The U.S. Culture(s) thread

Kids usually end up with their mom's surname if the mother is single, the father's if they're married or otherwise together.

That is changing a bit, but in which demographics specifically I couldn't tell you. But yeah, still heavily patronymical. You'll get people like AOC who stick to the naming practices of the place their families immigrated from, so I really don't know if there's a lot of flouting of traditions outside of the WASP-y demographic.

I don’t know if it’s a thing in the US, but in the UK there is increasing acceptance of couples having children despite not having formally married, that creates a situation where it’s very easy to give either either surname for the child.

On a different note, is it true that Utahns (whether or not they're members of the LDS Church) are more likely to have names that are odd even by US standards? The Utah entry on Wacky Americans Have Wacky Names is intriguing.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 12th 2021 at 2:32:52 PM

I've never heard that before.

It's kinda memetic - the most famous example is "Renesme" from Literature/Twilight - the author is a mormon.

Here is an article from Slate.com that goes into some depth.

I guess everyone's name sounds a bit odd to me, because I'm older than average. I means, what's so unusual about "Ryker" or "Questin"? Are those really so much more unusual than "Harper" or "Asher" (both in the top 10 baby names for 2021)?

I'm guessing it's because Ryker is of Dutch origin and a cognate to English Richard, so it raises questions as to why you'd not just use the form that's normal to the de facto national language and instead go for a very different-sounding foreign version that's not used locally by anyone other than members of that foreign nationality, if not out of a desire for "specialness"?

Also, Questin sounds like a verb ("questing") rather than a noun, and surprisingly I cannot find any entry for the name on Wikipedia or Behind the Name, further emphasizing its novel nature.

FWIW, I've been looking through Wikipedia's article that lists off dozens of people from Utah, and some of the names are quite eyebrow-raising. Laraine? Jimmer? Jeph (as a nickname for Jeffery, apparently)? Starlite? Kieth (as an apparent respelling of Keith)? Lucky Blue (or just Lucky; it's not clear whether they're a compound name or separate first and middle names)? Summerhays? Tempest? Pretty exotic for what I'm used to from the US when it comes to European ethnicities.

Edited by MarqFJA on Aug 13th 2021 at 3:40:41 PM

I'm just reminded of a thing a professor said about names. He was teaching a course on Drama and had some classic Greek plays along with some of the traditional American plays.

One student read the handout that listed the plays being discussed, turned to her friends and said "Tonisha, Mckaleigh, what kind of name is 'Auntie Gone?'"

Don't look at me. My kids have Russian first names, so...

An SMBC comic about a certain aspect of U.S. culture:

Milkshake

My response was "yeah, that checks out".

As for the votee button panel...I admit I laughed. I feel a bit conflicted about it.

Edited by M84 on Aug 19th 2021 at 8:58:00 PM

...Do they bring all the boys to the yard?

I'm just wondering what that donut would taste like.

The mouse-over caption is also pretty amusing in a "yeah I can see that happening" way.

Edited by M84 on Aug 20th 2021 at 12:01:27 AM

Is this really a thing that happens often?

While it's not always a milkshake, it does happen pretty often.

It's not always a bad thing, mind you. Tex-Mex is pretty great.

Again, this is the country that decided putting fried noodles between hamburger buns was a good idea.

Edited by M84 on Aug 20th 2021 at 12:15:42 AM

And I thought the Japanese were the ones who thought of putting noodles inside bread.

I'm just not a fan of putting more carbs between slices of bread. It's redundant.

As soon as something gets "trendy", someone is going to try and market it.

There is the As Long as It Sounds Foreign approach - make a snack as close as possible to a real ethnic food and just call it by that name.

Taco Bell is the worst offender - "Mexican Inspired", they are about as "mexican" as my Irish ex-girlfriend.

Now this can be a good thing - there's not just Tex-Mex, there's Cajun food, real Asian food of all kinds.

But when it's in the frozen food aisle of the local supermart or a latte at the Starbucks, expect it to be crappy cultural appropriation.

Edited by TairaMai on Aug 20th 2021 at 2:28:20 AM

Europe: "No America, please don't turn carrot cake into Oreo cookie stuffing!"

USA: "Hah! Too late!"

No, really. Carrot Cake Oreos are a thing.

Pumpkin. Spice. Oreos.

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

And now I'm reminded that Starbucks has a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Edit:

Italy: "No, America! Pizza is one of our oldest traditional dishes!"

USA: "Imma make it into a Pringle!"

Edited by M84 on Aug 21st 2021 at 3:42:06 AM

At this point Corporate America is one snackfood away from summoning the Elder Gods.

"New zesty beef and cheddar Hasturs!"

Deep. Dish. Pizza.

One idea that failed for obvious reasons was Burger King's attempt to make a giant burger shaped like a pizza that had about 2,500 calories.

Mashed: The Truth About Burger King's Pizza Burger

The comic's bit about making foreign food into a hamburger bun wasn't too far from the truth.

Edited by M84 on Aug 20th 2021 at 11:30:19 PM

There is no "food"—there are only brands.

If we're talking about crazy fried foods, then look at the stuff people like to fry at the Texas State Fair.