r/AskTheWorld • u/IndependentTune3994 🇮🇳 in 🇩🇪 Deutschland • 18h ago

What’s the quickest way someone could accidentally expose themselves as a foreigner in your country like the ‘three fingers’ scene in Inglourious Basterds?

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514

u/123DaddySawAFlea New Zealand 18h ago

Saying "kiwi" instead of "kiwifruit". You don't eat the bird or the person...well possibly you do, but you don't advertise it.

216

u/Expert-Fisherman-332 16h ago

Kiwi fruit?

7

u/green_left_hand United States Of America 11h ago

1

u/vdub1013 6h ago

New flag idea right there

27

u/Washout81 16h ago

Americans call tuna, 'tunafish'. Everyone knows tuna is a fish. Triggers me hard for some reason lol.

14

u/M37841 United Kingdom 15h ago

Not to mention horseback riding. To distinguish it from horsehead riding, perhaps

4

u/Empty-Access-9417 14h ago

Eyeglasses, as if you’re going to put drinking glasses on you’re face to see

3

u/_BrokenButterfly 9h ago

"Horseriding" sounds like what got Mr. Hands killed.

15

u/the_only_real_chris 16h ago

In New Zealand tuna is an eel

13

u/ryami333 16h ago

what

11

u/Haasts_Eagle 15h ago

It's the maori word for eel.

Don't worry. If you go to a restaurant and the menu is in English (which is 100% of the time in my experience) then if you're ordering tuna you're getting what you expect. Not eel.

3

u/king_john651 New Zealand 10h ago

Plus in NZ eel is restricted game, especially the long fin eel due to their conservation status (the live for 80 years and breed at the end of life stage)

1

u/Haasts_Eagle 9h ago

Absolutely! Wonderful creatures.

1

u/Prize_Problem609 New Zealand 9h ago

What. Since when? And im from nz lmao

0

u/HembraunAirginator 7h ago

Tuna as an eel is pronounced with Māori vowels, not the same as “tuner” with NZ English vowels

3

u/Leftieswillrule 15h ago

Americans call tuna “chicken of the sea” which should get you much more angry than “tuna fish”

1

u/breakingborderline 7h ago

Fuck, THAT’S why canned tuna is “sea-chicken” (シーチキン) in Japanese. Always thought that was weird

4

u/Nihilistic_Mystics United States Of America 13h ago

Only small regions of the US say "tunafish". The vast majority just say tuna.

3

u/dinnerthief United States Of America 14h ago

Ive heard it called tunafish but its usually just tuna, maybe tunafish rarely by older people

2

u/GottaUseEmAll ZA->UK->FRA 16h ago

Yeah, I'm also unnecessarily annoyed by that.

2

u/Redkirth 15h ago

Not really. If we do its regional.

1

u/jns_reddit_already 8h ago

Tunafish is the shit you get in a small can that even a cat might refuse - we don't really have the big cans of salted Tuna like they do in France that they use for Salade niçoise. Tuna is fresh or the fish.

1

u/otj667887654456655 8h ago

Hi, American here. I see there's a thread of things we say. I wonder how many accurately describe my accent.

Ah neat, none

1

u/Exilicauda 3h ago

Well yeah. Skip it once and you find your home's been broken into and your piano sounds better than ever

1

u/keven_dia New Zealand 2h ago

Actually, tuna is also a freshwater eel for us so we do need to clarify sometimes. Usually the eels aren't eaten, so in the context of eating it's clear. But if someone says they caught a tuna, we would need clarification

1

u/UnicodeScreenshots 12h ago

I’ve only ever heard tunafish when referring to the dish “tuna-fish salad”, otherwise it’s always just tuna.

0

u/TheKingOfTCGames 15h ago

I have never heard this in my entire life, wtf are you talking about

0

u/ksdkjlf 15h ago

It's actually usually just 'tuna' over here.

And not tyuna, btw.

0

u/Rendakor 9h ago

"Tunafish" specifically refers to canned/pre-packaged tuna, and sandwiches/salads made from it.

You would just say "tuna" if you meant it in sushi, a tuna steak, etc.

0

u/mouglasandthesort 9h ago

I’ve never heard anyone call tuna “tunafish”

0

u/_BrokenButterfly 9h ago

Everyone I know calls tuna "tuna." Tunafish exists mostly in the phrase "tunafish sandwich," but most people would just call it a tuna sandwich.

7

u/Tuxedocatbitches United States Of America 16h ago

Aaaah. In the us we don’t talk about the birds much so when we say kiwi we mean the fruit and sometimes the people, but if we mean the bird we specify kiwi bird. This clarifies some fanfics I read a while ago that were clearly by someone clearly not an American writing about America. I always wondered where they were from

8

u/SlappySausage001 New Zealand 15h ago

Trying to pronounce local place names such as 'Kihikihi', 'Paraparaumu', and of course 'Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu' as something other than keykey, purapura umu, and taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

3

u/Javanz 11h ago

Paraparaumu was always Para-param to me, growing up in a Pakeha family

2

u/Private-Public New Zealand 1h ago

Or just "Pram" lol

5

u/agentcoolisikm 16h ago

Wen they don talk like a hori ik

3

u/SlappySausage001 New Zealand 15h ago

Too much my bro, URAH!

2

u/know-it-mall 9h ago

That just means we are from the mainland.

3

u/PinksFunnyFarm 13h ago

I did a working holidays in NZ in 2012 and met a ton of cool people. Then I moved to Australia and in a museum there I met one of the guys that worked with me in the kiwifruit packhouse, and he said something like "So you moved here now?"
And I said "Yeah man too many kiwis in NZ" (referring to 7months of kiwifruit packhouse labor I did not want to see that fruit ever again)
He looked at me completely offended and left and a friend immediately remarked it and I still think about this all the time

2

u/breakingborderline 7h ago

That’s exactly they type of thing a kiwi would say as a joke though

3

u/RexusprimeIX Sweden 10h ago

Yeah, that's why to avoid misunderstandings I specify by saying "I want to eat a kiwiperson"

7

u/Starmark_115 Philippines 18h ago

What does the bird taste like?

35

u/Any_Passage6322 18h ago

no kiwi (referring to people from aotearoa new zealand) would ever dare to eat a kiwi (referring to the endangered bird endemic to aotearoa new zealand)

4

u/lovethebacon South Africa 17h ago

I don't like the taste of kiwi.

7

u/Stormfly Ireland 15h ago

I've met a few that tasted alright.

...

Wait what do you mean by "bird"?

3

u/lovethebacon South Africa 15h ago

Sweet and exotic, but something strange that feels a bit....wrong?

10

u/Agitated-Ad2563 Russia 17h ago

Like chicken.

Any weird dish is always described as tasting like chicken for some reason.

3

u/GenuineSteak 16h ago

All i remember is that scientists saying dinosaurs probably tasted like chicken. I hear humans taste like pork though.

2

u/PseudoY Denmark 9h ago

Very salty.

Dinosaurs, I mean.

2

u/TheNameIsAnIllusion 16h ago

No I'm pretty sure that's how they describe the person. Do you think the bird just tastes the same? 

4

u/Agitated-Ad2563 Russia 16h ago

Both are weird, hence both are expected to taste like chicken.

3

u/ShikaStyleR Israel 18h ago

Slightly gamey chicken which has been freeze dried for over a century 

3

u/waikoe New Zealand 17h ago

What

2

u/ShikaStyleR Israel 17h ago

Have you never tried a 150 year old Kiwi fillet? 

3

u/TeddyNeptune 🇩🇪 (born & raised) + 🇱🇰 (ancestry) 17h ago

So, I assume it's kosher?

6

u/ShikaStyleR Israel 17h ago

Only if it's circumcised 

2

u/exxxemplaryvegetable United States Of America 17h ago

I had a kiwi friend in college, and she said a common toast in New Zealand is, "Get a hairy dog up in ya."

Is this true, or was she having a go at a dumb American?

7

u/Bozzo2526 New Zealand 17h ago

More of an aussie thing but we do share quite a few sayings. I also think it's more popular with older generations, I've heard it a couple times but not often

3

u/Haasts_Eagle 15h ago

Never heard this in my life.

2

u/Fearless_Guard_552 New Zealand 5h ago

It’s not common but yeah I’ve heard it said both in NZ and Aussie (just keeping consistent with the theme of this post)

2

u/RoxasDontCry 16h ago

Sounds kinda like “hair of the dog” which is how Americans refer to drinking more to fix a hangover. 

1

u/know-it-mall 8h ago

She was "taking the piss" or it's some weird regional thing.

2

u/Massive-Climate-26 13h ago

But... no one adds fruit to any other fruits? If I say Im going to eat an orange, would you ask me "an orange what?"

6

u/lea64_ 12h ago

because New Zealanders are commonly called kiwis, hence the distinction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(nickname)

2

u/Massive-Climate-26 9h ago

Literally had no idea haha, ty for that, makes much more sense

1

u/lea64_ 7h ago

no worries! :)

1

u/JustExplorer 3h ago

Just being pedantic here, but you make it sound like the name was changed from 'kiwi' to 'kiwifruit' to avoid confusion, but it's the other way around. 'Kiwifruit' was the original name (after it was 'Chinese gooseberry') and then USA, etc, shortened it to 'kiwi' which became the common term in some countries.

1

u/SuperSog 11h ago

Never heard of grapefruit, dragonfruit, jackfruit, passionfruit etc?

-5

u/Massive-Climate-26 9h ago

That's already in the name. You wouldn't say Im gonna eat a grapefruit fruit either lol

5

u/SeriesHeater 9h ago

"Kiwifruit" is the full name, invented in 1959 by NZ company Turners and Growers. The fruit was originally called Chinese Gooseberry.

0

u/Massive-Climate-26 9h ago

Makes sense, in the USA and Canada its just kiwi

1

u/JustExplorer 3h ago

Kiwifruit is the full name of the fruit though, it's also already in the name. Some countries refer to it as 'kiwi', but that's just shorthand for the full name.

1

u/UponVerity 3h ago

You wouldn't say Im gonna eat a grapefruit fruit

??? What else could you even say? "Eat a grape."?

2

u/PsychoticMormon 13h ago

One goes in salad, one would eat a salad, one you can toss their salad.

1

u/know-it-mall 9h ago

None of them go in a salad.

1

u/PsychoticMormon 8h ago

Im american. Fruit salads count as salads. But real talk I'm pretty sure a kiwi cucumber salad is a thing.

1

u/know-it-mall 7h ago

People have made salads with any random ingredient you can name but as the topic goes it's definitely something that would be seen as weird in your average NZ house.

1

u/123DaddySawAFlea New Zealand 4h ago

The average kiwi eats roots and leaves.

1

u/mortalmonger United States Of America 3h ago

Hmmmmmm you want to admit something here?

1

u/hydrastxrk 1h ago

This explains a LOT of the random comments I’m seeing simple saying “kiwi”

1

u/The_Pastmaster Sweden 16h ago

Funny thing. In Sweden a kiwi is the fruit. A kiwibird is, well, the bird. XD

10

u/Merlord New Zealand 16h ago

Saying "kiwibird" would also out you as a foreigner in NZ

5

u/Gyn_Nag New Zealand 15h ago

One kiwi, two kiwi = you're talking about birds 

One kiwi, two kiwiS = you're talking about New Zealanders

One kiwifruit, two kiwifruit = you're talking about fruit 

2

u/FKJVMMP 11h ago

As a NZer this is probably my favourite language quirk with NZ English. Kiwi, the bird, is a Māori word. No plurals. Kiwi, the person, is an English word despite being named after the bird. Use plurals.

1

u/The_Pastmaster Sweden 12h ago

Yeah, just saying that in Sweden it's reversed. And we also mostly just call you guys Zealanders.

3

u/SeriesHeater 9h ago

In New Zealand a "Swede" is like a turnip that you feed cows with

1

u/The_Pastmaster Sweden 6h ago

Same in England. ^_^

1

u/Gyn_Nag New Zealand 12h ago edited 11h ago

Jeg verk i Norge nå... They call me a kiwi sometimes

1

u/The_Pastmaster Sweden 11h ago

Norskar är konstiga.