Post #921456

2026-03-17 01:42 UTC

I&#39;ve seen several versions of this graph, plotting what languages are canonically unintelligible in different cultures. English has &quot;It&#39;s Greek to me&quot;, for instance. I&#39;ve always loved it, and there is a version I want to make. See, there is a trope in the US that imaginary romantic partners, usually invented by younger, more insecure people to fit in, always live in the same place: &quot;Oh, you wouldn&#39;t know them, they live in Canada.&quot; So, do other parts of the world have their own equivalent of this, or has US media hegemony exported Canada for that role worldwide?

Replies (5)

@joXn@wandering.shop 2026-03-17 02:06

@attoparsec Does the role of Canada here predate Avenue Q? I kind of don’t think so.

Open ##1253690
@markgritter@mathstodon.xyz 2026-03-17 03:46

@attoparsec it appears based on preliminary investigation that the "girlfriend in Canada" of the English-speaking world is actually England. Just gotta figure out how to turn this into a systematic and multi-lingual approach.

Open ##1253693
@emorydunn@mastodon.tinycart.club 2026-03-17 04:32

@attoparsec The "girlfriend in Canada" trope is something I always took for granted, growing up in Portland, but now having lived in several other states I've been surprised by how many people don't have that as a cultural touchstone

Open ##1253696
@LaserdiscTurtle@mas.to 2026-03-17 06:05

@attoparsec The equivalent I've heard here in the UK is "my girlfriend goes to a different school, you wouldn't know her."

Open ##1253699
@stonebear2@hachyderm.io 2026-03-17 09:36

@attoparsec For the Dutch it seems to be someplace in Eastern Europe... Romania, Hungary... (said spouse has often _moved here_... thank you, civilised EU residence policy...)

Open ##1253700