4 ms·

I'm not following the joke, can you elaborate?

• the_af 4y ago
  Sure thing! Mate is traditionally drank with a metal straw, a small "cup" (the gourd) and a bottle with hot water, which we Argies always call a "termo" (after the thermos brand, much like many people call tissue paper "kleenex"). This bottle is used to constantly refill the gourd, since each "serving" of water only lasts a couple of sips. Note the yerba mate inside the gourd lasts many rounds of sipping until it also needs to be changed. So to drink mate in Argentina, you need yerba, one straw, one gourd, and one termo per group of people, because we share the mate. But Uruguayans don't share their mate, even though they are heavy mate drinkers, so each carries their own mate and termo under their arm, everywhere. Hence, "they are born with a termo under their arm". It's not really a joke, more like a friendly description of Uruguayans and mate.