Every culture has elements and idiosyncrasies that seem strange to outsiders. We tend to notice these idiosyncrasies in other cultures but not in our own. Just for a sense of perspective let's look at some aspects of the English-speaking cultures that others might find strange.
Start with the keyboard. We learn the alphabet as ABC... but then the QWERTY order on the keyboard is completely different. Why don't we just make one or the other as the alphabetical order? This doesn't seem to make much sense. There is a reason for the QWERTY order and that is so secretaries of the past could have the most used letters of the alphabet easiest to reach. But nowadays almost everyone does their own typing. Speed typing is not a factor any more because it is of no use for a writer to be able to type faster than they can think.
Then we come to the 99 pricing in stores. An item does not cost $15. It's ONLY $14.99. This is an effort to get shoppers to think that they are not really paying $15. In some stores every price has "ONLY" in front of it. This honestly borders on comical.
What about name-shortening? Michael is shortened to "Mike", Deborah to "Debbie", and so on. But how much sense does this make to people from other cultures? If we are going to call someone "Mike" then why not just make that his name?
Then what about nicknames? If a person is to be called by a name then why not just change their name to it? Why does a person need a formal name, a shortened name, and then maybe a nickname?
Our culture really has a thing about the heart being the center of emotion and feeling. The truth is that the heart is a muscle that pumps blood and has nothing whatsoever to do with emotions. Your heart is a lot like the water pump in your car. Saying something like "I am listening to my heart" is like saying "I am listening to the water pump in my car".
We have distorted the shape of the heart. If you close your fist that is about the size and shape of your heart. It looks nothing like a Valentine ❤️. The heart is not red. Blood inside the body is actually blue and appears red only when exposed to outside oxygen.
Our culture has a lot of misnomers. A "tidal wave" has absolutely nothing to do with tides and is caused by an underwater earthquake. It is now referred to by the Japanese word "tsunami". The same side of the moon always faces earth and we refer to the far side as the "dark side of the moon". But the far side actually gets more light than the side that faces us. The side that faces us is completely also facing the sun at full moon. The side that faces away from us, the supposed "dark side of the moon", completely faces the sun at new moon. Since the moon is closer to the sun at new moon than at full moon this means that the far side of the moon must get more light than the side that faces us.
There is something about basic chemistry that is confusing and doesn't make sense. It concerns valence, or the exchange of electrons between atoms to form molecules. There are two electric charges, negative and positive. But negative and positive are represented by the symbols "-" and "+". The confusion begins because these two symbols also have another meaning. Minus, "-", means to subtract or take away. This is the same symbol that is used for negative electric charge. Plus, "+", means to add or join to. This is the same symbol that is used for positive electric charge. Suppose that two atoms are close together and one takes an outer electron from the other. Because electrons have a negative charge, the atom that loses the electron will then have a net positive charge. The atom that gains the electron will then have a net negative charge. Do you see how confusing this is?
An atom loses an electron which has a negative charge, as in "-", yet it now has a positive charge, as in "+", as if it has gained something because "+" also means addition. The other atom gains the electron. To gain means to add something. Addition is symbolized by the plus sign, "+", but the atom now has a negative charge, which is symbolized by the opposite sign, "-". The negative and positive designations given to the two opposite electric charges are entirely arbitrary. We could just as easily called negative positive and vice versa. If we said that the electron has a positive charge, while the nucleus has a negative charge, which is now what we define as antimatter, it would make more sense. An atom that GAINED an electron would then have a POSITIVE electric charge, as in "+". An atom that LOST an electron would then have a NEGATIVE electric charge, as in "-". Wouldn't that make more sense and be less confusing?
America's two major political parties are the Democrats and Republicans. But if we look up "democrat" and "republican" in a dictionary both words mean the same thing, a believer in representative democracy. America's Civil War was between the Union and the Confederacy, but both of those words also mean the same thing.
Finally we come to our language and it's utter illogic. You have probably noticed that you drive on a parkway but park on a driveway. That is only the beginning of the illogic. Just as one example consider the sets of words that look like they should be related but actually have nothing to do with each other.
Some of the words in these sets are related, an example being "select" and "elect", but so many other words that look like they should be related have nothing to do with each other.
Found and Founder and Foundry
Principle and Principal
Emerge and Emergency
Gain and Again and Against
Pose and Oppose and Opposite and Suppose
Secret and Secretary
Sham and Shame
Shin and Shine
Pin and Pine and Spine
Electric and Eclectic
Good and Goods
Success and Successive
The most baffling of all is Meteor and Meteorology
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