Burger King, or Pizza Hut in the states, but MANY of them have long fixed position tables that are meant to be shared by multiple parties. Almost all food courts have the same thing.

You're right, I should have been more specific. I meant sharing "your" table (for 2 or 4) with strangers. I was at first surprised when eating a places like the Stockpot in the UK, which are jammed places with limited seating. It's not unusual for strangers to ask if they may sit with you, and I have even seen people in the UK and Europe just sit at any old empty chair without saying a word, even if it's the one across from you at a table for 2. That just doesn't happen in the US. I personally would be pretty surprised if a stranger walked up to my booth at Arby's and sat down like it was the most normal think in the world. But I've seen it in other countries. An available seat is game.

I'm not sure about this one, because, again, I grew up in the sticks and skinny dipping was a rite of passage. I don't know how this works in the cities.

... and suburbs. Tabooooooooo. Nudity was a real no-go in my community. High schools have been turning off or ripping out showers for at least 2 decades, and I'm guessing a majority of those growing up today will not see another naked person in the flesh until they have sex or get married. Group activities in the nude are still actually pretty rare, I'd say.


Have you never heard of Greyhound??? It's a big inter-city bus service. Quite popular.

With whom? Good god, the vast majority of Americans have never set foot in a Greyhound bus. Maybe it's how young Howie gets sent to see his city cousins (or once was), but everywhere I've lived Greyhound is viewed as the last resort of the financially desperate. And in the absolute scariest part of town.

And then there's, I dunno, the VAST MAJORITY of city dwellers who ride busses to get to work so they don't have to pay outrageous monthly lot fees to park their cars at work. What parts of America have you traveled in???

Your point of reference may be DC. Mine is Cincinnati, or Kansas City, or Las Vegas, or where I now live in Fort Lauderdale. Mainstream America drives in its own cars, and I think the majority of American cities do not have commuter trains or commuter buses, though many are discussing it. I might be incorrect about never riding a bus other than for school, but I'm pretty sure it would be correct to say other than for school or work. Buses are anathema to most Americans as a means of casual transportation, except in the big cities. And even there, my Angeleno friends pale at the thought of taking a bus anywhere. My point was that bus, and particularly coach, usage patterns differ markedly between the US and many other developed or less-developed countries.
 

gymfresh

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I think people refer to the united states as "the" america because the people who live there are referred to as Americans. I mean really, what else do you call them since they came from all over the world?

Perhaps in PC context, Americans should refer to everyone who lives in the American continents and related countries, but this is obviously not the case.

I've been lectured by a few Brazilians who don't cotton to the term "United States" for the USA, because they come from the "United States" of Brazil. And a number of Canadians who take issue with "American" meaning USAmerican. There's no real right and wrong here.
 

LaFemme

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As a Canadian, I don't mind that US citizens use American as their term of self-identity. It is a part of the country's name. It isn't a part of Canada's name. I self-idenify as Canadian or more globally as North American.

Then again, I don't speak for all other Canadians. I can't even speak for my own family! :rolleyes:
 

gymfresh

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Most American think that all hispanics come from Mexico

That may be somewhat true from Texas westward, but down here in Florida there are far fewer Mexicans than Cubans, Puerto Ricans (who have been American for almost 100 years*), Dominicans, Colombians, Venezuelans and others. And when I mention I'm hispanic, people tell me not to be ridiculous since my dad is from Spain and a lot of my family is blond. Hispanics are brown people from the Americas.

I would agree that most Americans have no idea that different hispanic groups sound as different to each other as Aussies, Americans and Brits. We tend to look at Latinos monolithically. (Hmmm, there's two more: most Americans can't tell a Kiwi from an Aussie, or even a Canadian from an American. I think more Canadians can spot an American accent. And then there's the many Americans who honestly can't differentiate between Received Pronunciation and an Australian accent.)



* I find it interesting to think that Puerto Ricans became American citizens while Nicholas II was still tsar of Russia. That's a long time ago.
 

aninnymouse

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That may be somewhat true from Texas westward, but down here in Florida there are far fewer Mexicans than Cubans, Puerto Ricans (who have been American for almost 100 years*), Dominicans, Colombians, Venezuelans and others. And when I mention I'm hispanic, people tell me not to be ridiculous since my dad is from Spain and a lot of my family is blond. Hispanics are brown people from the Americas.

I would agree that most Americans have no idea that different hispanic groups sound as different to each other as Aussies, Americans and Brits. We tend to look at Latinos monolithically. (Hmmm, there's two more: most Americans can't tell a Kiwi from an Aussie, or even a Canadian from an American. I think more Canadians can spot an American accent. And then there's the many Americans who honestly can't differentiate between Received Pronunciation and an Australian accent.)



* I find it interesting to think that Puerto Ricans became American citizens while Nicholas II was still tsar of Russia. That's a long time ago.

It's interesting. As an undergrad, I knew a girl who's family was from Spain. However, while she was dark haired and dark skinned, she didn't consider herself Hispanic, she considered her self of European Heritage.

The accent, yes and no. I can tell a British accent from a Aussie/Kiwi accent, and some regional British accents, a la Northern/Scotish. However, I can't differentiate between say an Aussie/Kiwi accent, or say a Yorkshire and Scottish accent.

It's amazing what you can do when you're exposed and pay attention.
 

cspelts

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I find this amusing... I come from a very small town in oklahoma and I have done all of these. The least pleasant being eating vegamite.:eek: The only one that might be true is the celcius fahrenheit conversion that is actually quite easily to do in your head. we were taught how to do that in elementary school.
 

gymfresh

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With the exception of Celsius conversion, which I can only do approximately, I've ticked off all those things. :wink:

The old "double it and add 30" usually get close enough. For temperature. It doesn't work for converting cock inches to cock centimeters.
 

B_Nick8

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The old "double it and add 30" usually get close enough. For temperature. It doesn't work for converting cock inches to cock centimeters.

That's what I do but having lived abroad it's annoying to me that it's not just automatic and "fluent". Same with kilometers. I can do it but it annoys me that I still have to think about it.

As for cocktimiches, are we talking on-line or irl? Those are very different systems of measurement.
 
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LaFemme

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Having switched from the Imperial system to the metric system in grade school, so I consider myself bi that way. :biggrin1:

Canada is still so weird that way. Recipes are still imperial, distances are metric, weight & height are imperial, temperature is metric....it's just one big mix for me. Might be different for younger people, but for people like me - it's a big mess.
 
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As I travel, and when I read boards like LPSG, I've subconsciously been making a list of how Americans differ from contemporaries in other countries/cultures. Some things that seem quite normal in the UK, like taking a train to work or see friends, are not commonplace in the US. Here are some off the top of my head that may or may not be true, but seem like it to me.

Most Americans will never in their lives...

take a train. (only about 20% of people I know have)

drive a manual transmission car. (or maybe even be in one)

taste marmite or vegemite.

know how to tell temperature in celsius.

touch an uncut cock.

use a bidet. (or even know how to use one)

share a table at a restaurant with strangers.

get nude with friends. (skinnydipping, showers or just horsing around -- particularly today's youth)


I'm not even sure a majority of Americans will have ridden an intercity bus, or any bus, other than a school bus.

Can you think of more things that are commonplace outside the US but that most Americans would not have experienced? Are there some things that people in your culture mostly have not experienced, that most Americans have/do?

I've taken a train from WA state down to TX, stayed with family for a week and taken a train back. I've also used commuter trains on the East Coast, and in WA.

I certainly have driven a manual/stick car before and been in several.

I've had vegemite, thank you Aussie friends visiting me. Yes, I think it's nasty. The kangaroo jerky was way better. The Violet Crumble candy bar things are awesome too

I know -some- conversions in my head for Fahrenheit to Celsius. And yes, I do think it's dumb we don't use the metric system.

Touch an uncut cock? Not yet, but it's on my to-do list

..I really can't imagine using a bidet is that hard and again, it's on my to-do list

I've shared tables at a restaurant with strangers many times. I don't think I know anyone who hasn't :confused:

I've gone skinny dipping in a hot-tub with friends. I've also played strip poker with friends, among other things.

As an aside, since I've lived close to the Canadian border at various points, I often just say I'm from "the States". I'm fully aware that America doesn't automatically equal the USA.
 

_yayme

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Having switched from the Imperial system to the metric system in grade school, so I consider myself bi that way. :biggrin1:

Canada is still so weird that way. Recipes are still imperial, distances are metric, weight & height are imperial, temperature is metric....it's just one big mix for me. Might be different for younger people, but for people like me - it's a big mess.

Sounds like I would be confused if I we to visit Canada