Thursday, July 08, 2004
US v/s Rest of the World
I was thinking in view of the increasingly isolationist place that the US finds itself today in this world, that there are so many other things which are more often than not confusingly unique to the United States. Some of the instances that I recount are probably that I have faced myself too and probably faced by anyone coming in this country for the first time !
Some of them which come to mind are :
The most obvious one is that of the measurement system ..
Read this :
The U.S. Customary System is the system used in the United States. It measures length in inches, feet, yards and miles. It measures weight in ounces, pounds and tons, and volume in pints, quarts and gallons. The U.S. Customary System is very similar to the system the colonists brought from England. Much of the system can be traced back to early Babylonian, Egyptian and Roman cultures.
The International (Metric) System, known as SE, is used in most of the world. It is also used for almost all scientific work. A metric system was first proposed in France in 1670. France adopted the metric standard in 1840 and many countries followed. Today, the only developed nations which do not use the SE metric system are the United States, Liberia and Burma.
Get that ! The US still uses an antiquated measurement system which is ahem! used in only Liberia and Burma :)) ..But ofcourse we are the US, let the rest of the world change we wont, let the rest of the world think Iraq is no threat, but we will find
imaginary "weapons of mass destruction" and promptly overrun it.
(Side note here: Why is there not any kind of mention in the US media about the casualties of the Iraqis ? Close to 30,000 innocent Iraqis have been killed too, because of a lie..So who is the oppressor now ? .. Don't they have families and don't they feel equally sad when they lose their loved ones ? Do only some countries have the privilege of happiness, why should some people feel they are more equal than others ? )
And believe me for a person, who is grown up counting in 10's (a.k.a the metric sytem), suddenly thinking in 16's and 12's and multiplying by 1.60933 is highly confusing.. :)
pints, quarts and gallons! Give me a break.
But ofcourse its not limited to measurements, how do you think a date is represented *only* in the United States .. not with the logical day/month/year.. it is month/day/year.. why ? we just want to be different I guess ..
Moving on to sports, what do you think football is for an average American ? Nope it is not the term which is used to actually refer to a sport in which we do use the feet, which they call soccer. It is the americanized version of rubgy which is called football, in which incidentally there is minimum use of the feet !
The national championships are also called "world chamionships" because the rest of the world doesn't matter does it ? "we are the world" seems to be the very clear message here ! ( With apologies to my Telugu friends, just ask the hajaar and one Telugus, who when born have the same view, USA is the world and my ambition in life is to go the US. Make no mistake, your average Telugu "aunty" in India knows more than you would about GRE, american universities, all the "stages" (grrrr) of H1, all the colors of the cards etc.. I was talking to one of them on my last visit to India.(When I was still in school).So which University do you go to ? Arizona I replied. She told me more than I knew about its US News rankings, average GRE score wanted, gave me the contacts of 3 more people there and concluded that if I am not in Stanford then I am nobody ! To say the least I was shocked. I live in a apartment in Hyderabad, where every family in the building has a direct relative in where ? la la la USA )
Btw undergrad is "college" but grad studies suddenly becomes going to "grad school".
Ofcourse there are many other americanisms which are just different (not necessarily stupid ! ) from how it is in India ..
At a restaurant, after the meal you ask for a check, not the bill :) .. I once asked this person at a food court, for the bill !! :O ..She was totally confused and she said why do want a bill (which is verry confusingly also a reference to a dollar), I have already given you back your change (which is the money to be given back) ..It took both of us some time to understand each other :)
The toilet in India is called the restroom here :) (never understood that one, do you feel rested after doing you know what ? ..I guess so ..)
Ofcourse Z is not pronounced as "zed" but "zeee".
There must be several more instances of americanisms which dont come to mind right now, but do exist .. :)
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Some of them which come to mind are :
The most obvious one is that of the measurement system ..
Read this :
The U.S. Customary System is the system used in the United States. It measures length in inches, feet, yards and miles. It measures weight in ounces, pounds and tons, and volume in pints, quarts and gallons. The U.S. Customary System is very similar to the system the colonists brought from England. Much of the system can be traced back to early Babylonian, Egyptian and Roman cultures.
The International (Metric) System, known as SE, is used in most of the world. It is also used for almost all scientific work. A metric system was first proposed in France in 1670. France adopted the metric standard in 1840 and many countries followed. Today, the only developed nations which do not use the SE metric system are the United States, Liberia and Burma.
Get that ! The US still uses an antiquated measurement system which is ahem! used in only Liberia and Burma :)) ..But ofcourse we are the US, let the rest of the world change we wont, let the rest of the world think Iraq is no threat, but we will find
imaginary "weapons of mass destruction" and promptly overrun it.
(Side note here: Why is there not any kind of mention in the US media about the casualties of the Iraqis ? Close to 30,000 innocent Iraqis have been killed too, because of a lie..So who is the oppressor now ? .. Don't they have families and don't they feel equally sad when they lose their loved ones ? Do only some countries have the privilege of happiness, why should some people feel they are more equal than others ? )
And believe me for a person, who is grown up counting in 10's (a.k.a the metric sytem), suddenly thinking in 16's and 12's and multiplying by 1.60933 is highly confusing.. :)
pints, quarts and gallons! Give me a break.
But ofcourse its not limited to measurements, how do you think a date is represented *only* in the United States .. not with the logical day/month/year.. it is month/day/year.. why ? we just want to be different I guess ..
Moving on to sports, what do you think football is for an average American ? Nope it is not the term which is used to actually refer to a sport in which we do use the feet, which they call soccer. It is the americanized version of rubgy which is called football, in which incidentally there is minimum use of the feet !
The national championships are also called "world chamionships" because the rest of the world doesn't matter does it ? "we are the world" seems to be the very clear message here ! ( With apologies to my Telugu friends, just ask the hajaar and one Telugus, who when born have the same view, USA is the world and my ambition in life is to go the US. Make no mistake, your average Telugu "aunty" in India knows more than you would about GRE, american universities, all the "stages" (grrrr) of H1, all the colors of the cards etc.. I was talking to one of them on my last visit to India.(When I was still in school).So which University do you go to ? Arizona I replied. She told me more than I knew about its US News rankings, average GRE score wanted, gave me the contacts of 3 more people there and concluded that if I am not in Stanford then I am nobody ! To say the least I was shocked. I live in a apartment in Hyderabad, where every family in the building has a direct relative in where ? la la la USA )
Btw undergrad is "college" but grad studies suddenly becomes going to "grad school".
Ofcourse there are many other americanisms which are just different (not necessarily stupid ! ) from how it is in India ..
At a restaurant, after the meal you ask for a check, not the bill :) .. I once asked this person at a food court, for the bill !! :O ..She was totally confused and she said why do want a bill (which is verry confusingly also a reference to a dollar), I have already given you back your change (which is the money to be given back) ..It took both of us some time to understand each other :)
The toilet in India is called the restroom here :) (never understood that one, do you feel rested after doing you know what ? ..I guess so ..)
Ofcourse Z is not pronounced as "zed" but "zeee".
There must be several more instances of americanisms which dont come to mind right now, but do exist .. :)
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Nice blog! Good food for thought! Although, being a self-respecting (is there any other kind?) Telugu myself, I have to naturally take objection to your attributing the 'Going to the USA' dream to the Telugu community alone. Its just that we've managed to hone it down to a skill that others can only hope to have! ;)
Many more Americanisms come to mind! In fact so many, that I wrote a mini-paper on it and put it up on my own blog. So thank you for the inspiration! :) Here's the link.
Keep blogging!
Many more Americanisms come to mind! In fact so many, that I wrote a mini-paper on it and put it up on my own blog. So thank you for the inspiration! :) Here's the link.
Keep blogging!
Hey,
good blog...hilarious one too!
one thing i particularly find irritating abt their lingo is some of their pronunciation..top of the mind..
like processes is processeeeeess for them!
Anti is antie...
good blog...hilarious one too!
one thing i particularly find irritating abt their lingo is some of their pronunciation..top of the mind..
like processes is processeeeeess for them!
Anti is antie...
Its very interesting. I have the same resentment(if this article shows of any for anything American) for British English or their notions including accents.
Here's is my take on how we percieve(IMO aka Megha's lingo). I guess its our notion on anything different to ours as generally showing "attitude" rather than seeing it as different and ofcourse the recent happenings in Iraq and Afghanistan hasn't helped America's cause.
But why is a upper caste killing in India given more media than that of a lower caste one. I think dimenishing the value of life is not just a American's forte, women's life in arab countries, Indian caste system, Post Godhra Incidents, and people who believe religion comes first than the country are some examples.
so why Just pick America.. It gets more media on whatever they do(good or bad). IMO, they get their asses whipped at home even before by others, more than any place else or country in the world. It doesnot mean I am endorsing their actions, but I am just merely presenting a different view I see.
Coming back,my problem(subconsciously) with British is how cruely they ruled the world with scant disregard for humans and anything coming from them is always seen with a squint eye.
I now tend to believe more in my mom's words "ghor kaliyug aagaya hai" :-)
As far as telugu thingy is concerned, some one has to take the lead for the rest, and they did.Ain't we glad about it.
You have some very interesting thoughts in your blogs. Its great reading your stuff. I apolzise for the lenghty "comment"
Here's is my take on how we percieve(IMO aka Megha's lingo). I guess its our notion on anything different to ours as generally showing "attitude" rather than seeing it as different and ofcourse the recent happenings in Iraq and Afghanistan hasn't helped America's cause.
But why is a upper caste killing in India given more media than that of a lower caste one. I think dimenishing the value of life is not just a American's forte, women's life in arab countries, Indian caste system, Post Godhra Incidents, and people who believe religion comes first than the country are some examples.
so why Just pick America.. It gets more media on whatever they do(good or bad). IMO, they get their asses whipped at home even before by others, more than any place else or country in the world. It doesnot mean I am endorsing their actions, but I am just merely presenting a different view I see.
Coming back,my problem(subconsciously) with British is how cruely they ruled the world with scant disregard for humans and anything coming from them is always seen with a squint eye.
I now tend to believe more in my mom's words "ghor kaliyug aagaya hai" :-)
As far as telugu thingy is concerned, some one has to take the lead for the rest, and they did.Ain't we glad about it.
You have some very interesting thoughts in your blogs. Its great reading your stuff. I apolzise for the lenghty "comment"
[Megha] Glad that it inspired you . You added a lot of examples to the basic thought that I had. So in the paper that you wrote I should be the first author, professor kinds, comes up with the basic idea, graduate student does all the work ;) ..
[Ekta] Accent can be irritating I agree especially the extended twang.. Have you heard a young american girl call out to her mother..it goes momeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! :)
[Gvenum]Thanks for your comments and for thinking that some of my writings are interesting ! Yes, very rightly said, there are always two faces to a coin, and the US has an disproportionate amount of media attention on it. But the point is the US insisting on taking the higher moral ground, insisting that all the things that you mention are wrong and whatever it does is the holy grail. Not necessarily so I think !
[Ekta] Accent can be irritating I agree especially the extended twang.. Have you heard a young american girl call out to her mother..it goes momeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! :)
[Gvenum]Thanks for your comments and for thinking that some of my writings are interesting ! Yes, very rightly said, there are always two faces to a coin, and the US has an disproportionate amount of media attention on it. But the point is the US insisting on taking the higher moral ground, insisting that all the things that you mention are wrong and whatever it does is the holy grail. Not necessarily so I think !
I have a healthy contempt for anything American so my views wud be very very biased but i havta admit that this post made for some very interesting reading. N that bit abt my favorite Gults was so funny. Btw, did u also know that everyone in the Gulf is either Arab or Mellu and Singapore has more Tams than Sings itself.
Your blog does provide a lot of food for thought. Lage raho Ani.
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Your blog does provide a lot of food for thought. Lage raho Ani.
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