Mar

10 Cultural Do’s and Taboos: Chatting Around the World

by Janine Boylan on March 4, 2013

surprised girl, illustrating cultural taboos in conversation

It’s a good idea to know cultural taboos before you speak!
© Thinkstock

Hot (and Not So Hot) Topics

There are certain things you just shouldn’t talk about.

I’ve had a few Oh, I see moments around this—what is a culturally taboo topic in one place may not be in another. And, on the flip side, what is acceptable in one country, may be taboo in another. Sometimes it’s not until you’ve made the mistake that you learn the rules.

In some countries, including the United States, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone, asking adults about their age is generally considered taboo. In Vietnam, however, it is an important inquiry. The way you address someone older than you is different from how you address people younger than you.
“Are you married?” is a harmless question most places, but, in Afghanistan, it is considered rude to ask a woman this question.
Politics, religion, economic and social issues? Many avoid these topics when first meeting someone. In Nigeria, people love to discuss these topics and more—and strangers will join right in conversations to share their opinions.
Have a good joke? In places like Venezuela and Uganda, simple jokes are welcome. But if you are a man meeting a Yemeni woman in a business situation, jokes will not only fall flat, but they may also be seen as inappropriate and strain the meeting.
In many places like Taiwan, Sudan, and Syria, asking about one’s family is a welcome topic, but, in rural Thailand, it should be avoided until the speakers are well-acquainted.
Discussing one’s weight is considered appropriate in Ecuador; in the Democratic Republic of Congo being overweight is a sign of good health and mentioning it can be considered a compliment. Don’t try this in the United States.
Calling people by their names without their permission is offensive in Cambodia.
In Costa Rica, avoid talking about investments, money, or the market.
“How much do you make?” is considered a rude question in countries like Croatia, Germany, and the United States; in China and Ecuador, it is a normal topic of conversation.
In Thailand, it is actually against the law to criticize the royal family.

So how do you avoid cultural taboos when chatting around the world?

It’s always safe to talk about the weather!

The Centre for Intercultural Learning has a long list of cultural conversation do’s and taboos, sortable by country.

Kwintessential has a guide to culture, customs, and etiquette, presented by country.

VIA Adam Wooten, Deseret News

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Crossing Cultures/Cultural Do's & Taboos/Language & Culture/Worldwide Sites

Feb

Language Speaks Volumes About Cultural Differences

by Janine Boylan on February 18, 2013

Language can reveal so much about the values and priorities in a culture. That’s why I love learning about different languages and discovering the richness of cultural differences. Perhaps Rita Mae Brown best described the connection between language and culture when she said:

Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.

One Thousand Names

What would you call this animal? To me, it is simply a reindeer.

Reindeer, illustrating that languages reflect cultural differences

There are 48 terms in the Northern Saami language for the shape of reindeer antlers.
© Thinkstock

People in Norway rely heavily on reindeer like this one for transportation as well as for food. Owners need to easily identify their animals. So the people have developed very precise language to talk about the animals.

Dr. Ole Henrik Magga reports that, in the Northern Saami language in Norway, there are over 1000 words that each convey a precise description of a reindeer, based on its gender, age, and appearance. For example, the word váža is used to describe a full-grown female reindeer which has already had a calf. And a siekŋa-njunni is a reindeer whose hair around its nostrils is a different and unexpected color from the rest of its hair.

Oh I see! The details in language are a wonderful mirror of the culture in which the language grows.

Shades of Blue

In English, we use the word “blue” to describe all shades of the color from sky blue to deep indigo. The Russian language does not have a single word for blue, instead it separates blue into light blues (goluboy) and dark blues (siniy).

Is it light or dark blue?
© Janine Boylan

Lera Boroditsky has done a number of studies on language. She reports that it is easier for native Russian speakers to see the subtle differences in shades of blue because, since childhood, they have been calling the two blues by distinct names. Similarly, she found that people who grew up speaking English had greater difficulty distinguishing between differences in the shades of blue.

Oh, I see! The words you know can shape the world you see.

A Cell is a Cell (Or Is It?)

A mobile, a cell, a cellular, a portable—those are all words used to describe cellular phones in different parts of the word.

cell phone, illustrating that language speaks of cultural differences

In Japan, a cell phone is called keitai, “portable.”
© Janine Boylan

In Sweden, another word for mobile phone is nalle, a teddy bear. The term was coined in the 1980s when portable phones were very expensive and only newly rich “yuppies” were able to buy them. People called the phones yuppienalle, the yuppie teddy bear, to mock owners and their expensive “toys.” But the teddy bear term stuck.

And, in Germany, the device is called a “handy.” One source says the name came from the Word War II “Handie Talkie,” the handheld walkie talkie the troops used. Since that time, the term has been used for various mobile devices, and today is synonymous with a mobile phone.

Oh, I see! Languages add new words all the time, and sometimes there’s a cultural spin.

Language is a wonderful window into cultural differences! What is the most interesting thing you have learned about a culture through its language?

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Cultural Diversity/Language & Culture/Worldwide Sites

Dec

Ten Christmas Traditions Stuffed in Stockings ‘n Shoes

by Janine Boylan on December 24, 2012

Christmas stocking showing Christmas traditions in different cultures

American Christmas stocking
© Janine Boylan

How Different Cultures Fill ‘Em Up

Every Christmas morning, plump velvet stockings line our hearth. And Christmas tradition dictates that each stocking has a tangerine and a brand new penny in it.

Getting the Hang of Stockings and Shoes

According to legend, the Christmas stocking originated when three impoverished girls hung their freshly-washed socks by the fire to dry. Walking by their home that evening, Saint Nicholas saw the stockings, and, feeling pity for the girls, secretly filled each sock with a generous bag of gold. The gold changed the lives of the girls forever.

Shoe stuffed with gifts representing Christmas traditions of different cultures

Today, oranges or tangerines symbolize the bags of gold. I never thought too much about this until the first Christmas with my husband. Finding his tangerine, he said, “What’s this for?”

A basic Oh, I see moment—not everyone has the same traditions around stockings! In fact, in many different cultures, the shoe is the item of choice for stuffing.

Though the concept of giving is common across cultures, timing and traditions differ, bringing a true gift, the gift of cultural diversity, to our world.

Traditions Across Different Cultures

Just take a look at how variations of holiday stocking and shoe traditions abound worldwide:

United Kingdom Stockings are hung on the mantle or from beds in order to catch the coins that Father Christmas drops down the chimney. If there are no stockings, the money will be lost.
Ecuador Some children tuck Christmas lists into their shoes. The lists are replaced by Papa Noel with new shoes and presents.
France French children neatly arrange their shoes in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Père Noël comes during the night and fills the shoes with candy and toys. In anticipation, wooden renditions of Père Noël often grace the doors of homes in Southern France.
Wooden Père Noël in a Provence village
© Sheron Long
Slovak Republic St. Nicholas leaves candy and fruit in children’s shoes. Unruly children find coal.
Hungary Children set boots in the window. Mekulash, the Hungarian Santa, fills well-behaved children’s boots with fruit, nuts, and chocolate. Misbehaving children receive a stick or switch. Apparently few children are perfect: many children find their boots have both candy and a switch.
Iceland During the Christmas season, children leave their shoes on the windowsill. Thirteen mythical elves called Jolasveinar visit one at a time over thirteen days to leave gifts in the shoes of the good children. Bad children receive potatoes!
A European window ready for Christmas boots
© Thinkstock
China Although Christmas is not widely celebrated in China, some children hang muslin stockings for Dun Che Lao Ren, Old Man Christmas, to fill.
Italy Broom-riding La Befana visits Italian children and delivers toys, fruit, and candy. Disobedient children find coal-filled shoes instead.
La Befana fills children’s shoes in Italy
© Thinkstock
Netherlands Children fill their wooden shoes with hay and carrots for St. Nicholas’s horse. He exchanges their offerings with toys and candy.
Spain Children leave their shoes near the door, fireplace, or balcony for the Wise Men on Three Kings Day. Children may leave hay for the camels as well. In the morning, the children’s shoes are stuffed with toys and candy.

And What About That “Naughty or Nice” Idea?

Not only does the custom of shoes or stockings vary in different cultures, but also whether or not the stuffings reflect that concept of “naughty or nice”—coal and switches on the naughty side; toys and candy on the nice.

If you participate in Christmas customs, do you follow the tradition of “naughty or nice”? Take our reader poll and let us know what you’re expecting this year.

Silly Santas, showing Christmas traditions in different cultures

[polldaddy poll=6786830]

If poll does not display, take it here.

VIA Museum of Science and Industry

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