10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America | Thought Catalog
Интересная статья!
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10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America | Thought Catalog
Интересная статья!
Спасибо!
Но что значит "We’re entitled"?
Ага...Из словаря я этого не мог понять. Тогда "пуп земли", наверное, подойдёт. Про одного конкретного человека, который много о себе мнит, мы говорим: "он думает, что он - пуп земли".
Также можно назвать его и д'Артаньяном из ставшего популярным "неприличного" анекдота
Ох, лол! — В гостях у Бароши.
У нас тут, кстати, много россиян-д'Артаньянов на форуме. :lol2:
Маленько надо исправить:
все тебе должны, как будто ты важнее чем другие (или: важнее других/остальных)
"1. FEW PEOPLE ARE IMPRESSED BY US"
By the way, Deborah, that American guy we met in Cyprus didn't know what a water pipe (hookah) is. He's about 50 years old American man (game designer, so his profession implies some intellectual level), but this adult guy didn't know an elementary thing (even if you don't know what it exactly is, you could see it on the pictures etc).
So, me and my friends were very "impressed by US", honestly. If you want to get a cultural shock, meet an American. :-)
Тысяча чертей, да что вы говорите, сударь! :)Quote:
У нас тут, кстати, много россиян-д'Артаньянов на форуме.
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I'd like translate this article for my blog. Not if I would really agree with the author, just for the practice.
Exactly. I'm not completely agree with the author too, he just indulged and descant everything. If you see every country in this aspect, nowhere is perfect.
Paul i think you should not judge a "whole" nation by one particular person. It just sounds a bit prude.
Not to mention that many 'other' things could have happened for this misunderstanding. (Maybe you didn't understand eachother fully because of different accents, maybe he wanted to Joke and Etc...)
That guy is apparently not a patriot, is he Obama's voter? =))
I just wonder when he says it's not true "we are the world's leader", does he even realize that the English language is out there as international language #1 NOT because of the U.K.? As simple as that :-P
Guess what Paul, the level of intellect, or IQ, means your ability to operate with the static knowledge you have, to process it effectively... It doesn't mean the amount of static knowledge you have; you know how a genius is different to a moron? They may just know the same sets of facts, but a moron won't be able to use them for anything while the genius will use them to generate some brilliant ideas or make some genius discoveries.
As for that guy, him not knowing what that thing is does not demean his intellectual abilities in any way, and besides, given his profession, one would doubt he needs that particular knowledge in the first place.
But it wasn't even close to the status it has now while America was an English colony; now, there are over 300 million native English speakers worldwide, and 1.8 billion people who can speak it; the number of people who can speak it is 5.5 times higher than the number of native speakers; no else language can compete with these numbers; now, do you think it was British guys who we should thank for that? =))
I disagree with you, Eric! I think that criticism is the highest form of patriotism! Do not mistake patriotism, for nationalism. To blindly salute our flag and blab about how we are "the greatest country in the world" is Nationalism. Not to mention, just stupid. America DOES have some problems and it is high time we start accepting that, because in order to make things better we must first acknowledge that we have problems in the first place!
Just yesterday some idiot American made a "joke" to me about how "people are standing in line in Moscow to buy bread." When I corrected him and told him that actually Moscow has a higher standard of living than New York City, he got angry and called me a commie! These kinds of ignorant attitudes are really not helping our image.
A state consisting of Britain (which in turn consists of England, Scotland and Wales) & part of Ireland (which is called "Northern Ireland); used to have colonies all over the world in the past, the largest of which were part of the modern territory of the U.S. and India; (I may seem a bit arrogant, but I'm not ignorant :-P)
So?...
That's amazing. Eric, don't you know that I'm not a native English speaker? Did it surprise you? In Russian we have different words for that. "Intellectual" includes both terms: static knowledge and abilities.
As you couldn't guess, it explains everything. Also your ability to operate with that.
That's a typical point of the ignorant American person, who wants to justify his ignorance. If you can't find Europe on the map or don't know what a water pipe is, it just means that you're an ignorant person, that's all. It has nothing to do with "particular knowledge", because it is NOT particular. It's just knowledge which everyone must know.
There are plenty of countries that are not colonies of any empire, and in fact have never had anything to do with the British empire, and where almost everyone speaks fluent English now; and it wasn't this way in the time of the British empire. What do you think of that? Who/what made them speak the language? =))
Do you mean that he heard the terms "hookah" or "nargile" or "water pipe" and he didn't know what kind of object was described by the terms?Quote:
By the way, Deborah, that American guy we met in Cyprus didn't know what a water pipe (hookah) is.
Or do you mean that he saw a hookah and thought it was a marijuana bong, rather than a pipe that's generally used for tobacco?
Or do you mean that he saw a hookah and thought it was a vase for flowers (i.e., he had no idea that it was used for smoking something or other)?
These are three very different levels of ignorance!
Eric, huh? I don't follow your reasoning at all.
Personally I think the rationing coupons were a huge help to people who otherwise had no money and no way to eat.
Maybe the US government should give талёны to all of our unemployed people? No, that would never happen in 'Merca.
I know what a hookah is, but only because I eat middle eastern food. I also know what a bong is, and that it is not the same thing as a hookah.
But I wouldn't assume someone is completely ignorant just because they don't know what a hookah is.
The kind of ignorance that really bothers me, is the kind like I mentioned previously, the guy who thinks people in Moscow, Russia are STILL standing in line to buy bread. That is a clear sign of someone who has been propagandized their entire life, and not only doesn't QUESTION the propaganda, but insists even when confronted with REALITY, that the propaganda is STILL TRUE.
I was told by ppl from that area that those "талоны" were issued to make sure ppl wouldn't exceed their rations; when buying anything, one had to give the seller money AND a "талон"; the reason for that was that the amount of food inside the country was very limited, and the amount of cash was much huger, and they just couldn't let ppl buy what they wanted for their cash... So, do you still think it was a good thing? Or maybe you think the person who told me that lied?
Of course, you are wrong. All depend on context. "Intellectual" means not only abilities, but rich knowledge too. In Russian you can't call "intellectual" a person, who doesn't know, for example, the history of the UK (I mean elementary facts about it) and so on. Only if you want to make fun of him. Although this person can be professional. Like a "professional plumber", for instance. Also in Russian "intellectual" often implies an "erudite person".
You should call these countries. I don't know any of them. Yes, some people in the world know English very well. But if you have ever had a conversation with a citizen of those states, you could notice that they have a very poor English, sometimes even worse than I have now.
About numbers.
Eric wrote: "But it wasn't even close to the status it has now while America was an English colony; now, there are over 300 million native English speakers worldwide, and 1.8 billion people who can speak it; the number of people who can speak it is 5.5 times higher than the number of native speakers; no else language can compete with these numbers; now, do you think it was British guys who we should thank for that? =))"
The real facts: Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 54 countries founded by the UK, unites 1.8 billion people who can speak English. Look, the same number here (1.8 ) and the same is there (1.8 ).
Yes, Commonwealth corresponds to the empire in general. But who can tell that the UK have nothing to do with the expansion of English language (even today)? Especially after we found out the facts you must know, Eric, since you are trying to live among the English-speaking people.
I have no idea what your friend told you, or what you understood of what your friend told you.
All I do know is my own experience. I LIVED there and received the coupons, and I don't remember having to also spend money. I thought it was cool that even those of us who were employed received them, as a sort of protection so we would not run out of food! So, yeah, I think it was a very good thing.
Eric C.
Indeed, талоны сould come in various flavours.
I remember only "талоны на водку" (it was 1991 or 1992, I think).
People had to provide both талон and cash to buy vodka, and queues were long. Even citizens who did not drink alcohol stood in those queues. Just for the case :lol2:
They were saying that vodka is a new "universal currency". I always stared with amazement at them while passing by (queues were outside the shop).
More attractive alternative was to sell Талоны to comrades who needed more than a couple of bottles per month.
Reading these posts I see there is no shortage for arguments concerning foreign affairs. :D Personally, I don't think the article was all that great. A lot of good observations were brought up, but in the end, that is all they are. Having one person speak on behalf of an entire country regarding cultural upbringing, traditions, and social perspective is ridiculous. I guess that is why the article posted was just a random person's blog entry instead of in a prestigious journal. Many of the "facts" presented were skewed which causes more bias than needed. At the same time, I would say many of the author's observations hold some merit of truth. These same observations could be applied to other countries besides the United States. It is hard to discern whether the author is actually trying to address certain flaws about the U.S. or pointing out those flaws with the attempt to "fit in" or "gain approval" from other cultures. Of course, this is just my opinion from the "sheltered" life that I supposedly live in.
Also, I think the word ignorance is sometimes mistaken for stupidity. Stupidity being the lack of intelligence/reason while ignorance refers to simply being unaware of something which I think was the case with the Hookah incident stated above. However, As the saying goes: "ignorance is bliss" -->(Not knowing is better than knowing and worrying). ;)
Matthew.T
Золотые слова! Меньше знаешь - крепче спишь!
Yeah, I remember reaction of many Russian people when they see a garbage disposal for the first time. I'm sure some Americans would tell "those dumb Russians don't even know what a garbage disposal is"
Bottom line is: I wouldn't be so fond of your superiority Paul, if I were you