Parts of American culture that have never really been imported outside the US

Sorry, I meant "exported".

Sport

Redneck comedians.

Rong:

http://www.leftlion.co.uk/images/articles/jethro.jpg

waffle house

Anyone who answers this thread should probably have their explanations at the ready. xposts

Hooters

xpost

Not true; people in Helsinki live to say "GIT 'ER DONE!"

What do you mean by sport? Okay, maybe American football isn't that popular outside USA, but even a place like Finland has an American football league, as small as it may be.

(several x-posts)

Dude with the beer is Jethro, he's the Britishes version of a redneck comedian.

I agree with Gooblar, maybe instead of just listing things you might want to speculate why this or that particular piece of culture never made the trip.

Tipping!

(sorry)

Fizzy beer that doesn't taste of anything?

AUS

Tuomas is right about American football, I believe Darryl Glockenlocker III had a very successful season as starting Stanton for the Turku Kaffirbashers in the early 90s.

I guess the explanation for tipping is easy: in Europe at least waiters make enough money for living without needing the tips.

Fizzy beer that doesn't taste of anything?

-- snoball, Sunday, 25 May 2008 22:47 (21 seconds ago) Link

no, I had something like that in the uk somewhere. couldn't tell ya what it was.

Or at least that's the impression I've gotten from the various ILE tipping threads: that Americans feel obliged to tip because the waiters wouldn't otherwise make a living on their minimum wage.

(x-post)

Tap water xpost

Tell us more, Tuomas.

The tipping thing was joek pls dont start thread # 2938750394869068 on it ;_;

You can get lots of tasteless beer in Finland too, though it isn't American brands rather than local ones. But I don't think they're very far away from American beer.

prod

In Communist Europe all waiters are given company limousines and paid in Krugerrands.

Dave Matthews Band?

Shooting a couple of dozen of your school chums has never really crossed over to this side of the pond.

wikipedia:

The Fountainhead eventually became a worldwide success
...
Atlas Shrugged ... went on to become an international bestseller

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,615157,00.html

Next!

gun shows

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Houston_Gun_Show_at_the_George_R._Brown_Convention_Center.jpg/800px-Houston_Gun_Show_at_the_George_R._Brown_Convention_Center.jpg
http://www.novatownhall.com/blog/graphics/gun_show_chantilly_lg.jpg
http://whtm.acc-tv.com/images/whtm/news/vidcap_billboard0423.jpg

What do you mean by sport? Okay, maybe American football isn't that popular outside USA, but even a place like Finland has an American football league, as small as it may be.

Your original post said that Ayn Rand hadn't "made a big impact outside the US", not that she was completely unknown outside of the USA. I'm not denying that American Football might have a fringe following in other countries, but compared to the spread of rock 'n' roll, coke 'n' pepsi, jeans, etc. you can't really say it's taken the world by storm.

What does "international bestseller" mean? Because I've studied philosophy and the social sciences, and I've never heard any mention of Ayn Rand from others than Americans.

(x-post)

Okay, fair enough.

Shooting a couple of dozen of your school chums has never really crossed over to this side of the pond.

Except that someone in Finland did just that last autumn. I'm hoping it was a singular case and not the beginning of a trend.

my impression of ayn rand is that she made kind of a splash internationally at the time, but only in the u.s. did she really inspire several generations of libertarian asshattery.

leaf peeping?

What does "international bestseller" mean? Because I've studied philosophy and the social sciences, and I've never heard any mention of Ayn Rand from others than Americans.

maybe it's because she's not a philosopher, just a shitty semi-contemporary novelist, and English is not the native language of your country

I think libertarinism in general is quite unpopular in Europe at least.

(xx-post)

also as should be obvious, that list of 'most popular books in america' consists primarily of books that for one reason or another have reached a wide audience of relatively youthful readers and/or have a lot of fanboys/girls

Ayn Rand has exported outside of US Borders as far as Canada. See: The lyrics of Rush.

Do other countries have the same insanely poorly planned suburbs the US does where there are no sidewalks and you have to drive 10 miles to get to the nearest grocery store?

maybe it's because she's not a philosopher, just a shitty semi-contemporary novelist, and English is not the native language of your country

Yeah, but in America she seems to have lots of followers who dig her because of her philosophical ideas and not her literary value. And lots of other American novels and philosophy have been translated to Finnish (as well as other European languages, of course) and have had a big impact here.

http://www.coastaltown.nildram.co.uk/jim/gun_show_chantilly_lgw.jpg

Do other countries have the same insanely poorly planned suburbs the US does where there are no sidewalks and you have to drive 10 miles to get to the nearest grocery store?

No sidewalks? Where are you supposed to walk?

Yeah, but in America she seems to have lots of followers who dig her because of her philosophical ideas and not her literary value.

if you did a poll in America checking her name recognition, you'd probably get less than 35%. the number of people who are really into her 'philosophy' is dwarfed by the number of people who like her books as 'literature' or simply because it makes them feel good about being narcissistic.

You can't. When I was a kid I would have to walk over people's front lawns to get to the nearest store as cars honked at me and swerved out of the way. This helps explain the obesity problem.

Seriously?! That sounds absurd.

if you did a poll in America checking her name recognition, you'd probably get less than 35%. the number of people who are really into her 'philosophy' is dwarfed by the number of people who like her books as 'literature' or simply because it makes them feel good about being narcissistic.

Okay, whatever, my point was that she seems to be an influential writer (whether as an novelist or as a philosopher) in the US (and maybe other English-speaking countries) who is virtually unknown in Continental Europe.

americans think sidewalks are for scary people who can't even afford to ride the bus. there was some suburb (in virginia, i think) that passed an ordinance a few years ago requiring sidewalks be installed in all these subdivisions that didn't have them (because kids were getting hit by cars or something), and the people in the subdivisions flipped the fuck out at the thought of strangers being able to walk past their homes. (then they probably all went to the next gun show to stock up.)

gun shows

deep fried twinkies

^^^ not sure that's even out of MN yet, to be honest

xpost:

i mean, seriously, for your average suburban american, the idea of having to walk anywhere is threatening and bizarre. that's why half of suburbia is parking lots.

I have some relatives from Yorkshire who always called it eggy bread, and are therefore probably happy to consider it two different dishes, but it was always French toast in my (Liverpool & Kent) household.

And the idea of maple syrup mixing with baked bean juice really does make me feel a bit sick. Probably ok in reality, but not keen to try.

The other culinary translation problem living with Americans was the old pancake = crepe, scotch pancake / drop scone = pancake thingy.

Also I always hated the name 'eggy bread' for some reason

we don't really do crepes here with the exception of specific restaurants, it's almost exclusively a pancake country

my mum used to make me french toast when i was about 5 or 6, and she grew up in a rural part of the south of ireland, i imagine it's been outside the us for many moons.

Since the 4th or 5th century, apparently.

Also I always hated the name 'eggy bread' for some reason

I think we called it "egg toast" but that's the common name for it apparently

beans and syrup makes sense if you like boston baked beans with molasses. which reminds me i was reading about this sticky situation the other day.

https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16114442_1634984573473752_5585640463727518990_n.jpg?oh=fe09e02db39e9be6263968da1f47112f&oe=59074331

when my mom made crepes she called them swedish pancakes.

Also I always hated the name 'eggy bread' for some reason

this, as well as "cheese toasties" makes me think the UK must have a cutesy name for every common food.
"Are you making hot dogs?"
"What's a hot dog? These are Piggy Wiggy Cakes."

eggy bread sounds like that moronic adspeak "melty cheese"

when my mom made crepes she called them swedish pancakes

That's what they're called on the IHOP menu also

genuinely shocked to learn that people in the states grew up eating maple syrup

my understanding was that the stuff down in the states was pancake syrup, which was made of artificially flavoured high fructose corn syrup

i always thought maple syrup went mainstream relatively recently (15-20 years or so) in the states

the image of american syrup i had growing up:

http://www.auntjemima.com/images/products/syrups/original.png

pancake syrup started as a downmarket maple syrup afaik?

If you’re wondering where Aunt Jemima or Log Cabin syrup fit into this picture — these common table products are not real maple syrup. The tagline for Log Cabin, which is made with sugar, is “Authentic Maple Tasting Syrup for over 120 years.” This careful wording is intentional and crafted to avoid false advertising claims. (Most brands of maple-flavored pancake toppings are made with corn syrup.)

Revolting garbage.

There might be a class divide on real maple syrup, and/or even more so a geographical one. The Northeast and Northern Midwest are places that maple syrup actually comes from. Some ppl still use the fake stuff but probably fewer than elsewhere in the country, particularly in Southern states. However it's true that even in the north, inexpensive diners and truck stop-type places they probably only have fake.

I will use whatever is provided with few complaints but would be confused if a nicer place had the fake stuff

When I was a kid we used cheap shit (Aunt Jemima, etc.) 'cause we were poor, but one year we went on vacation to Vermont and fucking loaded up on real maple syrup.

my son practically mainlines Mrs. Butterworth syrup. I don't really get it. We have real maple syrup, but he refuses to touch it.

The cheap stuff is sweeter than the real thing. Kids like sweetness more than complexity.

i grew up in new england and i've had plenty of both. living in western mass however is just a way more syrupy existence. it's everywhere. vermont right down the street. maple soda. maple candy. even the TREES are made of maple.

Even though we lived close enough to maple sugar bushes that we went there on field trips, I ate that cheap pancake syrup shit growing up in Ottawa too tbh. I knew, even as a kid, that it was garbage compared to the real thign.

*thing

Ha, yeah, my neighbourhood coffee shop in Worcester makes a maple cappuccino with Vermont maple syrup. It's sort of gross tbh but I admire the spirit.

i had real maple syrup growing up in northeast ohio. it's pretty good syrup here. most of this part of the state is wooded so it is readily available. i also liked the fake stuff growing up too.

i lived in new england for 9 years and real vermont syrup was everywhere, it was great. but even diners in new england often use "pancake syrup"

you can get maple syrup in pretty much any big french or english supermarket. bordeaux even has a skate shop called "sirop d'erable" - https://www.yelp.de/biz/sirop-d-erable-bordeaux

also the majority of maple syrup is produced in canada

i almost feel like fake syrup goes best with fake waffles. eggos + corn syrup just makes more sense.

"but even diners in new england often use "pancake syrup"

in the diner i go to in town you have to ask for the "real" syrup. costs extra.

all the good stuff that i buy here at the supermarket is local mass/vermont stuff. it's awesome.

i would take you guys to all these sugar house breakfasts if you visited. yuuuuuuuum.

https://70c97aaea282a207d81b-f84eee09323602e80e90b9678fa5fc9b.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Sugarhouse.jpg

maple syrup on snow. is that a thing in europe yet?

https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/11066788_10206041636937595_3606791368384939557_n.jpg?oh=cb7cb2a36af572de6376b754a021764c&oe=59093F51

also the majority of maple syrup is produced in canada

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, January 17, 2017 3:25 PM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right. it is actually hard to find real VT or other US maple syrup in regular grocery stores. even in whole foods it's mostly canadian stuff

quebec mafia iirc

not that hard in nyc, so i guess im glad i didnt move

maple syrup > rent

yeah, big syrup is no joke.

http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/2015/4/canada-syrup-cartel.html

"Of all the states, Vermont has the largest appetite, with the average resident consuming almost 11 pounds of maple syrup per year. The national average is significantly less, almost registering half a pound."

Obsessed w maple syrup. Love it with yoghurt. Lol

it's so good on oatmeal. or any hot cereal.

this is a reverse question. every five years or so someone on ilm reminds me that grime existed. it only existed in the states for about five minutes when people bought a dizzee rascal album (mostly the college crowd i don't know how many hip hop fans bought it) and played it twice. kinda like the streets. everyone here was really just waiting for a new prodigy album to buy. anyway, is it hyper-regional now or is grime a thing anywhere outside the u.k.?

it's arguably more popular now in the US than it ever has been!

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/31/british-mcs-stormzy-jammz-little-simz-krept-konan-novelist
http://www.nme.com/blogs/festivals-blog/grime-invasion-of-america-769756

etc

Pro-life terrorism.

i will take your word for it, tracer hand. i know there are people who still like drum & bass in the states. i don't know who they are, but i'm pretty sure they exist.

at least 4 college radio stations across 3 different cities i've lived in all have/had drum & bass hours on the schedule

(u.s. cities obv)

The very first episode of Spooks (Not called Spooks in the U.S.) that I watched was about anti-abortion bombings. But, to be fair, the anti-abortion Brits were led by an American.

Talk about far-fetched.

Pro-life terrorism.

otm. this is strictly a US cultural phenomenon. and in typically US fashion, there are plenty of people who make money off it.

beloved los angeles college radio station kcrw used to go hard on jungle/dnb nights in the 90s

best dj sets i heard at that time because vancouver was musically lagging by a decade at that point

scott i share your skepta-cism

There's an actual root beer thread but this is where we talked about root beer last month so eh.

I bought a fizzy drink in the local Chinese supermarket, not knowing what it was, but the can looked kind of Dr Pepper-like so I figured why not. Opened it, familiar smell, kind of like Germolene... wait, didn't I have a drink which tasted of Germolene last month too?

Oh yes. I appear to be drinking Chinese root beer, more or less. https://starkravingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/wonderful-world-of-root-beer-watsons.html

(My can just says 沙示, but even if it had said Sarsae I don't think I'd have made the connection to Sarsaparilla, though it might have made me think of Sarson's vinegar which might have dissuaded me from buying it...)

I was in China for ten years before I tried Sarsae. It's like rubbish watered down root beer. I did live on Watson's soda water for a year or two though. I never did get over the absurdity of the only manufacturer of American-style soft drinks being the nation's biggest drugstore chain.