Japan/The World and Stereotypes

I think white bread and peanut butter is pretty damn good, and I wasn't raised in a little town in Wisconsin, not that it's relevant. Better with a bit of Nutella or honey, but still pretty good. I don't see the difference between him not wanting to eat that sandwich and you not wanting to eat his; not everyone likes the same things. Complaining when other people order food of their choosing is pretty obnoxious, but I don't have a problem with people choosing their own food if that's what they like.

Just felt like I should stand up for a fellow picky eater.

actually, due to his complaining/email, the company end up ordering sandwich every day instead different ethnic food, we never have curry/sushi/chinese/indian/italian anymore.. and he doesn't even eat the deli sandwich we end up ordering..

Okay, that's really obnoxious, I agree. Nevermind; that's just rude and unnecessary.

YOU GUYS WENT ON A FOOD TANGEANT WITHOUT ME? WTH? Somebody call me when we go on food tangeants!

BBQ is remarkably universal. There's a show on public access where I live just about worldwide BBQ!

Man I love food. That's the big downside of my job, making so much food that smells good, and I CAN'T EAT IT! ;__; Torture, some days...

While we're on the subject of food and culture, there's a great series of books called Culinaria - they're kind of hard to find because they're out of print, but Amazon or used book stores are good places to track them down. Each book spotlights a different country, then spotlights different areas within that country to talk about the specialties it produces.

I also recommend the book National Geographic Food Journeys of a Lifetime. That one is only about a year old, so Barnes & Noble usually has it.

I'm German. In summer it's barbecue all day everyday. We even have a word for the start of BBQ season.

And don't get me started on bread. Germans only go on vacation to complain about the awful bread in other countries. Everytime someone returns from a stay abroad, the first question is "How was the bread?"

It's the same for Swiss. I'm not a bread nut or anything, I just eat it as a matter of course in sandwiches and such, but I still slowly go insane on the foreign stuff. Two weeks abroad and I get a slight feeling I'm missing something, one month and I start feeling like a vampire in a tomato juice bar, two months and the killing starts until I find something with a proper crust, preferably together with good non-processed cheese. I don't even usually like cheese.

Once someone asked me if in Peru people wear clothes. He nearly believed me when I said that we didn't because you can't do it in the jungle since we have to hunt and the blood will ruin everything.

We have a lot of barbecues in Latino America and we have a lot of barbecue also in Poland. And in Italy people love grilling outdoors, even if you usually have to go near a river (or a lake) or climb a mountain first, because you have to find the right spot.
Sandwiches are good, but since in Italy an entire pizza costs 3,50€, same price as a kebab or an hamburger, while sandwiches costs more, sandwiches are less common as lunch and more a thing you eat during a field trip. In Poland however it's common having sandwiches for dinner.

Not-english languages allowed, then?

a) It depends on what exactly you want to drink. The general term is bibita gassata - literally, fizzy drink.
b) Mercatino delle pulci. But there isn't anything like that in Italy, you have to have a stand in a proper market to sell your stuff.
c) Scarpe da ginnastica.
d) Different names according to which kind of road we're talking about.
e) I think it's just called panino - literally: sandwich. EDIT: But it also means just "small bread".
f) Veranda
g) Lucciola - which means also prostitute, by the way.
h) Carrello della spesa - shortly: carrello

This is so true.
I normally like white bread, but one week in a foreign country is enough to make me crave walnut bread or potato bread.

And now I wanna do that word-thingy in German, too.

The word game is lots of fun for America, because of all the regional differences. Here's my version:

a) a sweetened fizzy drink: Soda. Some people will say "pop". These people are wrong.
b) a sale of unwanted items held on your porch or in your yard: garage sale or yard sale
c) rubber-soled shoes that you'd wear in the gym: sneakers or tennis shoes (on rare occasions I've heard trainers)
d) a big road that you drive fairly fast on: highway, sometimes freeway.
e) a sandwich, usually filled with cold meat or cheese, served on a long bun: there are probably a dozen different names for this, but I think it's "sub" most of the time now.
f) the covered area in front of the front door of a house, usually up a couple of steps: porch
g) a summer insect that flies and has a rear section that glows in the dark: firefly, or lightning bug if you are under the age of 10
h) a wheeled contraption for carrying groceries in the supermarket: shopping cart or just "cart". I've heard basket, but only a couple of times. This is dumb, because grocery stores also have handheld baskets for carrying smaller loads, so don't call them both the same thing, duh.

I don't really mind people posting responses to that survey in other languages, as long as you realize that it defeats the purpose of the survey a little as it is meant to discuss dialectic differences within a single language. That said, I'd love to hear about dialectic differences in the languages you speak, for those of you who don't just speak English. Of course, it would take a little explanation (you would have to include translations for the concepts and a little bit of information as to where different variations might be spoken, that sort of thing), but if you don't mind doing that, I'd be interested.

Other than English, I only know a little bit about some dialects in Japanese and mostly just Kansai-ben, which is the one everyone knows about. I know that really or truly is "hontou" (本当 in kanji and ほんとう in hiragana) in standard Japanese, while "honma" is used in Kansai-ben. (I learned that playing TMGS2. :D) I also know the classic example having to do with how McDonald's is shortened. The full name for McDonald's in Japanese is マクドノルド or "makudonorudo," but as that takes forever to say, around the Tokyo area, people shorten it to マッカ or "makka," while people in Kansai say マクド or "makudo" instead. I've heard that compared to saying McDonald's vs. saying Macky D's in English.

Pretty sure people who are posting in different languages are just doing it for a lark xD

I figured as much, but it's just gotten a little funny to me whenever I get alerts about people quoting me in this thread because I automatically think, "Oh, there's another person taking that survey I posted. XD"

Having grown up on the West Coast and divided my adult life between the DC/VA area and the Midwest, I am all over the place for accent and dialect. Regardless, I prefer to think of mine as "correct".

a) a sweetened fizzy drink - Soda. Because if you ask your father for one, it's "A soda, pop", not "a pop-pop" because that will get you a grandfather.
b) a sale of unwanted items held on your porch or in your yard - Yard sale. If you're running it out of your garage, it's a garage sale.
c) rubber-soled shoes that you'd wear in the gym - sneakers
d) a big road that you drive fairly fast on - If it's asphalt, it's a highway. If it's concrete, it's a freeway. If it goes across state lines, it's an interstate.
e) a sandwich, usually filled with cold meat or cheese, served on a long bun - Sub.
f) the covered area in front of the front door of a house, usually up a couple of steps - Porch if covered, stoop if uncovered.
g) a summer insect that flies and has a rear section that glows in the dark - firefly
h) a wheeled contraption for carrying groceries in the supermarket - shopping cart

This is fun!

A: soda
B: I use garage sale and yard sale interchangably
C: tennis shoes
D: freeway
E: is becoming less regional due to Subway, I *think* I might have always called them subs though possibly I may have called them po'boys as well.
F: front deck/porch
G: firefly (which I'd never actually seen until I moved to VA)
H: shopping cart

Oh I should add: Native Northern Californian with one native parent and one from Minnesota.

A: soda or soft drink, interchangeably.
B: garage sale or yard sale, more or less interchangeably.
C: sneakers or tennis shoes, interchangeably.
D: freeway, highway, interstate, but normally I call them by their specific number rather than refer to them generically.
E: sandwich
F: porch, unless it's actually a deck.
G: firefly
H: shopping cart

Native Californian, lived mostly in the Bay Area but went to high school in LA County.

It was that or weeping for humanity being very sad.

I think Italy has too much dialects/technically-foreign-languages to do that seriously, so a funny thing: the word "cicca" (pronunced /ˈtʃikka/ according to WordReference) means "fag end" BUT in Milan, and in all the cities where the dialect from Milan is spoken / influenced other dialects, it means also "chewing-gum".
That's probably because "ciccare" - "cicca" as a verb - is a slang way to say "to chew".



And this is why children asking for a chewing-gum sometimes end up being told that they're too young for that.

By fag you mean cigarette, right? Because we don't use fag for cigarette in America; if someone in America says fag, it's the shortened form of "faggot", which is an insult used for homosexuals. I don't use any form of the word fag myself, but still, it always takes me a second to figure out what's going on when I'm reading or watching something from the UK and someone asks for a fag.

a) a sweetened fizzy drink: Soda.
b) a sale of unwanted items held on your porch or in your yard: Yard sale, garage sale.
c) rubber-soled shoes that you'd wear in the gym: Sneakers. "Tennis shoes" is also acceptable.
d) a big road that you drive fairly fast on: Highway.
e) a sandwich, usually filled with cold meat or cheese, served on a long bun: Sub sandwich. But honestly mostly just "sandwich."
f) the covered area in front of the front door of a house, usually up a couple of steps: Porch.
g) a summer insect that flies and has a rear section that glows in the dark: Firefly, lightning bug.
h) a wheeled contraption for carrying groceries in the supermarket: Shopping cart.

a) Soda.
b) garage sale.
c) Athletic shoes. Sneakers and tennis shoes sound like what old people say. Like my parents.
d) Highway or Freeway
e) Hoagies and grinders
f) Porch.
g) Satan. Bugs shouldn't glow in the dark.
h) Shopping cart.

Yeah, I meant that. I thought that the insult was "faggot", not "fag" as well. I'll remember that, thank you for explaining me.

I missed out on the beginning discussion and haven't read most of it yet, but I noticed you're talking about languages, accents, and all that good stuff. Which I love. Also this survey looks fun, so allow me to barge in:
From Southwestern Ohio!
a) a sweetened fizzy drink: Most people say "pop", but "soda" works too. I use both, sometimes even together!
b) a sale of unwanted items held on your porch or in your yard: Yard sale.
c) rubber-soled shoes that you'd wear in the gym: Gym shoes. Sneakers are different.
d) a big road that you drive fairly fast on: all of them The highway.
e) a sandwich, usually filled with cold meat or cheese, served on a long bun: Sub. Hoagie if it's hot meat.
f) the covered area in front of the front door of a house, usually up a couple of steps: Porch, unless it's big and fancy, in which case it's a patio.
g) a summer insect that flies and has a rear section that glows in the dark: Fireflies or Lightning Bugs.

h) a wheeled contraption for carrying groceries in the supermarket: Cart.

I work in a grocery store, and the technical term is bascart. (As in basket-cart.) Nobody actually calls them that, except sometimes management.

Same here. I was talking to a British guy once when that happened. He said something off hand about some lady asking him for a fag, and I was like, "WHAT?!"
And he was like, "...what?"

Huh. I would never think of a front porch as a patio, only a back porch.

Well, they can be either or. My friend's house has one in front, and it's always been called the patio.
Incidentally, most of the houses in my neighborhood don't have actual porches; they're really just square slabs of concrete in front of the doors. I guess you could say they're stoops, but everyone still calls them porches anyway. x3

I'm surprised that apparently no calls gym shoes just "gym shoes". When you say sneakers, I think of like Converse shoes. And you couldn't wear those kind of shoes in gym class.

Around here patio is an inner garden - you know, either a room which is basically a greenhouse with chairs and stuff, or like in hotels, where the building is a square with the patio being the little garden in the middle. I saw these in Paris and laughed out loud. "Look, there's a garden in the middle of the building! Oh my god, this is hilarious, it's like some secret meeting place, from the streetside it's a normal building, but WE know the truth! How very French". I love Paris, it's such a snooty city~

By the way, if the porch isn't actually elevated, just an area on the back of the house that has tiles instead of lawn, can you still call it a porch? I always heard people referring to that sort of things as yard (as in "the dog is in the back yard" while the elevated area outside the house on, say, the second floor did get called a porch).

Kansai-ben is really interesting! I kind of want to learn it just to check out the differences. The only thing I remember aside from the accent is their usage of "I".

We call McDonalds Maccas too :D we are just lazy?

Chinese have gazillion dialects that doesn't necessarily translate to the written language, and I don't know enough to talk about them, alas. Cantonese and Mandarin is almost like two different languages so there's that?

it's alright, there won't be any dialect left in China after 20 years..

public education ftw.

When I was in primary school the schools didn't let students talk in their dialects because they're supposed to learn how to speak Mandarin properly.

Since none of my family bothered to talk in dialects to me, all I'm left with now is Mandarin. I can understand a little bit of Hakka, Teochew, Cantonese, Hokkien, maybe speak a few phrases, but other than that, it's Mandarin allll the way for me. Ugh. My rudimentary understanding of Japanese is probably similar to my understanding of the various dialects.

And yeah, none of the dialects have an official written language. Doesn't stop people from making up new characters or appropriating existing ones to convey their dialect though.

I always thought Tokyo people called it Makku. Kansai people also put "yarou" at the end of almost every sentence (not really, but they use it a lot). Also, they pronounce arigatou differently, with more emphasis on the last syllable. My wife is from kansai and really dislikes talking to people from Tokyo because they sound weird.

Actually, you're probably right. It's been quite awhile since I heard about that particular difference, so I could have easily gotten it wrong.

I just found a really long description of Kansai-ben characteristics and terms. (Which I think is actually probably from Wikipedia, but I'm too lazy and cold to go and check right away.)

In French (at least, in Canada), we call McDonalds "McDo", or Macdo if you will. (Imagine the pronunciation's French.)

AS FOR THE QUESTIONS:

English isn't my mother tongue, so I tend to use a version of practically every single example given here, but I'll point out what I use the most:

a) Pop. Depending on context. Generally, I'll say soda, or I'll just use the name of the drink I want. Soft-drink is something I also use. Interesting note: In French, we use liqueur, and since that also means an alcoholic beverage, I got so confused as a kid. DON'T DRINK POP, KIDS, YOU'RE TOO YOUNG FOR THAT.
b) I interchange yard sale and garage sale, though I occasionally use junk sale, too.
c) Running shoes. I also use sneakers.
d) I'M ON A HIGHWAY TO HELL!
e) A sub. (Because submarine sandwich is too long.) I don't mind just saying sandwich, though.
f) I'll generally use porch. Veranda I only use if it's large. Patios are only in someone's backyard, as far as I'm concerned.
g) Firefly! In French, I use luciole.
h) Shopping cart or trolley are interchangeable.

Also guys stop making me want food I can't have at the moment why?

Wow, that is really long. Ending sentences with -hen instead of -nai is another big one. Wakarahen just sounds better than wakaranai.

I thought this was true, and I asked someone who said " yūta" if they were from kansai. They said they were not, and that other people in Japan said that too. And everyone looked at me like I was an idiot. So yeah.

Is the whole blood group determining personality thing real?

If so, how prevalent is it? Mainly believed by the old/young etc...

I've always found it worthwhile to assume that people in this community are clever enough to get the point and if they are not adressing the topic at hand they are doing so intentionally. Not that being clever is always a positive quality but it makes for far more interesting conversations.

To directly address your point. Yes, I realized the purpose of your survey. I subverted it because I thought it was amusing.

I'm sorry if the way I said that was offensive, it wasn't meant to be. I mainly said that in response to Antiqua asking whether it was okay to answer in other languages (which I probably didn't need to do because it was somewhat rhetorical) and to segue into a discussion of dialects in other languages. I understand that people are clever enough to get it and, yes, I'm also clever enough to understand that it was done to be humorous. I'm sorry that the way I said that caused you to misinterpret my intention.

Yes, everyone knows about it, and as far as I can tell, most believe in it (especially women?). I didn't know mine and my wife said I seem like Type A. Then she was triumphant when I checked and I was Type A. The movie My Boyfriend is Type B was popular in Korea and Japan.

What's Type A like?

I think it was mostly because she was B, and A and B aren't supposed to be that compatible (she thought/hoped blood type explained why we didn't get along sometimes). According to wikipedia:

Type A

Best traits

Earnest, creative, sensible, reserved, patient, responsible

Worst traits

Fastidious, overearnest, stubborn, tense

That is so general I could apply that to anyone.

Okay, maybe not anyone, but almost.

It's like Horoscopes.