# Foreign culture in your country



## Miguelillo 87

I wonder, In your country in general (you also can answer form a personla point of view) which one it's the foreign culture persons are interest the most?

For example Mexican people has a "crunch" on, French culture, They love the way they talk, their cities, their glamour, I mean evern we have a frenc neighbourhood in the capital (Zona Rosa) and in past decades a lot of buildings where design in Frenc h style as a matter of fact Mexico city it's one of the mosst "French" cities in Latinamerica.

Also nowadays with the wave of inmigartion of Japanese, Chineses and Coreans.
A lot of people are gettin' involved in this oreintal cultures, Maybe the Manga and the animaei are involved here. I mean I think that in Mexico in every neighborhoos are more than two Chinese restaurants.

And also teh lovable Argentinians, Also a lot of Argentinians came in the last Argentinian crisis, and a lot of mexicans have welcomed them very well, because their accent, their beaury, The tango!!!
Y no es cierto que aunque "los odiemos" por ser sencishitos y carismáticos, en verdad los adoramos, Che.


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## Hockey13

In the US, I think it's historically been either France or England, but in my lifetime, Italy has really shot through as _the_ place to visit. People I know would rather go to Rome than to London or Paris. Then again, I know a lot of people who want to visit Tokyo, but that's just a growing minority. To many Americans, Italy is what is seen in _Under the Tuscan Sun_, and all their problems are things to be ignored in the daily headlines because a country with that much sun and that much good food cannot possibly have problems. Also, Italians (along with many other immigrant groups) have a significant part in America's history.


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## ronanpoirier

Oh, it's hard to speak of Brazil, since we have people here from everywhere!!! And that multiculturalism is amazing because we don't need to go very far to meet someone from another country, another culture. 
Well, I guess that is not answering your question.
I'll try to think for the people I know. Europe is (and will always be) surely in the spotlight. Mainly places like France, Italy, England, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, etc. Each one for its own reason. Culture, language, economical features, imigrants, etc. The USA is also well seen.
I think there's no such thing as the "main country" for publicity here. The truth is we wanna know about everywhere. But of course we have our favorite (in my case, Canada... but Portugal, Hungary, Japan, Czech Republic and Argentina also have their part in my heart ).
One good thing about living here in Porto Alegre is the "Feira do Livro" (Book market) which is held here every year in this season of the year. There is always a country which is hilighted every year. So we know a little more about its culture through music, literature (obviously), beliefs, etc. This year the country is Japan.

Honestly, I don't what to add to this... I hope another Brazilian gives its opinion about it.

See ya _o/


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## emma42

The USA.  The USA.  The USA.


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## rajel

Miguelillo 87 said:


> I wonder, In your country in general (you also can answer form a personla point of view) which one it's the foreign culture persons are interest the most?
> 
> For example Mexican people has a "crunch" on, French culture, They love the way they talk, their cities, their glamour, I mean evern we have a frenc neighbourhood in the capital (Zona Rosa) and in past decades a lot of buildings where design in Frenc h style as a matter of fact Mexico city it's one of the mosst "French" cities in Latinamerica.
> 
> Also nowadays with the wave of inmigartion of Japanese, Chineses and Coreans.
> A lot of people are gettin' involved in this oreintal cultures, Maybe the Manga and the animaei are involved here. I mean I think that in Mexico in every neighborhoos are more than two Chinese restaurants.
> 
> And also teh lovable Argentinians, Also a lot of Argentinians came in the last Argentinian crisis, and a lot of mexicans have welcomed them very well, because their accent, their beaury, The tango!!!
> Y no es cierto que aunque "los odiemos" por ser sencishitos y carismáticos, en verdad los adoramos, Che.


                                           Hey! I don't know if there is another mexico I don't know of! in the one I know mexicans don't know as many French actors or singers or groups as they do american, we have always had a very strong influence from the US that is talking about music, clothes, television, fashion,movies, customs, the life style and lots of expressions derived from English are used in all kinds of work environments everyday and I would ask, do we know or use any expressions or vocabulary from french? I think not. it is obvious that you are giving your very personal opinion, I don't hate Argentinians but I wouldn't say we all love them, and for chinese restaurants in every neighborhood that is way too many than in the reality. I just say all this in order to give some balance, I mean! Keep it real!!!


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## invictaspirit

England, and above all London, is so multicultural that it sometimes appears that the entire world has crashed into our country (in a *nice* way!).

There are a lot of influences. Despite UK reticence over the institutions and mechanisms of the EU, other European influences are very visible here. Most of all, probably French language, culture, food and cinema. We are fond of Parisian 'cool' and Paris remains a prime weekend destination. There are also about 300,000 French citizens living here now...mainly in London and the south east. Spanish and Italian cultural influences are also there. Not a great deal from the rest of Europe, with the honourable exception of Greece/Cyprus. There are still hellenophiles here in the academic sphere, and a large Greek Cypriot community makes its mark all over the UK.

I would say American culture is also a major influence, mainly through TV and movies. There is a large community of US citizens in the UK, but they tend to blend in with the rest of us rather than forming visible communities. We have a complicated love-hate relationship with American culture, loving some of it to death and copying it slavishly, deriding other examples as silly, cheap, plastic. 'Only in America...' is both a term of reverent admiration and eye-rolling abuse here.

Most Brits don't realise it but a lot of Australia has rubbed off on us in recent years. Some ways of speaking and expressions, a huge explosion in the popularity of surfing...

Ireland is ever-present as a very influential culture.

More recently, new cultures have been seen as 'cool'. Above all, I think, India and Bollywood. We have always loved our curry, but are now quite interested in Indian music and film and literature. Brazil remains our favourite Latin American culture with its samba and football and beach-life. Still with South America, no British town is without a salsa school. You can learn salsa (sometimes very well, sometimes embarrassingly badly!) just about anywhere here.

Now we have a brand new community of half a million Poles, I am very much hoping we get some Polish influences.

PS I don't know Mexico very well and have only been there twice. But I am surprised to hear that France/'Frenchness' is cool there. I didn't notice anything even slightly French about Mexico (capital or elsewhere). You can't gauge a nation from two visits, I realise, but the overwhelming cultures/influences in Mexico I noiced, as a European outsider, were Mexican and US of A.


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## Etcetera

emma42 said:


> The USA. The USA. The USA.


Exactly the same in Russia.


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## Miguelillo 87

rajel said:


> Hey! I don't know if there is another mexico I don't know of! in the one I know mexicans don't know as many French actors or singers or groups as they do american, we have always had a very strong influence from the US that is talking about music, clothes, television, fashion,movies, customs, the life style and lots of expressions derived from English are used in all kinds of work environments everyday and I would ask, do we know or use any expressions or vocabulary from french? I think not. it is obvious that you are giving your very personal opinion, I don't hate Argentinians but I wouldn't say we all love them, and for chinese restaurants in every neighborhood that is way too many than in the reality. I just say all this in order to give some balance, I mean! Keep it real!!!


 
I mean I know US it's the first one, but I mean as a lot of the countries will say that I tried to avoid to say US, yes you're right obviously it's USA the one who rules in fashion,music,fast foss, etc, But I mean in a CULTURAL way, not in a commercialcultural way, I mean In downtown I cannot see a lot of US architetonical style, I saw french one, About the chines, I'm not xagereting in DF you can see a lot of oriental bussines, Have oyu go to Zona rosa recently? If oyu haven't, Go and see around and oyu'll se what I'm talknig about.
The argentinian ones, MMH Yes that's a personal one!!!!


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## Hockey13

Miguelillo 87 said:


> I mean I know US it's the first one, but I mean as a lot of the countries will say that I tried to avoid to say US, yes you're right obviously it's USA the one who rules in fashion,music,fast foss, etc, But I mean in a CULTURAL way, not in a commercialcultural way, I mean In downtown I cannot see a lot of US architetonical style, I saw french one, About the chines, I'm not xagereting in DF you can see a lot of oriental bussines, Have oyu go to Zona rosa recently? If oyu haven't, Go and see around and oyu'll se what I'm talknig about.
> The argentinian ones, MMH Yes that's a personal one!!!!


 
Aren't the vast majority of cultural influences these days commercial? I think the best American music never gets over the border, and you guys are subjected to our pop. We have architects who have inspired building designs the world over, and many, many other things. However, I think it is only in some things that we are "dominant." We certainly don't hold the monopoly on scientific successes, though we aren't sluggish. We aren't the best auto-builders in the world (some people might disagree, but they can have their Fords). We don't have the best food, but I think we (New York) might have the best chefs in the world. In many ways, the US is just like every other capitalist country, but we have just been a bit richer over an extended period of time as a result of being the first to start the race, not necessarily being "the best" at it. I mean, everything I listed is just my opinion, it hasn't the first foundation in empirical fact.

However, if I had to talk about manufacturing and industrial culture, Germany might take the cake.


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## Словеса

Etcetera said:


> Exactly the same in Russia.


Maybe, I don't know, but still we know nothing of USA, and they are more like people from jokes and stories than real people for us, probably. I think that we are self-centered, with occasional people liking this or that country.


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## irinet

Italy is by far one of the most beautiful  countries in the whole world!  I have never visited Rome but I felt instantly in love with  Italy and its nicest and extremely polite people when travelling to Milan,  Venice and Florence.  I also felt marvellous when sunbathing on the Adriatica Seaside beaches. A similar feeling I had when visiting Edinburgh and London.  I think I will never be curious to see France though we used to learn French a lot in school.  My friends seem very  attached to Italy and Spain because most of them got good  jobs there and still have a better living than in their own  country.  When I visited  Cyprus I have also met a lot of Romanians working and being very happy there,  and why wouldn't  they be so smiling in such a wonderful island with so warming people, too?! It seems  that we love smiling,  welcoming  faces rather serious and smart ones! 
For me,  I think that I'll have a crush on Ireland if I ever be able to get  my family on a consensus to visit the country  I am dreaming about for some time.
It seems that the neighbour we love most is Turkey.  Our girls marry T urkish  men,  we enjoy eating Turkish food,  esp.  'shaorma' /kebab',  they have travel and food businesses and few churches  in our country.


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## Radioh

Chinese culture influenced our culture very much, but not sure if people interest in it the most. Personally, I really like Japanese culture (I'm planning to learn Japanese in future).


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## LiseR

Historically, our country was highly influenced by Russia (I will try not to comment, whether this is good or bad). Also, Germany and Sweden had a big influence here. Lately, and I guess that this happens in many countries, many people have "a crush" on the U.S. and U.K. (many Latvians live/work/study in U.K.).
 Personally, I have always had a crush on Finland and Japan. Lately, I love Southern, exotic countries.


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## funnyhat

Hockey13 said:


> In the US, I think it's historically been either France or England, but in my lifetime, Italy has really shot through as _the_ place to visit. People I know would rather go to Rome than to London or Paris. Then again, I know a lot of people who want to visit Tokyo, but that's just a growing minority. To many Americans, Italy is what is seen in _Under the Tuscan Sun_, and all their problems are things to be ignored in the daily headlines because a country with that much sun and that much good food cannot possibly have problems. Also, Italians (along with many other immigrant groups) have a significant part in America's history.



Italy is definitely near the top, but I think Paris is still the biggest "dream destination" for Americans.  London is very popular, but in a different way.    London gets the reputation of being "fun" while Paris is "beautiful" and "romantic."  Italy carries these same connotations, but I feel like it's still slightly behind France in perception (though still very popular).


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## Bartek_USA

Well, for some reason, Poles are quite attracted to the UK. Maybe because it's as westwards as possible.


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## Stoggler

Bartek_USA said:


> Well, for some reason, Poles are quite attracted to the UK. Maybe because it's as westwards as possible.



May I ask Bartek, why is the UK popular with Poles?  Is it because it's an English-speaking country?  Or are there other reasons that have attracted so many Poles?  Are other countries in the EU popular destinations for Poles?  Germany for example?


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## Pedro y La Torre

Stoggler said:


> May I ask Bartek, why is the UK popular with Poles?  Is it because it's an English-speaking country?  Or are there other reasons that have attracted so many Poles?  Are other countries in the EU popular destinations for Poles?  Germany for example?



They are also, by far, the biggest immigrant group in Ireland.


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## Encolpius

The USA? The USA culture? What do you mean? Czechs love *country music*, that's part of the USA culture. USA pop Music? USA movies? Is that not forced by propaganda? USA literature? Not much interested, I doubt it a 18-year old could say a famous USA writer or poet, but they could know: Pushkin, Goethe, Shakespeare, Dostoyevskiy. American architecture? Not interested. American theatre, ballet? Not interested.


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## ger4

Stoggler said:


> May I ask Bartek, why is the UK popular with Poles?  Is it because it's an English-speaking country?  Or are there other reasons that have attracted so many Poles?  Are other countries in the EU popular destinations for Poles?  Germany for example?


(Even though I'm not Bartek...) One possible explanation could be the fact that in 2004, when Poland joined the EU, the UK opened its labour market to Polish employees immediately. Germany and many other EU countries had some restrictions.
Migrations from Poland since EU accession - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## merquiades

This study in the Economist is interesting.  It reveals that most Europeans have a negative perception of life in Poland, more than it actually really is, whereas Poles in general view life in western Europe as better than in Poland, and better than it really is too.
This leads to many Poles migrating to Western Europe, and Poland having virtually no other Europeans living there.


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## Sepia

Miguelillo 87 said:


> I mean I know US it's the first one, but I mean as a lot of the countries will say that I tried to avoid to say US, yes you're right obviously it's USA the one who rules in fashion,music,fast foss, etc, But I mean in a CULTURAL way, not in a commercialcultural way, I mean In downtown I cannot see a lot of US architetonical style, I saw french one, About the chines, I'm not xagereting in DF you can see a lot of oriental bussines, Have oyu go to Zona rosa recently? If oyu haven't, Go and see around and oyu'll se what I'm talknig about.
> The argentinian ones, MMH Yes that's a personal one!!!!



If there were a lot of what you call "US architectural style" in your downtown area by which charecteristics would you recognize it? I mean, you don't have a downtown area that is dominated by one single style of architecture because all buildings will have been built at totally differernt times in history, funded by totally different organisations. So all there is, are maybe just different regulations about what you may or may not build, or certain socio-economic factors that may make it more or also less attractive to build sky-scrapers or rather smaller buildings.

And what difference is there between "cultural" and "commercialcultural"? To tell the truth, it is nonsense, since one is part of the other.


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## Sepia

Encolpius said:


> The USA? The USA culture? What do you mean? Czechs love *country music*, that's part of the USA culture. USA pop Music? USA movies? Is that not forced by propaganda? USA literature? Not much interested, I doubt it a 18-year old could say a famous USA writer or poet, but they could know: Pushkin, Goethe, Shakespeare, Dostoyevskiy. American architecture? Not interested. American theatre, ballet? Not interested.



You really believe they would never have heard of Ernest Hemingway?


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## JamesM

I'm also surprised that American architect Frank Gehry wouldn't be recognized.  He is the architect for the  Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, among other famous edifices.


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## merquiades

JamesM said:


> I'm also surprised that American architect Frank Gehry wouldn't be recognized.  He is the architect for the  Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, among other famous edifices.


Yes, very famous, but I don't think he would be recognized by people who are not from that milieu or interested.  But an author like Dan Brown, Donna Leone etc. would be.  You go into any bookshop and you see their books on display.


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## JamesM

Miguelillo 87 said:


> I mean I know US it's the first one, but I mean as a lot of the countries will say that I tried to avoid to say US, yes you're right obviously it's USA the one who rules in fashion,music,fast foss, etc, But I mean in a CULTURAL way, not in a commercialcultural way, I mean In downtown I cannot see a lot of US architetonical style, I saw french one!



The suburb of El Pedregal in Mexico City is heavily influenced by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Specifically, it was influenced by his Falling Water house:

Falling Water



 

House in El Pedregal


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## Sepia

JamesM said:


> The suburb of El Pedregal in Mexico City is heavily influenced by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Specifically, it was influenced by his Falling Water house:
> 
> Falling Water
> View attachment 18407
> 
> House in El Pedregal
> 
> View attachment 18408




This is wonderfull, but does it make it "American architecture" just because this particular Architect is from the USA. Even so, there is nothing particularly American about the style of it. It has a bit of Le Corbuisier, a bit of Bauhaus and a whole lot of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a good deal of the guts of a rich Mexican who dared have it transferred from the drawing desk to real life.


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## JamesM

But the same could be said of the French quarter in Mexico City.  I was simply saying that if you say that there is French(-influenced) architecture in Mexico City but no American(-influenced) architecture, it's not an accurate statement.  That's what Miguelillo87 said.

And I would argue that a Frank Lloyd Wright building is a quintessential example of American architecture and the architect who designed the houses in El Pedregal himself said that he was heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright.


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## Sepia

Does it look French - and if it does, let me guess: It looks like something out of a certain era of French history, right. Like the way everybody built houses there at that time. And then some immigrants came and didn't know any other way to build houses. 

But what makes FLW such a "quintessential example of American architecture" in your eyes? I cannot remember having seen anything like his houses anywhere, neither in pictures from America nor elsewhere, except when it was something he designed. Neither the style or the materials he used. OK, materials - maybe some of the famous "desert houses" (mostly built on the outskirts of L.A.) that Julius Shulman made photographs of. However, at least one of them IS by Frank Lloyd Wright. 

So IS it American style architecture or is it Frank Lloyd Wright style architecture? It is obvious to me that part of what he developed his style on, are the principles of from the Bauhaus - which I would not call typical German style architecture or design either, although the idea emerged in Germany (... and was more or less kicked out ouf Germany for a while). The largest conglomeration of high end Bauhaus architecture in the world is in fact - surprise, surprise - in South Africa.


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## Sepia

merquiades said:


> Yes, very famous, but I don't think he would be recognized by people who are not from that milieu or interested.  But an author like Dan Brown, Donna Leone etc. would be.  You go into any bookshop and you see their books on display.





JamesM said:


> I'm also surprised that American architect Frank Gehry wouldn't be recognized.  He is the architect for the  Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, among other famous edifices.



At least he got his tribute in The Simpsons. Not every architect does that.


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## JamesM

Sepia said:


> Does it look French - and if it does, let me guess: It looks like something out of a certain era of French history, right. Like the way everybody built houses there at that time. And then some immigrants came and didn't know any other way to build houses.



I don't know a great deal about the district, but from what I understand it was a sort of fad in the late 19th century to build "in the French style", really in the Hausmann Paris style.  It wasn't built by French immigrants.



> But what makes FLW such a "quintessential example of American architecture" in your eyes? I cannot remember having seen anything like his houses anywhere, neither in pictures from America nor elsewhere, except when it was something he designed. Neither the style or the materials he used. OK, materials - maybe some of the famous "desert houses" (mostly built on the outskirts of L.A.) that Julius Shulman made photographs of. However, at least one of them IS by Frank Lloyd Wright.
> 
> So IS it American style architecture or is it Frank Lloyd Wright style architecture? It is obvious to me that part of what he developed his style on, are the principles of from the Bauhaus - which I would not call typical German style architecture or design either, although the idea emerged in Germany (... and was more or less kicked out ouf Germany for a while). The largest conglomeration of high end Bauhaus architecture in the world is in fact - surprise, surprise - in South Africa.



I suppose it depends on what you're looking for.  Do you think American architecture means "homes built by Americans in some American folk style"?  If so, no, Frank Lloyd Wright doesn't apply.  I guess you'd have to go with something like an Arts and Crafts/Mission style from late 19th / early 20th century.

But if you're talking about an architect who influenced the design of high-end custom homes and modern skyscrapers for decades, I'd say yes, he's quintessentially American.  Mid-century Modernist homes were definitely influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The low flat roof and wide expanses of glass mixed with natural textures like wood and rock are very much a Frank Lloyd Wright thing.  The Prairie School influenced tens of thousands of homes and changed the way that custom homes were built.  It is often called the first truly American form of architecture.  They incorporated more of the outdoors indoors.  You can even see it in the designs of Hollywood sets from the 1940s and 1950s.

Look at homes like these:

Stellar Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Michigan Home Asks $300K

The Price of a Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Abode Revealed

A Coastal Getaway in Maine Inspired by Camping and Frank Lloyd Wright

And we have iconic American structures from him:

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Marin County Courthouse


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## merquiades

Victorian homes are what I consider to be "typical", "quintessential" American houses, and whenever I think of small towns in America they inevitably have this architecture or a watered down form of it:  several floors, wide windows, porches and or verandas, maybe turrets, bright colors.
However, though theses houses are common in the Northeast, I bet you can hardly find them in the Western half of the country.  At any rate, this type of architecture was certainly imported from Europe so I don't know how authentically American they are.  In Texas and the Southwest, ranch style Spanish looking architecture is much more typical in my opinion.


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## Sepia

JamesM said:


> ...
> 
> 
> 
> I suppose it depends on what you're looking for.  Do you think American architecture means "homes built by Americans in some American folk style"?  If so, no, Frank Lloyd Wright doesn't apply.  I guess you'd have to go with something like an Arts and Crafts/Mission style from late 19th / early 20th century.
> 
> But if you're talking about an architect who influenced the design of high-end custom homes and modern skyscrapers for decades, I'd say yes, he's quintessentially American.  ..



Yes, I think that would apply. However, I read somewhere that 90% of the US population would not want to own a FLW designed home, even if they could afford it. I really think it is very difficult to identify single architects as being forerunners of styles that you connect with a certain nationality. If you can say that lots of other interiour designers and architects in a certain area were copying the style, it is a different story. 

Look at someone like Robert Jacobsen - there are lots of designs similar to his two famous chairs. From copies to almost-copies to similar style. Lots of them even coming from IKEA. Sure, that is known at least as Scandinavian design. Hardly anyone connects it with Denmark only. 
But what about the SAS-Hotel in Copenhagen. It is unique, it is totally his style - probably more on the inside than the outside - but does anyone think of that as particularly Danish. No way. It is a sky-scraper that might as well have been built in Paris or Cairo at the time.


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## Karton Realista

merquiades said:


> and Poland having virtually no other Europeans living there.


My view might be biased, but this is definetly not the case, at least in Warsaw.


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## JamesM

Sepia said:


> Yes, I think that would apply. However, I read somewhere that 90% of the US population would not want to own a FLW designed home, even if they could afford it. I really think it is very difficult to identify single architects as being forerunners of styles that you connect with a certain nationality. If you can say that lots of other interiour designers and architects in a certain area were copying the style, it is a different story.



That's exactly what I was saying.   If you look at the links I provided you will see they are "Frank Lloyd Wright _inspired _designs".  The Prairie Style became very popular for decades, and most of them were not designed by FLW.

Here's a link to a site that describes fifteen of the most popular architectural styles for houses in the United States.  Prairie Style is one of them.

Top 15 House Designs and Architectural Styles to Ignite your Imagination — 24 Hour Site Plans for Homes, Pools, Sheds, Garages & More!

A quote from that article:



> Prairie Style, of which Frank Lloyd Wright is the most visible and famous proponent, is considered the first truly American style of architecture


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## Copperknickers

In Scotland, definitely the USA. Scotland is much more Americanised than England in my opinion. There are people in Scotland who almost sound like they have American accents. Especially people from Aberdeen, I frequently confuse Aberdonians with Americans (those with the smoother anglicised accent, not with the traditional rural Aberdeenshire accent which is not even really English ). People here love American music: we don't really have 'Scottish singers', with the exception of the most recent generation of bands like the Proclaimers, the Fratellis etc. Until about 1990 we had singers like Rod Stewart, who I actually thought was American for several years despite the fact he's from near where I live. There was actually a Scottish band who travelled to America and pretended to be American, and achieved some small success: they fooled everyone there for a long time before they were found out. The reason being they decided nobody would take them seriously if they knew they were Scottish. And of course people in Glasgow get together several times a year and pretend we are all from Belfast. 

Increasingly Scotland is becoming a little more 'European' in some ways (well, we have coffee shops with outdoor tables, rather ill-advised in a place where it is too cold and wet to sit outside for 10 months of the year) but we were never really considered part of European culture and, despite our overwhelming pro-EU stance, we still don't really feel anything in common with Italians or Germans or Greeks, notwithstanding our love of football which is one thing that will never be eroded by Americanisation.


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## Sepia

JamesM said:


> That's exactly what I was saying.   If you look at the links I provided you will see they are "Frank Lloyd Wright _inspired _designs".  The Prairie Style became very popular for decades, and most of them were not designed by FLW.
> 
> Here's a link to a site that describes fifteen of the most popular architectural styles for houses in the United States.  Prairie Style is one of them.
> 
> Top 15 House Designs and Architectural Styles to Ignite your Imagination — 24 Hour Site Plans for Homes, Pools, Sheds, Garages & More!
> 
> A quote from that article:




Yes, I see what you mean. This is also the kind of houses I would recognize as probably North American wherever I would see them.

But they are certainly not the style of houses they had him design abroad.


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## Zsanna

In Hungary there have been a lot of changes about favourite destinations, partly because you can travel really anywhere now and partly because a lot of people choose their destination chiefly with the intention of working abroad. (For that Germany + Austria as well as England are the favourites.)
Less and less people can afford to travel abroad - so those who can, choose their destination almost exclusively acccording to what they can afford and not what really interest them. (So from the Adriatic coast through Turkey, Asia and the exotic islands in the Pacific, you'll find any destination.)

In spite of it all, I'd say that Paris, London and Italy (not only Rome) were the traditional "top" places to (wish to) visit. Nowadays, as if there were no "favourites" anymore. Anywhere - you can afford - will do.


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## Sepia

Not quite sure what you want to tell us with that ... Does that have any impact on the culture in Hungary because of cultural influence flowing back with the people who visit these countries? Like Scandinavians drinking more wine after they began flying to the Mediterranean on cheap charter flights.


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## Zsanna

Well, briefly (and what I am fairly sure about) that there _used to be_ some favourite destinations (the 3 mentioned above) but now (after the political, economic changes in the country and their consequences on people's life, i.e. a greater poverty) people travel anywhere they can afford (not because of any particular interest necessarily).
And some of those who leave the country, may do it only to be able to work for a "normal" (acceptable) salary (which can be 3 or 4 times more they would get here) - so they don't really "travel" for a holiday but to be able make a more or less "normal" living. (I mention them here only because most have the intention of coming back after a time, though not all.)

People travelling certainly has an impact on the culture (I would say it is always the case). People have become more enviroment conscious, more demanding about everything (housing, food, ideas, etc.), unfortunately though, meanwhile there is a demand for higher standards in everything, financial problems do not always allow the satisfaction of these (both on individual and social levels).


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## Doraemon-

In Spain people are specially interested or would like to be as the north-western European countries: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway... (mainly the people who comes to Spain as tourists), although the most present country in the everyday life is obviously the US (music, films, tv shows...), but we're much less identified with them in culture or in politics than we are with other Europeans, and it's almost always to these countries where we travel or migrate the most.


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## Sepia

I know a hotel compound on the Baltic coast that looks a bit like it could be in Spain and it actually does belong to Iberostar.
But it is really out of the ordinary.
In which way does North European styles influence Spain.

For my part Mediterranean lifestyle has influenced me so far that I like to dine late, drink red wine without any special occasion, use a French press or a Bialetti for coffee making.

But the general population is slow to catch on - it isn't more than approx. the last 20 years that you can go and have cappucino almost everywhere in German cities. Something that has bee n commonplace in Copenhagen for at least 30-40 years.

What the FLW houses in the old American style is concerned - with shingles and everything: I heard a few days ago that they had tried to introduce them in Austria. They even imported wood from Canada for them. But there are only acouple of them left. They were never really popular.


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## Doraemon-

Well, there's a strong local culture, and also influences from everywhere. Anywhere in Spain you'll find Belgian and Irish beers, German-style sausages and Dutch cheese, for exemple. There's a strong musical influence from England, and French supermarkets or Swedish style in decorating are also everywhere. But this is quite circumstantial: there are also Chinese restaurants and Turkish kebabs. I refer more to which countries are more commercially or politically related and observed, which ones we know the most personally and which ones are seen as a model for science, politics... I'm talking about the countries we're interested the most, not the ones which have influenced us the most (although in our history of course it's France). It's evident that the highest cultural presence nowadays comes from the US, as for any country in the world, but that's far from the highest interest here. There's much more news about what happens in Western Europe and Western Europe is much better known than any other part of the world, even the US. Most people will place any Western European country in the map and tell you something about it, which is not the case about where are the main cities or states in US, or in Eastern Europe, or even Central America, where they speak our same language.


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## Sepia

Swedish style? I hope you are not confusing IKEA with general Swedish style.


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## SaritaSarang

In the U.S, I supposed I speak for my area in the center of the country, Japanese styled things are popular. They are always coming out with the most interesting things! (owl cafes!!!)
Hispanic culture, usually Mexican and Latin American, are often viewed either negatively or as someplace far away where you go with your church on a mission trip to " help the poor and preach the gospel". Or, as a luxurious vacation place with white sandy beaches. When I tell people I'm going to Mexico for vacation they immediately assume "Playa del Carmen" or " Cancun".  They never think I could be referring to a city inland in some state they've never heard of.  Around here there aren't a lot of people interested in the Hispanic culture for reasons other than that, and often women who marry Hispanic men are looked down upon as "trashy". I know because I married a Mexican man and have been the recipient of the looks and comments. I like to consider where I live a modern place, open to many things, but for all its progressiveness, it's also backwards and judgmental. But for sure, most people around here don't have much desire to learn about other cultures, much less learn a new language. 
Everyone seems to love the Irish and the German. Every chance someone gets to talk about their roots I hear "I'm proud Irish/German". 
Living in a state like Oklahoma, a lot of people born here are at least partially native American, or know someone who is, so Native American culture is very present here. People are very proud of their Native American ancestry.


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## JamesM

SaritaSarang said:


> I like to consider where I live a modern place, open to many things, but for all its progressiveness, it's also backwards and judgmental.



I've never been to Oklahoma.  Is it actually a modern, progressive state?  That certainly isn't the impression I get from the news.


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## Copperknickers

Sepia said:


> Swedish style? I hope you are not confusing IKEA with general Swedish style.



Indeed. A lot of people think IKEA is Swedish, and Guiness is Irish, and Hugh Grant and the Queen speak with a 'British' accent, and Scottish people all drink whisky. Whereas in fact they are just single entities that have come to epitomise the identity of the whole country for foreigners. Most people in Scotland hate whisky (at least those under 40), and I'm sure IKEA has the same reputation in Sweden as it has in the rest of Europe: bog standard cheap(ish) furniture with no real identifiable Scandinavian character. Although in fairness, stereotypes about Irish people and guiness are largely correct.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Aye, and Scots love their Buckie.


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## Copperknickers

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Aye, and Scots love their Buckie.



Buckfast be an olde Englishe tonic wyne, good sir, from rural Devonshire.


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## fiercediva

Copperknickers said:


> In Scotland, definitely the USA. Scotland is much more Americanised than England in my opinion. There are people in Scotland who almost sound like they have American accents. Especially people from Aberdeen, I frequently confuse Aberdonians with Americans (those with the smoother anglicised accent, not with the traditional rural Aberdeenshire accent which is not even really English ). People here love American music: we don't really have 'Scottish singers', with the exception of the most recent generation of bands like the Proclaimers, the Fratellis etc. Until about 1990 we had singers like Rod Stewart, who I actually thought was American for several years despite the fact he's from near where I live. There was actually a Scottish band who travelled to America and pretended to be American, and achieved some small success: they fooled everyone there for a long time before they were found out. The reason being they decided nobody would take them seriously if they knew they were Scottish. And of course people in Glasgow get together several times a year and pretend we are all from Belfast.



Really? We've loved Scottish acts back to my childhood and we knew where they were from! Annie Lennox? Big Country? Primal Scream? Travis? Teenage Fanclub? I once was the only other passenger on a shuttle flight to Boston with Simple Minds and was nearly beside myself. I'm trying to guess who you meant was trying to hide their origin and the only possibilities I can come up with are Nazareth, Del Amitri or Texas - will you please put me out of misery and reveal the group?


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## Copperknickers

fiercediva said:


> Really? We've loved Scottish acts back to my childhood and we knew where they were from! Annie Lennox? Big Country? Primal Scream? Travis? Teenage Fanclub?



I've vaguely heard of them but I had no idea they were popular in the USA. Then again they're not really my type of music. Apart from Annie Lennox, Sweet Dreams and all that. None of them sing in a Scottish accent though as far as I know, their music is indistinguishable from American music to my ears, which is what I mean by not really 'Scottish'.



> I once was the only other passenger on a shuttle flight to Boston with Simple Minds and was nearly beside myself. I'm trying to guess who you meant was trying to hide their origin and the only possibilities I can come up with are Nazareth, Del Amitri or Texas - will you please put me out of misery and reveal the group?



Apologies, I mistyped. What happened was they went to England and pretended to be American. And when I say 'small success' I do mean 'small', they were vaguely well known in the British hip hop scene for a couple of years is all. Here's the story: Silibil N' Brains - Wikipedia.


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## Stoggler

Copperknickers said:


> I've vaguely heard of them but I had no idea they were popular in the USA. Then again they're not really my type of music. Apart from Annie Lennox, Sweet Dreams and all that. None of them sing in a Scottish accent though as far as I know, their music is indistinguishable from American music to my ears, which is what I mean by not really 'Scottish'.



I don't know about singing with Scottish accents, but some of those bands listed do have a certain Scottish element to their music, with elements of Scottish folk in it.  Mind you, Irish and Scottish folk music were big influences on American music, which in turn has influenced Scottish music...  Bands like Big Country and Deacon Blue have a Scottish "sound" to them (in my opinion).

And then you get a few bands like Runrig and Mánran, or singers like Julie Fowlis, who sing in Gaelic (some of the time) and who are very Scottish! (although not quite so mass appeal, but they appeal to me!).


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## Ari RT

ronanpoirier said:


> I hope another Brazilian gives its opinion about it.


The Americas make a subset of countries / cultures worth a separate look. Because (1) we are young countries - new world, remember? - and (2) some of the countries have very large territories. 
(1) means that foreign cultures were imposed upon ours sometime in history. In the 16th to 18th centuries, Portuguese, Spanish, English mainly, but lets not forget Dutch (Suriname and northwest of Brazil), French (French Guiana, Canada, Central America), just to begin with. And the African slaves, shame on us for bringing them here by force and for trying to obliterate their culture, but lets not forget the large amount of culture they brought and we could not manage to destroy. Then, by the end of the 19th and first decades of the 20th, we received immigrants, lot of them. Irish, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish (another wave, a bit later) to name just the largest groups, but there are many many more. 
(2) means that there was plenty of room. All that diversity could make itself comfortable, frequently finding a climate more or less similar to their used ones, at home. And there was space for setting up new urban clusters, plenty of agricultural land to work at, isolated areas. Canada, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina. Argentina, the smallest among the 5 I just cited, is as large as one half of the entire Europe. North America has almost three times Europe's area, shared among 3 countries only. Huge!

(1) + (2) means that those "imported" cultures were not pushed towards a forced merger (exception made to the slaves). They did merge, eventually, but at a comfortable pace. Traditions were, most of the cases, preserved, as they were - and still are - valued as links to the former home. The interesting part of it is that culture does not evolve in the exile, it freezes, while the same songs, parties etc keep evolving in the old country. Some facts about Brazil:
- I was born in an Italian town, 50km north of São Paulo. There is an Italian vice-consulate in a town in the countryside of Brazil, can you imagine that? It happened that Santos was the most important harbor in Brazil a hundred years ago and the railroad leaving Santos ended in my home town. The immigrants arrived in Santos, took the train to the last station, to then find new locations. More than a few remained there. We have traditional parties just like they were in Italy more than a century ago. The telephone directory remembers me of an Italian restaurant menu, every name ending in oni, ini, azi, eto...
- Prince Naruhito came to São Paulo kind of 10 years ago for the festivities related to the 100th year of the Japanese immigration to Brazil. He said it was like traveling back one century in a time machine. He saw a - Japanese! - culture he only knew by the books.
- There is a town in Rio Grande do Sul where German is spoken as official language, along with Portuguese. To be precise, they speak Pomeranian. Google "Pomerode". Several other towns in the same county also preserve German cultural features, mainly language and architecture. And "beerfests", God bless'em.
- Likewise, my grandmother didn't speak Italian, but Venetian. By the way, a modern version of Venetian still survives and is recognized as a language, not a dialect, with two variants, the Venetian and the Brazilian, named "talian". Google "talian".
- There's a swiss village not far from São Paulo. A whole finnish town in Rio (google "Penedo+Visconde+de+Mauá"). If you happen to come to the mall in Natal (Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, only 6 degrees south from the Equator line), you will find a helpdesk where they speak English, Spanish and... Norwich! No one told me, I saw it myself, first hand, and asked them "how come". They said they pick the languages based on demand...
- They say (I have not checked) that the largest Japanese community outside of Japan is in São Paulo (I would like to cross check it against a couple of towns in USA). They also say that the second largest black city (in number of inhabitants of black skin) is Salvador, in Bahia, Brazil, second only to Lagos (Nigeria).

Apart from numbers, there are other cultural features worth studying, but this post has got already too long. African influence on religion, music and food, for instance.
The bottom line is: it looks like the notion of "other" culture is a bit less clear here. Sure we do admire foreign countries, but when we think of German, we don't tend to think of Berlin. Our minds look towards the neighbor on the left side. Italian is the neighbor across the street and so on. They're kind of "us".


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## MrMuselk

Back in Spain, everyone’s always droning on and on about “London! London! London is the place to be! I’ve gone to London, and I had tea, and fish and chips!” Everyone is obsessed with London where I live. The moment you mention tea, people say “that’s *so* English”. Quite annoying really. On the other hand, people are always making fun of Latino accents and expressions, and expressions that aren’t even of Latino origin, or even closely related, are taken as Latinoamerican; for example, the expression “Chidori” from the _Japanese_ manga and anime _Naruto_, was used with a Mexican accent and made fun of, by saying: “Que pasa wey, eso es _chidori_.” This nonsense has been going on for ages in the region of Spain I live in.


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## Barque

Here, it's the US. Many people are fascinated by it, and there are large numbers of Indians who go there every year to study or work or emigrate, or at least for a holiday. It's quite common for young people in large cities to address each other as _Dude_, and you often hear people saying things like _Do it already!_

Cricket lovers are also interested in Australia because Australia has long been the team to beat at cricket. They prefer _Mate_ to _Dude_. That's always struck me as being more forced than _Dude_.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Barque said:


> Here, it's the US. Many people are fascinated by it, and there are large numbers of Indians who go there every year to study or work or emigrate, or at least for a holiday. It's quite common for young people in large cities to address each other as _Dude_, and you often hear people saying things like _Do it already!_
> 
> Cricket lovers are also interested in Australia because Australia has long been the team to beat at cricket. They prefer _Mate_ to _Dude_.



Is ''do it already'' supposed to be American for some reason?


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## Barque

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Is ''do it already'' supposed to be American for some reason?


If you're asking if I think it's an Americanism, yes, I do. Isn't it?


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## MrMuselk

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Is ''do it already'' supposed to be American for some reason?


I think it is. If so much American culture and so many AmE expressions have been adopted already, then I suppose that expression is taken as American.


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## Pedro y La Torre

MrMuselk said:


> I think it is. If so much American culture and so many AmE expressions have been adopted already, then I suppose that expression is taken as American.



Sidewalk is an Americanism. But ''do it already''? The thought that only Americans say that never even occurred to me. We certainly say it in Ireland.


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## Barque

More specifically, the use of "already" to mean "immediately".


Pedro y La Torre said:


> The thought that only Americans say that never even occurred to me.


I didn't say only Americans say that. But as far as I know it originated there and seems a typically American phrase.


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## Perseas

Barque said:


> More specifically, the use of "already" to mean "immediately".


By the way, we sometimes say "do it yesterday!" (in Greek) to mean "do it immediately". I don't know how it came into use.


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## Ari RT

We say that in Brazil as well: - I need it done for yesterday (in Portuguese, of course).


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## Pedro y La Torre

Barque said:


> More specifically, the use of "already" to mean "immediately".
> 
> I didn't say only Americans say that. But as far as I know it originated there and seems a typically American phrase.



We'd need a specialist to decide this but if I hear an Irish granny yell ''just do it already, will you!" (and I have on many occasions), I find it hard to believe that it's originally due to American influence.


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## Barque

All right. People here think it's typically American but perhaps they're wrong.


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## Oddmania

Interesting. Dictionaries _do _have it down as American English, though:



> _(North American English, informal) _used after a word or phrase to show that you are annoyed
> _Just stop already, no one feels sorry for you._
> - OLD





> (US) An intensifier used to emphasize impatience or express exasperation.
> _I wish they'd finish already, so we can get going.
> Enough already!
> Be quiet already!_
> - Wiktionary



I've heard Irish speakers use the word _like _in a similar way (_It's quite simple, like._)

To go back on topic, I would say the most popular foreign cultures in France are definitely Japan's, South Korea's (especially since K-pop came around) and the U.S.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Irish English often shares traits with American English which developed independently, for instance the use of ''gotten'' instead of ''got''. This is possibly a shared independent development too, or perhaps there was an original American influence at some point. In any event, that's as far as my knowledge extends.


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## Red Arrow

MrMuselk said:


> Back in Spain, everyone’s always droning on and on about “London! London! London is the place to be! I’ve gone to London, and I had tea, and fish and chips!” Everyone is obsessed with London where I live. The moment you mention tea, people say “that’s *so* English”. Quite annoying really.


I thought Flanders was the only place where people are obsessed about London  London and Japan, the only two great places in the world  Maybe it's because of American media, they never say anything bad about London, as far as I know, so we grow up thinking it's paradise.


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## MrMuselk

Red Arrow said:


> I thought Flanders was the only place where people are obsessed about London  London and Japan, the only two great places in the world  Maybe it's because of American media, they never say anything bad about London, as far as I know, so we grow up thinking it's paradise.


Well I can tell you, London can have it’s good things, but also it’s bad things (and plenty of those at that). But it is nice if you know you’re way around. It might not be paradise, but it sometimes seems like it. And know that I think of it, Japan is quite idealised here in Spain as well. I’ve never heard one bad thing about it. But at least nobody’s obsessed with it.


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## Circunflejo

Ari RT said:


> They also say that the second largest black city (in number of inhabitants of black skin) is Salvador, in Bahia, Brazil, second only to Lagos (Nigeria).


 That's just a legend. Facts don't support it. Kinshasa is way bigger, Nairobi, Adidjan...



MrMuselk said:


> Japan is quite idealised here in Spain as well. I’ve never heard one bad thing about it.


Did you know a TV program called Humor amarillo?
By the way, talking about Japan and Spain: Japón (apellido) - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre.


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## Stoggler

Red Arrow said:


> Maybe it's because of American media, they never say anything bad about London, as far as I know, so we grow up thinking it's paradise.



The must be in for a rude awakening when they get there then!


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## Nomenclature

Stoggler said:


> The must be in for a rude awakening when they get there then!


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## MrMuselk

Circunflejo said:


> Did you know a TV program called Humor amarillo?


Yes. I meant about it being idealised in the news (and in _Doraemon  _)


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## ewie

(1) No self-respecting Britishperson would ever say _Do it already!_
(2) Use of _gotten_ didn't 'develop' in the US or Ireland: rather it died out in (most of / generally) the UK.


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## Pedro y La Torre

ewie said:


> (2) Use of _gotten_ didn't 'develop' in the US or Ireland: rather it died out in (most of / generally) the UK.



You're right, correction taken!


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## ewie

Nomenclature said:


> This is us allright.


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## Red Arrow

ewie said:


> (1) No self-respecting Britishperson would ever say _Do it already!_


Then what would he say? _Let someone else do it for you! _


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## MrMuselk

Red Arrow said:


> Then what would he say? _Let someone else do it for you! _


Nope. I personally would say either: Get a move on! or Stop dawdling and do it now!


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## L'irlandais

Or
Press ahead now.
Crack on.


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## MrMuselk

L'irlandais said:


> Or
> Press ahead now.
> Crack on.


I wouldn’t say those for this example. But to be truthful I’ve never used them much. I would use them for helping on a difficult traversal: “This ridge is too slippery to climb!” “Never mind, let’s crack on and look for another ridge to climb!”


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## se16teddy

I suspect that many or most British people don’t really recognize the culture of other English-speaking countries as “foreign”. I remember a flat-mate long ago complaining that I was always watching foreign films. He was thinking of films that were in a foreign language, arty, and requiring a certain level of concentration to understand. It didn’t occur to him that Hollywood was in a foreign country.


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## Angelo di fuoco

MrMuselk said:


> Back in Spain, everyone’s always droning on and on about “London! London! London is the place to be! I’ve gone to London, and I had tea, and fish and chips!” Everyone is obsessed with London where I live. The moment you mention tea, people say “that’s *so* English”. Quite annoying really. On the other hand, people are always making fun of Latino accents and expressions, and expressions that aren’t even of Latino origin, or even closely related, are taken as Latinoamerican; for example, the expression “Chidori” from the _Japanese_ manga and anime _Naruto_, was used with a Mexican accent and made fun of, by saying: “Que pasa wey, eso es _chidori_.” This nonsense has been going on for ages in the region of Spain I live in.


This is an obvious pun on "chido", which is Mexican slang for "cool".


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## MrMuselk

Angelo di fuoco said:


> This is an obvious pun on "chido", which is Mexican slang for "cool".


Not sure any of my friends actually knew that! Thanks for the info.


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## RM1(SS)

I've been in love with Scotland since I was around seven years old....


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## MrMuselk

RM1(SS) said:


> I've been in love with Scotland since I was around seven years old....


Makes sense; Scotland is a beautiful place. I’ve felt the same about Ireland from a similar age. (On a side note, the closest I’ve been to Scotland is Hadrian’s wall. Does leaning over Hadrian’s wall count as being in both Scotland and England? Just kidding. ) Laso, the accent and some of the words are brilliant. Does anyone know what “Hoots mon” means?


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## dojibear

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Americans loved anything French: the language, the fashions, the food, the culture, everything! There were countless products in the US with French names, or French slogans on them. Years later that French fixation grew less. 

There was some interest in Japanese things for a while, but nowadays I think it's spread out. Anything from a different culture is interesting, especially in food.


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## Linnets

Italy has always been obsessed by France (language, cuisine, way of life), but in the '50s Italian Communists thought the USSR was an earthly paradise for the working class, so they start using Russian words (_intellighenzia_, _informazia_, _tovarisc_) and giving children Russian names (_Ivan_, _Yuri_, _Katia_ and so on). From the '70s-80s Anglophone countries replaced Francia and Russia as Italy's favourite, so everything coming form the US or the UK (and also Ireland, Australia, Canada, and so on) sounds good.


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