Quoting your same nation in quotes...?

[lepidocter]

One day I did a big mistake. In Italy to define titf*ck we'll use the word "spagnola" (literally "spanish"). So, having a date with a spanish girl, I sincerely had to ask her about a topic that haunted me for  ages.

"How in Spain is called 'titf*ck'? Surely not 'the spanish', right?"

The date gone completely wrong (never quote sexual stuff first date if she don't, ok?) but I've learned that spanish people call it "cubana" (from Cuba).

Now, there are other stuff this way. For example, if you block someone from behind and someone else come punch him, this is called in Italy "All'americana" (to beat someone american style). I'm quite sure no one in the USA will say that.

Playing soccer with just one team that try to score against a goalkeeper (with various rules) is called "alla tedesca" (German style).

To take a bus without paying the ticket is "portoghese" (Portoguese) - I suppose 'cause portoguese ships had once some kind of free toll in our docks.

To smoke a lot is "come un Turco" (like a Turkish). I'm quite sure a Turkish will not say "You smoke like a connational!".

We know what's a French Kiss is, but I don't think french people say "Parbleu, baise moi à la mode de chez nous!".

We'll eat Insalata Russa (Russian Salad), but I dunno if they call it the same way, it's a kinda mash up of mayonaise and mustard vegetables (I dunno, it  look atrocious to me, but it should be called Russian for a reason). So maybe Russian people call it 'German Salad' or 'Philippines Salad', who knows.

The "Stallo alla Messicana" is the Mexican Stall, when a situation lock down in tension. I dunno if they say "Pedro, that look exactly as a nostrane stall!".

So I'm curious about such equivalents. And also, if in your language, there's any quote of Italy!

Edited November 29, 2021 by lepidocter

[OmerB]

On 11/29/2021 at 10:31 AM, lepidocter said:

One day I did a big mistake. In Italy to define titf*ck we'll use the word "spagnola" (literally "spanish"). So, having a date with a spanish girl, I sincerely had to ask her about a topic that haunted me for  ages.

"How in Spain is called 'titf*ck'? Surely not 'the spanish', right?"

The date gone completely wrong (never quote sexual stuff first date if she don't, ok?) but I've learned that spanish people call it "cubana" (from Cuba).

Now you've got to figure how Cubans are calling it!

[DvDivXXX]

Funny I never noticed this thread (nor did anyone else until today it seems). I don' think the necrobump is an issue in Off-Topic or at least in this situation. I'm glad Omer made me notice this thread. 👍 Better late than never.

Interesting topic (to me at least). Indeed, I can confirm pretty much anything called French in other languages isn't in French. "French fries" are simply "frites" (fries), a "French kiss" or "frenching someone" is just a kiss on the mouth (we don't have a specific word for that, at least not a polite one; there are old slang terms still used in familiar contexts but otherwise we just say "s'embrasser sur la bouche" and then to be extra explicit you can specify "avec la langue": with tongue).

I can't think of other terms "French this or that'" right now, but I know that a there a handful of them in the USA for things found in their kitchens. I can also confirm that what little notions most US citizens have about "cuisine" is so slim and sad from a French perspective especially that they often call an entire group of foods one thing, usually with French, Italian or another European origin in front of it. It's to the point that even some "chefs" who actually can cook very well and mastered a lot of recipes still lack the cultural reference frame to know better than saying "French cheese" or "Swiss cheese" or use "salami" for any and all "cold cuts" that made their way to them. Salami, saucisson, or mortadelle are extremely different things. There are dozens of types, qualities, and styles of saucisson in France alone. And what they call "an omelette" (again, including a chef I used to follow on Youtube) is not actually "une omelette". There are dozens of ways to cook an omelette in France (and surely other countries whose base diet isn't "burger or pizza?") and for some reason they seem to have picked one very fancy and rarely used one and called that one "the omelette". I could go on and on and on, but yeah. "French cheese" lol. Why not "Italian pasta" or "Japanese rice" while we're at it? ^^ Oh wait...

Also, what is usually referred to as "a cup of coffee" in the USA, Italy or France (just to take three big ones) can be wildly different. I've seen the term "Americano" used for a coffee so diluted that it's basically what in France is called "un jus de chaussette" (literally "sock juice", but important to note it's not referring to the socks you were on your feet, it's just that coffee filters made of tissue used to be called socks as well in the old days). In Italy, I would imagine such a thing would be called "water", if the legends that the ristretto espresso in the tiniest cups possible being the norm there are to be believed. ^^ 

Funnily enough, we also attribute titfucking to the Spanish, as we call it "une branlette espagnole" here (literally "jacking off Spanish style"), not sure where this association came from. No doubt this was discovered long before Spain existed, or the concept of countries for that matter. ^^

"India ink" is "l'encre de Chine" in French. Both are kind of accurate, as this type of pitch black and durable ink was developed in both countries millennia ago, so it's a matter of which country you got it from first I guess. The British owned India back when the term was coined, and I guess France had more direct trade routes with China instead.

On 11/29/2021 at 9:31 AM, lepidocter said:

I don't think french people say "Parbleu, baise moi à la mode de chez nous!".

No one has used terms like Parbleu since the Renaissance, but other than that this sentence isn't that nonsensical. You just need to know that "baiser" as a verb now strictly means "to fuck" and no longer "to kiss". "Baise-moi" = "Fuck me" (and of course, this is no longer a polite word you can use in formal  circumstances, even though it used to be ^^). Lots of words have drifted away from their original meaning over centuries in any language; it's a pretty fascinating thing about linguistics to me. For instance, the normal term to say "kiss me" in modern French would be "embrasse-moi". "Embrasser" now means "to kiss", even though it finds its origins in "bras" ("arm", as in the body part) and used to mean "hug" instead a long time ago. These days, we'd say "prends-moi dans les bras" instead (literally spelling out "hold me in your arms" because the verb that meant that changed meaning completely). There's still an abstract sense of the word, though you can use it for ideas or concepts and then it still means "to embrace" (it's very formal though).

Of course there are countless examples in any language. It's all pretty interesting. Especially how some terms first showed up hundreds of years ago in one language, meaning one thing, then all but completely disappeared for the longest time, only to resurface usually with a completely new meaning and context. In French, there are quite a few words that followed this path. For instance "bouffon" started out in the Middle Age, and it meant "jester" I guess, the specific type of clown some kings liked to have around to amuse them and their court back then. It disappeared for hundreds of years along with that practice, but reappeared in the late 20th century, except nowadays it's just a mild insult to say someone isn't very bright and/or does ridiculous things ("buffoon" would be a close relative, except in English no one without a Ph'D would use that in everyday life ^^).

[Methos2]

16 hours ago, DvDivXXX said:

saying "French cheese" or "Swiss cheese"

I have never heard anyone in the US using the term "French cheese" to refer to a particular cheese. Swiss cheese yes, but not French cheese.

16 hours ago, DvDivXXX said:

and surely other countries whose base diet isn't "burger or pizza?

It's a misconception that Americans only eat burgers and pizza. I can count the number of times I have eaten burgers and pizza in the last year with my hands. America is a melting pot. So it's our diet. It's true that we refer foods based on their origin countries but that is more for convenience. I don't think our understanding of cuisine is any less than others. On the contrary, I would say ours is broader than most because of the exposure we have with different cultures. In my household, we cook different cuisines such as Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Mediterranean, Indian, Polish... Sometimes all in the same week. I'm also not afraid of mixing them together for a new dish. There are more and more fusion cuisine restaurants appearing in the US these days.

Back to the original topic, I find it distasteful to use a cultural reference for derogatory in this day and age. I'm glad that this is disappearing, at least where I live.

[lepidocter]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:49 PM, DvDivXXX said:

You just need to know that "baiser" as a verb now strictly means "to fuck" and no longer "to kiss". "Baise-moi" = "Fuck me"

We must reform italian schoolbooks IMMEDIATEDLY O_O.  That surely leaded to the myth of latino lovers and a lot of issues.