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Hey Pandas, What Is Something No One Outside Your Country Knows About Your Country? (Closed)
Hey Pandas! What is something that is common knowledge to people in your country about your country that the rest of the world does not know about?
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#1
That there actually are smart folk living in the US. You just can't usually hear them over all the loudmouths we have.
Final score:
164points
RELATED:
#2
Canada. Not everyone says "eh" all the time. And sadly, no, we aren't always polite. But yes, the world does have it correct. We say "sorry" all the time.
Final score:
65points
#3
Besides the fact that there are still a lot of people who have no idea this country exists, sadly, Lithuania's suicide rate is the highest in Europe and one of the highest worldwide.
Final score:
58points
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
I wonder if the suicide issue is a seasonal affective disorder or an economic opportunity one. And I hope all the BP readers appreciate that this site is run by Letts. While they occasionally make some idiomatic errors in their English I 'd like to point out that over 78% of them speak at least one foreign language, something I'm sure few of those who complain about it can. (btw- Lithuanian is the oldest Indo-European language still in use, and it has a reputation for being unnecessarily difficult, as it retains many of the original features of it's linguistic ancestors Latin and Sanskrit.)
#4
We are not just a bunch of loud mafia gangsters that love to eat pizza and pasta (even if we are very proud of these last two products). Italy is much more complicated and diverse. Moving from a region to another could feel like moving abroad because of the great diversity we have internally. These differences are an enrichment, but also a big problem for our country (with the south side less advanced).
Also, tourists tend to visit only Venice, Florence (and the region of Tuscany), and Rome. Wonderful cities, but Italy has much more to offer, from the Dolomites in the North to the gorgeous beaches in the South. Great diversity of traditions, food (all delicious), history and landscapes.
Final score:
58points
Sarah Grape 3 years ago
italy is just cool. I want to see Sicily and visit a friend in milian someday
#5
In Mexico not everyone is involved in narco/drug dealing stuff. Thanks to TV series Mexico's now portrait as a lawless land filled with cartels (I mean, not so far from truth sadly), but there are plenty of honest hard working people, and plenty of really nice and friendly people as well.
Also, not every Mexican likes spicy food.
Final score:
44points
#6
I'm from Finland, many people are surprised to hear that Finland isn't Scandinavian.
Final score:
43points
#7
Canada. not even all Canadians know about this, but we are living on land stolen by the early settlers, who killed 18 million first nations by poisoning, torturing, and taking their essentials away from them.
Final score:
42points
Robert Baldwin 3 years ago
Pretty sure all Canadians under a certain age know this, given the coverage about residential schools and the division of the NWT to give First Nations more autonomy where they are still the majority of the population. Not to mention it has been part of school curriculum to teach it since at least the late 70s when I was in school. So if you don't know this, you are either a senior citizen or willfully ignoring it.
#8
That the East Coast of the United States has a vastly different culture from the West Coast. East Coast is more old school or traditional. West Coast is more new age and modern. Each state has their own bonuses and drawbacks. Don't judge everyone in the USA by what you experience in one state. It's a big place!
Final score:
38points
Noemie Houtekie-N'Da 3 years ago
Texas and Arizona already change drastically when you drive around the state.
#9
On the UK mainland, chattel slavery was banned by the Magna Carta 1215 and was never formally legalised after. There were free black people in Henry VIII's court and a free black performer even played at his coronation. Some people tried to bring slaves to the UK mainland and were shot down in court - in the 16th century, 17th, century, and 18th century - with their slaves immediately being freed at the conclusion of the cases as no law since the Magna Carta had legalised it there..
Note that I explicitly stated "UK mainland". This didn't apply to the Empire territories, but the strikedown once again in the 18th century started the ball rolling on banning slavery across the British Empire.
Final score:
36points
Tim Pillinger 3 years ago
I doubt that the Magna Carta (which is really about the 1% Vs the king would have done this. There was a church statement in the late C11, but I think that it's more just became accepted as wrong. Besides, serfdom worked just as well for the slave owner: the vast majority of slaves probably airways worked in agricultural and industrial settings, so all the transfer of slaves to serfs did was removed the sort of house slaves who were often somewhat elite anyway. Slave - like a cow you can buy and can move. Serf - like a tree, you buy with the land. But yes, by the early modern period English courts were pretty sure slavery was illegal. In Scotland, though, some miners were serfs into the 18th century.
#10
Germany: Probably our dialects that can be close to a different language. Can be really frustrating if you learn German and then realize it won't be easy to understand people.
Final score:
34points
Satirical Duchess 3 years ago
me, who's trying to learn German for an Austria school trip (hopefully) next year O. o
#11
Switzerland may be known for chocolate, mountains and banks, and it's not wrong.
But we also have mandatory military service for men. It's just 4 months long (if you don't rank) but still... So I'm a filmmaker but also I'm a trained sapper. And we get to keep our assault rifle home.
Have you ever heard of Switzerland involved in a modern conflict ? No. But we're still one of the most heavily armed countries in the world (relative to our size). Is it useful ? Meh...
Final score:
29points
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
Holding the secret accounts of so many politicians and despots is probably a better deterrent to invasion than assault rifles, especially since they can't keep ammunition for them at home.
#12
Australia
Is not in Europe [ looking at you USA ]
There are no kangaroos hopping down the main streets
The Queen of England is our head of state
Drop Bears are real
Emus are vicious and should be avoided
We drive on the left
Vegemite is our secret weapon
Final score:
28points
#13
Polish cryptologists were first people who deciphered Enigma code.
Also, Fryderyk Chopin and Maria Skłodowska-Curie were Poles. They both were born in Poland, were speaking Polish and emigrated to France.
Final score:
27points
Vanta Black 3 years ago
Any decent history/science teacher will teach this to us non-Polish people. I mean mine didn't, I learned these facts by reading books, but decent teachers will.
#14
I'm from Lithuania. We had the first Constitution in Europe in 1791. Little did it matter because the state collapsed anyways and was split between Austria, Prussia, and Russia.
Final score:
22points
#15
I don't know how much is that "not known" but Czech Republic has a big Vietnamese minority... we are like a European hot spot for Vietnamese immigrants... Germans have Turks, Brits have Pakistanis, we have Vietnamese... lots of foreigners I met here seemed to be surprised by that fact
Final score:
20points
PoAngielsku 3 years ago
In Poland there are LOADS of "Asian" restaurants (actually, many of them are simply kiosks). They're nearly all Vietnamese. When I first moved to Poland I was really surprised at the number of these places. Not so many these days.
#16
Some people don't know this, but Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom is also queen of Canada. And Canadians were "British Subjects" until 1947.
Final score:
19points
#17
Sweden may be cold but we still eat the most ice cream per person and year.
Final score:
18points
#18
New Zealand.
Not many people know the irony that we are a nuclear free zone since the 1980s, but it was a New Zealander that first split the atom.
Final score:
17points
#19
The oldest city in Europe is Plovdiv in Bulgaria. It has been continuously inhabited since 6th millennium BC.
Final score:
17points
#20
In America, we have Jewish Space Lasers that we use to start fires in California. (*Sarcasm for those unaware)
Final score:
16points
#21
Iceland
We have no army and have never had one.
There are no trains in the country.
And perhaps most surprising, its not that cold. This winter we barely got any snow at all.
Final score:
15points
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
Iceland is a member of NATO and though it has no standing military it has supported the operations of other NATO members several times.
#22
Mine isn’t as good as the other ones but I went to Spain and nobody knew who Beyoncé was
Final score:
14points
#23
The US still practices some religious-based limitations on the sale of alcohol. Because these are local laws, one county may ban the sale of alcohol, but the next county over (less than 30 minutes away typically) still sells alcohol. Yes, you can buy beer in a "wet" country and bring it back home to your "dry" county! There are also "moist" counties which have temporary limitations on the sale. For example, many counties mandate that you cannot buy alcohol before noon on a Sunday, originally reasoned so that you can be in church instead, and the church people can get home safely. Obviously this is religious favoritism, but the laws are still defended as "important for society." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moist_county
Final score:
14points
#24
Rednecks and Hillbillies are not the same thing. Their cultures are similar and not all Hillbillies are in the Appalachian Mountains, but there are a lot of differences culturally than people realize.
U.S. culture is a real thing despite what people say. Yes there is a ton of influence from the counties people immigrated from, but people seem to forget that no culture on Earth is singular and influences from other counties are apart of other cultures. Yes it happened a long time ago, but the U.S. is young as the entire world likes to point out. The culture in the U.S. is still evolving and traditions from where the immigrants came from is still present. My state has heavy German and Czechoslovakian, as well as other central european countries, that results in some pretty interesting festivals in the area. We honor the heritage we came from with a lot of the stuff we do. My state also honors the Native Americans and recognizes the massacres that happened. Memorials don't fix it but I learned more about Native American history in my state during school than is really thought nation wide.
Y'all don't comprehend how much conservation the U.S. does. My state in particular for the last 50 years has been trying to reintroduce native plants, trees, and habitats that almost went extinct. They give away free native tress year round and as many as want. Yes, we have fields and cattle, but the sheer number of parks nationwide that the government funds is insane when you look at it. Not to mention state run or private ran preserves. In the last 15 years we've seen an increase in bald eagles coming back to their old breeding grounds. Native wetlands are getting reintroduced and I'm not in swamp land.
Final score:
14points
#25
I’d like other people to know that the capital of Australia is CANBERRA, not Sydney. Or Melbourne. CANBERRA. It’s in the Australian CAPITAL Territory for a reason.
Final score:
14points
Tim Pillinger 3 years ago
If it's good enough for England and the US why shouldn't Australia have a random capitol in a swamp... (Westminster was well outside London when it was founded in the 1040s.
#26
Slovenia ist not East Europe. More west than Austria.
Final score:
12points
#27
Germany.We are a high-tech industrial country and nobody wears lederhosen exc. for Oktoberfest.
Final score:
12points
#28
in england, not everyone drinks way too much beer and there are very few posh gits except in some posh areas. But it is true that almost everyone has way too much caffiene every day.
Final score:
11points
#29
There are, in fact, some cultured (nationally and internationally) Americans with common sense in the US. We just want to live peacefully and make an honest living.
Final score:
11points
Sista of the moon 3 years ago
Yes. But there are also some idiots, who unfortunately make us look like a bad country as a whole when I believe we are quite the opposite.
#30
The mainland and the mountains of Greece are as beautiful as its islands and greek salad has never ever lettuce in it or any dressing besides olive oil.
Final score:
11points
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Thank goodness, English salads are still 90% damned tasteless lettuce
#31
Amsterdam is not a country, the Netherlands is though.
It's The Netherlands and not Holland.
Final score:
10points
Nela Rothenbach 3 years ago
A friend recently pointed out to me that I'm the only person they know who always says Netherlands....even when I'm talking about Holland (Gelderland) where I have a camper. I think it would be disrespectful towards the country. I don't want Germany to be called Bavaria either.
#32
In Australia, Kangaroos kill more people thank snakes or sharks annually. Snakes mind their own business, and sharks won’t want to eat you if they know you’re human, but kangaroos may attack and kill unexpectedly.
Don’t go walking alone in rural areas unless you’re vigilant and a steady runner.
Final score:
10points
Billy The Kid 3 years ago
can a kangaroo jump higher than a building? yes because buildings cant jump.
#33
in america, there are different inflation rates for the different states. People who move from busier states to rural states with their old paychecks suddenly find themselves richer.
Final score:
9points
#34
Czech Republic consistently ranks among the top 10 safest countries in the world according to the Global Peace Index. Quite an important but underappreciated fact imo.
Final score:
8points
#35
I live in New Zealand, I don’t think that many people know that about 70 names are banned here.
Final score:
6points
Roadkill The Brave 3 years ago
I know that happens in a few other countries I didn't realize New Zealand was one of them. To be fair I get it.
#36
UK: Yes, we are approximately 40 times smaller than North America. But no... we haven’t all met. And if we live in London, we DON’T know that friend you met while backpacking / online gaming / chatting in the queue at Disneyland.
Final score:
6points
Vanta Black 3 years ago
Stop lying Mark. We had a BBQ just last week. It was the one where Andrea was caught blowing Steve under the table, despite their partners also being there, and both of them supposedly being gay. And I know you were there. We both beat up the guy who was dressed as Jimmy Saville.
#37
We aren't all stupid, gun-loving, and fat.
-A smart, underweight, gun-fearing American
Final score:
6points
#38
Puerto Rico. We Puerto Ricans are US citizens since 1917.
Final score:
6points
#39
In Holland we don't eat our herring raw, it has actually been brined.
Final score:
5points
#40
No one outside of Singapore seems to know where we are on the world map!
Final score:
5points
#41
Southern U.S.-people use metaphors, similes, & euphemisms so much it's like a foreign language
Final score:
5points
Ciara Stone (Submission author) 3 years ago
Wouldn't let me finish my response soooo....what I was trying to say is the metaphors/similes/euphemisms and comparisons are so strange and sometimes don't make sense. Some examples: "I haven't seen you in a c**n's age!", "It's colder than a witch's tit!", "Damn, he looks like he went 3 rounds with a lawnmower and lost", and lastly, "My lord, she's got a face that if she was a dog, I'd shave it's ass and teach it to walk backwards" lol Also when my mama gets angry, she hollers S**t FAR save some matches (she's saying fire but pronounces it FAR when pissed 😂 And one more thing- in the Southern U.S. pettiness and passive aggressiveness are true art forms; a statement could be sweet or bitchy just by changing the pitch and tone of your voice
#42
I'm American, but am living in Azerbaijan as an expat. Something that people don't know is that 1) Azerbaijan exists, and 2) Armenia sucks. They took Karagagh, a region that belongs to Azerbaijan, killed and forced thousands of natives of Karabagh, and have had control over it for a long time till 2020. They went to war, and now native Azerbaijan's are finally back in their homeland.
Final score:
5points
#43
UK. Think of how many castles we have. Times it by 200. That's how many castles we have.
Final score:
5points
#44
Philippines: There is only one Jesus but we can choose worship either the infant, the child, the man, the god, the pre-crucified, the crucified or the risen. We also have a white, black and brown version with different names. Action figures sold separately.
Final score:
5points
Vanta Black 3 years ago
I have a Filipino aunt. She's never given me a Jesus action figure, and she's a devout Catholic.
#45
France has about 95 times the population as the state of Alaska, but is about 1/3 the size.
Final score:
4points
Guada Narbaitz 3 years ago
Im gonna go and imagine that it has something to do with the weather...
#46
I'm Irish. And no, America, we don't all live in thatched cottages in Mayo. Nobody says 'Top o' the mornin' to ye!'.
In fact, the most discerning thing about Ireland that I don't know if anyone talks about it, is 'Dublish'. Foil Arms and Hog did a skit about it on their Youtube channel (check it out, it's very funny.) Basically, it's how people talk in North Dublin. A lot of swearing.
For example:
'Here, Sean, willya buy me a donut?' [I wish I could put up a recording! 'Donut' would be pronounced 'doh-nuh'.]
'No, buy yer own f****n' donut!'
'I've got no money--here, PLEASE?'
'I will in me bleedin' hole!'
'Ah, go f**k yerself, ya f****n' t****r!'
Also, not potatoes. Crisp sandwiches.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Final score:
4points
Tam illo 3 years ago
Do you really swear that much? Reminds me when I got really into Roddy Doyle in my last year in school an my english teacher was very pleased with my interest in irish literature but als unhappy about the amount of swearwords i managed to slip into conversation during that te
#47
We do not have Lions, Zebra's and Elephants roaming the streets in South Africa, unless they have escaped from a reserve (which has happened before). There are still people who think that we have wild animals living among us.
Final score:
4points
#48
That Poland was once a huge country and then later dissappeared from the map for 123 years, having been divided between it's neighbours. In that time we were well organised "underground", running schools for instance, to ensure Polish language and history were taught and our identity survived and thrived.
Final score:
4points
#49
St Nicolas of Myra is celebrated in allot of different countries. But I expect every Dutchy (and Dutchies alone) to recognize the treat belonging with Sinterklaas*, just by tasting it, namely kruidnoten.**
*Santa Claus is based on Sinterklaas, but Sinterklaas and Christmas are 2 unrelated holidays in the Netherlands.
** Kruidnoten are commonly misnamed but also known as pepernoten.
Final score:
3points
Lilith the Demon Panda 3 years ago
and actually Santa Claus comes from Turkey - Myra was located in today's province of Antalya :-) in Czech Rep we also have Mikuláš (Nicholas) and Christmas as two different events, St. Nicholas Day is December 6th (but actually Mikuláš comes with his gifts on the eve before, December 5th)
#50
The UK is constitutionally complex. We have 3 semi-autonomous regions each with different levels of power. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different criminal codes. In Scotland juries can return "Not proven" as well as guilty or not guilty. Drink driving thresholds are lower in Scotland. Scottish MPs can vote on laws that apply only to England, but not the other way round. Northern Ireland has a special constitution to share power between unionists (who want NI to be in Union with Great Britain) and nationalists (who want to reunite Ireland). Because of the peace treaty which ended the Northern Irish civil war (the troubles) which was signed by the UK and Irish governments the border in Ireland has to be kept open so we have an internal border between Britain and Northern Ireland because of Brexit.
Final score:
3points
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
any, many thing differ between Scotland and England. European students can have free education at University level, but not the English. The Scottish legal system is very complicated, sheriffs make their own laws as they go along depending on who they prefer defendant, or accusor.
#51
Russia. Beer is not considered soft drink here and legal drinking age is 21. And no, we don’t keep bears as pets
Final score:
3points
#52
We wash our a$$ with water! toilet paper is a BIG NO NO! (doesnt it feels scratchy??) . India
Final score:
3points
Samoza Igre 3 years ago
I thought it was weird until I went there. With that heat and humidity, it makes SOOO much more sense than toilet paper.
#53
The word "kurwa" does not amuse educated Poles. It is a very heavy curse. For example, if a child in Poland at school said so, parents might have problems with social welfare. Educated people try to avoid this word and when you shout "kurwa" when you hear that someone is from Poland, it offends us, but we do not let it show. It is especially offensive to women, because the word "kurwa" means a prostitute.
Final score:
2points
PoAngielsku 3 years ago
This is absolutely nonsense. I've lived in Poland for over 20 years and I can state categorically that educated people do not find the word particularly offensive. "Kurwa" is equivalent in strength to "f**k". A child will NOT be reported to social welfare. Seriously?! And women use the word to the same extent that English-speaking women use the word f**k. The word was used A LOT by women protesting the stupid government's abortion laws. A lot! Don't pretend Polish women are delicate flowers who get offended by a simple word.
#54
That we only have one state runned store that sells alcohol (over 3,5% alcohol) and it’s only open between 10-19 (10-15 on Saturdays, Sundays closed). It’s a non profit business so the damage of alcohol is kept to a minimum. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass sometimes but 80% of us think it’s worth it to help others with a drinking problem. Also, the store has a huuuuuge selection to choose from and the people working there have extensive training and they can answer all your questions (‘What goes best with a strawberry cake?’).
Final score:
2points
#55
The U.S. Believe it or not, not all of us are trigger happy, trump loving, overweight, country people. And Texas, Florida, and California aren't the only states. There are other states like Minnesota, Idaho, the Dakotas, etc.(Basically, the midwest needs to be remembered).
Final score:
2points
#56
I’m surprised barely anyone has mentioned food-
Holy s**t, food in the UK is amazing
Everyone outside the UK is very much missing out... especially on Irn-Bru and Tunnocks.
(Lol, just a warning, I cannot guarantee people outside the UK do not have these foods-)
Irn-Bru - Typically seen as a Scottish drink... a very Scottish drink. I literally don’t know how to describe it, but it’s orange lol. And amazing.
Tunnocks Teacakes - S**t, these are awesome. It’s a biscuit, right, and there’s marshmallow on top. Then it’s all dipped in milk chocolate... Heaven
Just the Tunnocks brand - DELICIOUS
Oh god, the Cadbury over here is THE BEST. I’m pretty sure they have it in other countries, but nothing is as good as UK Cadbury. I’ve tried some from the USA and it was s**t compared to the UK one... sorry.
Final score:
2points
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Cadbury is not now the best in the UK, USA has bought it out and changed the ingredients, buying Cadbury's now means you are helping in the destruction of the Amazon
#57
The Australian kangaroo population sits at anywhere between 15 and 50 million individuals. The human population is around 25 million.
Some think the obvious solution to overthrowing our kangaroo overlords is to eat them. I'm sure the dingoes agree...
Final score:
2points
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
There are much more humane methods to curb the numbers, and NO not shooting
#58
That actually Brazil was who invented airplanes. Santos Dumont was the one who made airplanes, deposite some people thinking it was the wright brothers (or something like that) technically, América wouldn’t be able to go to the moon if santos dumont didn’t invent airplanes.
Final score:
1point
Esther (she/her) (Submission author) 3 years ago
It’s what people believe around here, there’s even proof that it happened. Please don’t judge!
#59
In the United States, many US citizens don't know it but the White House (President's residence) was built by slaves.
Final score:
1point
Jhm Mke (Submission author) 3 years ago
The insurrection (January 2021) in the US was not at the White House, it was at the US Capital which is where the US House of Representatives and the US Senate reside.
Load More Replies... Roadkill The Brave 3 years ago (edited)
Slaves worked in the White House. Usually the sitting President would bring their own, and George Washington had slaves. The only founding father who didn't own slaves was John Adams due to him and his wife being anti-slavery, while they tried to hire freed men and others as staff they couldn't avoid Slavery all together, he was only in the White House for a few months. His son, John Quincy Adams never owned slaves either so when he became President he didn't bring any with him either. For the substancial part of him living in the White House he didn't have slaves there, though there are times there were. I don't think JQA would have hired them though. I'd have to do more research on the man, I know more about his father, his mother, his early childhood, and his older years. I was researching the Amistad and his parents are pretty interesting people.
Roadkill The Brave 3 years ago
John Adams moved around a lot while he was President because the capitol was still bouncing around and the white house was being built. The first one. The one we know now was built in 1814.
Load More Replies... 
Kristoffer Martin 3 years ago
The first White House was certainly built by slaves, after the War of 1812 the White House we know of today wasn't, not exactly, anyways. Many of the laborers were former slaves, and some slavers were involved. Moreover, the White House as it is today, is only about 6% original.
#60
Not every American is the same as every other American. Not every part of America is the same as every other part.
Final score:
1point
#61
We have at least 40 different dialects in germany - some of them even differs in the region they're spoken. 🙃
Final score:
1point
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
England is the same, but as we are small you can drive for 20 minutes and people can sound totally different, dialect and accent.
#62
Where i live
Final score:
1point
#63
Canada - not everyone in Canada likes Butter Tarts
Final score:
1point
#64
India. We eat with hands..no spoon..no forks! we use spoons and all occasionally!
Final score:
1point
#65
we're not all dumb. also for some reason us in California say "freeway" to refer to the highways and pretty much no one else does. but to us saying highway sounds ridiculous (you're not up high! and on the freeway you're free to go at a crazy high speed!)
Final score:
0points
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
From Britannica: "The word highway goes back to the elevated Roman roads that had a mound or hill formed by earth from the side ditches thrown toward the centre, thus high way." English doesn't always make sense, given that its vocabulary comes from a zillion different languages.
#66
New Zealand.
The electrical system that basically the whole world uses is called the "single wire earth return system".
It was invented by a New Zealander. LLoyd Mondano.
Final score:
0points
Suzanne Haigh 3 years ago
Ah but where did Lloyd Mondano come from? He definitely was not a native New Zealander
What do you think ?
Mark and Elmo 3 years ago
.-. Photogenic baby sloth to make people happy UwU Screenshot...698fa2.png 
Commander Rex 3 years ago
So people can see the comment without clicking the link
Load More Replies... Mark and Elmo 3 years ago
.-. Photogenic baby sloth to make people happy UwU Screenshot...698fa2.png
Commander Rex 3 years ago
So people can see the comment without clicking the link
Load More Replies...
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