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?

The world's largest roundabout sounds like a horrible, traffic filled place. But in fact it's a park surrounded by a road.

Apparently harming hornets can lead to 5 years in prison in Germany - wow!

@tantamountto

Apparently harming hornets can lead to 5 years in prison in Germany - wow!

I would be doing HARD time man. Hard time.

@DuvetCaterpillar Your fact on Bolivia is my favourite!

Someone has already mentioned that it is illegal to wear camouflage in Barbados, but also Grenada and a lot of the other Islands in the Caribbean. They treat it as impersonating someone in the military.

It is frowned upon to clink glasses as in 'cheers' in Budapest. I was told it was something to do with the Nazi invasion in WW2 but I think it dates back further than this back to 1848

@Dobbyismyfzvourite
What was the Bolivian fact ?
I've scrolled but can't find it.

Dobby just beer because that's what Austrians toasted with after Hungary's 1848 revolution. It's fine to clink wine glasses.

There are more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt.

Saudi Arabia imports camels from Australia.

I don’t have any facts, but I’m loving this thread.

Egypt is just outside Bradford, Yorks.

Lanzarote only has one skyscraper.
Your home ideally has to be painted white to keep the islands traditional look

Finlands flag is blue for the lakes and white for the snow 🇫🇮

Icelands flag is blue for the water, red for the magma and white for the ice / snow 🇮🇸

Hawaii state flag has the Union Jack in the corner.

In Singapore, when blocks of flats are built every flat has to have its own bomb shelter.

No, roundabouts in the US are called traffic circles. Well, in the Northeast anyway. They are quite unusual.

Discohumph

Tonga is a kingdom and maintains its own royal family

Plus, Color TV, the balloon, and birth control pills

The 'break' in taking the pill was developed in the hope the RC church would approve it.

Uruguay has a town which used to export tinned meat, it's called Frey Bentos.

Australia has more wild camels than other countries, they were first imported to move goods long distances, the camel drivers where from Afghanistan, the long distance train from Adelaide to Darwin is called 'The Ghan', possibly after these drivers.

@TwelvetyOClock

In Japan, about 98% of all adoptions are for adults, usually men between 20 and 30.

Is that true? It seems so ODD...

@MrsTerryPratchett

Love this thread.

America and Canada share the longest undefended border in the world (for now).

Costa Rica has no standing army. Apocryphally, when threatened they said they would send their boy scouts out. The other country decided that was too much terrible PR.

Don't step on or over money in Thailand, the king's face is on it and they take a dim view. Even insulting the king's dog resulted in a charge for someone.

America has never won a war on it's own. The White House was burned down by the Canadians (then a British colony) in 1812.

Alas, the one about winning wars by themselves is wrong. They defeated the Spanish in the Spanish-American War in the late 1800s.

Nb. There's a hilarious UK court case from 1905 about this. The Spanish gvt ordered some warships from a Clydeside shipyard. They were delivered so late that the Spanish-American War happened in the meantime.

The shipyard resisted damages saying if they'd delivered the ships on time they'd have been sunk and therefore the Spanish hadn't suffered any loss...

Alas, the one about winning wars by themselves is wrong. They defeated the Spanish in the Spanish-American War in the late 1800s.

Surely that depends on whether you consider Cubans to be Spanish.

@PeppersYellow Are these the Maltese pastries known by a name that translates as ‘vagina’ by any chance?
aussietaste.com.au/national-dish/pastizzi-maltese-savoury-pastry/

The Portuguese flag used to be white and blue and changed to red and green, supposedly blood and hope, but also the colours of the republican movement, after becoming a Republic. That was almost 110 years ago.

The yellow circle represents a sphere that was used to navigate the world. Then the shield has several symbols: 7 castles conquered to the moors, the 5 wounds of Christ and the 30 silver paid to Judas.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

In German there is a single word for the thumping sound you hear coming out of discos - 'discomumph'.

Excellent! German is such a wondefully expressive language. One of my all-time favourites has to be 'Backpfeifengesicht' - a face that is crying out for a slap

Sorry sausage, got my spelling wrong - it should be 'discomumpf' (Iam a pedant as well as a geek).

German also has a word for someone who is grumpy at breakfast time - Fruhstucksmuffel. Sorry can't put in the umlaut marks with my keyboard.

Ah there you go - Frühstücksmuffel - did it with cut and paste.

*Harriedharriet Fri 11-Sep-20 05:24:52
TwelvetyOClock

In Japan, about 98% of all adoptions are for adults, usually men between 20 and 30.

Is that true? It seems so ODD...*

Indeed it is true. My friend's husband was adopted by her family and changed his name to hers, with the permission of his parents, because they had no son. He became their heir, with all of a son's responsibilities.