AIBU to ask for you to pick any country and share an interesting fun fact about it?

[1person100names]

I love learning about countries around the world, i am unable to explore physically due to covid so I would love to learn more fun interesting facts that you would kindly share!

Heres mine!

In Vietnam it is offensive to cross your fingers in a certain way, it is seen as an obscene gesture, akin to raising your middle finger and saying“F* You! It is also used to call people a derogatory name! Photo attached !

I will add more shortly =)

Whats yours?

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I may be wrong here, but I'm guessing that, if it's a widespread enough national tradition that everybody gets paid twice as much just before the peak Summer holiday season, prices charged by holiday providers and tourism industries rise to take account of everybody having more money available to pay a higher price. If that is the case, everybody actually ends up losing out overall. Even if the privileged/wise ones don't fall for it, enough people would to make hiked rip-off prices a viable proposition.

It will be a demand and offer effect.

Napal is the only country in the world with a flag that isn't a square or a rectangle. It's two triangles on top of each other.

It's illegal to sell chewing gum in Singapore. This is a brilliant law, and I think the UK should have it too.

Driving on the left in England dates back to when people rode on horse back, as most people were (and still are) right handed, they could swing a sword at an enemy while riding.

Your worn out old sofa could collapse in May and you then have to spend a month sitting in camping chairs in your living room before getting the money you need to replace it /../ I'd much rather just be paid a 12th of my annual salary every month.

having 1/12th extra on your monthly salary would not mean that most people on average income build up significant savings though.

Some school holidays in France are staggered, depending on the location of the school. For example in one zone, your spring half term would start on 10th April, in second on 17th of April and in third, the 24th. Means that the entire country is not booking all available fights and hotels the same week.

Mandarin does not have a specific word that means yes: you can use shi是 or repeat the verb used in the question eg can you speak English- the answer is can or cannot.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I may be wrong here, but I'm guessing that, if it's a widespread enough national tradition that everybody gets paid twice as much just before the peak Summer holiday season, prices charged by holiday providers and tourism industries rise to take account of everybody having more money available to pay a higher price. If that is the case, everybody actually ends up losing out overall. Even if the privileged/wise ones don't fall for it, enough people would to make hiked rip-off prices a viable proposition.

Not really, it’s the demand from everywhere else bumping up the price. School holidays in Southern Europe start from early June, so if you have flexible holiday from your workplace you can go in June or July and pay considerably less. I used to do that, then met DP who can only take holiday in August, which costs more because most of the rest of Europe is on holiday at the same time.

Also, the extra cash in June isn’t necessarily used for holiday, if you booked earlier in the year you’ll have paid it by then. If you just go back to your home village (Many people from the southern regions still have homes/family connections in their place of origin) then you don’t necessarily need a wad of cash. I put it in savings or use it to top up my pension. Many people do the same. If your sofa breaks in May you just get a new one and pay in instalments, like most people elsewhere in Europe.

having 1/12th extra on your monthly salary would not mean that most people on average income build up significant savings though.

Are only those on average incomes paid this way, though? Are we even just considering savings, which are often a luxury that some people at some times of their lives just cannot countenance? I know myself from experience that there are sometimes months when even mundane little things crop up that need to be paid for and a week before pay day, another £20 would make the difference between enjoying the last week of the month or constantly wishing it gone - and the knwledge that I would receive double pay in four months' time wouldn't really prove to be a comfort. At the other end, those on high six figure salaries - would this scheme really make much difference to them anyway?

Also, the extra cash in June isn’t necessarily used for holiday, if you booked earlier in the year you’ll have paid it by then. If you just go back to your home village (Many people from the southern regions still have homes/family connections in their place of origin) then you don’t necessarily need a wad of cash. I put it in savings or use it to top up my pension. Many people do the same. If your sofa breaks in May you just get a new one and pay in instalments, like most people elsewhere in Europe.

If you pay beforehand for your holiday or spread it out anyway, what's the actual point of this scheme in the first place?! What if you aren't able to get credit for a new sofa and/or you object to making an agreement over 2, 3, 4 years, paying a lot of interest overall for something that you might have been able to save for in contingency over the last five months, had you not had a couple of hundred pounds (or whatever) withheld from your wages each month for the sole purpose of your employer going "Da-daaaaaa! It's treat time, folks!" several months later?!

Fair enough, Melassa, that there are a lot of factors stopping greedy people in the holidays business from cashing in - thanks for outlining them

Following on from the notes above about Icelandic naming. The Icelandic phone book is (uniquely?) ordered by first name.

Off topic but as an aside large parts of the Co-op in the UK pay on a four weekly cycle rather than by calendar month.

Off topic but as an aside large parts of the Co-op in the UK pay on a four weekly cycle rather than by calendar month.

If anything, that's possibly a better idea in some respects, in helping people to manage their money themselves. I don't think it necessarily matters whether it's weekly, fortnightly, 4-weekly or monthly - it's the regularity and constancy.

Having said that, though, I wonder if some low-paid employees fall foul of nasty UC rules, because of having received two payments in one calendar month - as often happens around Christmas, when people are punished for earning 'twice as much' as they claimed in December, when it's clear as day that half of it is for January and the next pay day won't be until February.

The thing is that the extra one or two months are extra.
Where I live, they were cut at the time of the previous financial crisis. Monthly salaries stayed the same but the extra months were gone.

At the other end, those on high six figure salaries - would this scheme really make much difference to them anyway?

I'm on 6 figures and get it in 13 parts. Yeah, it is still really nice to have this 'extra' amount one month so we can do some bigger purchases or investments without affecting our usual spending and saving.

Fair enough, then - I don't like the idea of it personally, but it sounds like it's a popular system with a lot of those who have experienced it.

Scotland has the last ocean going paddle steamer called the Waverley. It does go south for the winter though.

@Mommabear20

Driving on the left in England dates back to when people rode on horse back, as most people were (and still are) right handed, they could swing a sword at an enemy while riding.

All polo players have to play right handed.

@scubaqueen1

Scotland has the last ocean going paddle steamer called the Waverley. It does go south for the winter though.

And into the repair shop ...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-54011504

@SoManyActivities

Poland has (almost) no regional accents, only formal and informal language.

Apparently Russia has no regional accents at all, its the same accent everywhere - I find that unbelievable! Especially coming from Britain where the accent could differ between service stations on the A1!!!

So the only region that has it's own accent is east part of Poland with huge Russian speaking community and I belive it affected how they speak polish thus the accent. I am not exactly sure there is a link as I am not an expert but sounds logical.

In Norway there’s a place called Hell.

In Newfoundland there is a place called Dildo.

Polish and/or Russian (I wouldn't be able to tell) can sound like Portuguese if you can't hear the words.

Portugal has a few hell mouths, which are usually smallish waterfalls.

Lisbon is named after Ulisses, apparently.

Oporto, in English, is probably due to the fact that in Portuguese it is a masculine name (o Porto, for "the Port"(o) ), and it sounds like a single word.

Homeschooling is not allowed in Germany.

Neither are homebirths.

Homeschooling is not allowed in Germany.
Neither are homebirths

Neither of these statements are true.