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General discussionNational/local weirdness(178 posts)(178 posts)
(178 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted September 27, 2015
Where I come from, meat was a sort of luxury food. People did keep cows, chickens etc., but those were more useful for milk and eggs. So meat was consumed more sparingly, mostly on Sundays. Now when there's an abundance of meat, people overcompensate for their previous diet. That's why many older people seem to think that without at least a little bit of meat your meal cannot be nutritious. No matter how much pastry or vegetables you eat in one sitting, you can't be properly full if there was no meat on your plate. Concerned mothers will sneak slices of sausage into their vegetarian children's vegetable dishes, to their horror.

Another thing, which I find annoying and which is actually rude in some countries, is that during meals your host will keep glancing at your plate and making comments about what you're (not) eating: "Take one more steak! Here, I'll get it for you." *dumps a large steak you can't possibly eat onto your plate*, or "You haven't tried the tomato salad!", or "Take another piece of meat, this one's all bone..." I wish I could raise a screen around my plate when I'm eating so that I don't have to hear those comments.
Posted September 27, 2015
Once one of my old towns had a short phase thing about knock off cola being like some kind of ultimate soda for a lot of parties and events ( especially schools )
Posted October 03, 2015
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0Grapher: In Germany it is common to give about 10% of the bill in tips if the service was good. You don't give any tips in fast food restaurants, though.
I don't know of a specific tip-percentage in Germany. Since we have the minimum wage of 8,50€ /h there are actually no more tips needed. Actually.
Posted October 03, 2015
Some funny stuff in this thread. Can't really remember anything weird about Portugal, but I'm sure there must be something which puzzles foeigners. If anyone has any, please ask and I'll do my best to answer.
Post edited October 03, 2015 by WireHead
Posted October 03, 2015
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gamefood: Since we have the minimum wage of 8,50€ /h there are actually no more tips needed. Actually.
Were they ever needed in Germany? I don't think that was the point of the tips.
Posted October 03, 2015
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Charon121: I wish I could raise a screen around my plate when I'm eating so that I don't have to hear those comments.
I found that in Poland you can sort of do this with the way you place your fork and knife on your plate. If you place them together with the business ends pointing towards the right, that means you are done eating and the host should not offer you anymore food. If you place them in an "X" then that means you would like more food.
Posted October 03, 2015
On the subject of food etiquette, isn't it polite in some countries to belch after a meal, or am I just thinking of Alabama?
Posted October 03, 2015
Where I come from, we tend to accomadate the national dish (Mossels and fries with very local ingredients. Which gives recipes such as mossels in beer sauce, or mossels with smelly cheese ( Maroilles for cheese lovers, a cheese from northern France, I come from just accross the border . Although the better version "vieux puant" is even better). Note that we also like meat with smelly cheese , and the like. Such habits were never really met with much understanding amongst my successive girlfriends / wife ...
Post edited October 03, 2015 by Phc7006
Posted October 03, 2015
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Crewdroog: I call shenanigans on the "aboot" thing. ;) That is your number one tell that you are Canadian. People in in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan (Upper Peninsula) say "eh", so the only way I can tell a Canadian is by "aboot". However, all my Canadian friends are from the East, sooooo..... :)
It sounds like "aboot" to most US listeners because Canadian accents (there are many regional ones, just like there are in the US) tend to pronounce vowels further forward. The counterpart to this is that US accents - even those not from the deep south - tend to "saand lahk yer taahkin' in yer nawse all th'tahm" to Canadian listeners.
Post edited October 03, 2015 by Garran
Posted October 03, 2015
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Phc7006: Where I come from, we tend to accomadate the national dish (Mossels and fries with very local ingredients. Which gives recipes such as mossels in beer sauce, or mossels with smelly cheese ( Maroilles for cheese lovers, a cheese from northern France, I come from just accross the border . Although the better version "vieux puant" is even better). Note that we also like meat with smelly cheese , and the like. Such habits were never really met with much understanding amongst my successive girlfriends / wife ...
If you really want to be attractive to women, you need to go to Germany and get yourself some Bergkäse. Then eat this cheese on a daily basis. ;)
Post edited October 03, 2015 by monkeydelarge
Posted October 03, 2015
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JudasIscariot: How many of you alter or take off the price tag on a gift to someone? For example, you have a Christmas gift and you'll take a black marker across the price to conceal it if the taking the tag off would damage the original packaging.
everyone does this. you save the tags and give them to the giftee if they need to return the gift. these days, a lot of tags are perforated before the price print so that you can just rip that off and keep the tag.
Posted October 03, 2015
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JudasIscariot: I found that in Poland you can sort of do this with the way you place your fork and knife on your plate. If you place them together with the business ends pointing towards the right, that means you are done eating and the host should not offer you anymore food. If you place them in an "X" then that means you would like more food.
That applies in Germany as well.
I'm sure that it applies anywhere where you traditionally eat with fork and knife and not just your fork. :P
Posted October 03, 2015
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JudasIscariot: I found that in Poland you can sort of do this with the way you place your fork and knife on your plate. If you place them together with the business ends pointing towards the right, that means you are done eating and the host should not offer you anymore food. If you place them in an "X" then that means you would like more food.
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0Grapher: That applies in Germany as well.
I'm sure that it applies anywhere where you traditionally eat with fork and knife and not just your fork. :P
I'm not sure about the "pointing to the right" part being universal. Just placing them together is enough here.
Posted October 03, 2015
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Crewdroog: I call shenanigans on the "aboot" thing. ;) That is your number one tell that you are Canadian. People in in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan (Upper Peninsula) say "eh", so the only way I can tell a Canadian is by "aboot". However, all my Canadian friends are from the East, sooooo..... :)
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Garran: It sounds like "aboot" to most US listeners because Canadian accents (there are many regional ones, just like there are in the US) tend to pronounce vowels further forward. The counterpart to this is that US accents - even those not from the deep south - tend to "saand lahk yer taahkin' in yer nawse all th'tahm" to Canadian listeners.
Yeah, I am from ohio, and we are starting to have the development of a new accent that really makes these "a" sounds you mentioned. It's called "Northern Cities Vowel Shift" or Great Lakes Accent. Really pay attention to the "a" sounds they make, like in father, car or park. it's very hard sounding. I never realized how bad it was until I left the area and my sister and her friends visited me a few years later. I was like, "omg that's what i sound like? aaaahhhh!!!" :) I'm from NE Ohio, so cleveland is how I sound. SO when the guy from melt says, "fantastic", that's how I sound. Also, oh my god is said, "oh my gaahd".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UXHiPWrZxg

In the second video, note how the kid says "box", "flap", "bag", "at":
cleveland accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkUg1fzHXgQ
Posted October 03, 2015
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Garran: It sounds like "aboot" to most US listeners because Canadian accents (there are many regional ones, just like there are in the US) tend to pronounce vowels further forward. The counterpart to this is that US accents - even those not from the deep south - tend to "saand lahk yer taahkin' in yer nawse all th'tahm" to Canadian listeners.
I think, the point is that Canadians pronounce the "ou" in "about" somewhat as "oo" or "oa" whilst they do pronounce other "ou" sounds like "ou".
I'd speculate that it may be an influence of French.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionNational/local weirdness(178 posts)(178 posts)
(178 posts)