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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   1532 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 3, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Anyone been using Xitter recently? The algorithm change is causing a lot of Japanese posts to show up on my feed. Further, the autotranslate has allowed for some of the most frictionless communication between Japanese and American users ever. This is the most fun I have ever had on Xitter. I urge everyone to try it while we're still in the honeymoon phase and before it gets changed.

Update: It seems that a lot of Japanese users have been getting annoyed because American Evangelicals have been proselytizing toward Japanese Twitter users. Theological debates have broken out. It seems that many Japanese people are annoyed with the holier-than-thou tone of the Evangelicals.

Be the American the Japanese imagine you to be.

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Be the American the Japanese imagine you to be.

How do the Japanese imagine Americans to be?

I have extended family that live on the far east coast of the US. Whenever we talk, they can always recount stories of people there asking what it's like being from and living in California and they always reply, "... Uh. Normal?," but when they get into it they usually find out what they're really asking. A lot of Americans think people from California bleach their hair blonde, all own surfboards and talk in one of those "duuuude...," type vernaculars that come right out of a 1980's B movie. It's actually quite shocking to them when they find out that isn't 'at all' how Californians sound like. There's even a big cultural divide among different parts of California. When I go back home to where I'm from, people I know can detect certain changes in me and they ask if that's what people in the Bay Area do. So I still have to code switch a few different ways depending on where in California I am. There are things I see people do in the Bay that would definitely get your ass kicked if you did them where I'm from, or at least would have everyone stop and look at you. But it's normal and acceptable there. And there are things I've done in the Bay that had people call the cops on me because of behaviors you're taught in provincial areas of the state that you're not supposed to do. They've been to and travel through the Bay on a regular basis, but not enough to learn the minute, personal idiosyncrasies of the people that live there. When I once saw Eliezer, I remember someone remarking that he sounds like a "male valley girl." It made me burst out laughing because "you're not supposed to talk like that."

America is actually a lot of different subcultures in a way. There's this weak idea of what we are as a national culture but it's nowhere near as strong as a national culture of somewhere like Russia. Not even close. Russians are 'extremely' nationalistic and patriotic. America isn't culturally all that unified. If you just look at football teams for instance, I know several people in California who love the 49ers and hate the Raiders. The other half love the Raiders and hate the 49ers. Why? Because the 49ers are from San Francisco, that's the Mecca of "faggot land," or weak effeminate men to them. Why do they love the Raiders? Because back in their heyday, the Raiders were the bad boys of the NFL. They were truly out to injure and hurt people. They were hyper-masculine and played like gangbangers. They had a live fast die young attitude. I know places and people where that mindset still persists.

America is actually a lot of different subcultures in a way. There's this weak idea of what we are as a national culture but it's nowhere near as strong as a national culture of somewhere like Russia. Not even close. Russians are 'extremely' nationalistic and patriotic. America isn't culturally all that unified.

It's funny how it looks like the exact opposite of what I see observing from Russia.

Consider it a western prejudice if it isn't true. I've never been there, but based on what I've read about the place that's certainly the impression I've got. Russia is also a very diverse place. Even more diverse than the US in some ways.

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