All over Facebook like a rash is the meme that it’s ‘Pi Day‘. No, not Apple Pi, or Chicken and Mushroom Pi, or even Four And Twenty Blackbirds Baked In A Pi, but Pi, as in The Life Of Pi, that is, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. But Why Pi? Well, today is the 14th March, you see, which is, in the American system of date notation, 3.14, which is an approximation to the value of Pi.
Now, in many countries that aren’t militant theocracies; in which people don’t carry concealed weapons; have the death penalty; think that God created the world in six days; or seriously consider climate change to be connected with astrology, calendrical conventions are different1. In the U. of K., for example, 14 March is represented 14.3, which makes sense, as the day comes before the month, which comes before the year, rather than all jumbled up together. And yet we have become used to the barmy conventions of our colonial cousins, who still think that the way to appreciate tea is to throw it into Boston Harbor Harbour. I expect it’s all to do with the events on the 11th September, 2001, which have become confused with sports cars made by Dr. Porsche.
What irks me is that the prevalence of Americanisms has become so pervasive that many Americans (of all political persuasions, not just those on the political Right) assume, without any need for explanation, that their cultural quirks will be understood – and accepted – everywhere else.
Many years ago, when the world was young (OK, it was 1994) I had reason to visit and travel extensively in the fine and diverse country that is Mexico (Nature 368, 789-804, 1994: doi:10.1038/368789a0). Knowing almost nothing about Mexico (itself a telling difference, given one’s daily familiarity with American culture) I read avidly. Among my reading materials was an article about the do’s and don’ts of doing business in Mexico, aimed at US business travelers. As I was traveling to Mexico for reasons of business, I took special notice. The main message was that Mexico is a country in which old-world formality is very seriously. You won’t get invited to your contact’s homes, said the article. People don’t readily address one another by their first names, and business people tend to dress formally. I took the hint. I spent two weeks in Mexico in a dark suit and tie, and took pains to observe the attitudes of Mexicans to anglophony.
Most Mexicans I met assumed that I was Un Norteamericano until told that I was, in fact, an Englishman – a revelation that was always greeted with a relaxation of tensed muscles and relieved smiles all round. This tension appeared to be merited. When in Mexico City I stayed in a large, international hotel in which all the staff spoke excellent English, and I had cause to witness the way that the reception staff was treated by some Americans. Tirades of abuse and cavalier orderings-about were met by a professional yet stony wall. Making a mental note, I approached hotel staff (and cab drivers, airline staff, and anyone else whom I engaged to perform any service) with exaggerated politeness and formality. The difference in outcome was palpable. That airline magazine I mentioned – written for American business travelers – warned that Mexicans have a more relaxed attitude to timekeeping than is customary in the United States – but my experience was of a country that ran so much to time it could have been Switzerland, only friendlier. There’s a moral here, somewhere.
1 I was going to say something about a country in which large numbers of people take Sarah Palin seriously, but demurred. After all, the U. of K. boasts political representatives as varied and idiosyncratic as Nick Griffin and George Galloway.
An old colleague at BA always insisted both date formats were silly, and we ought to write 10-03-14 for that date, as decreasing quantities made more sense, just as we put (say) seconds after minutes after hours. Certainly more logic than the US system.Even if you do go with the US system, it really only applies in either 2015 or 2016, depending on your rounding strategy.
22nd July is also more 1.26 times more accurate than the USian March 14th.
Americans: Tourist destinations in Mexico = British: Costa del Sol?*runs away*
I would chase you, but I'd trip over my tattoos.
Joking aside, I do agree with much of what you wrote, cromercrox – Americans, on the whole, can behave quite badly wherever we travel (and even when we don't travel). When I was in England last year, my friends (who are also American) told me that I was "quite loud" when I arrived, but modulated to adapt to my surroundings very quickly (without being shamed into it). Most Americans *are* loud, and even if soft-spoken, behave in manners guaranteed to draw attention to themselves. Stunts, quirks, weird clothes, rude gestures, snarkiness, loudness, etc. etc. Culturally, we compete for attention constantly, in one way or another.The large city in which I live is unusual, for the US, in that it is over 60% Hispanic, mostly Mexican-American. We aren't on the border, but close enough to it to have a culture modulated by that of Mexico, and by cultures of Central America. The border has been a fluid one until recently, and now it really isn't safe to travel to towns on the Mexican side, because of the drug trafficking violence. It's absolutely tragic for the victims and for the peace-loving, hard-working families who have to live in fear, and it only seems to get worse. I was just down in Harlingen last week, on university business, and the Border Patrol has tightened their security at the check stations along the highways on the US side … we all had to wait eons at Sarita to have our cars and trucks inspected. But, in the US border towns at least, the atmosphere and culture are as delightful as ever, and I'm thinking of traveling back again for a birdwatching festival later this spring.
I think it's s syndrome of being an Imperial power (America is an Empire even though she pretends very hard that she isn't, and some have argued that the world would be a better place were she to fess up and be less self-consciously guilty about being World Police – see Niall Ferguson's book 'Colossus'). When the U. of K. had an Empire Britons were renowned for ordering furriners around and having an attitude that they'd understand you if you spoke English to them very clearly and loudly as if they were all imbecile children.The whole business of the gang violence on the border has even penetrated the news here in the U. of K. An infant orphaned because its parents (both US consular officials) gunned down! Fifty dead in Ciudad Juarez over a weekend! That's not some little local spat, that's war. Time to remember the Alamo?
Queen Victoria – or Mrs Thatcher – would have sent a couple of gunboats in by now…
As an imperial power, we seem to have no trouble sending the modern equivalent of gunboats to places like Iraq and Afghanistan … why can't we help out Mexican law enforcement? Thing is, it was "easy" to ignore drug-related violence when it was happening in faraway Colombia, but now it's considerably closer to home. Most of the fighting is over access to the lucrative US illegal drug market, so I think we owe Mexico some help.
So, I think what you are saying is that in the UK the value of Pi is actually 14.3 ? Does that have any cosmic ramifications?
ahh.. the dates. Still, after more than 3 years here, I get confused and prefer to write the month in letters. Of course, 3/14/10 is easier to read than 3/4/10 since there is no month 14… but I have a really bad memory of the first time the mishap happened (dating something "british" style but it was read as "American".I wonder where they got it from though? In my mind I can argue for the use of 20100314 and 14032010 since it goes small, bigger, biggest (or opposite) but mixing them up?!!? totally no sense.I'm refraining from writing anything about specific nationalities on vacation/abroad. Let's just go with loud seem to be one of the main things… ^^
As an imperial power, we seem to have no trouble sending the modern equivalent of gunboats to places like Iraq and Afghanistan … why can't we help out Mexican law enforcement?Well, indeed. Ferguson's argument in 'Colossus' is that because is effectively an Imperial power but is in denial about it, it is likely to act in a rather less directed way were it more honestly happy in that role. Ferguson takes one controversial example – Liberia, a state founded by ex-Americans, but which could be better governed than it is. A case, says Ferguson, for administration by an Imperium rather than locally.
"What irks me is that the prevalence of Americanisms has become so pervasive that many Americans (of all political persuasions, not just those on the political Right) assume, without any need for explanation, that their cultural quirks will be understood – and accepted – everywhere else."That's assuming that they even realise that they're dealing with cultural quirks rather than universal truths. The pervasiveness of US culture means that growing up in the UK I learned very early on that, for example, Americans have different words for some things, and I also learned what many of the US words are. But I've met Americans who not only didn't know the UK word for an item that has a different name, but didn't even know that there were ANY items that have different names in the two countries. Same thing with writing dates differently; they just plain didn't know that any other countries do things differently.Related examples: being unaware that most countries give their bank notes different colours to denote denomination ("seriously? You guys do that? You mean like Monopoly money?" (Cue much laughing, and complete disbelief when I said that most other countries in the world do the same and it actually makes more sense that way. I'd like to go back to some of those conversations now that the US $20 bill has a bit more colour to it).and: "OMG, you have an accent!" "yes, so do you!" "No I don't, I was born here!" "you still have an accent. Everybody has an accent" "… [dirty look]"and:endless questions about the British president, congress, senate, primaries, etc.Most of the above was encountered during my summer working at a cinema in Ohio when I was 20. I got the accent thing at least once or twice a day. Of course, part of this is because if you live in Ohio it's much more of a big deal to visit another country than if you live in the UK; my family enjoyed many cheap holidays driving and taking the ferry to France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands and then camping or staying with friends. Compare that to a long flight and much fewer people will have the means to visit other countries.
Cath: yup, geography has a lot to do with it, I suspect. My travels to the U. S. and A. have convinced me that it is the country that has everything – from snow-capped peaks to tropical beaches. Who'd want to go anywhere else? However: there's a line in Thornton Wilder's play 'Our Town', set in early twentieth century New Hampshire, in which a character says she'd love to visit 'Paris, France', a place where the people don't speak English and 'don't even want to'.About Englisc – my parents took a bus tour in New England to see the autumn ( = 'fall') colo(u)rs. They were joined by many other people of a Certain Age, all of whom were American. One asked my parents where they came from. 'England', they replied. 'And what language do you speak there?' came the sincere supplementary.
Heh – I've never come across that one myself, but I have friends who've reported back with similar stories. I also have a Scottish friend who met people who thought Scotland was a town in England.I also enjoyed being asked how the Brits celebrate the 4th of July.
When I lived in London, my British friends expressed the idea that I owed them a present or meal or at least a pint on the 4th of July. Some sort of bribe to keep them from sending me back over the Pond, I guess.cromercrox, I realize this is off-topic, but I have a question about an idea for a possible submission to one of the Tolkien Society publications. I discovered that one of the knitwear designers on Ravelry has started a Lord of the Rings-inspired series of patterns, and I've signed up for the Fellowship of the Ring installment (though I missed the deadline for the Evenstar Mystery Shawl … damn). Six designs, with names like Bombadil and Argonath, plus the designer (Susan Pandorf) has added a bonus pattern, the Legolas kerchief (which I will start as soon as my yarn arrives from New Hampshire). I thought I might keep a log and photo journal of my progress through the series over the year, and perhaps re-read (I've lost count of the -th) the corresponding book at the same time. Would a condensed version be of any interest to Tolkien Society members, d'ya'think?BTW, the overlap between the Venn diagrams of "Ravelry lace knitters" and "Tolkien geeks" is quite significant, and includes British, German, and American knitters.
@Barn Owl – I'm sure it would! That's just the sort of thing that might tickle the editor of the Tolkien Society newsletter, Amon Hen – email him at amonhen (at) tolkiensociety (dot) org .
Thanks, cromercrox – I'll do that. I hope I can write something entertaining; if nothing else, there will be the usual hazards of small-scale pattern production. Little or no copy editing + designer errors in stitch count = lots of ripping and frogging (and swearing). And because there are so many knitting Tolkien geeks, the recommended yarns (also from small-scale producers) will be in short supply, and the inevitable substitutions will lead to further problems. An enterprising Sackville-Baggins might buy up the stock, for example, and then sell it to other knitters for a tidy profit.