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You can do whatever you want, I am merely pointing out how that looks to us :-)

by sklivvz1971 10y ago

SmellTheGlove 10y ago
This is a very narrow view. I am Italian-American in the literal sense (a citizen of both countries), we are fairly recent immigrants although I grew up in the US. There is simply no way for the average American to be that exact regarding Italian cuisine without having grown up there. The same way it is nearly impossible for the average Italian to be that exact regarding American cuisine without having grown up here. Asking someone to understand the different names and types of biscotti or cantucci, for instance, is similar to me expecting you to know the various local varieties of lobster rolls depending on where in New England you are, and then also holding you accountable to know that someone in New Jersey will probably not be able to make you one, and someone in coastal Virginia may not even know what one is. Everyone does the best with the words they know. Help a tourist out, they'd do the same for you in their home.
- sklivvz1971 10y ago
  > Help a tourist out, they'd do the same for you in their home. Gracefully accepting corrections when your language is incorrect are part of receiving help. If I were to write these posts in broken Itanglish do you really think native speakers would not correct me? Would it be acceptable to call them "narrow minded"? I'm all for helping but please stop assuming that a US-centric point of view and language are the default for everything. For most people on the internet, neither assumptions hold.
  - swimfar 10y ago
    I think the point wasn't that you shouldn't help people understand your language or culture. It's expecting everyone to know this stuff automatically and looking down on someone for not knowing everything about it. That isn't very nice/fair. "Yes, people are not really aware how ignorant and arrogant they look when they use the wrong Italian words to describe Italian food "
  - SmellTheGlove 10y ago
    Gracefully accepting corrections is fine. I get that plenty when I visit Italy, and Italian is my first language even if it's decayed a bit. You don't make it sound like you're doing it constructively, though. Not sure if it's your intent, but you're coming across as though Americans are ignorant because they don't grasp the finer details.

You can do whatever you want, I am merely pointing out how that looks to us :-)

This is a very narrow view. I am Italian-American in the literal sense (a citizen of both countries), we are fairly recent immigrants although I grew up in the US. There is simply no way for the average American to be that exact regarding Italian cuisine without having grown up there. The same way it is nearly impossible for the average Italian to be that exact regarding American cuisine without having grown up here. Asking someone to understand the different names and types of biscotti or cantucci, for instance, is similar to me expecting you to know the various local varieties of lobster rolls depending on where in New England you are, and then also holding you accountable to know that someone in New Jersey will probably not be able to make you one, and someone in coastal Virginia may not even know what one is. Everyone does the best with the words they know. Help a tourist out, they'd do the same for you in their home.

sklivvz1971 10y ago
> Help a tourist out, they'd do the same for you in their home. Gracefully accepting corrections when your language is incorrect are part of receiving help. If I were to write these posts in broken Itanglish do you really think native speakers would not correct me? Would it be acceptable to call them "narrow minded"? I'm all for helping but please stop assuming that a US-centric point of view and language are the default for everything. For most people on the internet, neither assumptions hold.
- swimfar 10y ago
  I think the point wasn't that you shouldn't help people understand your language or culture. It's expecting everyone to know this stuff automatically and looking down on someone for not knowing everything about it. That isn't very nice/fair. "Yes, people are not really aware how ignorant and arrogant they look when they use the wrong Italian words to describe Italian food "
- SmellTheGlove 10y ago
  Gracefully accepting corrections is fine. I get that plenty when I visit Italy, and Italian is my first language even if it's decayed a bit. You don't make it sound like you're doing it constructively, though. Not sure if it's your intent, but you're coming across as though Americans are ignorant because they don't grasp the finer details.